The Walt Disney Company and Epic Games will collaborate on an all-new games and entertainment universe Image: Disney / Epic Games
Disney is making its biggest push yet into video games. On February 7, the Mouse House and Fortnitecreator Epic Games announced plans to create new games and an entertainment universe where consumers can “play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more,” company representatives said in a press release.
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“Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe,” said Disney CEO Robert Iger. “This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can’t wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways.”
“Disney was one of the first companies to believe in the potential of bringing their worlds together with ours in Fortnite, and they use Unreal Engine across their portfolio,” said Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. “Now we’re collaborating on something entirely new to build a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that will bring together the Disney and Fortnite communities.”
Disney x Epic Games
This isn’t the first time Disney and Epic have collaborated. Fortnite has hosted several Star Wars-themed events over the years, including last year’s Find the Force event honoring the Prequel Trilogy. Back in 2020, Fortnite’s Nexus War with Galactus event based in the Marvel universe drew more than 15.3 million concurrent players, according to the press release announcing the deal.
While it’s tempting to think of Disney as primarily a producer of movies, TV, and Baby Yoda merch, it’s had a finger in the gaming pie for some time. This little nugget from the press release surprised me a little. “Licensed games from Disney garnered more than 150 award nominations, wins and other accolades in 2023, including multiple Game of the Year nominations for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Disney mobile games have 1.5 billion global installs, and to date, nine Disney games franchises have each grossed more than $1 billion in sales.” Who knew?
Anyway, congratulations to both these desperately cash-strapped companies who so sorely needed a chance to make more money.
After a string of box office flops including The Marvels and Wish, Disney CEO Bob Iger has fully committed himself to revitalizing the studio. As a creative visionary in his own right, Iger has stated he’ll improve Disney movies by doing the following.
This past week, Josh Levi released a cover of “Let It Snow,” the Christmas classic made famous by Boyz II Men. The track is faithful to the original while adding his own modern touch and updated production.
The single caps a busy year for Levi, which has also included a “scratched up” version of his DISC TWO EP as well as the singles “EGO” and “Birthday Dance.”
Levi first gained attention for his run as Darius in the beloved Friday Night Lights TV series. While he’s done some acting, he’s stuck mostly to music over the last few years. Last year, Levi combined both. Pixar fans might recognize his voice as 4*TOWN member Aaron Z. from the animated feature Turning Red.
Before a recent show at The Sun Rose in West Hollywood, we met up with Levi for some photos and a conversation about his music.
Why did you decide to cover “Let It Snow?” So many reasons. “Let It Snow” was my dad’s favorite when I was growing up, so this song is engrained in my brain cells. Also, Boyz II Men is my favorite group. So it was my favorite Christmas song, plus my favorite group, and it just meant a lot to me.
How did you approach it to make sure it sounded different than the Boy II Men original? I think I wanted to keep it as close as I could to the original because it’s such a classic, but I changed a few of the notes in the harmonies. Louie Lastic, the producer, worked with me to choose nostalgic and modern sounds to bring it to life, while still keeping in the elements that made the song what it is. Believe the snare and the high hats are different!
When you were a little kid, who did you want to sing like? A few people actually—definitely Michael Jackson, Brandy, Stevie Wonder, and Jazmine Sullivan. They are my Avengers team!
You don’t have a lot of collabs in your discography. Would you like to do more of that in the future? 1000%, I’m super selective with who I collaborate with, but I have a long list of people I’m burning to work with. There will definitely be collaborations on my album!
What’s your favorite song to perform live? Right now, it’s gotta be between “SEE LOW” and “NOSEBLEED.” Those songs have a special energy in them that feels really good to me live! Also, the lyrics are some of my favorite to perform and watch the fans sing back at me. They always have so much attitude and energy, with really all my songs—but I love when they sing those lyrics back to me.
How do you prepare for a vocal session? I drink a lot of water, I don’t eat, I drink throat coat tea, and I take a two-hour shower for the steam haha.
What was it like to be part of an animated boy band? It was really dope, I’m a huge fan of Pixar and The Incredibles is actually probably in my top 5 movies of all time, so it felt full circle. Watching my character come to life through animation was also cool. I loved that he was black and had brown skin and textured hair!
Your personal style has a ’90s vibe. What influences your taste in fashion? I really just dress how I feel. Every day, when I go to my closet or am planning looks for something, it first starts with a feeling. I think I’ve also gotten a chance to learn my body and know what fits me best. My influences change all the time. Right now, I’m inspired by New York fashion.
What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever received? This probably sounds random but one of my favorites was some Ugg slides (haha) from my sister! I wear them all the time and they are comfortable. I also got an egg nog-scented candle once, which was very creative and specific to me (an egg nog lover)!
