Kung Fu Panda 4 is just the first of many long-anticipated animated sequels coming out in 2024 and beyond. In addition, there are plenty of original stories and new takes on classic stories worth checking out, let alone the little surprises that pop up every year to make audiences fall in love even more with the power of animation.
Ever since movies such as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, the common misconception of animated movies being just “children’s movies” has become old news. Audiences are beginning to realize that animation isn’t a genre, but rather a medium that enables imagination to come to life like in any other. 2023 was an incredible year for animated movies with titles such as The Boy and the Heron, Robot Dreams, and Elemental. 2024 has the potential to be even more memorable.
15 The Garfield Movie (May 24)
Garfield, the iconic ill-tempered orange cat who hates Mondays and loves lasagna, received the cinematic treatment before with a range of 2D-holiday specials, questionable live-action movies, and the cheap Garfield Gets Real, but this time, The Garfield Movie promises to be filled with nostalgic value. The idea is doing justice to the iconic character as the indoor-obsessed cat is forced to go on an outdoor adventure.
Right next to Snoopy from Peanuts, Garfield is one of those comic strip characters who became an integral part of pop culture. The Garfield Movie is a valid attempt to bring Garfield’s adventures to a new generation, with Chris Pratt attached to the project as a follow-up to his compelling voice performance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
14 Inside Out 2 (June 14)
Of all the Pixar releases of the past years, Inside Out feels the most refreshing and reminiscent of the studio’s early phase with masterpieces such as Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story. In the film, the relatability factor was a big differential as a child’s emotions came to life in order to avert a crisis. The same ideas receive an update in Inside Out 2 when Riley enters her teenage years and new emotions show up to shake her mind.
Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment are all characters reportedly joining Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust in Inside Out 2, and the clash between them will likely be the catalyst for the sequel’s conflict. Adolescence is that moment in everyone’s life when things get genuinely tumultuous; the body changes, the mind matures, and new discoveries change one’s perception of right and wrong. There will certainly be a lot to explore, and the recently released trailer shows that Pixar has it covered.
Inside Out 2
- Release Date
- June 14, 2024
- Director
- Kelsey Mann
- Studio
- Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures
13 Despicable Me 4 (July 3)
One might argue that the great chemistry between Gru and the girls — Margo, Edith, and Agnes — isn’t enough to keep the Despicable Me franchise fresh, but the success of Minions: The Rise of Gru in 2022 proves that the creators still can get inventive when they want to. The fourth movie will play with noir conventions as a new nemesis enters the big picture, Maxime Le Mal, and a femme fatale lures Gru into a dangerous game.
There’s a chance that Despicable Me 4 will tie all loose ends from the previous movies. The first sign of Universal Pictures’ confidence in the film is the decision to release it at the peak of the summer window, competing with the most-anticipated blockbusters of 2024.
Despicable Me 4
- Release Date
- July 3, 2024
- Director
- Chris Renaud , Patrick Delage
- Studio
- Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment
12 Transformers One (September 13)
Even with all its ups and downs, the Transformers film franchise managed to keep a loyal fan base over the course of seven movies. In 2023, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hit the $430 million mark at the box office even without Michael Bay signing up as director. For Transformers One, the franchise will surprisingly shift from live-action to animation, a creative choice that perfectly suits the movie’s intent.
Transformers One is set to be an “origin story” kind of movie, set on the planet Cybertron years before the events of the movie. Fans will finally witness how Optimus Prime and Megatron went from comrades in arms to each other’s nemesis. The animated approach will enable audiences to glimpse into the mesmerizing planet without limitations while boosting the possibilities of action sequences in the franchise.
11 The Wild Robot (September 20)
The Wild Robot is a movie adaptation of the children’s book series about an eccentric robot shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. There it must adapt to its new surroundings while gradually developing a powerful bond with the surrounding animals, especially a fox named Fink and an orphaned gosling.
It’s not the first time that director Chris Sanders explores the idea of an alien being adapting to a new world, as his masterpiece Lilo & Stitch touches on similar themes. What makes The Wild Robot so bold is the lack of human characters in sight, prompting audiences to consider the strange and unfamiliar with different eyes.
The Wild Robot
- Release Date
- September 20, 2024
- Studio(s)
- Dreamworks
10 Piece by Piece (October 11)
Animated biopics can often be a shot in the dark; daunting and unconventional, they work best when directly linked to the creative aura that surrounds the subject of the story. Loving Vincent and The Wind Rises are among the best examples. Then comes Piece by Piece, building a LEGO world to illustrate the trajectory of Pharrell Williams.
The 13-time Grammy winner and two-time Oscar nominee has shaken the music industry in the past years, and deserves to have his story told from an unconventional perspective. Brick by brick, piece by price, his rise to stardom will get the lively treatment Williams’ artist status deserves.
9 The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (December 13)
While The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power isn’t unanimously embraced by the fandom, the series showed the audience how many more Middle-earth stories are worth telling, and the best way to keep things fresh is by experimenting with different mediums. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated project set 261 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s centered around Helm Hammerhand, who becomes the namesake for the stronghold of Helm’s Deep.
The animated movie is directed by Kenji Kamiyama, known for taking part in the creative process of projects such as Akira, Eden of the East, and Napping Princess. J. R. R. Tolkien left behind an enriching legacy that, in the right hands, can offer narratives as thrilling as the masterpiece that The Lord of the Rings is. The War of the Rohirrim is a landmark in the universe’s lore and delves deep into the past of familiar lands.
