The Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4 and ... Planes? What we learned from Pixar and Disney at D23

Although Disney and Pixar’s animation panel at D23, Disney’s biennial convention, was admittedly not as exciting as we hoped it would be, there were a few interesting pieces of information that we got out of it.

From Toy Story 4 getting a directorial shakeup to additional details on The Incredibles 2, Disney and Pixar managed to give us a little more to look forward to in the coming months and years.

In the span of two hours, the two studios ran down a stream of news about their upcoming projects, which makes it tad more difficult to keep an eye on everything for the average Disney fan at home. That’s why we’ve collected all of the important tidbits and listed them here for your reading pleasure.

The Incredibles 2 will focus on Elastigirl

One of Pixar’s most anticipated movies is The Incredibles 2, a sequel to its 2004 film about a family of superheroes. Earlier today, Pixar’s chief creative officer, John Lasseter, confirmed that the events of The Incredibles 2 would pick up right where the first film ended, meaning there hasn’t been any passing of time in-between the films.

During the panel, director Brad Bird added a few additional details. The Incredibles 2 will focus primarily on Elastigirl, voiced by Holly Hunter, with much of the movie’s action centering around her character. And now that the audience knows that Jack-Jack, the youngest member of the Parr family, has a smorgasbord of superpowers, the question is how soon will he join the rest of his crime fighting family in the coming years.

The Incredibles 2 will be released on June 15, 2018.

Toy Story 4 gets a new director

Toy Story 4, the followup to 2010’s emotional Toy Story 3, has had a change in directors.

Lasseter confirmed today that he was no longer involved with the project. Instead, Josh Cooley, who was previously announced as Lasseter’s co-director, will handle the movie by himself. This is Cooley’s first solo feature film. Cooley got his start as an story intern at Pixar, alongside producer Jonas Rivera, making the film more important to the duo than ever before.

During the panel, Pixar showed off a behind-the-scenes featurette, which may have included hints for fans, but it was difficult to tell. When the video is eventually published online — don’t hold your breath — Pixar fans will surely look in every nook and cranny for clues.

Toy Story 4 will be released on June 21, 2019.

Disney is working on a Planes-like movie

If you were one of the few people who enjoyed Planes, Disney’s high-flying take on Pixar’s Cars that was released in 2013, this announcement is for you.

One of the newest movies Disney is working on appears to be some kind of spiritual followup to Planes, except much darker. The film, which doesn’t have a name at this time, features a couple of realistically rendered military-grade jets racing against one another before disappearing into space and barreling back down to Earth. The biggest hint Disney gave that this was a part of the Planes universe, to some extent, was the familiar eyes each of the planes had. Those who have seen Cars or Planes knows what we’re talking about.

The untitled movie will be released on April 12, 2019.

Wreck-It Ralph 2 is getting a new, Tumblr-inspired character

Ralph is leaving the arcade cabinet and heading to the Internet. It’s a scary jump for the beloved video game character and he’ll need a guiding hand to make sure he doesn’t get caught up in the world of online comments, pop-up ads and spam.

That’s where Yesss comes in. Voiced by Taraji P. Henson, Yesss is the “heart and soul” of a buzz-making site. One of the most interesting aspects about Yesss is that she’s constantly shifting the look of her hair and clothes, which are made of fiberoptic materials — because she lives online.

In the rough clip from the movie that was shown to an audience gathered, Yesss tries to explain certain online jargon to Ralph, including what “going viral” means. Her character is definitely inspired by sites like Tumblr and Buzzfeed, and she’ll probably feel like one of the most relevant Disney characters in years.

Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 will be released on Nov. 21, 2018.

A new, untitled Pixar movie that’s like The Flintstones meets D&D

Monsters University director Dan Scanlan is bringing one of his most personal stories to the big screen with Pixar’s next untitled film.

The movie is set in a world of “suburban fantasy.” We weren’t show much, but a title card displayed a small town’s skyline, complete with street lamps and a water-tower. There also happened to be a dragon flying off in the distance. Scanlan’s movie will include unicorns, dragons and a plethora of other beasts that are considered pests to other, ordinary folk — like centaurs, trolls and sprites.

Scanlan told the D23 audience that the story was inspired by his father, who passed away when he was an infant. Scanlon said it was a recording of his father’s voice, a simple “hi” and “bye” that inspired him to develop the story.

Everything else

With more footage shown from Coco, including a pretty funny scene inside the Department of Lost Families, and teases for Frozen 2, Pixar and Disney have much more on their plate.

Coco is Pixar’s next movie, set to be released on Nov. 22, 2017, while Frozen 2 is undoubtedly the studio’s most anticipated movie among young children around the world. Expect more information on the latter in the coming months. Frozen 2 will be released on Nov. 27, 2019.

Disney’s D23 conference runs from July 14-16.