Pigs in Space

Pigs in Space would be a 2026 American computer-animated musical space opera comedy film directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush and produced by Clark Spencer and Frank Oz, with Howard, Bush, and Oz also writing the screenplay alongside. Based on the The Muppet Show sketch of the same name, the film would be produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and would star the voices of Eric Jacobson, Peter Linz, Matt Vogel, Dave Goelz, Alan Tudyk, and Ben Diskin. Christophe Beck 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 Howard and Bush set to write and direct the film. Oz, a former Muppet performer and filmmaker who starred in The Muppet Show, would join the film in late 2023 alongside the film's cast, which would mostly consist of current Muppet performers. 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 woth Oz and 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 the 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 pu 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.
 * Peter Linz as Captain Link Hogthrob, the captain of the Swintrek, who constantly clashes with First Mate Piggy due to his unbridled machismo.
 * 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.

Additionally, David Rudman would voice Poggy, a mercenary and spy who is accidentally angered by Link's machism. Frank Welker would provide the voice for Big Mean Carl, a dangerous beast owned by Dearth Nadir, who likes to eat living beings. Bill Barretta 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.

Music
Christophe Beck, who previously composed the score for The Muppets (2011), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), and Disney's Frozen franchise, would compose the score for the film. Beck would compose a score that would be "mid-Star Wars, mid-Muppets" in order to "catch the tone of the film", drawing inspiration from both his scores for Disney's Muppets movies and John Williams' score for the Star Wars franchise, for his score. Beck would compose a "determined and angry" theme for First Mate Piggy, while his theme for Captain Link Hogthrob would be "very pompous". Beck would define his theme for Dr. Julius Strangepork as "very cientific and very goofy", and he 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 theyw ould 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, "Timely, progressive, but at the same time keeping that Muppet feel, Pigs in Space follows enough its beloved source material to leave fans with big smile while also touching themes that make it a wonderful film for both youngsters and oldsters". 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 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

 * 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 "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.
 * 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.