By Colton Silva
On March 7th, 2025, it was announced that Jon Favreau, creator of movies and shows like The Mandalorian, The Jungle Book (2016), and The Lion King (2019) would now be creating a live action/animation hybrid series around Disney’s true first character, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. It is also said that Favreau has several plans for other projects regarding other Disney properties. Some announcements for those projects have been released and some are still under wraps. I’m here to talk about the projects that have been announced, what it means for the future of Disney, and how Favreau should tackle one of his projects that he is currently trying to find a story for.
Oswald: The Lucky Rabbit (Series)
The first project Favreau will be creating is a Disney+ live action/animation hybrid show based around Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: a cheeky, self-absorbed bunny. His first debut was on September 5th, 1927, in the animated short film Trolley Troubles. He starred in 26 cartoons before the rights to the character were given to Universal Studios. In February 2006, Disney reacquired the rights to Oswald and has yet to set him back in a big project since his time in short films.
Now, with the series, Disney hopes to bring the character’s popularity back nearly a century later in a way that evolves the character but keeps true to what made Oswald so loveable in the first place. The series is reportedly in the style of films like Mary Poppins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Space Jam in the way that it combines real world settings with animated characters inhabiting the environment. It is also rumored that if the series ends up doing well, Disney plans to create a new cinematic universe with movies and shows based on its most popular group of characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and so on.
Epic Mickey (Movie)
On November 25th, 2010, Disney Interactive Studios released their first big video game, Epic Mickey, for the Wii. The story revolves around Mickey Mouse accidentally ending up in a damaging world created by the sorcerer from the film Fantasia. Trying to right his wrongs, Mickey makes acquaintances with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit to go on an epic adventure to save their world from going into darkness and to bring color and wonder back to life. This visual beauty of a game has been praised for years and years with fans hoping one day to get a feature film adaptation. If the recently mentioned Oswald series does well on their streaming platform, then Disney will pursue the creation of the possible film.
Kingdom Hearts (Movie)
Kingdom Hearts is possibly Disney’s best selling and most popular video game series ever created. It has been a fan favorite for over two decades now, with a multitude of many different spin off games over the years and a fourth instalment in the works. While we wait for that continuation of the game side of things, we have a movie possibly in the works.
Kingdom Hearts tells the long and complicated story of a kid named Sora who finds himself in a situation where his island—along with his friends Riku and Kairi—was swept away by a force of darkness. He ended up transported to a whole new world. He then meets the comedic relief duo that is Donald Duck and Goofy, who are looking for their lost king. With the help of his new found friends and a new artifact called “The Keyblade”, Sora will now embark on a journey across many different worlds (the worlds of other famous Disney stories) to find his friends and bring back light in a universe being covered in darkness.
Magic Kingdom (Movie)
Back in 2016, Favreau has expressed interest in creating a film revolving around the real life theme park that is Florida’s Magic Kingdom. He has stated that the film would be a lot like Night of The Museum, in which all the animals and statues came to life at night. Here, it would be the same concept, except all the rides and characters would come to life. It is said that he is still interested in creating this film, but doesn’t know what to do about the story itself besides the concept.
I believe that I have the perfect idea. It could not only make for a great story and film, but would also be an already well known story that has been praised for years, with fans that have been wishing for an adaptation of some kind on the big or small screen. Therefore, it would bring in a fanbase and make more money and smiles on peoples faces.
Proposition for Possible Film: The Kingdom Keepers
Written by the incredibly talented author, Ridley Pearson, The Kingdom Keepers franchise of books has been around since 2005. The original book, The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, follows the story of 5 teenagers who are recruited to be the new hosts of a new technology for theme park “guides”. However, at night, when all the kids go to sleep and the parks are closed, they are transported to the magical place that is the Magic Kingdom. Once the night goes dark, the park comes to life. Though it seems like a dream for the teenagers to have the park come to life for them at night, they are proven wrong when they discover a lurking evil seemingly taking over the parks. Together, the group will have to face off many fantastical evils, solve mysteries, and become the new Kingdom Keepers.
This is my personal favorite book series. I love all the little details about the parks and their histories. I also adore the writing and character arcs that were created. It is serious, humorous, fantastical, and grounded—a perfect balance that every Disney fan will love. Fans have been begging for a screen adaptation for years, and now they have a perfect opportunity to present it to the big screen. I hope Jon Favreau finds out about this beloved and delightful book and we can get the faithful adaptation it deserves.
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