Pixar Fans and Disney Investors Are Going to Love 2015

Source: Disney.

The Walt Disney Co. has made someincredible advances with its movie production in the past couple of years, with major hits in animated films, Marvel movies,and others that have helped to drive substantial income increases for the already successful company.

Pixar, part of Disney's movie powerhouse sinceDisneyacquired the small animationcompany in 2006, put out one movie everyyear from the huge hit Cars in 2006 (grossing $244 million) to the even more lucrative Monsters University in 2013 (grossing $269 million). Unfortunately for loyal fans likeme, there were no Pixar movies released in 2014. Now in 2015, Pixar is going to release two movies to make up for it. Pixar fans, myself included, are looking forward to watching the films. For those of us who are also shareholders, this 2015 Pixar line-up is one more reason 2015 lookslike a great year to be invested in Disney.

Disney's 2015 movie lineupIn its most recent quarterly earnings, CEO Bob Iger said Disney is going to be releasing more major films than ever before, planning for at least 21 movies in the next three years. Disney has since released its full expected schedule of new movies in 2015, 12 in total.

Strange Magic(Lucasfilm) -- Jan. 23
McFarland, USA--Feb. 20
Cinderella--March 13
Monkey Kingdom--April 17
Marvel'sAvengers: Age of Ultron--May 1
Tomorrowland--May 22
Inside Out--June 19
Marvel'sAnt-Man--July 17
The Jungle Book--Oct. 9
Untitled Steven Spielberg movie (Cold War-era thriller, with DreamWorks) --Oct. 16
The Good Dinosaur--Nov. 25
Star Wars: The Force Awakens(Lucasfilm) --Dec. 18

Some of the most exciting parts of this film schedule include more films from the Marvel franchise, and the firstStar Wars filmfollowingDisney's acquisition of Lucasfilm.

Source: Disney.

The two Pixar films fans are awaitingThe first Pixar movie of the year, Inside Out, is the story of Riley, a young girl, and her emotions, as if each emotion is a separate character. Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), and Anger (Lewis Black) navigate Riley's dailyadolescent problems, like school, boys, and parents. The movie takes place in Riley's brain, and when a memory function mix-up causes Joy to get lost in the metropolis of Riley's mind, the film becomes an adventure to get back to the emotion command center and get Riley back to normal.

The second film, slated to be released around Thanksgiving, is calledThe Good Dinosaur.This was the film that was meant to be a 2014 release, but it was pushed back. The movie centers on a story of Earth as if dinosaurs never went extinct. As a lone Pixar movie for the year, this movie would be good, but coupled with Inside Out the year looks quite promising.

What Pixarbox office revenue could look like this year

Pixar is no small part of Disney's overall movie revenue. Consider that in 2013, Pixar's Monster University was Disney's third highest grossing film of the year, just behind the two blockbusters Iron Man 3 and Frozen. That year, Disney released 10 films. This year, Disney will release 12 films, and the two Pixar films both look like they have the chance to perform very well, meaning a potential major added boost to Disney's total box office revenue for the year.

Source: BoxOfficeMojo.com* estimates made using average box office revenue for all Pixar movies, doubled for 2 movies coming out this year

Add it all up, and 2015 looks amazingPixar looks set to have a great year with these two movie releases. Even having zero Pixar movies in 2014, Disney's studio entertainment segment and company as a whole saw pretty amazing growth, helping to spur on share-price growth of around 70% since the release of the last Pixar movie in June 2013. The exciting movies Disney has coming out this year, such as those in the Avengers and Star Wars universes, along withtwo Pixar movies this year, together add up to plenty of reason to continue to be bullish on Disney in 2015.

The article Pixar Fans and Disney Investors Are Going to Love 2015 originally appeared on Fool.com.

Bradley Seth McNew owns shares of Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of Walt Disney. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.