During the Walt Disney Company’s Q1 call today, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the return of some major players in the studio’s franchise department: future installments of Frozen, Zootopia, and Toy Story are on the way.
Deadline quoted Iger from the call: “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,” he said. “We’ll have more to share about these productions soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivalled brands and franchises.”
The news isn’t surprising considering that the announcement came after a downer portion of the call where the company shared it would be laying off 7,000 employees across all of its divisions. Placing sure bets on blockbuster stories makes sense as Toy Story, Zootopia, and Frozen are all huge fan favourites with big merchandise and theme park draws. Toy Story currently has its own land at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios as well as attractions at the Disneyland Resort. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Disneyland is working on its own Frozen-themed land, while Shanghai Disney will open a Zootopia-themed area later this year. There’s also those Blue Sky hopes from D23 Expo 2022 that these properties will come to the states, but we’ll likely get the movies first.
By the power of Queens Elsa and Anna, the synergy speaks for itself — though we’re a little bit bummed that Encanto was left out after having previously been revealed as one of the company’s newest franchises.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.