Disney/Pixar to release 10 animated films by 2012

Walt Disney Co., one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world, announced Tuesday its plan to roll out a slate of 10 new animated films through 2012. The media conglomerate unveiled its plan to release animation slate for movie theater owners and the media at a New York press conference.

In the conference, Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, and John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, said the line-up will include six features from Pixar Animation Studios, four from Walt Disney Animation and the first four in a series of direct-to-DVD films from Disney Toon Studios.

The line-up, including further installments in the "Toy Story" and "Cars" series and two new fairy tales, will release during the next four years.

"We're excited to be pushing the boundaries of 3-D and computer technology to tell our stories in the best possible way," said Lasseter.

The roster of new animated features includes films from Disney and Pixar's accomplished team of filmmakers, and features vocal performances by such renowned celebrities. For instance, the voices of John Travolta and hit teen singer/actress Miley Cyrus will star in Disney's "Bolt," a film about the adventures of a Hollywood show dog “Bolt” and his owner, Penny. The film is due to open this year on November 26.

Likewise, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson are voicing in "The Bear and the Bow," a holiday 2011 fantasy about an impetuous Scottish princess; Anika Noni Rose and John Goodman are giving their voices in Disney’s original animated fairy tale "The Princess and the Frog," which is due to be released on Christmas Day.

Pixar's "Toy Story 3", which is due to hit screens on June 18, 2010, is featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, the original cast from the previous "Toy Story" films. "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" are due to be re-released in digital 3-D on October 2, 2009 and February 12, 2010 respectively. The classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Rapunzel" will be released at Christmas 2010.

This year's other releases include "WALL*E," a Pixar film from the writer-director of "Finding Nemo" on June 27th; and the DVD and Blu-ray release of "Tinker Bell," the first of a series about the world of fairies, due Oct. 28.

The Studio's 2009 animated slate includes the summer release of Pixar's first 3-D feature "Up," the story of an unlikely 78-year-old adventurer and his 8-year-old sidekick and the Disney DVD and Blu-ray release of "Tinker Bell North of Never Land."

In the summer of 2011, Pixar's "Newt," a story of the last two blue-footed newts on the planet that aims to show that love is not a science, will debut, and Pixar's "The Bear and the Bow" will be the studio's Christmas holiday release.