Disney reveals 'Toy Story 5,' 'Frozen 3' in the works

Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger has announced that sequels to the animated franchises Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia are in the works.

“Today I’m so pleased to announce that we have sequels in the works from our animation studios to some of our most popular franchises, Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia,” Iger said during the company's Feb. 8 Q1 earnings call.

This development comes amid news of a mass layoff of 7,000 Disney employees.

News of sequels is not surprising, however, given the significant commercial success of the most recent installments of the said franchises.

In 2019, Frozen 2 earned $1.45 billion (around P79.44 billion) and Toy Story 4 made $1.07 billion (around P58.619 billion). Meanwhile, Zootopia collected $1.02 billion (around P55.88 billion) in 2016.

On the other hand, more recent Disney original films have tanked at the box office. Strange World came to Disney+ early after its theatrical release closed with just under $74 million (P4 billion) worldwide.

Encanto similarly produced over $256 million (P14 billion) globally and $96 million (P5 billion) locally, which, to be fair, coincided with COVID-19-related shutdowns at the time. The Oscar-winning animated film proved to be a bigger hit on Disney+.

Not to mention, the most recent installments of the relevant franchises are all critically acclaimed. Toy Story 4 and Zootopia each won an Academy Award for Best Animated Featured in their respective years. Frozen 2's Into the Unknown was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song.

Iger teased that more details will follow regarding the upcoming sequels of the Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia franchises.

“We’ll have more to share about these productions soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivaled brands and franchises," the Disney executive said.