This past weekend marked the fourth bi-annual Disney D23 Expo, in which numerous news and updates are made for Disney's multiple properties, including their own in-house live action and animation production studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and LucasFilm. And with it now out the way, it's time to delve into each little bit of information released, piece by piece, starting with...
Toy Story 4
The first delve into the new releases came quite early on, with the film's director
John Lasseter revealing that the fourth instalment in the beloved franchise will focus on the romantic entanglement between Woody and Bo Peep. Now, as some of you may know Bo Peep was absent during the proposed conclusion to the series with a comment about her being sold off some time ago (although if she were still there she would have melted during the furnace scene, as the studio realised during production), so bringing her back is an interesting turn of events - especially when considering that there already is a resident couple in the toy box with Buzz and Jessie, who were hinted at getting together at the end of the second sequel. But if this leads to hijinks similar to that of
Toy Story 2 when Buzz and co. go out to save Woody, but in this case for romantic reasoning, then colour me interested - even if a possible dark turn in which Bo Peep is broken and has to be left behind is highly unlikely (but oh how sad it would be!)
Pixar Posters A-Plenty
Soon after came this image, featuring previously seen posters for
The Good Dinosaur and next year's
Finding Dory. While there's isn't much difference in design for any of them (and I assume that Luxo Jr. image will be replaced with an original film poster (UPDATE: it was), it is certainly an interesting spectacle - especially how they've done the logo for
The Incredibles 2. Not to mention an interactive poster for
Finding Dory has been spotted with the tagline "She just kept swimming...", and it's safe to say that Pixar is in safe hands.
I had forgotten that this Alice in Wonderland sequel was coming...so tada! Now directed by James Bobin, who helmed the two recent resurrections of the Muppets (so quite a jump!), this poster doesn't reveal much about the film, so could any released footage tell us something ahead of its May release next year? At this early stage, I haven't got many thoughts on the project (well, there's "Why?", but Hollywood is a sequel game these days...) so I can only hope all is well. The production seemed to go untroubled, so there is that...
Welcome to Zootropolis
Or
Zootopia, if you don't live in Blighty. The first film profiled during the Animation panel on Friday, small details began to emerge for the next Disney Animation film which admittedly has gotten me a little worried. The teaser released back in June was sweet, and there's nothing wrong with the plot as far as I can tell. But seeing imagery of the world they live in and
Shakira being announced as voicing a gazelle (see above) and producing a song for the film gives me somewhat vivid recollections of
Chicken Little from a decade prior. But hey! I hear the level of detail on the character designs is intense, so it'll at least be pretty.
Gigantic Surprise
And as the first
major announcement by the studio comes a new retelling of a classic fairytale, Jack and the Beanstalk! And with
Tangled's directors and
Frozen's musical talent involved, not to mention the minor details given over the film's plot (an 11-year-old giant treating Jack like a living doll) does certainly peak interest. It looks like it could be a really good film if done well. But alas we have to wait until 2018 for its release.
Tiki Girl
But before
Gigantic comes
Moana, the next Disney Princess film (and first non-white princess since
The Princess and the Frog). Many of Twitter were speculating that they'd reveal who would be voicing the new girl (why
Dinah Jane anyway?), but instead came an insight into the character designs, music, and plot, with
Dwayne Johnson adding much-needed fanfare. Not much was revealed, least of all to the public, but expect more details later this year/early next year as we come close to its late 2016 release.
Do the Dinosaur
Then came Pixar with the first of their line-up, starting with the upcoming
Good Dinosaur. With preview clips making the audience cry, and with the newer details hinting at some deeper layers as well as some good fun (including the above T-Rexes being their version of the sharks from
Finding Nemo), and it remains a film to be excited for - although the original belief of this film being akin to
WALL-E may have been squandered.
Meet the Parents
Then comes the film I was most looking forward to. More than
Toy Story 4; more than
Captain America: Civil War - this is what I so wanted to hear about, not only as a big Pixar fan but as an adorer of
Finding Nemo. With new cast members and characters announced (including the above cantankerous octopus) as well as some clips which show just how easy it's been to slip back into it, I am beyond excited for this film. And if this image is all we have to show for it for now, then I can be happy enough.
