SINGAPORE – The worst of the pandemic may be over, but another fever has a grip on animation studios: sequels.

In 2024, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, Walt Disney Pictures and more are banking on familiarity to sell tickets – Gru, Po and Moana from the Despicable Me, Kung Fu Panda and Moana franchises respectively will be making a comeback.

With box-office revenues dented by the pandemic, the big boys are choosing to play it safe.

For example, Walt Disney Pictures will take the first step in franchise creation by releasing two second chapters: Inside Out 2 (from Disney subsidiary Pixar) and Moana 2.

Universal Pictures has given the Kung Fu Panda and Despicable Me franchises fourth chapters, while Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog gets a third and Transformers One is the animated prequel based on the live-action film series (2007 to 2023).

Paramount has original material in the magical adventure IF, which stands for Imaginary Friends, about a girl with the power to see everyone’s make-believe buddies.

Because launching originals is less risky for streaming services, companies such as Netflix are leading the charge.

It will premiere at least three such animated titles – The Imaginary, Spellbound and That Christmas – but will also unleash at least one franchise film from the SpongeBob SquarePants world, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie.

Kung Fu Panda 4 (in cinemas on March 7)

The story of China’s unlikeliest gongfu master continues after an eight-year break, the longest ever in the franchise.

Director Mike Mitchell is a series newcomer but a veteran in animation, having directed Shrek Forever After (2010), Trolls (2016) and The Lego Movie 2 (2019).

In the new chapter, actors Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, James Hong and Dustin Hoffman are back to voice Dragon Warrior Po, Po’s biological father Li Shan, Po’s adoptive goose father Mr Ping and Master Shifu respectively.

Awkwafina is a newcomer to the franchise as Zhen, a thieving fox who teams up with Po to defeat the villainous Chameleon (voiced by Oscar winner Viola Davis).

IF (in cinemas on May 16)

Actor, writer and director John Krasinski has conquered live-action movies and television, so it feels right that the father of two is now moving into animation.

The director of survival thrillers A Quiet Place (2018) and A Quiet Place Part II (2020), and voice actor in the animated superhero comedy DC League Of Super-Pets (2022), wears all the big hats in IF. He is this adventure story’s director and writer, as well as performer in an unspecified role.

Blending live action with animation, IF tells the story of Bea (Cailey Fleming), a girl who can see everyone’s Imaginary Friends, creating the initials of the title.

Ryan Reynolds (playing her neighbour who can also see IFs), Steve Carell (portraying Blue, a furry imaginary friend) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (voicing Blossom, a ladybug) round off the cast in this account of Bea’s adventures in reuniting people with their long-lost IFs.

The Garfield Movie (in cinemas on May 23)

The last movie based on cartoonist Jim Davis’ comic strip about the lasagna-obsessed cat was released in 2006 (Garfield: A Tail Of Two Kitties).

While it did well at the box office, development of a cinema-release follow-up has been slow, though the grouchy feline did show up in video and television projects.

But a new Garfield movie is coming this year, with Chris Pratt replacing Bill Murray as the voice of the title character.

This is the first fully animated movie, with the first (Garfield: The Movie, 2004) and second in 2006 combining a live-action human cast with computer-generated critters.

In the new story, Garfield finds out that his dad is Vic, a street cat voiced by Samuel L. Jackson. Joined by Odie, the dim-bulb dog voiced by Harvey Guillen, the duo embark on an adventure away from the creature comforts provided by owner Jon (Nicholas Hoult).

10 Lives (in cinemas on June 6)

The second cat-centred film in 2024 after The Garfield Movie revolves around Beckett (voiced by British comedian Mo Gilligan), who is found and adopted by scientist Rose (Simone Ashley).

After the selfish, trouble-prone kitty loses his ninth and final life, the Gatekeeper angel (Sophie Okonedo) grants Beckett 10 more chances to change his ways.

Each time he dies after his hubris gets the better of him, he comes back in a different form – as a horse, cockroach and parrot, among others.

Aimed squarely at children, the film is directed and co-written by Christopher Jenkins, who worked in animation at Disney projects such as The Little Mermaid (1989).

