Pigs in Space

Pigs in Space would be a 2026 American computer-animated musical space opera comedy film directed by Josie Trinidad and produced by Osnat Shurer and J.J. Abrams from a screenplay co-written with Jennifer Lee. Based on the The Muppet Show sketch of the same name, the film would be produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Bad Robot Productions with association from The Muppets Studio and The Jim Henson Company, and would star the voices of Eric Jacobson, Peter Linz, Matt Vogel, Dave Goelz, Alan Tudyk, and Ben Diskin. Pinar Toprak would compose the film's score, while the songs would be written by recurring Disney songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

Development on an animated film adaptation of Pigs in Space would start in early 2023, with Trinidad set to direct and co-write with Lee. Abrams would join in mid-2023, due to his work on both Star Wars and Star Trek films, while the film's cast, which would mostly consist of current Muppet performers, would be announced in late 2023. The animators would develop a new software system in order to create character designs that closely resemble the original puppets' designs. The directors would also work closely with The Muppet Studio in order to develop a film faithful to the sketch.

Pigs in Space would be released on May 24, 2026, and would vecome a critical and financial success, with critics praising the film's themes, direction, screenplay, faithfulness to the source material, humor, animation, vocal performances, musical score, and songs. The film would also earn 897 million dollars at the worldwide box office over a budget of 175 millions. The film would earn two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Picture.

Synopsis
Set in the depths of outer space, Disney's Pigs in Space follows the never-ending adventures of the Swintrek's tripulation: Captain Link Hogthrob, First Mate Piggy, and Dr. Julius Strangepork. After another dashing odyssey in space, the trio discovers that "the evil scourge of the galaxy", Dearth Nadir, came up with his most dangerous plan to take over the galaxy: create the biggest army of Chicken Droids in history and attack the universe! As the team struggles to defeat Nadir and save the galaxy, Piggy faces a bigger threat: Link constantly over-looking her. However, the Swintrek crew must put their differences behind or let Dearth Nadir take over the galaxy.

Voice cast

 * Eric Jacobson as:
 * First Mate Piggy, the first mate of the Swintrek, who is constantly over-looked by Captain Link Hogthrob.
 * Fozzie, Dearth Nadir's second-in-command, with a terrible sense of humor.
 * The Newsman, an intergalactic news reporter.
 * An Extreme
 * Peter Linz as:
 * Captain Link Hogthrob, the captain of the Swintrek, who constantly clashes with First Mate Piggy due to his ego.
 * Robin the Frog, Kermit's nephew and Link's biggest fan
 * Statler, a heckler featured in a live-action sequence in the film's post-credits scene.
 * Matt Vogel as:
 * Dr. Julius Strangepork, the Swintrek's resident scientis, who has a vast knowedge of the universe and a never-ending number of questionably-effective number of inventions.
 * The Chicken Droids, an army of chicken-like droids who serve Dearth Nadir. The Chicken Droids would be inspired by both the Droids from the Star Wars franchise, and the band of chicken stormtroopers that accompained Dearth Nadir in his first appearance.
 * The Announcer, the mysterious voice that narrates the adventures of the Swintrek's crew.
 * Kermit, a reporter working under The Newsman.
 * An Extreme
 * Dave Goelz as:
 * Dearth Nadir, an over-the top villain and the self-proclaimed "most evil scourge of the galaxy", who plans to take over the galaxy with an army of Chicken Droids. Goelz would be the only cast member that reprises his role from the original sketch.
 * Waldorf, a heckler featured in a live-action sequence in the film's post-credits scene.
 * Alan Tudyk as the Swintrek's computer, the A.I. system that partially controls the Swintrek.
 * Ben Diskin as Rizzo, a giant rat and Dearth Nadir's assistant and best friend, who has an insatiable appetite.
 * Phil LaMarr as:
 * Clifford, the owner and head of a cantina.
 * An Extreme
 * David Rudman as Scooter, the co-manager of the Swinstrek's landing.
 * Cree Summer as:
 * Skeeter, Scooter's twin sister and co-manager of the Swintrek's landing.
 * An Extreme

Additionally, Taika Waititi would voice Nigel, the over-stressed and coffee-loving head of the Swibpnetrek's control center. Frank Welker would provide the voice for Big Mean Carl, a dangerous beast owned by Dearth Nadir, who likes to eat living beings. J.J. Abrams would make a cameo as the voice of Snookie Blyer, one of Dearth Nadir's servants, who introduce Carl. Dee Bradley Baker would voice Foo-Foo, a giant dog who is eaten by Carl. Frank Oz would provide the vocal effects for the Koozebenian creatures. Idris Elba would voice Bean Bunny, the captain of the Bunnymorrow. Danny Trejo voices Poggy, a mercenary/spy who is accidentally angered by Link's ego. Charles Martinet voices Lobster Polly, Poggy's second in command. Jon Favreau voices Louis Kazagger, Nadir's security guard. Zeno Robinson voices Dr. Phil van Neuter, the head of the Swintrek's science division.

Music
Pinar Toprak, would compose the score for the film. Toprak would compose a score that would be "mid-Captain Marvel, mid-Muppets" in order to "catch the tone of the film", drawing inspiration from both the scores for Disney's Muppets movies and her score for Captain Marvel, for her score in the film. Toprak would compose a "determined and angry" theme for First Mate Piggy, while her theme for Captain Link Hogthrob would be "very pompous". Toprak would define her theme for Dr. Julius Strangepork as "very cientific and very goofy", and she would call his theme for Dearth Nadir "a parody of Star Wars 's The Imperial March".

Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who previously wrote songs for Disney's Winnie the Pooh (2011) and the Frozen franchise, and were set to write songs for the cancelled Muppets TV show Muppets Live Another Day, would write songs for the film. According to Anderson-Lopez, the duo would aim to create songs that were "one third Disney, one third techno, and one third Weird Al" in order for them to fit the film's setting and tone. The duo would also be inspired by their work on the Frozen franchise while writing First Mate Piggy's songs, as they would feel "she's as feminist as Elsa".

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have an approval rating of 90%, with an average rating of 9/10, based on 229 reviews. The website's critical consensus reading, "Action-packed but at the same time keeping that Muppet feel, Pigs in Space follows enough its beloved source material to leave fans with a big smile while also serving as a heartfelt love letter towards space operas, making it the perfect space-ride for all sorts of kids". On Metacritic, the film would have a weighted rating of 75 out of 100, indicating "generally positive reviews".

Trivia

 * This would be the first animated film based on the Muppets.
 * Aside from Alan Tudyk, several voice cast members would have worked on previous Muppet productions: most of the cast would be composed of current Muppet performers, while Frank Oz was a previous Muppet performer, Frank Welker previously did voice work for the shows Muppet Babies (1981-1994) and Little Muppet Monsters, and Ben Diskin and Dee Bradley Baker voiced characters in Muppet Babies (2018-present).

Easter eggs

 * The film would show the official designation of the Swintrek to be "JH-324", a reference to The Muppets' creator Jim Henson and his birth date, September 3, 1936.
 * The film's intro would be a shot-for-shot recreation of the sketch's intro during the first two seasons of The Muppet Show.
 * Dearth Nadir would call his Chicken Drone army "The Very Last Order", a reference to Emperor Palpatine's army in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which was called "the Final Order".
 * The control center's team in charge of the Swintrek would be composed of the same in-universe behind the scenes team as Muppets Tonight.
 * Bean Bunny appears as a space captain, much like he did in the first episode of The Jim Henson Hour.
 * One of the members in Bean Bunny's crew is a Muppet version of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
 * The "Alien Cantina" would be a reference to the Mos Eisley cantina from Star Wars: A New Hope. The Electric Mayhem would even resemble the band that played musoc during the scenes set in the cantina in A New Hope.
 * First Mate Piggy would defeat Dearth Nadir by throwing him to his ship's main reactor, a reference to Palpatine's first death at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. However, Nadir would survive his fall by creating an energy shield.
 * As the crew explores the Planet Kaoozebane, audio of the Koozebenians' mating ritual (known as the "Galley-oh-hoop-hoop") would be briefly heard.
 * During the climax, Fozzie throws a penguin at the Swintrek's crew due to having no idea on what to do, calling back to Jim Henson's philodophy regarding how to proceed when having no idea how to (have domething explode, be eaten, or throw penguins).
 * As Dearth Nadier releases his army, he shouts "its time to get things started".
 * At the start of the film, Piggy would reprimand Captain Link Hogthrob for nearly leaving the Swintrek without enough energy to escape a black hole due to leaving all of his electric objects on, an allusion to the first animated Pigs in Space skeych, featured on the first episode of the short-lived series Little Muppet Monster (1985).
 * At one point in the film, Dearth Nadir would order Rizzo to bring him the Dancing Cheeses he previously captured in order to be entertained by their dance. However, once Dearth Nadir leaves, Rizzo would be revealed to have eaten the Cheeses when he tries to regurgite them. This would be a direct reference to the end of the first episode of Muppets Tonight (1996-98), where it was revealed that Rizzo eated the cheeses.
 * Carl's introduction during the climax of the film would be a parody of the Muppets Tonight sketch "Swift Wits", where Carl ended up eating animals at the end of each segment.