Box Office Mojo is reporting a slew of changes and new additions to Disney and Pixar’s upcoming film schedules, which have caused instant speculation and excitement in the animation community.
Untitled Pixar Film
Not much to go off of here. This film is scheduled for a November 25, 2015 release date. It’s not known whether this is Lee Unkrich’s Dia de Los Muertos film or perhaps some other Pixar film in which Pixar hasn’t given any specifics. As Kyle from Kyle’s Animated World pointed out, it seems highly unlikely that the Disney would release this a Dia de Los Muertos film nearly 4 weeks after the aforementioned holiday. It seems more likely that Pixar would like to capitalize on the holiday (which has much of a Halloween vibe to it) a few weeks prior in October, when people are wanting, expecting and open to spooky, gruesome or haunted films. So that being said, it seems likely this is a film that Pixar has purposely left us in the dark about.
Untitled Disney Animated Film
Now this looks familiar: another untitled animated film. This film is being released November 7, 2014. So obviously this film is already in production, as animated films take anywhere from three to four years to complete. This could be the hand-drawn animated film by John Musker and Ron Clements that they told me personally was “very interesting, that’s all we can say” at D23 Destination D. Not sure what else could fit here, so my money’s on a 2D traditionally animated film from Ron and John.
Ant-Man
This project is not only the first release date we’ve heard, but also it’s the first news from Ant-Man since test footage was revealed during the San Diego Comic Con. Ant-Man is based on the fictional Marvel superhero of the same name. The film will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Univese and is will be directed by Edgar Wright. It’s set to be released November 7, 2015, which is an interesting move since superhero films usually don’t mesh well with the cozy, family films released during the winter holiday season. So it’ll be interesting to see how a film from that genre does in during that season.
Phineas and Ferb Movie
The long-awaited Phineas and Ferb project has been long in the works with a projected July 26, 2013 release date, but now the film has been pushed back to an unspecified date in 2014. It may have been the jam-packed 2013 animation summer schedule—Turbo, The Smurf’s 2 and Despicable Me 2—that scared Disney away from this date. It seems a film of this caliber would have been better off with an August or March release, rather than pushing it back a year. But we’ll see where exactly the film lands in the future.
Saving Mr. Banks
Now this is a film that, while not animated, is of interest to Disney animation fans. Saving Mr. Banks tells the story of Walt’s 20-year journey to obtain the rights to P.L. Tavers popular novel, Mary Poppins. While the film just started production last month, Disney has nabbed a date and is sitting on a Christmas release on December 20, 2013.
Bears
No, Disney isn’t trying to get back into animated bear flicks like Brother Bear. Bears is Disney’s next foray into its success DisneyNature series, which has produced Earth, Oceans, African Cats and, most recently, Chimpanzee. Expect to see this one April 18, 2014.
Wow, Disney has been busy putting its house in order (so to speak) for its upcoming films during the next few years. Lots of new projects (which are killing me to know what they are!) and already known projects coming out way. Either way, looks like Disney is ready to fight all the animated competition that’s in its way over the next few years.
What’s your favorite project of the bunch? Which project are you most intrigued about?
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