8 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (December 20)
The Sonic the Hedgehog film series started off on the right foot by showing how much they creators cared about the fans’ opinions: when the trailer of the first movie was released, it immediately stirred controversy because of Sonic’s design. Creators heard the complaints and fixed them. The result: two movies that earned over $400 million at the box office.
Plot details of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 are yet to be revealed, but at least Jim Carrey is reportedly returning as Dr Robotnik, Sonic’s nemesis. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ended with an exciting post-credits scene featuring Shadow the Hedgehog, who will likely be at the center of the third movie’s conflict.
7 Mufasa: The Lion King (December 20)
Release Date: December 20
Regardless of how many fans feel about the 2019 “live-action” remake of The Lion King, there’s no denying its success: the movie grossed $1.663 billion out of a $260 million budget. It didn’t take long before a related project was confirmed, Mufasa: The Lion King, the long-awaited prequel detailing Mufasa’s rise to power and the events that shaped his insightful moral compass.
It’s been five years since The Lion King remake, enough time to develop the technology needed to do justice to the emotions CGI-generated characters of the previous film were supposed to convey.
The fact that a new story will be told while preserving some fan-favorite characters is also a plus. As an entirely CGI-animated movie, it has the potential to be the year’s defining animation worthy of drawing 2024 to a close.
6 Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (TBA 2024)
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is the latest Sponge Bob movie in development, coming to Netflix sometime in 2024. The film will focus on the eccentric Sandy Cheeks, turning the foreigner into the homegrown, and vice versa, as SpongeBob SquarePants and the rest of the gang are forced to go all the way to her hometown in Texas to prevent Bikini Bottom from falling into the hands of an evil CEO.
The idea of bringing the aquatic creatures and their marine lifestyle to the arid lands of Texas is exciting and filled with irony that SpongeBob loves to embrace. Switching the distinctive 2D animation to 3D hasn’t really worked well in the past, but with Netflix taking the reins of the project Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie might turn out to be a great catalog addition.
5 Elio (June 13, 2025)
Elio is Pixar’s promise for 2025, a moving story about a teenage underdog named Elio who’s swept up in the Communiverse, where representatives from faraway galaxies mistake him for Earth’s ambassador. The film will be the first feature directed by Adrian Molina, co-writer of Pixar’s award-winning Coco.
Elio has the potential to be one of those original Pixar movies that remind audiences how the studio is determined to materialize dreams on the big screen. The film will introduce compelling alien lifeforms and explore the depths of the universe, but this journey will likely be propelled by the most humane impulses.
4 Shrek 5 (TBA 2025)
Release Date – TBA (2025)
The news that Shrek 5 was finally in development in April 2023 was something that fans wanted to hear ever since 2010, when Shrek Forever After was released. Shrek became famous for poking fun at classic fairy tales with a unique sense of humor, which made the fourth movie’s “what could’ve been” premise pretty much a parody of a parody. It divided audiences, but the Puss in Boots spin-offs kept Shrek fresh in the minds of fans.
A direct reference at the end of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish showed that talks about Shrek 5 were solid, and the film’s positive critical reception makes it the perfect timing for a Shrek comeback. Plot details are yet to be disclosed, but the original voice actors — Michael Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy — are confirmed to return.
3 Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse (TBA 2025)
Talks about superhero fatigue don’t apply to the breathtaking job that directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson, and Kemp Powers are doing in the Spider-Verse trilogy. Expectations were high after the Oscar-winning beginning, and they paid off with an emotionally charged journey throughout different universes.
However, the goal of releasing the third and final part, Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse, in March 2024 didn’t go as planned as the creators revealed they needed more time to pull off an epic conclusion. It will take a while until fans finally find out how the confrontation between Miles Morales and his Prowler self from Earth-42 will unfold, but at least they won’t be given anything rushed.
2 Frozen III (November 5, 2026)
It will take some time until fans get to see Anna, Elsa, and their friends again, but at least Frozen III got a solid release date as opposed to other sequels announced by Disney. The first Frozen movie struck gold at the box office, earning $1.282 billion and inducing the whole world to chant “Let it Go.” To the surprise of many, the second film was an even greater success, making nearly $1.500 billion and inevitably sealing the deal for a third movie.
Frozen stands out as one of Pixar’s most fascinating takes on fantasy, even though the magic of the movies is grounded in a fairly traditional formula. The moving relationship between the main characters added to the delightful musical numbers has the potential to win over children and grown-ups alike.
1 Toy Story 5 (TBA)
Pixar’s breakthrough franchise, Toy Story revolutionized the use of CGI in animation and marked a generation with its range of peculiar characters; toys that come to life when their owner is not around. Toy Story 3 arguably gave the characters the best possible conclusion, with Andy giving his loyal toys to someone who deserved them and going away to college. Then Toy Story 4 came in to restart the whole thing, this time with a heavy focus on Woody’s character development.
The confirmation of Toy Story 5 comes with a mix of excitement and reluctance. Though the idea of revisiting beloved characters is charming, it feels as if there isn’t a lot to their journey any longer. At least fans will be graced with a heartwarming return of Woody and Buzz going on adventures together.