On paper, the concept of Elemental is very in-sync with Pixar’s style of storytelling. The movie, directed by Pete Sohn, asks the question – What if elements had feelings and lived in a society? However, from the very first glance, one can tell that the film’s look and feel are not very Pixar-esque. Revolving around an adorable budding romance between Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis) and Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), two beings essentially made of fire and water respectively, the film takes on some heavy themes including immigration and racial discrimination.
The journey into Element City where fire, water, land and air reside was full of challenges and had the makers drawing inspiration from everything between Miyazaki’s works to The Godfather II. In an exclusive interview with Filmfare, Elemental’s VFX Supervisor Sanjay Bakshi, best known for The Good Dinosaur and Onward, unpacked the film’s visuals.
What was the brief given to you by the director?
I know Pete Sohn. I’ve worked with him before so I talked to him early on about the story. He wanted to talk about his parents and his immigration experience in the world of elements. He thought that was going to be a good way to convey what it felt like – moving to New York City. And my parents moved from India to Canada. So I related that experience. He wanted to talk to me generally about my experiences and see if they were relatable and universal.
Thevisuals are very different from any other Pixar movie. What are some of the experiments you wanted to do with this?
Thank you for saying that because that was our intention – to be unique looking. To balance realism and stylisation was the goal. But the stylisation for Pete (Sohn) was that it doesn’t have to look like a comic book or a graphic novel but to be in the medium of computer graphics. You’ll notice that Ember has outline work on her face but it’s dynamic and moving and light. On Wade’s face also you see the line work on the silhouette. If you were to draw that, it would be pencil work. But for Wade, it’s the meniscus that happens in water. It reacts to light and it’s moving so I hope that makes it unique. It’s not trying to look like another medium or hand-drawn stuff but made on the computer using computer graphics.
How different are the elements from the initial visuals?
That’s an interesting question. The early versions of Wade look a lot different than the one in the movie. We spent a lot of time making the character feel watery. We put a lot of work into his face as well. When his mouth’s shape changes, ripples would flow from them and pick up subtle bubbles through his head. But when we got into animation we could see it in the performance. So we had to dial it all back. That is something we had to leave on the cutting room floor. Some of the technology that we developed to make Wade feel watery, we dialled back and we left that for other parts of his body. So he still feels watery but we get the subtle acting that was necessary.
What was the key to achieving Ember’s fiery look and not making it scary?
One thing that we did to stylise her was running something called a pyro simulation to simulate heat. Fire is very distracting and really mesmerising. People can watch fire for hours because it’s constantly changing and it’s so interesting. But if you had that on Ember’s head it would be distracting. We still wanted it to be dynamic. So we used neural-style transfer to organise the flames. It’s still a simulation but we organise it into shapes that somebody has painted. So that simplifies them. That was one of the keys to unlocking the stylisation of Ember.
What were some of the movie references you looked at?
There was a lot. Pete is a cinephile and he really loves movies. There was Hayao Miyazaki – Calcifer is a character we looked at. He’s so funny and 2D and cartoony. These were the fun things we wanted a fire character to do, to change form and still be more realistic. We also looked at immigration movies. Godfather Part II has a beautiful sequence where there’s no dialogue and we see the patriarch Vito Corleone moving to Italy and going through Ellis Island and going through those steps. Not many Bollywood movies, unfortunately.
The music did sound like Indian instruments…
Yes, earlier on a few Indian movies were used as references but we slowly moved towards making it more universal because now you can’t pinpoint which country it exactly came from. That makes it more relatable.
How much has Pixar animation changed over the years?
I think it has evolved a lot. This movie was definitely the most challenging for me on a technical level. The industry is constantly changing. I like the idea of a lot of movies moving a little bit away from realism and towards stylisation. It’s a trend I’m really enjoying. The Spider-Verse films really feel that way. With Elemental it was a goal to make an imaginative world without overwhelming the audiences by being colourful and bold. I hope that continues as a trend in animated movies.
One hallmark of Disney movies? Easter eggs. The creators behind some of the most beloved animated films have always had a knack for weaving in blink-and-you’ll-miss it moments that make you do a double take. Sometimes, they’re inside references to other movies — but other times, they’re full-on character cameos. In fact, some of your favorite Disney movies feature quick appearances from other movies’ characters. It’s all about keeping your eyes peeled.
Luckily for you, we’ve done the hard work of tracking down these cameos in some of the most popular Disney films. Once you see them, you won’t be able to watch these movies again without taking notice. There are some cameos that are quite prominent — you don’t need to do any hunting to find them. Others are way more subtle, blending into the background so effortlessly, it’s a wonder anyone discovered them at all. It definitely helps that some of Disney’s most recognizable characters live a double life as inanimate objects. Just saying.
