Dark & Light 2: The Rise of Dawn

***Dark & Light 2: The Rise of Dawn*** (also simply known as ***Dark & Light 2*** or ***Dark & Light: The Rise of Dawn***) is a 2019 American 3D computer-animated fantasy musical adventure film produced by Rivera Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to the 2013 film *Dark & Light* and the second feature film in the franchise, it was again directed by the Rivera sisters from a screenplay by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow based on a story by Valeria Rivera. The film stars the voices of AnnaSophia Robb, Dakota Fanning, Peter Dinklage, Julia Roberts, Richard Kind and Elizabeth Banks, along with new additions including Tom Holland, Zoe Saldana, Sam Neill, Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher, Nicole Kidman, Daisy Ridley and Josh Gad.

Plans for a sequel began in 2013 and were announced to be in the works in January 2016 following the critical and commercial success of the first film. the Rivera sisters, who directed the first film, agreed to return to direct the second film on the condition that they would be allowed to turn it into a saga. The new installment went through three different scripts before the filmmakers settled on the final plot, while the Rivera sisters also wanted to include some unused ideas from the first film, as well as Darcy being the main focus of the new story. By late 2016, much of the original cast confirmed they had signed on, with new cast members added in 2018.

*Dark & Light 2: The Rise of Dawn* premiered in El Captain Theatre on March 15, 2019, and was released in the United States on April 5, 2019. The film received universally positive reviews from critics, who commended its humour, characters, screenplay, animation, and the vocal performances of Robb and Fanning, although some were mixed on the film for "playing it safe" and said it was not as "fresh" as the first film. The film made $227.9 million in its opening weekend, setting the record for best debut for an animated film, and grossed over $1.6 billion worldwide over a $200 million budget, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time, the second highest-grossing film of 2019, the fifth highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada, the eighth highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, and Rivera Studios' highest-grossing film of all time. At the 92nd Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Animated Feature (losing to *Toy Story 4*) and Best Original Song. A third and final film, titled *Dark & Light: The Enhanced Night*, was released on January 20, 2023.

## Cast

* AnnaSophia Robb as Alina Hopes, a teenage girl who is now a white creature.
* Dakota Fanning as Darcy Hopes, Alina's younger sister who is also now a dark creature.
* Tom Holland as Lucian, a loyal teenage boy who is one of the Sun creatures and later become Alina's fiancée.
* Zoe Saldana as Dawn, a lovely Sun creature who is the ruler of her own palace.
* Sam Neill as Darkest, a mysterious conqueror and Dawn's rival who intends to overthrow the Sun kingdom.
* Richard Kind as Might, a friendly shapeshifting monster who is Alina and Darcy's friend.
* Elizabeth Banks as Sarai, a skill mutant creature who is the leader of the friendly mutant monsters.
* Peter Dinklage as Frank Hopes, Alina and Dracy's father.
* Julia Roberts as Madalyn Hopes, Alina and Dracy's mother
* Zach Galifianakis as Corbin, a teenage boy who also transformed into a dark mutant creature and become Darkest's ally, until he later befriend Darcy and betrayed him.
* Isla Fisher as Afina, a polar creature who tried to help Darcy to the Sun kingdom.
* Nicole Kidman as Gilda, Afina's friend who also help Darcy to the Sun kingdom.
* Daisy Ridley
* Josh Gad

## Production

### Development

Before the release of the first film, The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger discussed plans with the Rivera sisters about the possibility of a sequel. Cynthia Rivera stating "I think they are working on something else, but me and my sister Valeria cannot tell what it is for now." In the same month, AnnaSophia Robb, the voice of Alina, expressed interest in reprising her role. In December, director Valeria Rivera said that she and writers Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow already did a couple of script drafts for a sequel.

*More coming soon!*

### Music

*Main article: Dark & Light 2: The Rise of Dawn/Soundtrack*
On February 14, 2018, Alan Menken was revealed to be returning for the sequel's score, while he would also return to write new songs for the sequel. The complete tracklist was revealed on January 30, along with the announcement of pre-orders; the soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on March 29.

## Release

### Theatrical

*Main article: Dark & Light 2: The Rise of Dawn/Release dates*
*Dark & Light 2: The Rise of Dawn* held its world premiere at El Captain Theatre on March 15, 2019, and was widely released in the United States on April 5, 2019. It was originally set for November 21, 2018, but was pushed back to February 8, 2019, switching places with *Ralph Breaks the Internet*. However, it was delayed to April 12, 2019, to avoid competition with *The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part*, before finally moving back to its current date to avoid competition with *Missing Link*. The film was accompanied by the short film *My Drawn Life*.

On February 23, 2019, Disney announced it would hold one-day advanced previews for the film in 500 theatres in the United States and were held two days later.

On September 3, 2020, it was announced that a sing-along re-issue will be released in theaters for a limited time only starting on September 4.

### Marketing

The first teaser trailer for the film was released on June 12, 2019. It received 122.9 million views in its first 24 hours, becoming the most viewed trailer for an animated film, dethroning *Incredibles 2* (113.6 million views) as the seventh most-viewed trailer overall, as well as surpassing the one-week-old record of *Virtual Hollywood: The Last Act* (116.4 million views). A "teaser reaction" video was released on the following day, which revealed the two undisclosed characters' names voiced by Isla Fisher and Nicole Kidman. The second trailer (and official trailer) of the film was released on September 19, 2018. The third and final trailer was released on December 12, 2018. An exclusive 5-minute preview was released on March 29, 2019, and was attached to IMAX screenings of *Dumbo*.

*More coming soon!*

### Home media

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released *Dark & Light 2: The Rise of Dawn* through digital download on July 2, 2019, and on Blu-ray and DVD on July 9, 2019. In addition to the short *My Drawn Life*, all releases include two short films: *Before Dawn* and *Magical Challenge*. The film was amongst several of Disney's then recent releases available to watch exclusively on their streaming service, Disney+, which was launched in November 2019.

## Sequel

*Main article: Dark & Light: The Enhanced Night*
*Coming soon!*

## Transcripts

### Main

To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

### Trailers

To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.