Netflix will return to the Annecy International Animated Film Festival with an packed agenda featuring a variety of films and series, off the back of nominations for Nimona at this year’s Oscars, for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget at the BAFTAs, and multiple wins for Blue Eye Samurai at the Annies.
Annecy highlights will include an on-stage presentation, Next on Netflix Animation, spotlighting world-class filmmakers and sneak peeks of highly anticipated films and series. Plus the world premiere of the family adventure based on the iconic Japanese character, Ultraman: Rising, from director Shannon Tindle and co-director John Aoshima. A full rundown of Netflix’s Annecy activity includes:
- Next on Netflix Animation: From Twilight of the Gods to Wallace & Gromit, taking place on Wednesday, 12 June, will feature the award-winning Aardman team, directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, offering a sneak peek at the highly anticipated untitled Wallace & Gromit film, as well as fan-favorite director Zack Snyder and executive producer Deborah Snyder along with Xilam Animation Director Slimane Aniss unveiling clips from the adult animated series, Twilight of the Gods. Audiences will also be treated to material from The Twits and Skydance Animation’s Spellbound.
- Ultraman: Rising, will have its world premiere on Weds., 12 June.
- Work-in-progress sessions exploring the various stages of production will feature award-winning writer Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually, Yesterday), animation veteran and director Simon Otto (Love, Death + Robots; How to Train Your Dragon), Nicole Hearon (producer) and Justin Hutchinson-Chatburn (production designer) discussing That Christmas on Tues., 11 June.
- On Thurs., 13 June, Making Of Sessions will go behind the scenes of the final creative processes of Ultraman: Rising, with Shannon Tindle (director), John Aoshima (co-director), Sunmin Inn (art director), Hayden Jones (VFX supervisor), Scot Stafford (composer); and Big Mouth, as Nick Kroll (co-creator, EP, voice cast), Andrew Goldberg (co-creator, EP), Jennifer Flackett (co-creator, EP) and Mark Levin (co-creator, EP) celebrate the final series of this comedic hit.
- Arcane’s Making Of Session will be on Weds., 12 June, and will feature showrunner Christian Linke (Riot), scriptwriter Amanda Overton (Riot), senior concept artist Arnaud Baudry (Riot), director Bart Maunoury (Fortiche) and producer Christine Ponzevera (Fortiche).
- A Wallace & Gromit Exhibition featuring some of the puppets from Aardman’s new film will take center stage and celebrate these beloved stop-motion characters.
- In addition, Blue Eye Samurai and Pokémon Concierge will be screening in official competition.
Films
Ultraman: Rising (June 14, 2024)
Synopsis: With Tokyo under siege from rising monster attacks, baseball star Ken Sato reluctantly returns home to take on the mantle of Ultraman. But the titanic superhero meets his match when he reluctantly adopts a 35-foot-tall, fire-breathing baby kaiju. Sato must rise above his ego to balance work and parenthood while protecting the baby from forces bent on exploiting her for their own dark plans.
In partnership with Netflix, Tsuburaya Productions, and Industrial Light & Magic, Ultraman: Rising is written by Shannon Tindle and Marc Haimes, directed by Shannon Tindle and co-directed by John Aoshima.
Cast: Christopher Sean (You, Hawaii Five-O), Gedde Watanabe (Sixteen Candles), Tamlyn Tomita (Avatar: The Last Airbender) Keone Young (Men in Black 3, Star Wars Rebels), Julia Harriman (Camp Rock)
Spellbound (2024)
Synopsis: Spellbound follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters.
Spellbound is directed by Vicky Jenson (Shrek) with original score from EGOT-winning composer Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Glenn Slater (Tangled), written by Lauren Hynek & Elizabeth Martin and Julia Miranda and produced by John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bruce Anderson for Skydance Animation. A Netflix Film from Skydance Animation.
Cast: Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Nathan Lane, Tituss Burgess
That Christmas (2024)
Synopsis: Based on the charming trilogy of children’s books by beloved multi award-winning writer/director Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually, Yesterday), That Christmas follows a series of entwined tales about family and friends, love and loneliness, and Santa Claus making a big mistake, not to mention an enormous number of turkeys!
This heartwarming comedy from Locksmith Animation marks Curtis’ first foray into animation, serving as the film’s writer and executive producer, and also the feature directorial debut of renowned animation veteran Simon Otto (Love, Death + Robots; How to Train Your Dragon films). Nicole P. Hearon (Moana, Frozen) and Adam Tandy (The Thick of It, Detectorists) are producers
Cast: Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, Lolly Adefope, Alex Macqueen, Katherine Parkinson, Sindhu Vee, India Brown, Zazie Hayhurst, Sienna Sayer, Jack Wisniewski, Rosie Cavaliero, Paul Kaye, Guz Khan, Andy Nyman, Kuhu Agarwal, Bronte Smith, Freddie Spry, Ava Talbot, with Bill Nighy and Rhys Darby
Untitled Wallace & Gromit Film (Coming Soon)
Synopsis: Gromit’s concern that Wallace has become over-dependent on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a “smart gnome” that seems to develop a mind of its own … As events spiral out of control, it falls to Gromit to put aside his qualms and battle sinister forces — or Wallace may never be able to invent again!
The film will premiere exclusively on Netflix around the world except in the U.K., where it will debut on the BBC before also coming to Netflix.
The feature-length project is directed by Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham from a screenplay by Mark Burton, story by Park. Richard Beek is producer.
Series
Twilight of the Gods (Fall 2024)
Synopsis: The animated series brings Zack Snyder’s daring and spectacular vision of ancient Norse mythology to life, and features the voices of Sylvia Hoeks, Stuart Martin, Pilou Asbaek, John Noble, Paterson Joseph, Rahul Kohli, Jamie Clayton, Kristopher Hivju, Peter Stormare, Jamie Chung, Lauren Cohan, and Corey Stoll, among others.
Created by: Zack Snyder, Jay Oliva and Eric Carrasco; episodes directed by Snyder (101 & 108); Oliva (102 & 107); Tim Divar/Andrew Tamadl (103 & 105); Dave Hartman/Andrew Tamadl (104 & 106). Animation by Xilam, produced by Stone Quarry Animation.
Arcane Season 2 (November 2024)
Arcane Season 1 dove into the delicate balance between the rich city of Piltover and the seedy underbelly of Zaun. In the first event series, tensions between these city-states boil over with the creation of hextech — a way for any person to control magical energy — in Piltover; and in Zaun, a new drug called shimmer transforms humans into monsters. The rivalry between the cities splits families and friends as Arcane brings life to the relationships that shape some of League of Legends‘ famous champions, including Vi, Jinx, Caitlyn, Jayce and Viktor.
Created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee, executive produced by Christian Linke, Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck. Produced by Riot Games with animation by Fortiche Productions. Based on the League of Legends video game.
Cast: Hailee Steinfeld (Vi), Ella Purnell (Jinx) and Katie Leung (Caitlyn Kiramman), among others to be announced
Big Mouth Finale Season 8 (2025)
Synopsis: Big Mouth is a half-hour edgy adult animated comedy from real-life best friends Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg about the glorious nightmare that is teenage puberty.
Executive producers are Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin.
Cast: Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Ayo Edebiri, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Andrew Rannells, and Jordan Peele
