With increased demand for more streaming content, Disney is expanding its production capacities by establishing a new studio on this side of the border.

Today (August 4), Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS) announced that it is launching a new facility in Vancouver that's slated to officially open in January. The address and the number of employees who will work at the Vancouver location have not yet been specified.

This new studio will focus on longform series work and special projects for Disney+.

The first project will be the musical series Moana, which is based on the 2016 film and set for release in 2024.

Meanwhile, the WDAS studio in Burbank, California, which has over 900 employees, will continue to concentrate on feature film project and shorter form series, such as Baymax and Zootopia+. The Burbank studio will also be the location for all story development, storyboarding, and production design.

For the first time, Disney Animation has been expanding into series, such as Iwájú and Tiana.

Amir Nasrabadi, who was the executive vice-president and general manager of WildBrain Studios in Vancouver, has been named the head of the Vancouver studio. Nasrabadi had also previously worked for Disney as the vice-president and general manager of Pixar Canada.

Disney has previously opened Pixar Canada in Vancouver's Gastown in 2009, which closed down in 2013.