Walt Disney Animation Studios is creating a new animated film with elements of fantasy and comedy and an unconventional relationship between a pair of individuals.
The film, titled Clay, has Kieran Culkin as Flip, a character who becomes unexpectedly responsible for Mushy, a young, malleable, clay-like character.
Clay was revealed during Disney's D23 exhibition in August 2026.
It is set to be released in November 2028, by Disney.
Of Disney's upcoming films, which include a series of sequels, Clay is the only film to introduce an original, fictional world, and a set of original characters.
The film takes place in a magical forest and is populated by enchanting, mythical creatures.
Flip is a rebellious, unconventional outsider and a character with little to no interest in accepting responsibility.
Flip's life changes, during an annual custom, when he becomes Mushy's mentor.
Mentoring Mushy, is flipping inconvenient for Flip, because, by nature, Flip is an incredibly unruly character and, ultimately, a poor, would-be teacher.
The two characters go on an unconventional, chaotic, and a mischievous adventure, that ultimately brings about a significant change to their lives.
According to Disney, the film incorporates a series of emotional and psychological transformations and physical comedy.
The film establishes the central relationship and continues to keep a series of other, equally as important relationships and developments, a secret, including the supporting cast and major locations.
Finding and establishing the central relationship of the story, means that several other equally as important surprises, are kept, secret, by the filmmakers.
Flip, as an unconventional outsider, meets a world of mythical creatures and a society different from his own.
Kieran Culkin, known for his amazing dramatic performances in HBO's Succession and the BBC's A Real Pain, among others, is the voice of Flip in the upcoming Disney Animated feature.
Culkin is a great choice to voice a character that requires responsibility and a sense of morality but is reluctant to take it on.
Flip is different from the majority of wise mentor characters in animated films. Instead of coming into the story with experience and helpful advice, he is obviously lost and wholly unprepared for his task.
This reverse structure of a mentor character enables Flip to evolve and learn with Mushy, all while being a comical contrast to traditional mentor characters.
For the audience members searching for "movies blast" and similar terms, Disney's casting announcements, including the naming of Culkin as Flip, came out of D23.
As of October 2026, Culkin was the only publicly announced, primary voice actor for the film.
Fawn Veerasunthorn is the Director of Disney Animation's Clay.
Veerasunthorn has a long history of animation and character development with films like Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon and Disney's Wish.
With an emphasis on character relationships, and feature animation, she is equipped to represent two of the three primary characters in this film.
The director and producer have been named, but the writing team is still anonymous.
The supporting voice cast has not been disclosed either.
Those may be published in the future.
It is set in an imaginary world of mystical creatures.
The scope and range of animals and other forms of life, and the types of landscapes, are not hampered by the boundaries of reality and are limitless, providing many opportunities for creativity and design in animation.
Concept art presented at D23 allowed audiences to get a glimpse of the film's creative vision.
Concept art represents a potential pathway towards achieving the film's objective but should not be taken to represent the final outcome.
Things may change and evolve during the course of the production.
It uses unusual and magical surroundings to create challenges for the characters and move the plot along.
The film's basic premise establishes an emotional element to its magical setting.
Flip and Mushy embark on an adventure and learn to understand and connect with each other.
They challenge each other and learn to rely on each other throughout their adventure.
'Clay' is not the next 'Frozen' or 'Moana' or any other established Disney property.
It presents an original idea using original characters.
This relates to how most of the time, in stories, the younger, less experienced character is mentored by the wise elder character. Here, Flip clearly has a lot of unrealized potential.
This has the potential to develop themes around maturity and learning through accountability with friends as well as learning through mistakes.
Fans who look for Disney releases by searching terms like "Movieblast" on the internet need to be careful and discerning to avoid mistaken references.
Disney has confirmed a theatrical release, they have not however indicated when they would make it available to stream.
Disney officially announced that Clay was in production during its August 2026 D23 presentation.
They stated the theatrical release window would be November 2028.
Various reports said November 22, 2028, would be the theatrical release date in the United States.
Disney's announcement however, did not independently confirm that date.
As of now, the final name of the movie could be different from what is in current productions, since they are using Clay as the working title.
More information regarding the complete cast and crew as well as the promotional schedule is expected in the future.
Currently the main confirmed elements are Culkin portraying Flip and his relation to Mushy, Veerasunthorn's direction and the magical forest.
By putting an unlikely mentor at the center of an original fantasy adventure, Disney has the opportunity to introduce a wholly original new world of fantasy and adventure to its audience.