Feature Release Schedules

DreamWorks Animation yesterday gave notice about another upcoming feature, and its release date.

DreamWorks Animation has announced today that Mike Mitchell is set to direct their upcoming Trolls. Emmy Award-winning writer Erica Rivinoja will provide the screenplay.

Mitchell, currently directing the live action sequences in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 2, has garnered a fan base among family audiences for hits such as Shrek Forever After, Sky High and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, and has a proven track record taking legendary characters on new adventures. Rivinoja has been lauded for her work on comedies including "South Park" and "Up All Night." Under the direction of this new creative team Trolls will be distributed by Twentieth Century Fox on November 4, 2016.

"Mike and Erica are the perfect team to reimagine this film," said Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke. "Mike's pedigree in shaping stories with already beloved characters is second to none." ...

One thing you can say for DWA, they give you titles, subject matter and dates when they announce their future feature projects.

Diz Co., on the other hand, trods a different path:

... Disney has set a course for its animated features through 2018. All will be in 3D, with 2-3 pics coming out a year essentially alternating between Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Most dates fall in June (where Pixar has opened Brave, Cars 2 and Toy Story 3 and will bow Monsters University on June 21 this year) and November (past titles opened on this month include Wreck-It Ralph and Tangled and this November 27 release Frozen). The new dates come after already announced slots for Disney animated titles like Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur (May 30, 2014), the untitled Inside The Mind movie (June 19, 2015), and the Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory (November 25, 2015). It’s also after Disney’s first Marvel-based animated feature, Big Hero 6, which has a November 7, 2014 release date. It seems likely that the just-in-the-news Dia De Los Muertos movie could get one of these new dates. Speculate away. Here’s the list if you’re scoring at home:

March 4, 2016 — Untitled Disney Animation wide in 3D
June 17, 2016 — Untitled Pixar Animation wide in 3D
November 23, 2016 — Untitled Disney Animation wide in 3D
June 16, 2017 — Untitled Pixar Animation wide in 3D
November 22, 2017 — Untitled Pixar Animation wide in 3D
March 9, 2018 — Untitled Disney Animation wide in 3D
June 15, 2018 — Untitled Pixar Animation wide in 3D

DW Animation is a wee bit less sketchy about its upcoming projects than the House of Mouse is, but of course DreamWorks release dates only extend to Turkey Day 2016, while Diz Co. has months and days pinned down through the middle of 2018.

Nevertheless, it looks to us as though there is going to be a royal collision of animation titles down the road. The question is: How many animated features can be nurtured and sustained in a given calendar year?