Still from “Moana” by Disney Animation.
disney
How far will Disney go? It seems that we go back to ancient Polynesia.
On Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the untitled Disney animated film slated for Thanksgiving is a sequel to the beloved 2016 film “Moana.”
The news comes just one day after Nielsen's year-end ranking named “Moana” the most streamed film aimed at children and families in 2023, with 11.6 billion minutes of viewing.
“This was originally developed as a series, but we were impressed with what we saw and knew it deserved a theatrical release,” Iger said during the company's earnings call.
Disney's animation studios, Walt Disney Animation and Pixar, have struggled at the box office in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. This was due in part to the company's decision to supplement its nascent Disney+ streaming service with content, stretching its creative teams and sending theatrical films during the pandemic directly to digital.
The decision trained parents to look for new Disney titles on streaming, not in theaters, even as Disney opted to return its movies to the big screen. Compounding Disney's problems was a general public feeling that the company's content had become too existential and too concerned with social issues beyond the reach of children.
As a result, no animated film from Disney, Pixar or Walt Disney Animation has generated more than $480 million at the global box office since 2019.
A sequel to “Moana” will arrive about six months after the theatrical release of “Inside Out 2,” a sequel to the hit 2015 animated film about what really happens inside a person's head.
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