Animation Outlook 2023: Box Office, Oscars, and Streaming Trends

2023 Animation Preview

• 🚀 The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set to release on April 7th, with a visit to Universal Hollywood's Super Nintendo World planned beforehand.
• 🕷️ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is slated for June 2nd, with its sequel, Beyond the Spider-Verse, expected in March 2024.
• 💖 Pixar's Elemental is scheduled for June 16th, facing the challenge of convincing audiences to see it in theaters.
• 🎬 Coyote vs. Acme, a project with a long development history, is also anticipated for release.
• 🐶 Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie is scheduled for October 13th, appealing to younger audiences.
• 🎶 The third Trolls movie, with a yet-to-be-revealed clever title, is expected on November 17th.
• ✨ Disney's Wish, a significant animated feature for the studio's centennial, is set for November 24th, aiming to be a "Disney masterpiece."
• 🦆 Migration, from Illumination and potentially written by Mike White, will arrive on December 22nd.
• 🤫 An unannounced original DreamWorks animated film is also expected in Spring 2023.

Box Office and Streaming Dynamics

• 📈 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has shown strong box office performance, projected to surpass Strange World.
• 📺 Despite a weak theatrical run, Strange World became the number one film among Disney Plus subscribers.
• 📉 A decline in animated features within the top box office charts is noted, with only one in the top 10 for 2022 compared to four in 2018.
• 💡 The shift to streaming, particularly Disney Plus, has conditioned audiences to wait for home viewing, impacting theatrical releases like Lightyear and Strange World.
• 🌐 The global market, including China's reopening, is expected to positively impact box office numbers for films like Avatar: The Way of Water and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Awards and Industry Concerns

• 🏆 Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is considered the film to beat for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, despite The Sea Beast being Netflix's most-watched animated original.
• 😟 The animation industry faces job security concerns due to project cancellations, order cuts, and conglomerates preparing for potential recessions.
• 📉 Examples like the shutdown of Sergio Pablos' Ember and the shelving of Scoob! 2 highlight industry instability.

Theme Park and Franchise Updates

• 🎢 Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is opening its West Coast version in late January.
• 🎢 Universal Studios Florida is retheming its Kid Zone into a DreamWorks-centric area, featuring Trolls and Shrek.
• 🏞️ Splash Mountain will be re-imagined as Tiana's Bayou Adventure, incorporating elements from the upcoming Tiana animated series.
• 🚀 DreamWorks is planning for future original films and sequels, including Shrek 5, with a strategic release approach.
• 🎬 The Puss in Boots: The Last Wish post-credit scenes hint at the return of Shrek and other characters, setting up future installments.