At the recent D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, Disney announced news for various movies across several of their brands during the Entertainment Showcase at the convention.

Pixar revealed lots of great news. First off was the news that Elio, a movie coming out next year about a boy who is obsessed with aliens who actually gets abducted, had gotten a new plot and a new voice actress added to the cast. Zoe Saldana is voicing Elio’s aunt, replacing America Ferrera, who was originally going to voice her. I am excited for this film, as it does show promise!  

Second, Pixar announced the plot of Toy Story 5, which is coming out in 2026. It will be about our favorite toys facing a direct threat to them: technology, such as tablets! I’ve seen lots of people arguing about how recent generations don’t play with toys a lot, so this is a relevant story for today’s generation.  

Also announced was The Incredibles 3, which was a very surprising choice for a sequel, but then again, those movies are well-loved, especially the original. An original movie from Pixar, Hoppers, was also announced, and it’s the one I’m the most excited for. Why? It’s about a girl whose brain gets put into a robot beaver to help prevent a real estate developer from tearing down a forest, which is an adorable plot! I can’t wait for it to come out in 2026.

Walt Disney Animation Studios showed a new trailer for Moana 2, which was originally a TV show before being turned into a film. In it, we learn that Moana has a little sister now, and that the characters will go on a journey to stop a storm god. It was also revealed that Zootopia 2 will focus on more species of animals, including reptiles. One of these, a snake named Gary, will be played by Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan. I liked Zootopia, and cannot wait to see how reptiles will fit into this story when it comes out next year. Frozen 3 was also announced for 2027, and will most likely be a two-part film.

We also got looks at two new Disney remakes. A surprise was revealed at one point: the Lilo and Stitch’s remake is coming to theaters, rather than on streaming as was previously rumored. The remake Stitch design looks adorable! We also got a first look at Snow White, of which I love the contrast between the scenes with Snow White and the evil queen, with Snow White’s scenes being much brighter in lighting, and the queen’s scenes being much darker in lighting. Finally, to cap off the evening, there was a look at the live-action Lion King prequel, Mufasa, which revealed that this film will be a story about how Mufasa and Scar became brothers.

One unexpected and hilarious announcement that came from the showcase was that Disney is making a Monster Jam movie with Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. Sure, Feld Entertainment, who owns Monster Jam, also owns Disney on Ice, but Disney is not the name you’d associate with a movie about monster trucks. I’m curious as to how this will turn out, as this does sound weird.

Overall, the Disney announcements during the Entertainment Showcase were interesting, and I cannot wait to see all these new movies!

Pixar image by tom.arthur - https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomarthur/2720588187/, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link