Somewhat lost in the shuffle of all the big Marvel and Star Wars news dropping this morning at Disney+ Day is the news that Pixar’s spinning off their popular Cars franchise into an all-new series, Cars on the Road. It’s set to feature Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy reprising their iconic parts as Lightning McQueen and his sidekick Mater. The streamer released some concept art which, among other things, shows McQueen and Mater on the run from some mechanical dinosaurs. It’s set to make its debut in 2022.
The Big Hero 6 spinoff series, Baymax, is also heading to Disney Plus in 2022, with the lovable robot now back to work as a healthcare attendant and helping the good folks of San Fransokyo. You can watch the trailer above.
Zootopia is also getting a spinoff series of a kind. Zootopia+, as it’s being called, will be a short-form series that will take a deeper dive into the world we saw in the blockbuster movie from a few years back (I’m shocked we never got a sequel).
Overall, Disney+ Day had something for everyone. While I imagine most of us were focused on the Marvel/Star Wars properties, it’s worth noting that the animation studios, even outside of Pixar, still bring in billions, and the idea of a Cars or Baymax series is going to bring in a ton of subscribers. Also, I find it interesting that Owen Wilson is suddenly Disney’s new MVP, with him having roles in Loki, the Haunted Mansion movie, and now a Cars series. He poked fun at the idea of another Cars movie a few weeks back in a pretty hilarious SNL sketch. I wonder if he knew then that he’d be back into the Pixar fold before long?
Are you excited about any of these new shows?