Warrior Cats' Disney+ Debut
Disney+ Greenlights Animated Warrior Cats Series for 2028 Release, Targeting Huge Fanbase
Key Points
Disney said the series is “the first authorized animation” and that “Warrior Cats” has been a long-running publishing phenomenon, including being “a fixture on the New York Times bestseller list for the last 20 years.”
The announcement cites specific fan-activity metrics beyond general social-media engagement: the franchise garnered “more than 2 million annual users on the official ‘Warrior Cat…’ website,” “50 million views per month across user-generated content on YouTube,” and “nearly 3 billion views on TikTok.”
The TV series is described as being created by “Working Partners, a Coolabi Group company,” and “penned by Erin Hunter,” adding detail on the IP ownership/creation structure behind the adaptation deal.
Industry analysis framing the strategy includes a performance-pressure rationale for Disney+: one report says Disney+ faced “subscriber churn…hit 12%,” citing Nielsen’s Q3 report, and argues the studio needs “high-retention content” to keep youth audiences subscribed.
Prior screen-adaptation interest is noted: it was reported in November 2016 that “Alibaba Pictures had bought the rights” to the books (before the current Disney+ project).
Disney+ and the Disney Channel are getting a Warrior Cats animated series, set to premiere in 2028. The show is based on Erin Hunter's beloved children's fantasy book series, which has sold more than 90 million copies and spent 20 years on the New York Times bestseller list, according to The Futon Critic.
The deal was struck between the Coolabi Group and Disney Kids & Family. Disney Kids & Family president Ayo Davis said the company is partnering with Coolabi to "bring the series to families around the world." The series will follow the first book arc, The Prophecies Begin, and marks the first authorized screen adaptation of the franchise, What's On Disney Plus reported.
A Decades-Long Wait for an Authorized Adaptation
The road to a Warrior Cats screen adaptation stretches back nearly a decade. In November 2016, Alibaba Pictures bought the rights to the books, eyeing a live-action and CGI film. That project stalled and never moved forward, according to JoBlo.
The current project took shape more recently. Coolabi Group first announced a collaboration with Tencent Video and Original Force for an animated feature. Disney then entered the picture, and the project shifted into a long-form TV series. Original Force will handle animation, giving the show a major footprint in the Chinese market via Tencent Video.
Marvel Veteran Leads a Multi-National Creative Team
Disney tapped A.C. Bradley as showrunner. Bradley is best known for Marvel Studios' What If…? series. Emmy-winning director Rodrigo Blaas, a Pixar veteran who worked on Wall-E and Up, will direct. Blaas leads El Guiri Studios, which is collaborating on the project, according to The Futon Critic.
The series is described as being created by Working Partners, a Coolabi Group company, and penned under the Erin Hunter pen name. Coolabi retains creative oversight to protect what fans call "lore fidelity" — staying true to the complex clan system and spiritual mythology built across the book series.
90 Million Books Sold and 3 Billion TikTok Views Drive the Deal
The numbers behind this franchise are hard to ignore. The books have been translated into 38 languages. The official Warrior Cats website draws more than 2 million annual users. On YouTube, user-generated content racks up 50 million views per month. On TikTok, related content has nearly 3 billion views, according to Rolling Out.
Fans also play on Roblox in large numbers, pointing to a digital ecosystem that goes well beyond books. Disney's announcement frames these metrics as proof of a "pre-sold" global audience — the kind that could keep subscribers locked in for years rather than months.
Disney Needs Sticky Content as Subscriber Churn Hits 12%
Disney+ is under real pressure. Nielsen's Q3 report found subscriber churn — the rate at which paying customers cancel — hit 12% among family audiences. That makes lore-rich, long-running shows more valuable. A series kids rewatch obsessively is exactly the kind of content that keeps people from canceling, according to Broadway World.
But the bet carries risk. Critics note that 2028 is still two years away. Some worry that the TikTok generation currently driving the Warrior Cats revival may have moved on by then. Others question whether Disney's family-friendly brand will clash with the books' darker elements — like inter-clan warfare and major character deaths — creating tension for showrunner A.C. Bradley to navigate.
Sentiment
Mostly PositivePublishers
11
Articles
2
Reach
13