In the world of Disney, nothing is ever an accident. A carefully placed cameo might not just be a delightful Easter egg, either. According to one elaborate fan theory, there’s a case that multiple Disney films actually exist in the same universe. Whether or not you believe that all Disney movies are connected, one thing’s for sure — the animators put a ton of effort and meticulous detail into crafting each and every shot.
Below, you’ll find 12 surprising character cameos in Disney movies that you might have missed on the first watch.
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These iconic Disney characters showed up in other Disney movies — did you spot them?
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No one considers these Disney movies “classics” — but they should.
An all-new feature film from Disney and Pixar, Elemental transports moviegoers to an extraordinary city where a variety of elements live and work. The trailer showcases each element—air, earth, water and fire—and what sets them apart according to Ember (fire), a quick-witted and fiery woman who’s always stayed close to home in Firetown.
Watch the trailer here:
In Elemental, she finally ventures out of her comfort zone to explore this spectacular world born from the imaginations of Pixar’s filmmakers and specifically crafted for the big-screen experience.
The trailer explores her relationship with her soon-to-be-retired dad, Bernie, venturing around the Element city with Wade Ripple (water), meeting his family and finding herself.
The animated film stars Leah Lewis as Ember Lumen, Mamoudou Athie as Wade Ripple, Ronnie del Carmen as Ember’s soon-to-be-retired dad, Bernie; Shila Ommi as Ember’s mom, Cinder; Wendi McLendon-Covey as Wade’s stormy and Air-Ball-loving boss, Gale; Catherine O’Hara as Wade’s mom, Brook; Mason Wertheimer as Ember’s admiring earth neighbour, Clod; and Joe Pera as an overgrown city bureaucrat, Fern.
The film is directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream, it features a screenplay and story by John Hoberg and Kat Likkel and Brenda Hsueh as well as Sohn.
Elemental is preceded by a new short film featuring Carl Fredricksen (voice of Ed Asner) and his talking dog Dug (voice of Bob Peterson), who were introduced in Pixar’s Oscar-winning feature Up.
Disney and Pixar’s Elemental will release in theatres on June 16, 2023.
2022 was a big year for comedy films. Comedy is one of the most flexible genres; it tends to thrive best when paired up with another genre to add further depth and plot, as the films on this list will show. This year’s best comedy movies range from holiday comedies to rom-coms to funny family and children’s films. As expected, Disney, DreamWorks, Universal Pictures, and Pixar dominated the family and animated comedy sub-genres this year.
However, Apple TV+ also earned a spot on the list for its comedic twist on A Christmas Carol. Meanwhile, Channing Tatum proved that comedy is his niche, with two of his films topping the genre this year. There were also a couple of surprises as the horror-comedy genre seemingly made a comeback this year, and there were some unique and hilarious meta-films that stood out. Here are the 10 best comedy films of 2022, ranked to the best.
10. Spirited
(Apple Studios)
Spirited premiered on Apple TV+ on November 18, 2022, after a limited theatrical release on November 11. Just the fact that Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell lead the cast already promises that Spirited will be a comedic dream. The film is a modern musical reimagining of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and sees the Ghost of Christmas Present (Ferrell) attempt to change an “unredeemable” Clint Briggs (Reynolds) by giving him a Christmas Carol experience. However, the Ghost of Christmas Present finds the mission hits too close to home and begins to think he’s the one who needs a change. Spirited is a fun holiday flick that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It puts a unique spin on an overused premise, while also capturing Ferrell’s and Reynolds’s comedic genius. Octavia Spencer adds her musical prowess to the film, which occasionally suffers due to fledgling musical and dance sequences.
9. Minions: The Rise of Gru
(Universal Pictures)
Minions: The Rise of Gru premiered on July 1, 2022, and marks the fifth installment in the Despicable Me franchise. The film is a prequel to Minions and Despicable Me and follows the tale of how a young Gru (Steve Carell) befriended the Minions and delved into the world of villainy. Minions: The Rise of Gru isn’t the best installment in the franchise but it does bring back the shenanigans of the Minions who, no matter how silly they get, are so unbearably lovable. Meanwhile, Carell, as always offers a strong vocal performance as Gru, and the film is pure, unbridled fun and joy.
8. The Bad Guys
(Universal Pictures)
The Bad Guys premiered on April 22, 2022, and is a funny, family-friendly, and heartfelt comedy. This animated film has a twist, though, as it focuses on rather unconventional protagonists: a gang of notorious animal criminals about to pull off their biggest heist yet. However, the job requires them to become “reformed” in the eyes of society. The Bad Guys features intriguing animation, a brilliant star-studded voice cast, and a charming—albeit predictable—tale of a group of reluctant and unlikely heroes. It isn’t necessarily a ground-breaking or overly sophisticated film, but it is good, light-hearted fun that will appeal to all ages.
