During the Pixar Animation Studios portion of the presentation as part of the Walt Disney Company’s Investor Day today, along with a trailer reminding us that Soul will be released on Disney+ on Christmas, they also revealed more information about the upcoming Luca, as well the next two full-length feature films from the award winning animation house.
What’s Happening:
- During today’s Walt Disney Company Investor’s Day presentation, Pete Docter, Academy Award Winning Director and Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Animation Studios took to the virtual stage and announced the next three full-length animated features from the studio.
- He first took a moment to reveal a bit more about the upcoming Soul, and reminded us that it will be streaming on Disney+ on December 25th.
- Docter then revealed more about a previously announced project, Luca. The next feature film to be released after Soul. The film is a celebration of the friendship between a boy named Luca and his best friend Alberto during their unforgettable summer. Directed by Enrico Casarosa, who previously directed the short, La Luna, Luca is scheduled to dive into theaters June 2021.
- Another feature film, Turning Red, was also announced. Directed by Domee Shi, Academy Award winning director of the short, Bao, Turning Red will allow us to meet Mei. We’ll see Mei as she experiences the awkwardness of being a teenager, with an added twist: when she gets too excited, she transforms into a giant red panda. Turning Red is set to come to theaters on March 11, 2022.
- What seemed to garner the most…Buzz..however, was the announcement of Lightyear. Docter emphasized greatly that this is NOT a Toy Story movie, but rather an action-adventure sci-fi film. He went on to say that this film is based on the backstory for the Buzz Lightyear character, but as a movie that would exist in the Pixar universe that Andy might have seen in the theaters in which the toy figure was based on. The film is set to be directed by Finding Dory’s Angus MacLane, and it was also revealed that the film will also feature the voice of Chris Evans (Captain America) as the titular hero. Set for release in June of 2022, Lightyear is already being touted as the definitive story of the original Buzz Lightyear.
- According to Docter, at this time all these features are set to be released theatrically with no announcement of them coming exclusively to Disney+ as is being done with the upcoming Soul.