Disney Animation chief Jared Bush says Jordan Peele "takes very, very big chances." Peele already has a Pixar credit, too: he voiced the plush Bunny in Toy Story 4.
Disney Animation's top creative wants Jordan Peele to make a movie for the studio, and he'd like it to happen soon.
Jared Bush, the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, told Collider he'd love to see the Get Out director take on an animated film at Disney. Collider's headline put Bush's timeline at "immediately."
Bush called Peele a "brilliant" filmmaker and praised his bold storytelling. "He takes very, very big chances," Bush said.
Nothing has been announced, and neither Disney nor Peele has named a project. It's a wish list, not a deal.
Has Jordan Peele worked with Disney before?
Yes, in a small way. Peele voiced Bunny, the plush carnival prize who sticks to Keegan-Michael Key's Ducky in Pixar's Toy Story 4 in 2019.
He has a real animation resume beyond that. Peele co-wrote and produced Wendell & Wild, the 2022 stop-motion film he made with Coraline director Henry Selick for Netflix, and he voiced one of its demon brothers opposite Key. He also has voice credits in Storks and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie.
All three of the movies Peele has directed, Get Out, Us and Nope, came out through Universal, the studio behind Disney's biggest theme park rival in Orlando. Get Out won him the Oscar for best original screenplay.
What movies has Jordan Peele made?
Three as a director, and all three were hits. Get Out, in 2017, follows a young Black man visiting his white girlfriend's family for the weekend. Us, in 2019, sends a family up against their own doubles, and Nope, in 2022, is about a pair of horse-ranch siblings and a UFO in the California sky.
Before that, Peele was half of Key & Peele, the Comedy Central sketch show he made with Keegan-Michael Key.
There's also a Disney park connection most fans miss. Peele hosted and produced the 2019 revival of The Twilight Zone, the same show behind The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Who is Jared Bush?
He runs the creative side of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Bush became chief creative officer in 2024, when Jennifer Lee stepped down from the job.
Before that, he co-directed Zootopia and Encanto and wrote the screenplay for Moana. He also co-directed Zootopia 2, which hit theaters in November 2025.
Has Disney worked with horror filmmakers before?
Yes, and one of them is already in Peele's circle. Henry Selick, his Wendell & Wild partner, directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, which Disney released in 1993 under its Touchstone label before later putting it under the Disney banner.
Tim Burton, who dreamed up Nightmare, also made Frankenweenie for Disney in 2012. Spooky stories with heart have worked for the studio before, which is part of why a Peele pitch doesn't sound so far-fetched.
What else did Jared Bush say about Disney Animation?
He also gave Collider an update on The Princess and the Frog. A special for Disney+ is in the works with new songs and the original voice cast, and Bush said the studio is "really moving on that right now."
"It is pretty spectacular," he added. No release date has been set.
What's the next Disney Animation movie?
Hexed, an original story with a three-eyed cat among its characters, opens over Thanksgiving week.
Early box office tracking has been strong. BoxOffice Pro tracking put it around $75 million for its opening, which would be the biggest debut for an original Walt Disney Animation film since Moana in 2016, and other projections land closer to $70 million over the five-day holiday weekend.
For now, Peele's only Disney role is still a stuffed bunny stuck to a carnival booth.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
Collider (Oct. 30, 2026), Jared Bush interview on Jordan Peele and The Princess and the Frog special
ToonHive and HollywoodHandle on X (Oct. 30, 2026), Bush quotes as relayed from Collider; Hexed tracking via BoxOffice Pro
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