7. Bros
(Universal Pictures)
Bros premiered on September 30, 2022, and is one of the few gay rom-coms to be produced by a major studio. The film, which features an all-LGBTQ+ cast, follows Bobby Lieber (Billy Eichner) and Aaron Shephard (Luke Macfarlane), two men who think they aren’t ready to settle but who can’t deny the electric attraction between them that makes them desire a deeper relationship. Bros is a very representative rom-com and delivers well on both romance and comedy. It is hilarious, charming, vulgar, and ultimately very entertaining. The only problem is that it struggles to be wholly inclusive, often sidelining the most marginalized groups of the LGBTQ+ community and occasionally verging on stereotypes.
6. The Lost City
(Paramount Pictures)
The Lost City premiered on March 25, 2022, and brought viewers the dream comedic duo of Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock. The film follows Loretta Sage, a reclusive widow who writes best-selling romance novels centered on Dr. Angela Lovemore and her romantic interest, Dash McMahon. When Sage is kidnapped while promoting her latest book, dimwitted model Alan (who portrays Dash on Sage’s book covers and is desperate to be her hero) sets off to rescue her. What follows is an absolutely hilarious jungle adventure. The overused hidden treasure plot isn’t anything special, but Tatum and Bullock play off of each other so well that they elevate the film tremendously. As a result, The Lost City is enormously fun, delightful, and charming. It is one of those rare rom-coms that truly has you rooting for the destined couple.
5. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
(Lionsgate)
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a delightful, satirical action-comedy starring Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal. Cage plays himself in the film, though he is an uninspired version of Nic Cage struggling to stay relevant in Hollywood. When he meets superfan Javi Gutierrez (Pascal), it sets Cage on a wild, unexpected journey that will inspire him and teach him about friendship and family. Ultimately, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is hilarious, filled with clever Cage references, and isn’t afraid to poke fun at its star and the films typical of his career. However, it also has a surprising heart buried within, and the bromance between Cage and Pascal is pure gold.
4. Dog
(United Artists)
Dog premiered on February 18, 2022, and started the year off strong with its comedic road trip premise. The film sees Jackson Briggs (Channing Tatum) reluctantly embark on a road trip to bring Lulu, a dog scarred from war, to her owner’s funeral. Dog is an unexpected delight that contains many laugh-out-loud moments as well as several scenes that deliver a sharp emotional punch. Tatum is hilarious as ever as a clueless, wannabe playboy who causes far more trouble than Lulu does. Meanwhile, Lulu steals the show in every scene she is in and brings attention to the little-known fact that war dogs can also suffer from PTSD. At times, the tone is uneven and the film sometimes veers into a stereotypical portrayal of war, but it is a rare comedy that evokes both laughs and tears while teaching viewers something along the way.
3. Hocus Pocus 2
(Disney Plus)
Hocus Pocus 2 landed on Disney+ on September 30, 2022. The long-awaited sequel to the beloved 1993 comedy follows the Sanderson sisters—Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy)—as they return to Salem with an even more vigorous ambition to be all-powerful and stay forever young. Hocus Pocus 2 is one of the rare sequels that manages to live up to and potentially even exceed the classic original. The film is filled to the brim with nostalgia, Halloween spirit, comedy, and a touch of emotion. Midler, Parker, and Najimy step back into their roles as the Sanderson sisters as if no time has passed at all and they are as kooky, endearing, and hysterical as ever.
2. Bodies Bodies Bodies
(A24)
Bodies Bodies Bodies premiered on August 5, 2022, and demonstrates just how well comedy and horror mesh when done right. The film follows a group of privileged young folks whose get-together devolves into chaos when a dead body forces all of their secrets and insecurities to the surface. Bodies Bodies Bodies is an impeccably cast, over-the-top comedy-slasher film that is both hilarious and intriguingly cynical. It is a sharp, witty, unpredictable, and nuanced dive into the digital world and the habits, friendships, and perspectives of Gen Z.
1. Turning Red
(Pixar)
Pixar’s Turning Red is an animated coming-of-age comedy that premiered on March 11, 2022. The film follows Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang), an awkward, boy band-obsessed 13-year-old who suddenly finds herself afflicted with a condition that transforms her into a giant red panda. Turning Red is an absolutely hilarious film. Not only does the giant red panda lend chaos and humor to the story, but human Mei Lee and her friends add a whole different level of humor by painfully reminding every adult viewer what it was like to be a cringy 13-year-old. In addition to humor and nostalgia, Turning Red is a touching story about a young girl learning to embrace herself regardless of what the rest of the world thinks. It’s funny, family-friendly, and boldly feminine, making it a particularly unique and powerful comedy.