Zayn Malik, a former member of boy band One Direction, has a voice part, his first speaking role in a feature film. He voices two dim-witted criminals, Cameron and Kirk, and wrote music for the movie.

Inside Out 2 (in cinemas on June 13)

Riley was just a kid in the first Inside Out (2015), but she is now a teenager, with the usual adolescent issues.

Her emotions – played by returning voice actors Amy Poehler as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness and Lewis Black as Anger – still live in her head, directing her thoughts and actions.

Liza Lapira replaces Mindy Kaling as Disgust, while Tony Hale steps into the role of Fear, following Bill Hader’s recast.

In this follow-up, the group’s finely honed dynamics are wrecked by the arrival of new emotions, with Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) among them.

Despicable Me 4 (in cinemas on July 4)

Also getting a fourth chapter alongside Kung Fu Panda is another biggie – supervillain-turned-secret agent Gru and his family – after a seven-year hiatus.

This time, Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell), his secret agent wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and their three adopted daughters are joined by a new member: Baby Gru Jr.

With its army of Minions, the gang faces a new supervillain, Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell), and his girlfriend, the deadly Valentina (Sofia Vergara).

Moana 2 (in cinemas on Nov 28)

The first movie in 2016 was popular and earned two Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (for How Far I’ll Go), so a sequel was a given.

The follow-up sees the return of American actress Auliʻi Cravalho as the voice of the plucky Polynesian chief of the film’s title. Also back is Dwayne Johnson as the voice of the demigod Maui.

Other than a bare-bones premise about Moana and Maui crossing the ocean on another urgent mission, not much is known about Moana 2.

However, it will be a musical, with original songs from the first film’s composers, Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i.

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim (in cinemas on Dec 12)

For The Lord Of The Rings fans, there can never be enough content, so this release is keenly anticipated.

In the second film, The Two Towers (2002), refugees from the Kingdom Of Rohan shelter in the Hornburg, a fortress nestled in the valley named Helm’s Deep, where they will make a stand against the army sent by dark lord Sauron.

The new film is set 183 years before the events of the original trilogy (2001 to 2003) and sees the King Of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Brian Cox), also relying on the ancient Hornburg for protection after an invading force comes for his people, intent on their destruction.

Gaia Wise voices Hammerhand’s daughter Hera, while Miranda Otto – who played Eowyn the noblewoman warrior in the trilogy – reprises her role, this time as the prequel’s narrator.

The Imaginary (Netflix, coming in 2024)

This film comes from director Yoshiyuki Momose, who climbed the ranks at the famed Studio Ghibli by working as an animator in the Oscar-winning Spirited Away (2001) and as designer on the Oscar-nominated The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya (2013).

Momose made The Imaginary at Studio Ponoc, founded in 2015 by Studio Ghibli veterans.

Based on the 2014 children’s novel of the same name by British writer A.F. Harrold, the story revolves around the Imaginaries, creatures born of human thought but who are vulnerable to attack.

Amanda and her Imaginary friend, Rudger, spend their days playing in the attic, but are threatened by the arrival of Mr Bunting, a hunter of Imaginaries.

Spellbound (Netflix, coming in 2024)

Alan Menken, the tunesmith behind Disney classics such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992) and Pocahontas (1995), is penning the songs in this musical fantasy. The film-maker is Vicky Jenson, whose credits include directing Shrek (2001) and Shark Tale (2004).

The kingdom of Lumbria has been placed under a curse that has turned its rulers into monsters. Princess Ellian (Rachel Zegler) must go on a quest to save her family and her realm. The voice cast includes Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, John Lithgow and Nathan Lane.

That Christmas (Netflix, coming in 2024)

The screenwriter of the acclaimed comedies Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and Love Actually (2003) has penned the screenplay for this work, comprising separate story threads that come together.

British writer Richard Curtis also penned the original trilogy of children’s books from which he adapted the film’s screenplay, which marks his first attempt at writing for an animated movie. The project is helmed by Swiss animator and director Simon Otto, making his film debut.

Not much is known about the story, not even its voice cast. According to Netflix, the Christmas-themed work deals with “family and friends, love and loneliness, and Santa Claus making a big mistake”.