Disney CEO Bob Iger on Wednesday announced a swathe of popular animated movie sequels are on the way, including new installments in the Toy Story and Frozen series.
“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,” Iger said in Disney’s earnings call for the year-end 2022 quarter on Wednesday. Iger continued that Disney would have more to share about the productions soon.
While 2022’s Lightyear, a prequel to the Toy Story movies, underperformed at the box office, Toy Story 3 and 4 both made more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office respectively. Frozen 2 also surpassed the $1 billion mark when it was released in 2019.
Toy Story 4, released in 2019, earned critical acclaim with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score. Frozen 2 came out the same year and earned 77%, a drop from the 2013 original Frozen’s 90% score.
Actor Tim Allen confirmed his return as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in a tweet on Wednesday, quoting a line from the first movie in the series. He’s played the toy version of the character since 1995, but Captain America actor Chris Evans voiced an alternate take on character in Lightyear.
“See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity,” he wrote. “And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond!”
Frozen star Kristen Bell, who voices Anna, said on Jimmy Fallon in June that she would be up for a third film.
“But I know Idina [Menzel] recently said she would do it,” she said, referencing the actor who played Elza. “And I feel like if we’re all in, like, what are we waiting for? We want it, let’s do it.”
On the same call, Iger noted that Disney Plus lost 2.4 million subscribers in the last three months of 2022, representing the first drop in the streaming service’s numbers since its 2019 launch. He also confirmed the company will cut 7,000 jobs as it tries to control costs.