Going Coco for Unkrich
And thus, the Dias de los Muertos film that has been shrouded in secrecy for years has emerged with a title, director and plot details, with
Toy Story 3's director
Lee Unkrich helming the picture. While comparisons to
The Book of Life are likely (it was comparisons that caused Pixar to cancel
newt due to
Rio), the small business it did won't do anything to overshadow this rumoured musical, least of all by the time of its 2017 release.
20 Years of a Classic
And wrapping it all off was
Toy Story, with celebrations of the upcoming 20th anniversary it'll be having this year and confirming the aforementioned details about the upcoming sequel and that
Randy Newman will be scoring once again, which is great news. But as the finale of the panel, it's a slight pity that little-to-no details on
Cars 3 and
The Incredibles 2 were revealed aside from the posters.
Strange Love
As the opener to the live action portion of Saturday's line-up came
Doctor Strange, where lots of concept art and an intro by star
Benedict Cumberbatch went by, along with confirmed castings for
Tilda Swinton and
Chiwetel Ejiofor. Much applause was given, apparently, but we have a long way to go before we actual see anything - well, I hope we don't. A picture would be nice.
WAR!
With its slightly altered logo and special appearances from
Anthony Mackie and
Chris Evans, the trailer released for the film got audiences pumped - even those who didn't see it! Breakdowns and quotes from the trailer, with glimpses of almost everyone confirmed for the film and with the resulting battle. All I have to say is "PLEASE SHOW US NOW!"
The Bare Necessities
After a brief look at the new
Chris Pine film
The Finest Hours (yep, not very interesting) came our first glimpse at
the next live-action retelling in the very long line of announcements (many included in this panel). With this film upping the number of recreations from the 1967 classic, and the first official poster looking very good,
Jon Favreau's remake may be Disney's first good one in a long time.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Then came details for the new
Alice in Wonderland sequel, following the release of the posters and costume details. The footage revealed it would incorporate time travel elements, with Alice meeting younger versions of the townsfolk of Underland with
Sacha Baron Cohen reportedly playing a hammy character called Time. Yeah, that...doesn't sound good. Not at all good. It sounds more like a TV movie...
Spared No Expense
Then comes remake #2, with the redo of the 70s classic of the same name. With
Jurassic World's
Bryce Dallas Howard,
Captain America: The Winter Soldier's
Robert Redford and
Dredd's
Karl Urban all appearing in the new version, the dragon has reportedly had a major design update while adding a magical element to it. Set for mid-2016, this
may be good. I have my doubts, but
maybe.
T'was Beauty
Very little new was announced for the 2017 remake starring
Emma Watson, aside from confirmation that it will be a musical, with two new songs and the original musicians reteaming for the retelling. That is all.
Yo Ho, Yo Ho!
Then came the pirate who was once beloved by all but now leaves audiences mixed with the belated fifth instalment in the long-running series. With a new logo (featuring a decadent skull) to boot alongside a live appearance from Capt. Jack Sparrow (
Johnny Depp), it was announced that
Orlando Bloom will be returning after being absent for
On Stranger Tides. It's unlikely that
Keira Knightley will also appear - having only recently given birth to her first child and filming wrapping recently - but this backstep to the supposed glory days of the series certainly has some appeal.
Next Time on Star Wars...
Wrapping the panel came two major updates for the future
Star Wars instalments, with the first tidbit of information being in regards to the director's choice for the ninth instalment in the series (with
JJ Abrams in charge of
VII and
Looper's
Rian Johnson for VIII):
Colin Trevorrow (
Jurassic World and
Safety Not Guaranteed). This guy is building up an impressive resume, what with only directing those two films and an upcoming indie, so kudos to him!
Rogue Nation
Then came the first details for
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (so no longer an anthology film?), with principal photography having started and the above photo being the first look at
Felicity Jones and co. in the in-between scenes of Episodes III and IV. Add
Godzilla's
Gareth Edwards and the potential of this being a heist movie of sorts, and you may have an interesting addition to the
Star Wars universe.
And that's everything! So far at least - Sunday may have some more stuff but the schedule suggests otherwise. But if updates are needed, then updates will be made!
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