Everything You Need to Know About the Next 10 Disney Movies

What’s Disney working on right now? The answer is lots of sequels, lots of talking animals, and maybe even one Vince Gilligan inspired Jack and Beanstalk movie. Here are the next 10 Pixar and Disney movies and everything you need to know about them:

The Good Dinosaur
Studio: Pixar
Release Date: November 25, 2015

The Good Dinosaur is set in an alternate universe in which an asteroid never struck Earth. The film centers around Arlo (Raymond Ochoa), a young Apatosaurus, who befriends a caveboy he names Spot (Jack Bright). It’s the classic story of a boy and his dog, but in this case a dinosaur and his boy. The film is meant to combat the negative dinosaur stereotypes, “It’s time to do a movie where you get to know the dinosaur, what it’s really like to be a dinosaur and to be with a dinosaur,” said Bob Peterson (Up), the film’s original director.

Originally scheduled for a May 30 2014 release, The Good Dinosaur was pushed back to give the film more time and has undergone several changes during development. The original director Bob Peterson, was replaced by co-director Peter Sohn. Additionally much of the cast has been replaced. At the 2014 D23 Expo, it was announced that Lucas Neff, John Lithgow, Frances McDormand, Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer, and Bill Hader had joined the cast of the film, however, only McDormand remains a part of the film.

Most the the changes stemmed from story re-writes Sohn explained, “It was all about finding a younger Arlo, it was really about finding a boy [to play Arlo], so that we could push into that idea of him growing up and becoming a man, so the actor previous – who is a great actor – he was already a man, and so I needed to push that arc and find that compassionate kid, so that was the major kind of change. Then everything else, all the other characters that supported that story came in and out and changed and evolved and through that evolution, some of those performers changed out of it.”

Zootopia
Studio: Walt Disney
Release Date: March 4, 2016

Zootopia is set in a “modern world designed by animals” and focuses on an rookie cop Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) who partners with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) to solve her first case. The film is being directed by Byron Howard (Bolt, Tangled) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph).

Goodwin was picked for the role because of her “very centered sweetness, tremendous heart and a great sense of humor,” while Bateman was chosen because the directors wanted an actor who could bring “a funny yet heartfelt side” with “a wily, dry-witted sort of voice.” Bateman recalls when he first went to record, “I foolishly said ‘What kind of voice do you guys want me to do?’ And they just looked at me like I was an idiot and said, ‘Just do what you do. Just talk.'”

The will also film feature Firefly star Alan Tudyk and Scandal‘s Katie Lowes in unknown roles. If you’re not sold yet, Shakira plays a gazelle:

Finding Dory
Studio: Pixar
Release Date: June 17, 2016

In 2012, it was announced that Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton was developing a sequel to the film titled Finding Dory. Stanton will write and direct the sequel alongside co-director Angus MacLane. In July 2013, Stanton spoke to the Los Angeles Times about a Finding Nemo sequel, “There was polite inquiry from Disney [about a Finding Nemo sequel]. I was always ‘No sequels, no sequels.’ But I had to get on board from a VP standpoint. [Sequels] are part of the necessity of our staying afloat, but we don’t want to have to go there for those reasons. We want to go there creatively, so we said [to Disney], ‘Can you give us the timeline about when we release them? Because we’d like to release something we actually want to make, and we might not come up with it the year you want it.'”

Finding Dory will take place six months after the first film and will tell the story of amnesiac Dory’s attempt to be reunited with her family. Dory, Nemo, Marlin and the “Tank Gang” will all make their return. The film’s ending (which featured some characters in a SeaWorld-like marine park) was reportedly revised after the release of the 2013 documentary Blackfish.

In 2013 Ellen Degeneres announced that she would be reprising her role as the eponymous character. At the 2015 D23 Expo, Disney announced that Hayden Rolence would replace Alexander Gould as the voice of Nemo and Modern Family co-stars Ed O’Neill and Ty Burrell joined the stage to announce roles in the film.

Moana
Studio: Walt Disney
Release Date: November 23, 2016

Directors Ron Clements and John Musker (the duo behind The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules among others) are working on a computer-animated musical film, Moana, described as a “mythic adventure set around 2000 years ago and across a series of islands in the South Pacific.” In the film, Moana, the daughter of a strict island chieftain, sets off a seafaring adventure to find a mysterious legendary island. According to Film School Rejects, Moana is joined in her journey by a stowaway rooster, a Pacific demigod named Maui (Dwayne Johnson), and her black-and-white spotted piglet, Pua.

Alan Tudyk has also joined the film as an unannounced character and at the 2015 D23 Expo it was announced that the songs for the film will be written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mancina, and Opetaia Foa’i (of Te Vaka).

It was initially rumored that Moana would utilize the hand-drawn/computer-animated technique featured in the short film Paperman, but director John Musker shot down that rumor, saying it’s far too early to apply the Paperman hybrid technique to a feature film because of a host of production issues. However, according to Bleeding Cool, the film will feature a new, painterly style of CG.

