The Disney earnings call for Q1 2024 saw CEO Bob Iger provide updates for several high-profile animated franchises.
Zootopia 2 will be released on November 16, 2025 per Iger. He didn't give a specific release date for Toy Story 5 and Frozen 3 but he did confirm that both films will be released in 2026.
This announcement is a follow-up to Iger's Q1 2023 earnings call around the same time last year where he first confirmed that additional installments in each of these franchises were in the works.
If Zootopia 2 is coming out next year, work on the sequel is actually pretty far along, although no additional details regarding the returning voice cast.
Original screenwriter and co-director Jared Bush is returning to pen the script and co-direct alongside Josie Trinidad.
Iger cautioned that 2024 might seem like a low-output year but he pointed the finger at this past summer's tandem strikes by SAG-AFTRA and the WGA. In 2025, the company's output of content will be revved up, although he also cautioned that Disney would be reducing its amount of content output for Marvel and Star Wars.
Still, Zootopia fans should be happy as the company hasn't really pushed the franchise despite the fact that the 2016 animated film grossed more than $1 billion at the global box office and took home the Oscar that year for best animated film.
This past December, a Zootopia-themed land opened in Shanghai Disney in China and there have been rumors among the parks' fandom that such a project will come to the States, particularly in Disney World's Animal Kingdom.
In regards to the Frozen franchise, fans have known for quite some time that a third installment was in the works but it was more recently revealed that the film could be split into two parts, with a third and fourth film set for release in a relatively short release window.
Disney Animation's Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee recently revealed that the story for Frozen 3 is so robust that everything might not fit into one film.
Not much is known about Toy Story 5 as that seems to be the film among the three that's in the earliest stage of development. Tim Allen is confirmed to be returning as the voice of Buzz after the lackluster audience response to 2022's Lightyear, which saw Captain America actor Chris Evans take over the role of voicing Buzz.