After nearly a decade away, the furry freaks Sulley and Mike are to return to the task of not-really-frightening children. Disney-Pixar has announced a sequel to Monsters Inc, the 2001 movie that became the eighth highest grossing animation of all time, taking $256m (£167m). The new film will appear in cinemas in November 2012. In the meantime, two other Disney-Pixar sequels will reach the screen – Toy Story 3 this summer and Cars 2 next year.
Sequels and spin-offs look set to dominate the animation market in the immediate future. As well as the Disney-Pixar trio, DreamWorks premiered Shrek Forever After in 3D at the Tribeca film festival this week, and Antonio Banderas has confirmed that his Puss in Boots character is to get his own vehicle, due for release next year. Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek are, respectively, the No 1, No 4 and No 6 grossing animations in history, taking a combined total of $1.03bn. Shrek Forever After, in which the green ogre is tricked by Rumpelstiltskin and finds himself in an alternate Far Far Away, is released in the UK on 9 July.
Two other animated sequels are also in production. DreamWorks has a third Madagascar film slated for release in 2012, while the Weinstein Company is working on a followup to Hoodwinked, the Red Riding Hood retelling that took $110m worldwide against an estimated budget of only $15m.