Let’s Talk Walt Disney Animation Studio Announcements

We had to sit and think on all of the new stuff that is coming to Disney and Disney+ from Walt Disney Animation Studios before we decided to talk about it. We needed to find out as much information as possible before lending our thoughts, but now it seems like there is enough to talk about as we continue our old tradition of Hit or Miss on these upcoming movies and series. We are not going to focus on pricing, release dates or things like that, this is just going to be an opinion piece of our initial thoughts on the info that is out there, which may or may not change as we get more information.

Raya and the Last Dragon (Movie) – This is the one that we know the most about and probably the one that is most exciting for us. Watch the Teaser Trailer before first and then let us talk…

So Raya is trying to find the last dragon to restore piece and this trailer has her in some stealthy garb like a ninja running through dimly lit tunnels with all sort of traps. Her friend Tuk Tuk, the armadillo, is going to help Raya as she tries to find the last dragon to help humanity defeat the Druun from taking over the world. Seems like this has it all, a great story, beautiful animation, and compelling villains. Totally in on this one and the trailer just helps the anticipation build.

Encanto (Movie) – This animated film is set in Colombia and has featured music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the trailer did not really tease more than a quick song and some stunning animation. So the story goes that we have a magical family, but a girl that lacks magical powers. Totally the same story as the first few books of Xanth, so it will be interesting to see where they take it. The music and animation alone are going to make this a must watch, and we hope the story is well done to make it shine.

Baymax (Series) – Not a huge Big Hero 6 or Baymax fan so not much to say here.

Zootopia+ (Series) – So this one again makes sense as a Zootopia themed land is slated to be built in Shanghai Disney as well as the popularity of the first film. The nice thing here is there is so much that they can do with the mammal metropolis and it seems we are going to get some of the characters from the movie making an appearance. Looking forward to seeing this follow along in the same line as the Disney Afternoon shows.

Tiana (Series) – The Princess and the Frog has one of my favorite Disney villains in Dr. Facilier so hopefully he will be a big part of the series. Again we have this coming at the same time we have the Splash Mountain revamp over in Walt Disney World, so it makes sense to tie the two together. With the success of the Tangled series, this seems to fit in nicely.

Moana: The Series (Series) – We know a lot of people love Moana, so a series will be well received. Should give us a combination of funny and heartfelt.

Iwájú (Series) – Here we have the sleeper… First this is something new, not focused on something we have already seen, and it is a science fiction series set in the future of Lagos, Nigera. From the artwork it looks very different and unique and it is said that the series will explore class, something that we are lacking in many shows. This should be a game changing series and we are excited to see it.

Stayed tuned as we get closer to seeing some of these hit the big and small screen.