Annecy season is upon us.
From Sunday, pretty much everyone who’s anyone in the animation world will descend on the lakeside town in the French Alps for the world’s largest animation film festival.
More than any other event, Annecy remains the industry’s standard-bearer — a showcase for the biggest studio and streaming projects, a launchpad for independent voices from around the world and, perhaps most importantly, the premier scouting ground for the next generation of animation talent.
This year’s edition features six packed days of premieres, panels, presentations and sneak peeks, running alongside the three-day MIFA industry market (June 23-26). Here are your not-to-miss highlights.
WORLD PREMIERES
‘Minions & Monsters’
Illumination & Universal Pictures
Annecy opens on Sunday, June 21 with the world premiere of Minions & Monsters, the third film in the Illumination/Universal franchise, and the only major Hollywood feature to launch at the festival this year.
But there will be a feast of small-screen premieres, including the first two episodes of Bandai Namco Filmworks’ hotly anticipated new Ghost in the Shell anime series, screening June 22, Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall, from director Jeff Wamester, the first entry in a new series of digital-first animated features from Warner Bros. Animation, screening on June 23; and President Curtis, the Rick and Morty spin-off series from Adult Swim, will premiere June 24.
The festival will close on Saturday, June 27 with the world premiere of the short film Lysistrata, the last, posthumous work of legendary animator Richard Williams (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Thief and the Cobbler)
AWARD CONTENDERS
‘In Waves’
Courtesy of Silex Films
Annecy has a solid track record of picking animated award-season contenders — from 2025 Oscar winner Flow to recent nominees Arco and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain.
Among the prime contenders in this year’s festival line-up are Phuong Mai Nguyen’s In Waves, which premiered in Cannes and was snatched up by Netflix worldwide outside of France; Leah Nelson’s biographical drama Tangles, produced by and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Seth Rogen; Iron Boy, from French director Louis Clichy, which won the Special Jury Prize in Cannes Un Certain Regard section last month; and Muyi, a Chinese-set 2D drama from French director Julien Chheng.
PRESENTATIONS AND SNEAK PEEKS
Aardman Studios, celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, are hosting a special opening session at Annecy.
Aardman Studios
The studios and streamers use Annecy as a platform to announce new deals, first-looks and sneak previews. Aardman Studios (Wallace & Gromit, Shaun The Sheep) will kick things off with a special session on Sunday, with co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton, 4-time Oscar winning director Nick Park and studio CCO Sarah Cox taking the audience through 50 years of storytelling at the British claymation masters.
On Monday, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation President and CCO Bill Damaschke will unveil the division’s new line-up — and give a peek into corporate strategy in the wake of the WB-Paramount merger — in a session featuring exclusive footage from the Bill Hader-voiced The Cat in the Hat and Bad Fairies with Cynthia Erivo and Ncuti Gatwa, as well as a new Looney Tunes short, Daffy Season. On Tuesday, directors Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado will preview their upcoming DreamWorks Animation’s feature Forgotten Island.
Wednesday will see LAIKA’s deep dive into stop-motion epic Wildwood, with director Travis Knight unveiling details, and extensive footage from his upcoming feature, an adaptation of Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis’s 2011 novel, which features ensemble voice cast including Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Richard E. Grant, Awkwafina and Mahershala Ali.
Disney+ will give a first look at Season 15 of King of the Hill, followed by a Q&A with co-creator Mike Judge. Netflix will screen a first look at Brad Bird‘s Ray Gunn and the Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan exec-produced animated series Ghostbusters: Night Shift, as well as footage from their upcoming The One Piece anime series and Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory film, a spin-off of the classic Roald Dahl tale.
Thursday’s line-up includes a masterclass with Ricky Gervais, discussing his upcoming Netflix adult animation series Alley Cats; and the Warner Bros. Animation/ DC Studios slate, with first looks at series Mister Miracle, Starfire, Creature Commandos, and more. Friday’s highlights include Warner Bros.’ adult animation showcase, and first-looks at Disney’s Hexed and Pixar’s upcoming feature Gatto.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
An 2026 Annecy WIP showcase will feature the new reboot of classic anime ‘Astro Boy’
Sony Pictures Television/Courtesy Everett Collection
The Works in Progress sessions are a highlight of every Annecy Festival, providing an early snapshot of upcoming features in the middle of the creative process.
Among this year’s WIP must-sees are Toei Animation’s Monkey Quest, from Shrek 2 writer David N. Weiss, presenting on Monday; Netflix’s Steps, a re-telling/re-mix of the Cinderella story from directors Alyce Tzue and John Ripa on Tuesday; and Wednesday’s presentation of Nicolas Hess’ reboot of OG anime Astro Boy.
DISCOVERIES AND HIDDEN GEMS
‘Sekiro: No Defeat’
Courtesy of Crunchyroll
Beyond the big premieres and studio showcases, Annecy, particularly in its sidebar sections — Contrechamp, Perspectives, WTF, Off-Limits, Midnight Specials — remains a showcase for auteur animation and works from the margins.
Among this year’s potential hidden gems are the Taiwanese 2D rotoscope drama Welcome to Dolly’s House from directors Seven Ych, Rady Fu, and Tree Muta, which follows a YouTube star whose life spirals into nightmare; the Filipino documentary 58th, from director Carl Joseph Papa, which chronicles a notorious massacre from 2009; Kenichi Kutsuna’s samurai action film Sekiro: No Defeat, which Crunchyroll has picked up worldwide; the surreal drama Spacetime Chronicles from Italian music video director Stefano Bertelli; and Jim Queen, a crude South Park-style spoof from France about a sex symbol on the Parisian gay scene who contracts a strange virus that turns him straight.
