It's going to be an animation explosion come 2019 and 2020 as Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment announce their lineup of blockbuster animated movie greats for the coming years. The 'Minions 2' will premiere on July 3, 2020 while 'Sing' will be on Christmas Day 2020. The cute 'Secret Life of Pets 2' will premiere earlier in July 3, 2019.

These schedules were not actually the original dates announced by Universal and Illumination, says Variety. Originally, the 'Secret Life of Pets' sequel was slated for July 3, 2018. The part two for 'Minions' was supposed to premiere on July 10, 2020 but will be released a week earlier. There were no details mentioned as to why 'Secret Life of Pets 2' was pushed a year further.

Of all the three animated movies, 'Minions' have had the best turnout worldwide. The movie spinoff of 'Despicable Me' eared $1.159 billion globally when it was released in 2015. It is still the 11th top grossing movie of all time, according to Coming Soon. Sandra Bullock stars in the original 'Minions' as the voice of Scarlet Overkill, the Minions new master.

Meanwhile, 'The Secret Life of Pets' has grossed $875 million worldwide in 2016 making it one of the most popular animated movies of the year. To return for the sequel are writer Brian Lynch who also wrote for 'Minions' and director Chris Renaud who also directed 'Dr. Seuss' The Lorax' and 'Despicable Me.' 'Sing' earned $438.8 million worldwide and $250 million in the US alone.

The original 'Sing' featured Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, John C. Reilly, Tori Kelly and Scarlett Johansson as voice actors. No news yet if these actors would return to reprise their characters. 'Sing' was also one of the most popular animated movies of the year and was nominated Best Animated Movie at the 2017 Golden Globes.