At today’s Investor Day 2020 event, Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer Jennifer Lee unveiled the exciting content that will be released over the next few years, including a slate of all-new Disney Animation series and feature films.
“This incredible slate of new original content reflects our continuing commitment to harness the resources and immense creativity across our company to bring audiences extraordinary entertainment experiences unlike anything else in the market,” said Bob Iger, executive chairman and chairman of the board. “We’re proud that the unparalleled quality of our storytelling from our iconic brands remains evident across all distribution platforms, from movie theaters to our direct-to-consumer services.”
Walt Disney Animation Studios Feature Films
One major announcement was that Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Raya and the Last Dragon’’ will be available on Disney+ with Premier Access for $29.99 in most Disney+ markets on March 5, 2021 – the same date it’s released in theaters. Walt Disney Animation Studios chief creative officer, Jennifer Lee, also revealed that “Raya and the Last Dragon”—the studios’ 59th animated feature—is the first to be produced “at home” (and at over 400 different homes at that).
Lee also highlighted the upcoming feature film “Encanto,” a musical comedy scheduled to be released in theaters in November 2021, and features new songs in both English and Spanish by Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Animated Series
During her presentation, Lee announced that the studio is producing several new series for Disney+, including a return to the “mammal metropolis” Zootopia in short-form series called “Zootopia+” (2022); all-new stories featuring Princess Tiana and her friends called “Tiana” (2022); and “Moana, The Series” (2023), which will continue the storytelling tradition of the Pacific Islands.
Also coming to Disney+ in early 2022 is Disney Animation’s first-ever animated series that, Lee says, “takes place in one of our favorite fantastical cites and stars one of our most beloved characters:” Baymax.
“The series really focuses on Baymax’s original protocol, which is to be a nurse robot,” explained Don Hall, director of “Big Hero 6” and creator of “Baymax, The Series.” “Each episode we meet a new character – a patient that Baymax is going to help. [Baymax’s] kindness, his compassion, his single-minded devotion to just helping people, he’s kind of hero for the times. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but Baymax will have a new feature that will allow him to quickly travel around the streets of San Fransokyo looking for patients.”
The final all-new, all-original long-form science fiction series announced by Walt Disney Animation Studios is “Iwájú” (2022) which will be produced in a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the Pan-African comic book entertainment company Kugali.
“From San Fransokyo to Zootopia, from New Orleans to the Pacific Islands to a sci-fi world in Africa,” Lee said, “the story possibilities for the near-century-old Disney Animation are more limitless than ever.”
Okay, I asked for originality, and there is some here.
But, come on, where are the white characters too? I’m sorry, I know the world we live in today and I’m all for diversity, but doesn’t diversity and inclusion mean white boys and girls/men+women too? Sheesh, if you shove minorities down our throats so much, it gets old. Just saying
White people already have more than enough representation. Just look at most of the Disney Princesses. It’s about time that minority characters are in the spot light. Think of Disney as global company, since its consumer base definitely is global. Then think about how many countries there are where white people aren’t the majority. Disney is serving a part of their consumer base that has been under served for years.
And the fact that you see minority characters as a “trend” is disgusting.
Minority children also deserve to have heroes and heroines to look up too. And white people like you should be exposed to different cultures and expand your world view.
Nothing against white people, just people like you.^^ I hope you’re some old man and not a teenager or young adult because shame on you if you are and still think this way.