UPDATE!: I've got some joyous news for all you Rio fans, including me! But please be forewarned, although there is good news for Rio fans, there is an important warning that you need to check out. Click the link for more info: https://www.change.org/p/disney-walt-disney-company-please-keep-the-rio-franchise-alive/u/30091234

Even though Blue Sky Studios is likely to be shutting down (though I still hope not, but it is likely), I have reason to believe that maybe Disney could still keep Blue Sky's Rio franchise alive & continuing, just like what Disney already plans to do with Ice Age.

It is said by some people that whatever upcoming Ice Age projects that Disney has in the works in spite of Blue Sky's departure will be done by Disney Television Animation.

With that, I figured that if Disney can keep the Ice Age franchise alive without Blue Sky, then maybe Disney can do the same for the Rio franchise.

Now this is NOT in any way to say that I'm giving up on wanting Blue Sky Studios to stay functional. I still would rather see Blue Sky to continue on. And I still wish the best of luck & wishes to the 450 people at Blue Sky, along with all their friends & families, hoping that they'll find new careers either within Disney or anywhere else.

But if, in any case, we can't prevent Blue Sky from shutting down, I got an idea & figured I should have a "Plan B" to ask for Disney to at least keep the Rio Franchise alive & continuing, just like with what they're already planning to do with the Ice Age franchise.

As I've said before in my petition to "Save Blue Sky Studios"... 

Link to petition: http://chng.it/9XyQf2gG

... the Rio franchise was responsible for sparking my love for not only the Rio Franchise itself, but for the franchise that crossovered with it: Rovio's Angry Birds (due to Angry Birds Rio). In turn, it was because of Angry Birds Rio that I like Angry Birds; and it was because of Angry Birds' crossovers with Star Wars, Transformers, Iron Maiden, & especially Rio & Sonic the Hedgehog that my love for said franchises had been amplified.

This a big reason to why the Rio franchise somehow seems very important to me & why I'd love for the franchise to keep going even without Blue Sky Studios, because the Rio franchise has had quite an impactful influence on me during my lifetime.

There are also a number of reasons to why I believe Disney SHOULD keep the Rio franchise alive & make new content for it, even if Blue Sky can't be in charge of the franchise anymore.

1.) True, the Rio franchise is not as big of a franchise as Ice Age. But while all the other Blue Sky films are standalone films, Rio was the only non-Ice Age Blue Sky film to spawn a sequel: Rio 2. That, alone, gives the Rio franchise eligibility & reason to be kept alive & continuing with new content, even with Blue Sky's shutdown.

2.) The Rio franchise has very interesting animals that adults & especially children would be very interested to see and/or learn about, such as Blue Spix Macaws like Blu & Jewel.

3.) Like the former Epcot attraction: "The Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable", the Rio franchise, in a way, teaches us that it's the right thing to protect & conserve animals that are endangered and/or near extinct, and protect their habitats, environments, & ecosystems. This is especially in the case with protecting the Blue Spix Macaws, which are extinct in the wild, but there are still Spix Macaws in captivity & conservation as people try to build the Spix Macaw population back up.

4.) Another big reason why the Rio franchise should be kept alive & continuing on is because, despite having 2 movies compared to Ice Age's 5, the Rio franchise has proven to be a profitable franchise. Rio 1 had a budget of $90 million, but got a Worldwide box office gross of over $484.6 million; and Rio 2 had a budget of  $103 million, but got a Worldwide Box Office gross of over $500.1 million. This makes Rio the 2nd most profitable franchise by Blue Sky Studios, only behind Ice Age; and it also respectively makes Rio 1 & Rio 2 the 5th and 4th most profitable films by Blue Sky Studios, trailing behind Ice Age's The Meltdown ($660.9 million), Contintental Drift ($877.2 million), & Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($ 886.6 million).

5.) The aforementioned impactful influence that the Rio franchise had on fans like me. Like I said before, it is because Rio's crossover with Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio, that I started my love to both Rio & Angry Birds. The moment I watched the Angry Birds Rio animated trailer on YouTube after watching the 1st Rio film, I fell in love with both Rio & Angry Birds. Even Blu, himself, had mentioned Angry Birds in the DVD & Blu-Ray versions of the first Rio film (specifically in the Party Edition & Ultimate Party Edition). And it was because of Angry Birds' crossovers with Star Wars, Transformers, Iron Maiden, & especially Rio & Sonic the Hedgehog that my love for said franchises had been amplified. Not to mention that Blu, Jewel, Nico, Pedro, & Nigel have made special appearances in the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards (KCAs) to promote the first Rio film. So again, Rio & the other franchises somehow feel & seem very important to me.

If Disney has it in its heart to allow the Rio franchise to be kept alive even without Blue Sky, like with what they already plan to do with Ice Age, that will make me very happy.

Plus, there are things that Rio Fans, including me, would really love to see in terms of the Rio Franchise, such as a 3rd Rio film; a Rio TV series featuring Blu, Jewel, Linda, & all of our favorite Rio characters; and there were rumors that there would be a Nico & Pedro spinoff show on Disney+.

And like with the Ice Age stuff that Disney is still doing, the new stuff for the Rio franchise could be done under Disney Television Animation or some other division within Disney.

Nevertheless, the Rio franchise is my favorite Blue Sky franchise of all time. So if you want Disney to keep the Rio franchise alive along with Ice Age, then sign this petition.  

Again, if we can't prevent Blue Sky from shutting down, my respect, hope, prayers, & condolences go to the 450 people at Blue Sky, along with all their friends & families. I truly & honestly do hope that they'll all find new careers, whether within Disney or somewhere else... especially during current times such as these. Best of wishes & luck to all of those people.

But whether if Blue Sky gets to continue on or not, if Disney can please find it in its heart to allow the Rio franchise to continue on & make new stuff for it, like with they're already planning to do with Ice Age, then that would make me and a lot of fans (Disney, Blue Sky, & especially Rio fans) very happy.

Thank you.

#SaveRio