We’ve had a windfall of back-to-back announcements on two beloved Disney franchises!
The wildly-successful “Coco” is officially getting a highly-anticipated sequel, while a reimagined “Power Rangers” series is reportedly in the pipeline for Disney+. We are living!
“Power Rangers” Rise Again In New Series
Duty calls again, Rangers! Get ready, as a new series might be “morphin’” our way pretty soon. According to The Wrap, the upcoming series is now in its early stages of development, with Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz, the showrunner for “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”, to pen, showrun, and produce the series.
It was also confirmed that the show is made and will exclusively premiere on Disney+ and its subsidiary, 20th Century TV. Furthermore, Hasbro will be producing the upcoming series, seeking to reinvent its newly-acquired franchise for a new generation while leaving key elements behind for veteran viewers to enjoy.
For those who have not kept up with the series: it was launched in the ‘90s and originally titled “The Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger,” which was directly inspired by the Japanese “Super Sentai”. It typically follows a group of three to five teenagers given the ability to transform into Power Rangers to fight off the forces of evil, be it with their fists or weapons or their giant robots called megazords.
The series has gone through numerous changes over 30 years, as well as received several movie adaptations. The most recent film that had a theatrical release was “Power Rangers” back in 2017, while the most recent series entry was back in 2023 for Netflix and was called “Power Rangers Cosmic Fury”. There was also a Netflix special film release back in April 2023 called “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always,” which brought back some of the original cast for the franchise’s 30th anniversary and honoured the deceased actors Thuy Trang (Trini Kwan/the original Yellow Ranger) and Jason David Frank (Tommy Oliver/the original Green Ranger).
As mentioned earlier, the franchise is now owned by Hasbro, which bought it in 2018, with a plan to “capitalise on the franchise’s full potential across all of the company’s divisions.” The development of “Power Rangers” is said to be a part of Hasbro Entertainment’s vision to improve narrative and create television shows based on Hasbro’s most recognisable brands, in collaboration with the top talent, production companies, and distribution channels in the business.
It’s not just “Power Rangers” that will be receiving this treatment. There are several other projects, such as a “Clue” re-imagining, a live-action “Dungeons & Dragons” series, “Forgotten Realms,” an animated “Magic: The Gathering” series, and game shows based on “Trivial Pursuit” and “Scrabble,” which both premiered on The CW this past fall.
Unfortunately, there’s not much news as to what the new series will be about, nor has there been any details on who the “top talent” will be. Regardless, we are extremely excited about this would-be new take on the franchise, whatever that may entail.
“Coco 2” Locked In For 2029
In an era filled with re-imaginings and remakes, it’s nice to see Disney pay attention and give some love to its original IPs that truly deserve it. Hence, fans of the beloved Pixar animated movie “Coco” were ecstatic when Disney CEO Bob Iger announced a sequel at the Mouse House’s annual shareholder meeting.
Naturally, this news created massive buzz in both the animation industry and among fans, doubly so when it was revealed that the movie is already in the early stages of development. Pixar later confirmed the news on social media, though they have, naturally, kept the details of the story under wraps. Furthermore, with its 2029 release window, the team is hellbent on creating a loving story that may rival, if not surpass, the original.
To say the original “Coco” was an award-winning film would be a massive understatement. The film racked about 112 awards, ranging from BAFTA all the way to the Academy Awards, and is universally loved for its cultural authenticity, beautiful visuals, and gut-wrenchingly emotional story.
What we do know is that the brains of the original production are coming back, with Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina set to return to the director’s seat, with Mark Nielsen coming back as a producer. This tells us that we are in for a treat, but it does raise some eyebrows, as Unkrich retired from Pixar back in 2019. According to reports, he has been working with Molina from behind the scenes for over a year, and returned from retirement to help create the “Coco” sequel. However, many speculate that this is Unkrich’s final hurrah, for real this time, and that Molina will have a far larger role in the sequel as a director.
Of course, we cannot discuss this matter without talking about the elephant in the room: Pixar’s move from producing more original stories to sequels. Remember, we still had “Inside Out 2” last year and the upcoming “Toy Story 5” for next year. Pixar has always been loved for its original storytelling, with its sequels revisiting the original casts who face new and, oftentimes, emotionally-heavy topics. “Coco 2” is likely following that blueprint, but we’d also like to see more original works coming from the beloved studio and not just sequel after sequel.
