> Powell coming back to Disney animation does seem like a long shot since
> it's been a while since Bolt, but I guess the same could have been said
> about the gap Mancina had between Tarzan and Moana, so it's possible.
Yeah, I otherwise wouldn't bet on this one if it weren't for his recent involvement with Encanto. With that in mind I think there's a chance.
> Don't know anything about this film, but Illumination is probably the one
> main animation studio that has yet to really deliver anything great to me
> in terms of films and scores.
Powell's The Lorax was strong cartoon work as usual, if still a step down from Horton, but those songs were...a choice. I really liked Heitor Pereira's first Despicable Me (which still doesn't have a freaking album 
) and enjoyed his DM2 score at the time, but after the initial novelty of his collaboration with Pharrell wore off, Pereira's subsequent works haven't been as impressive. His Puss in Boots score has its moments and works well in the film, but it's hampered on album by his typical flat recording quality and annoying Mickey Mousing. Kinda wish Henry Jackman came back to be honest...
Thankfully, that bit of Brian Tyler's (and Koji Kondo's?) score heard in this clip from the Mario movie is super lively and incredibly faithful to the games! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-3sYL7vJTQ
> Does anybody want another Trolls film? Dreamworks really needs to move
> away from all these unnecessary sequels and get back to more original
> films. The Bad Guys was surprisingly fun (in fact, I'm listening to that
> score today).
Let me tell ya, I know some folks online who ADORE the Trolls franchise! Not a HUGE fan of the first Trolls myself, but Trolls World Tour was generally an improvement with a more creative premise, so I'll see where this one goes. And Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is one of DreamWorks' best films yet! But yeah, they need to get back to more non-sequels; even Pixar has been doing better at this lately.
> Other animated films I'm aware of for 2023 are Across the Spider-verse and
> Pixar's Elemental. The former would be great, to have Powell back doing a
> superhero film. Since he was also planned to work with Miller & Lord
> on Solo, also producing this film, maybe there's a connection. But I'm
> probably grasping at straws.
Powell's website 5 Cat Studios says (on the "Listen" page) that his next project - the animated film - after Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie will be in "late 2023", so that should rule out any summer releases like Elemental and Nimona. Daniel Pemberton is already confirmed for Across the Spider-Verse as well.
Also, I might be the only mufucka here who loves Daniel Pemberton's Spider-Verse sound and wants him to stay the composer of that franchise as much as possible! 
Of course, if Lord and Miller ever direct a new action-comedy film, I'd gladly want Powell to compose for that. God, imagine if we did get a LORD AND MILLER STAR WARS FILM WITH A SCORE BY JOHN POWELL AND JOHN WILLIAMS!? DAMN YOU LUCASFILM/DISNEY...
