Disney’s New Animated Movie Trailer Confirms Its Harry Potter Meets Shrek Story Has $1B Potential

Published Oct 14, 2026, 11:50 AM EDT

Zoë Miskelly is an editor and second in command for Screen Rant's Movies team, having covered the entertainment industry for almost 10 years now. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture.

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Disney's new animated movie looks like Harry Potter meets Shrek, setting an interesting precedent for the film upon its impending release. The world of Disney's film roster is one that has truly spread across the breadth and width of almost every possible story that could take place on-screen, especially when it comes to the realm of animated movies, wherein larger-than-life antics are generally even more the expectation.

Disney's animated movies also have a strong record of building on what has worked within their other film releases, and in the genres they inhabit most frequently, broadly speaking - as can be evidenced with the likes of Frozen and the way it draws from the epic drama stories of Disney classics like Cinderella and Mulan.

Disney's next animated movie looks very much set to continue building on what has worked before for the animated film empire, especially as it mirrors two of the biggest family-friendly film franchises that have ever existed, giving audiences a new option if they want to witness a story along these lines on the big screen going forward.

Hexed Combines What Made Harry Potter And Shrek Such Big Movie Hits

As is evidenced by Hexed's new trailer, the movie's story combines its protagonist learning about a magical world she's a part of, but that was hidden to her until her teen years, while also forming bonds with her own group of misfits who don't quite fit in, making for a jolly combination of sorts of the tropes and story beats that made both Harry Potter and Shrek major hits in their time.

Hexed's cast even includes Stephen Fry as the voice of the magical journal Elias Quire, mirroring his prior role as the narrator of the Harry Potter book series.

As such, it's easy to see what kind of audience Hexed is attempting to court, especially as an animated Disney movie that aims to appeal to families and children as a core ethos, since making a story that evokes the kind of imagery that is contained in some of the biggest family-friendly franchises in the world is sure to not hurt its chances of resonating with prospective viewers.

This is also a major matter given the respective box office earnings of both franchises, with Harry Potter being one of the highest-grossing film series of all time with its $7.7 billion overall gross, and Shrek being no small fry even compared to that immense total, thanks to its own $4 billion results.

Hexed Has Some Big Movie Shoes To Fill

Image via Disney

The territory that Hexed looks set to aim for is especially interesting because it sets a decidedly high bar for the movie and its story, since its similarity to some huge franchises with years of worldbuilding means its own efforts will need to be solid in order to live up to expectations.

There is, of course, also the matter of what other more recent releases Hexed is close to, and that will no doubt serve as a comparison point for audiences. Parallels have already been drawn online between Hexed and The Owl House, with the latter animated show being one of the more popular series to delve into the animated realms of magical realism, and which grew a considerable and ardent fanbase as a result.

With all this in mind, it should be fascinating to see what comes next for Hexed when it releases on November 25, 2026, and whether the film is able to replicate some of the popularity and success that Harry Potter and Shrek enjoyed at their heights, or whether the animated Disney movie's path is a different one.

Hexed