Toy Story 4
Studio: Pixar
Release Date: June 16, 2017

In 2014, it was announced that John Lasseter will direct and Rashida Jones and Will McCormack will write the screenplay for the fourth installment in the Toy Story franchise. For years, Toy Story 4 was such a closely guarded secret that Jim Morris (the President of Pixar Animation) and Edwin Catmull (the President of both Pixar and Disney Animation) did not even know it was being discussed until Andrew Stanton produced a polished treatment for the film.

Lasseter said that the film would center on the romance between Woody (Tom Hanks) and Bo Peep, who was noticeably absent in Toy Story 3. In Toy Story 4, Woody and Buzz (Tim Allen) will attempt to find Bo Peep and bring her home. According to Lasseter, “Toy Story 3 ended Woody and Buzz’s story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another Toy Story movie. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie—and I wanted to direct it myself.” Lasseter also announced that Randy Newman will return to compose the soundtrack for the film and Kristen Schaal will reportedly reprise her role as Trixie.

Coco
Studio: Pixar
Release Date: November 22, 2017

At the 2015 D23 Expo, Pixar confirmed that their Dia de Los Muertos inspired film, Coco, will be directed by Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3). Coco is about Miguel, “a spirited 12 year-old growing up with a big family in rural Mexico,” who uncovers a family mystery that “forever changes his fate.” During the development of the film, Unkrich began to think about relatives who had passed away and thought, “What if I could meet them, what would I ask them?”

In order to help craft the characters and establish the world of Coco, the Pixar team made several trips to Mexico. Director Lee Unkrich said, “I’d seen it portrayed in folk art. It was something about the juxtaposition of skeletons with bright, festive colors that captured my imagination. It has led me down a winding path of discovery. And the more I learn about Día de Los Muertos, the more it affects me deeply.”

Gigantic
Studio: Walt Disney
Release Date: March 9, 2018

In April 2015, Deadline reported that Disney had acquired the rights to Beanstalk, a Jack and the Beanstalk inspired film outlined by Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) and fans eagerly anticipated a Gilligan directed Disney film with a Heisenberg styled anti-hero. However, at the 2015 D23 Expo, Disney announced that Nathan Greno (Tangled) will direct Gigantic, Disney’s definitive take on the Jack and the Beanstalk story.

Gigantic will follow Jack as he explores the world of giants hidden in clouds. During his adventure, Jack befriends Inma, a female giant who is “11 years old, 60 feet tall, fiery, feisty and a lot to control,” and agrees to help her find her way home. The film will be set in 15th Century Spain and husband and wife duo Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen) will provide the music.

Untitled Film
Studio: Pixar
Release Date: June 15, 2018

Not much is known about Pixar’s untitled 20th project. While this could mean an entirely new film, it’s also possible that this slot has been reserved for the announced, but not yet scheduled, Cars 3 (which could be released in the Summer of 2018) or The Incredibles 2. Details for both films remain vague, but Cars 3 will reportedly return to Route 66 and explore Route 99. The Incredibles director Brad Bird will return for the sequel and Germain Lussier from io9 speculates that The Incredibles 2 could either take place immediately following the events of the first film or following a ten year time skip “that would allow Bird to explore the Parrs in a whole different way, both thematically and visually.”

Wreck-It Ralph 2
Studio: Walt Disney
Release Date: TBD

In October of 2012, Wreck-It Ralph director Rich Moore mentioned that he had talked to Disney about the possibility of a Wreck-It Ralph sequel, but it wasn’t until a 2014 interview with the film’s composer, Henry Jackman, that a sequel was confirmed. Moore stated that the cast and crew of the film were open to another film, believing that they “barely scratched the surface” of the video game world, “We talked about arcade games. Imagine if we went into home systems and other kinds of platforms or online, or mobile games or something like that. We can’t end with just arcade cabinets from the 1980s. There is huge interest on the creative side.” Wreck-It Ralph 2 is supposedly going to explore online and console gaming and Moore has said that he hopes to include both Mario and Tron in the film.  In July of 2015, John C. Reilly confirmed that he will reprise his role as Ralph.

Frozen 2
Studio: Walt Disney
Release Date: TBD

On March 12, 2015, Disney officially announced Frozen 2, at a shareholders meeting in San Francisco. Chis Buck and Jennifer Lee will return to direct the sequel. John Lasseter explained that, “as with Pixar, when we do a sequel, it is because the filmmakers who created the original have created an idea that is so good that it’s worthy of these characters.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, there was “considerable internal debate” at Disney over whether to proceed with a Frozen sequel, but JP Morgan analyst Alexia Quadrani believes that the unprecedented success of the first film must have swayed Disney executives, “Frozen is in its own category, in the sense of breaking all records for animated films and having incredibly long-lasting success. That would make anybody revisit a historic policy.” Co-director Chris Buck acknowledged the challenge of producing a sequel to the groundbreaking film, “How do we live up to the phenomenon of the first one? There’s a lot of pressure. And we’ll put that on ourselves too; we’ll be very demanding about how good this one has to be.”

All the principal actors will return and at the moment, there are rumors circling about the plot of the film including the possibility of a royal duet, a snow-girlfriend for Olaf, and maybe even Elsa dying, but for now this is just speculation.

Which upcoming Disney movie are you most excited about? Personally, we’re still waiting for a Vince Gilligan version of Jack and Beanstalk.

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