Summary

• Disney's upcoming animated movies include a third Diary of a Wimpy Kid installment and a sequel to Inside Out, exploring new emotions during puberty.
• Pixar's Elio, a sci-fi adventure about a boy becoming an intergalactic ambassador, will be released in 2025, with a star-studded voice cast.
• Toy Story 5 is in development, along with Frozen 3 and 4, and Zootopia 2, expanding these successful franchises for fans to enjoy.

Disney has several upcoming animated movies — here's what the release slate looks like. Disney has found incredible success in live-action properties over the years, but the studio's bread and butter for decades has been with animated movies made for the entire family. On top of the classic animated tales that largely defined Disney's success, the acquisition of Pixar in 2006 brought a great partner to produce massive hits. Over the last decade, Disney and Pixar have both found great success with franchises like Frozen and Toy Story, as well as original films like Coco or Encanto.

Even though Disney's animated movies have encountered some struggles at the box office since 2020, this form of storytelling remains a critical part of the Mouse House's strategy. Recent releases like Wish and Elemental present chances from the studios to refocus on original movies. There are plans for more new stories from Walt Disney Animation, Pixar, and the more recently acquired 20th Century Animation, as well as ideas for how various franchises can continue. These movies might only be a fraction of Disney's upcoming movies and release dates, but they all represent the studio's animated future.

Related: Every Animated Disney Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

11 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever Releases On December 8, 2023

Disney+ franchise returns for third movie

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise is returning once again to Disney+. This is the third consecutive year that Disney and 20th Century Animation have produced an adaptation of the Jeff Kinney source material for Disney's streaming service. The latest entry puts the focus of the story around Christmas and the younger of the Heffley brothers, Greg. Cabin Fever marks a shift for the franchise as Wesley Kimmel steps in to replace Bradley Noon as the voice of Greg, while Spencer Howell replaces Ethan William Childress as Greg's friend Rowley. The movie releases on Disney+ on December 8, 2023.

10 Inside Out 2 Releases June 14, 2024

Sequel to Pixar's Inside Out

Pixar's next movie is Inside Out 2, the sequel to one of the studio's biggest box office hits for an original story. The second installment keeps the focus on Joy (Amy Poehler) and Riley's other emotions, but changes come as she enters puberty. This leads to Inside Out 2's new emotions, such as Maya Hawke's Anxiety, joining the story so Pixar can dive deeper into what it means to be a teenager. The movie also brings back Phyllis Smith as Sadness and Lewis Black as Anger, while Fear and Disgust return after being recast, with Tony Hale and Liza Lapira replacing Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling.

Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King, releasing December 20, 2024, is not listed due to its live-action appearance, despite it being made entirely with CGI

9 Elio Releases June 13, 2025

Pixar's upcoming original sci-fi adventure

Pixar will make a return to sci-fi in 2025 with the release of Elio. The new, original adventure from the studio follows the titular boy as he becomes part of an intergalactic story as an ambassador to Earth. Despite originally being planned for a 2024 release, Disney elected to delay Elio until 2025 as part of changes made to the overall slate in response to strikes and box office struggles. Still, expectations are high given Coco's co-director Adrian Molina wrote and directed the animated movie. The voice cast includes recognizable names like America Ferrera, Jameela Jamil, and Brad Garrett.

8 Toy Story 5 Is In Development

The Pixar franchise is returning

Audiences will see Woody and Buzz again as Pixar has confirmed Toy Story 5 is in development. The news came from Bob Iger in early 2023 as part of his second stint as Disney's CEO. The movie does not have an official release date at this point, as most of the details surrounding the story and cast are not known. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen's involvement has been revealed through what few details are known, while rumors suggest Andy will also factor into the story somehow.

Related: Toy Story 5: Confirmation, Returning Characters & Everything We Know

7 Frozen 3 Is In Development

The sequel to Frozen 2 is coming

Disney has confirmed plans for Frozen 3 to be among the studio's upcoming animated features. There is little known about the highly-anticipated sequel to 2019's Frozen II. It is expected that Anna and Elsa will once again be prominently featured, allowing Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel to reprise their roles. Meanwhile, it should be expected that Olaf (Josh Gad) and Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) will be back as well. The story will build on Frozen 2's ending and the revelation that Elsa is the Fifth Spirit, as well as Anna becoming Queen of Arendelle. No release date is known, but a 2025 or 2026 release is possible.

6 Frozen 4 Is In Development

It's been officially announced

Audiences will see more of Anna and Elsa than expected, as Disney has also confirmed plans for Frozen 4 already. Bob Iger was the first to tease the prospects of a fourth movie in the franchise, but Walt Disney Animation Studios CCO and prior franchise creator Jennifer Lee has since confirmed the intention. Nothing is confirmed in regard to the story or release date at this point. There is a possibility the movie will be made in conjunction with Frozen 3, allowing it and Frozen 4 to come out relatively close to one another.

5 Zootopia 2 Is In Development

Zootopia is becoming a franchise

Plans have been confirmed for Zootopia 2 as well. Disney found great success with the first movie upon its release in 2016, as it made over $1 billion at the box office. Despite the announcement of the project, there is almost nothing confirmed about it. The expectation is that Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) will once again be at the center of the story, which should follow them investigating another case within the utopia for animals. Based on the timing of the original announcement in 2023, it is possible that Zootopia will be released in 2025 or 2026.

4 A New Carlos López Estrada Movie Is In Development

Announced in 2019

After the success of Raya and the Last Dragon, it was announced that Disney and director Carlos López Estrada were meant to collaborate again. At the time of the announcement in 2019, there was an expectation that the movie would arrive in a relatively short amount of time. However, several years have passed since the project's original announcement, and there have been no updates on where it stands since. Instead, Lopez has agreed to direct a live-action version of Robin Hood for Disney+ and tackle a live-action Your Name movie. It's unclear if the movie was canceled or if progress has been made behind the scenes.

3 Rio 3 Is In Development

It was revealed in 2022

There have also been reports that Rio 3 is in development at 20th Century Animation. The project was revealed in an unexpected way, as a PR page from Ice Age: Adventures of Wild Buck listed screenwriter Ray DeLaurentis as working on the next installment of the Rio franchise. The new Rio movie has never been officially confirmed to be in development by Disney or 20th Century Animation, though. If the movie does still happen as planned, Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway would both be expected to reprise their roles as the franchise leads.

2 Ice Age 7 Is In Development

The animated franchise will come back

There are also plans for the Ice Age franchise to continue on with a seventh film it appears. In the same document that detailed Ray DeLaurentis' involvement in Rio 3, his work on the next installment of the Ice Age movies was also revealed. The prospects of Ice Age 7 happening come with no clarity on exactly what characters it will focus on. It could be a continuation of the main franchise and give audiences a chance to see more of Diego, Sid, and Manfred. However, the new movie could also be a sequel to Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild and continue the spinoff franchise on Disney+.

1 Upcoming Unconfirmed Disney and Pixar Animated Movie Release Dates

Four dates are unclaimed

In addition to the movies listed above, Disney has release dates confirmed for upcoming animated movies that have yet to be claimed. This includes plans for movies from Disney and Pixar to come out over the next few years. Although the specific movie coming out on these dates is unconfirmed, Disney has plans to release animated movies on the following dates: