The Demon and the Church

The Demon and the Church is a 2031 animated musical romance film written and directed by Aphton Corbin, and produced by Pixar Animation Studios. Starring the voices of Sarah-Nicole Robles, Anna Akana, Whoopi Goldberg, Bret Parker, Kyle McDaniel, Wendi Malick, and Avi Roque, the film centers on a noble demon as she tries to fit in a catholic school. The film is Pixar's first musical, with songs written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, with a score by Kathryn Bostic.

A film directed by Corbin was announced by Pixar in 2027, with the plot and characters announced in late 2029. Robles and Akana were cast in the lead roles in early 2030, while the rest of the cast were confirmed later that year. Corbin choose to make the film a musical centeree the film on religious hypocrisy because she "wanted to leave [her] mark by exploring something Pixar didn't". Animators would create a new animation system to create both realistic humans and cartoonish demons. The film would also mark the first time a Pixar film centers on a same-sex couple, with filmmakers bringing several condultants to provide an accurate depiction.

The Demon and the Church would be released in November 20, 2031, and wluld become a critical and financial hit, with critics praising the film's themes, direction, voice acting, musical numbers, and writing. The film would earn 987 million dollars over a budget of 150 million dollars, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Picture.

Music
Kathryn Bostic would compose the score, working closely with the songwriters to create individual character motifs. For the score, Bostic would draw inspiration partially from church music, studying religious music in order for the score to fit the film's religious themes. For the scenes set in the Demon Dimension, Bostic would compose a "positively out of this world" melody.

Songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who previously wrote the Coco song "Remember Me" for Pixar, would write songs for the film. Being Pixar's first non-diegetic musical, director Aphton Corbin wanted the film to differ from other Disney musicals, so she drew inspiration from musical films such as The Sound of Music and West Side Story, aiking for the musical sequences to "not only help inform the characters or help tell the story, but be part of the story".

Trivia

 * According to director Aphton Corbin, she wrote the ending as an intimate duet between Darla and Jessica to "make the ending different from a Disney musical ending".
 * This is the first Pixar film to be a musical. While Coco did included songs sung by the characters, it didn't qualified in the genre due to its diegetic nature.
 * Darla's entire family js voiced by actors from Disney's The Owl House: Darla is voiced by Sarah Nicole-Robles (voice of Luz Noceda), her parents Haley and Drew arr voiced by Wendie Malick (voice of Eda) and Avi Roque (voice of Raine), and her siblings Albert and Alexandra are voiced by Alex Hirsch (voice of King and Hooty) and Michaela Ditz (voice of Vee).
 * This is the first Pixar film to promeniently feature LGBTQ+ characters.

Easter eggs and references

 * Several monsters from The Owl House appear in the Demon Dimension.
 * The Pizza Planet Truck appears in a street in New York City as Darla goes to the religious school.
 * The Luxo Ball appears as a toy owned by Darla's younger brother.
 * When Darla and Jessica hang out together, they have a dinner at the Poultry Palace from the Toy Story franchise.
 * Darla's name is a reference to the character of the same name from Finding Nemo.
 * At one point, Jessica is seen chewing a Triple Dent Gum.
 * Among the toys Mary collected is Stetch from Toy Story 3 and King from The Owl House.
 * Whirlwind from Soul can be seen working in an NYC parking lot. Lighting McQueen and Luigi also appear as parked cars.
 * A bank with a graffiti saying "Carl B." can be seen througth the film, aa a reference to late Disney comic book artist Carl Banks.
 * A113 can be seen as the adress for the catholic school.
 * When Haley begind to stress eat, she consumes noodles from the Chinese food box seen in A Bug's Life.
 * During the credits, Darla and Jessica would recreate the iconic spaghetti kiss from Lady and the Tramp.
 * Among the objects Darla packed are two mixtapes titled "Awesome Mix Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2".