Two beloved Disney franchises are expanding! During the company’s earnings call Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger teased the company is doubling down on its animated franchises, revealing that new movies in both the Frozen and Toy Story franchises are in the works. Further information about Toy Story 5 and Frozen 3, including plot details and potential release time frames, were not shared.
With its first installment released in 1995, Toy Story has become an iconic and fan-favorite animated franchise. Following the adventures of a group of toys who come to life when their humans aren’t around, the franchise features a voice cast led by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. The franchise has had four major installments, with Toy Story 4 topping $1 billion at the box office in 2019. Just last year, another title was added to the franchise library when the Chris Evans-led spinoff Lightyear was released.
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Frozen, meanwhile, is a more recent, but equally as successful, franchise. The first film dropped to massive success in 2013. Starring Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel, the animated film brought in $1.2 billion. The second installment, released in 2019, earned $1.4 billion, with “Into the Unknown” nominated for Best Original Song at the 2020 Oscars. The first film took home two Oscars in 2014 including Best Animated Feature and Best Song Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez’s anthem “Let It Go.” The franchise has expanded to include two short animated films, 2015’s Frozen Forever and 2017’s Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.
“Today I’m so pleased to announce that we have sequels in the works from our animation studios to some of our most popular franchises, Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia, Iger said during the call, per Deadline. “We’ll have more to share about these productions soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivaled brands and franchises.”
News of the upcoming films was also confirmed by some of the lead stars. Allen, who has voiced Buzz Lightyear in all four of the main Toy Story movies, shared the news on Twitter, writing, “See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity. And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond!” Meanwhile, Josh Gad, the voice of lovable snowman Olaf in Frozen, wrote online, “Back into the unknown… #frozen3.”
During Wednesday’s earnings call, Iger also announced that a sequel to animated comedy Zootopia, which was released in 2016, is also in the works. According to Iger, on the heels of the success of James Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar 2, a new Avatar experience is heading to Disneyland, located in Anaheim, California. The attraction will join the already existing Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
