Newt

Newt is a 2027 American computer-animated adventure musical comedy film directed by Gary Rydstrom produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Isla Fisher, Martin Short, Johnny Depp, Zoe Saldana, Bill Nighy, Patrick Stewart and Xavier Shaquille. The film follows the story of a salamander named Newt who sets out to help save the barn with the help of the barnyard animals.

Newt premiered at the Dolby Theatre on July 3, 2027, followed by its release in the United States on July 7, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Despite success in marketing, grossing $421 million against a $100 million budget, the film was given mixed reviews with critics praising the voice performances, musical numbers, and humor, while criticism was aimed towards its storyline and pacing.

Cast
An optimistic salamander. A frog whose Newt's love interest. a mortgage lender who plans to foreclose on Macintosh's countryside. A young rooster who is Newt's shy and paranoid best friend. Anura's best friend who is a chicken. A sarcastic bull. The farmer of the countryside. Macintosh's son who bonds and interacts with the farm animals, especially Newt; he was deemed as "The Animal Whisperer". His name originates from Shaquille's middle name. A goat who helps Newt on his situation.
 * Matthew Broderick as Newt:
 * Isla Fisher as Anura:
 * Patrick Stewart as Johnathon Wilson II:
 * Martin Short as Gallus:
 * Zoe Saldana as Poulette:
 * Bill Nighy as Heifer:
 * Johnny Depp as Macintosh:
 * Xavier Shaquille as Shaquille:
 * Grey Griffin as Capra:
 * John Ratzenberger as the narrator. This marks Ratzenberger's first Pixar film since Onward (2020).

Production
Newt was announced in April 2008, with Pixar planning to release it in 2011, which was later bumped to 2012, until being canceled by early 2010. Former Pixar employee John Lasseter noted that the film's proposed plot line was similar to Blue Sky Studios' Rio. In March 2014, in an interview, Pixar president Edwin Catmull stated that Newt was an idea that was not working in pre-production.

In June 2018, Xavier Shaquille had the idea to revive the project as a live-action film with the animals being computer-animated, while Newt would be animated through motion capture; with Andy Serkis as the title character. However, in late October 2019, he chose to make the film fully animated like Pixar's other films. In October 2022, he had decided to make the film a musical in the same vein of DreamWorks Animation's Trolls franchise and Pixar's sister studio Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Its original proposed cast Shaquille chose were Antonio Banderas, Kel Mitchell, and Linda Cardellini as the live-action cast and Serkis as Newt, Kenan Thompson as a character called Mule, John Cleese as Rooster, and Thomas Haden Church as Heifer's original male version called Cow. Unfortunately, in late October 2019, he had changed the cast members to the current ones.

Before production began, Shaquille wanted the film to be shown in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio after Pixar had not made a theatrical release in that format since Finding Dory (2016). Shaquille also suggested to Catmull they go for a $100 million budget opposed to their standard $200 million budget for the sake of making its budget back in ticket sales.

Animation
Like the prior films, the film's animation was provided by Presto Animation Software, while Newt's traditionally animated daydream sequences were animated by Company 3 Animation. Shaquille chose to go along with a "classic and familiar" design reminiscent to the Toy Story, Incredibles, and Inside Out films while giving the characters cartoon-y movements akin to Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes for the sake of standing out.

Music
Danny Elfman was originally intended to compose the film's score, but the composing job was given to John Debney, then was given to Mark Mothersbaugh, but was switched back to Debney before ending up with Hans Zimmer.

Release
Newt's initial release date was set to July 7, 2027, making it Pixar's first film to be released on July. It first premiered at the Dolby Theatre on July 3. The film was shown for a 70-day period in an attempt to make back its budget.

Marketing
About fifteen commercial spots are shown promoting the film. Mattel produces a line of sets focused on the film and its characters. General Mills promoted the film with six individual toys hidden in their cereal boxes.

Home media
Newt was released on digital and on Disney+ on November 30, 2027, then on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on December 7. The Blu-ray release, in particular uses a Dolby Atmos track rather than the usual DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track WDSHE had used since.

Reception
Rotten Tomatoes gives it a rating based on 169 reviews on the rating of 5.8/10. The site