Disney teased upcoming movies and television series including Moana 2 in a rousing showcase featuring sneak peaks, live performances and surprise appearances from actors.
Fans at Disney’s D23 convention welcomed chief executive Bob Iger with a standing ovation Friday at the top of the showcase, where he said he was eager to show off glimpses of their upcoming projects to “both the young and, as we like to say, the young at heart.”
“The world needs to be entertained maybe even more so now than ever before and we take that responsibility seriously,” he said before sessions teased new movies in the Avatar, Toy Story and Incredibles franchises.
In the first surprise, Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson of Moana jolted the crowd of over 15,000 at the Honda Centre with a performance of a song featuring drummers and dancers in costumes styled after the beloved animated movie.
Disney subsequently released the film’s first full-length trailer online. The footage introduces characters new (Moana has a little sister) and familiar, like her pet pig Pua and the Kakamora, a band of dart-blowing coconut-clad pirates.
Both actors are reprising their roles as Moana and Maui, respectively, in Moana 2, which was set to hit theatres in the US on November 27. Before showing an extended sneak peek of the film, Johnson said that working on the films has been special to him, noting that his daughters, who are 6 and 8 years old, were in the crowd.
Johnson also announced that he’d be continuing his long-running work on Disney projects to create a Monster Jam live-action movie. The studio did not announce any updates to Johnson’s other Disney project, the live-action Moana, that is in development.
Pixar Animation’s chief creative officer Pete Docter announced the studio was developing a third instalment of The Incredibles franchise.
Andrew Stanton, who directed the first two Toy Story films, has returned to lead Toy Story 5.
Stanton said the battle Woody, Buzz and the rest of the crew take on in this film is toys versus tech, noting that kids often opt for gadgets instead of classic toys today. The film is slated for theaters in summer 2026.
Jennifer Lee, the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, shared concept art from Frozen III that features Anna, Elsa and Olaf looking onto the horizon with an ominous creature lurking close behind them.
Director James Cameron and actors Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington reunited on stage to share new information about the third installment of Avatar. They announced the official title, Avatar: Fire and Ash and shared concept art that shows new glimpses of Pandora. Cameron said the film was too early in the production phase to show clips.
The New Zealand Film Commission announced in 2013 that three Avatar movies would be filmed in New Zealand, as Cameron said he planned to film in the country “indefinitely”.
“The new film is not what you expect, but it’s definitely what you want,” said Cameron.
Docter also announced an original Pixar film, Hoppers, starring Bobby Moynihan and Jon Hamm, and shared exclusive looks at upcoming film Elio. The young star of Elio, Yonas Kibreab, brought Saldana back onstage and announced her as a leading character, joining America Ferrera and Jameela Jamil in the cast. The movie will hit theaters June 13, 2025.
Pixar will also have two new series hitting Disney+ in a first for the studio. Following the record-breaking success of Inside Out 2, the studio is creating Dream Productions, a show set in between Inside Out and Inside Out 2, that will start streaming on Disney+ in 2025.
Fans were also treated to an exclusive look at Zootopia 2 which would come out in US theatres in November 2025. The film’s star, Ginnifer Goodwin, also announced Ke Huy Quan would join the cast of Zootopia 2 as a snake.
Additional reporting by 1News
