Mouse House unveils in-house programming slate heading to Disney+
Pixar’s Win or Lose follows a co-ed middle school softball team
Disney has revealed details about a slate of series heading to its streaming service Disney+ produced by its live-action and animation studios, including the first longform series made by Pixar.
The series were discussed during the D23 Expo 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California over the weekend, where thousands of fans gathered to hear the announcements and plans for Disney Live Action, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Joining Alan Bergman, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, were Sean Bailey, president of Disney Live Action; Pete Docter, chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios; and Jennifer Lee, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
As well as a host of films that will be made available to stream on Disney+, such as Hocus Pocus 2, Disenchanted, Peter & Wendy, the audience was given a closer look at Pixar’s first-ever longform series, which will stream on Disney+ in fall 2023.
Win or Lose follows a co-ed middle school softball team in the week leading up to their championship game. Each episode takes place that same week, highlighting the perspective of a different main character – players, their parents, the umpire – each reflected in a unique visual style.
Elsewhere, Lee discussed the opportunities Disney+ has created at Disney Animation, reviewing the slate of shows heading to the streamer, including shortform series such as Zootopia+, which launches on November 9.
Coming to Disney+ in 2023 is Iwájú, a longform series created in collaboration with pan-African comic book entertainment company Kugali.
Longform toon Iwájú is a collaboration with entertainment company Kugali
Lee invited to the stage Kugali filmmakers Olufikayo Ziki Adeola, Hamid Ibrahim and Tolu Olowofoyeku, who introduced the series, which is a love letter to Lagos, Nigeria.
Olowofoyeku and Ibrahim described the world of Iwájú as a futuristic depiction – a world bursting with colour, unique visual elements and technological advancements inspired by the spirit of Lagos, which is physically divided into an island and a mainland separated by both water and socio-economic status.
The coming-of-age story introduces a young heiress from the wealthy island and her best friend, a self-taught tech expert and loving son from the mainland.
Also at the event, Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, and Kevin Feige, producer and president of Marvel Studios, discussed new films and programming, while Disney Branded Television debuted new content and unveiled key projects for Disney+, Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
Kennedy discussed upcoming Lucasfilm content heading to Disney+, such as Andor, Willow, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, Ahsoka, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and season three of The Mandalorian.
Meanwhile, Feige talked about the upcoming Marvel series for Disney+, which include Ironheart, Werewolf By Night, Secret Invasion, Echo, Daredevil: Born Again, Armor Wars and season two of Loki.
Among the titles discussed by Davis during the session were Disney+ series American Born Chinese, which will launch in 2023 and is based on the genre-hopping graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang.
The series tells the story of an average teenager juggling his high school social life with his home life. When he meets a new student on the first day of the school year, even more worlds collide as he is unwittingly entangled in a battle between Chinese mythological gods.
Other titles mentioned included Big Shot, Marvel’s Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur, National Treasure: Edge of History, Prom Pact, The Proud Family: Louder & Prouder, The Santa Clauses and Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, which premieres in 2023 on Disney Junior and Disney+.
Set during the High Republic era, the series will follow a group of Younglings as they embark on missions where they help people in need, discover exotic creatures, clash with villainous pirates, train with their masters and, ultimately, learn the valuable skills needed to become Jedi: compassion, self-discipline, teamwork, patience and friendship.
“At Disney Branded Television, we create shows full of magic, adventure, thrill and heart that resonate with audiences around the world,” said Disney Branded Television president Ayo Davis. “Our announcements today spotlight the breadth and depth of our commitment to entertaining fans of all ages, across animation, live-action series and movies, unscripted and documentaries.”