Disney Reveals First Look at 'Coco 2': Teenage Miguel Returns in November 2029
Pixar's 'Coco 2' has its first look. At Disney's D23 fan event on 15 August 2026, the studio revealed concept art showing a teenage Miguel alongside his loyal dog Dante — and confirmed the sequel will arrive in cinemas in November 2029, according to Variety.
Lee Unkrich, who directed the 2017 original, is returning to the director's chair alongside Adrian Molina. Unkrich had retired from Pixar in 2019 to spend time with family; 'Coco 2' marks his first feature project since stepping away. His Pixar résumé runs deep — he directed 'Toy Story 3', which won him the Oscar for best animated feature, and co-directed 'Finding Nemo', 'Monsters, Inc.' and 'Toy Story 2'. Molina directed Pixar's 'Elio' and contributed additional screenplay material on 'The Good Dinosaur'. Producing is Mark Nielsen, a Pixar veteran whose credits include 'Toy Story 4' and 'Inside Out 2' (Variety).
The original 'Coco' opened over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2017 and grossed more than $800 million worldwide — domestic, meaning the United States and Canada, plus all international markets combined. It won two Academy Awards: best animated feature and best original song for 'Remember Me'. The film follows a young boy named Miguel who feels a calling to music against his family's wishes; on Día de los Muertos he crosses into the Land of the Dead and uncovers long-buried family secrets. Anthony Gonzalez voiced Miguel in the original (D23, date unknown).
'Coco 2' has been on Disney's slate since March 2025, when CEO Bob Iger announced the project was in development at the company's annual shareholder meeting (Reuters). The D23 reveal sharpens that commitment into a concrete release month and gives the public its first visual taste of where the story goes next.
The November 2029 slot places 'Coco 2' roughly twelve years after the original, a gap that mirrors the time-jump in the story itself: the concept art shows Miguel no longer as a child but as a teenager. Pixar has leaned heavily on sequels in recent years, and the strategy has paid off commercially — 'Toy Story 5' and 'Inside Out 2' both grossed over $1 billion worldwide. The studio's original slate, meanwhile, includes 'Hoppers', 'Elio' and 'Elemental'.
Before 'Coco 2' reaches screens, Pixar has another sequel on the runway: 'The Incredibles 3' is set for 2028. That means two consecutive years of Pixar returning to established franchises, with an original film presumably slotting in between or after (Variety).
For fans of the original, the biggest signal is in that concept art: Miguel, older, still with Dante at his side. The Land of the Dead waits to be revisited.
