Netflix’s animation programming proves to be innovative and daring. With Oscar-winning titles like Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, and acclaimed films like Sea Beast and Klaus, it’s no wonder why the streaming giant is considered groundbreaking. As amazing as their serialized television slate announcement was, their films could be even better!
Original titles like In Your Dreams, Spellbound, The Twits, Pookoo, That Christmas, and a film about a K-Pop group who moonlights as monster hunters are scheduled to debut between this year and the next.
The Nerds of Color joined fellow journalists at a Next On Netflix: Animation presentation in Los Angeles, CA. It was a massive hour-long presentation emceed by Christopher Sean, who voices Ken Sato aka Ultraman in Ultraman Rising — a Netflix collaboration with Tsuburaya Productions set to begin streaming on June 14, 2024. There the actor talked about the streamers TV slate and how they are collaborating with animation studios around to globe to deliver high-quality entertainment through the animation medium. The actor also talked about what Netflix’s animated film offerings, and just as the headline says, there will be something for everyone.
K-Pop: Demon Hunters — a working title — is another Netflix and Sony Animation Studio collaboration that sees a group of friends who play in a K-pop band and moonlight as monster hunters. The world-renowned K-Pop girl group balances their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as bad-ass demon hunters, and is set against a colorful backdrop of fashion, food, style and the most popular music movement of this generation. No cast is formally attached as of yet, but the film will be directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans.
The Imaginary, a Netflix and Studio Ponoc collaboration, is described as a film about an unforgettable adventure of love, loss, and the healing power of imagination. The film explores the depths of humanity and creativity through the eyes of young Amanda and her imaginary companion, Rudger, a boy no one can see imagined by Amanda to share her thrilling make-believe adventures. But when Rudger, suddenly alone, arrives at The Town of Imaginaries, where forgotten Imaginaries live and find work, he faces a mysterious threat.
Directed by renowned animator Yoshiyuki Momose (Spirited Away), the film features the voice talents of Louie Rudge-Buchanan, Evie Kiszel, Hayley Atwell, Sky Katz, Jeremy Swift, Kal Penn, LeVar Burton, Jane Singer, Ruby Barnhill, Roger Craig Smith, Courtenay Taylor, and Miles Nibbe. In addition, the film will be dubbed in 17 different languages, as part of our ongoing work to ensure our members can discover their next anime obsession.
Netflix also has two Spongebob movies debuting in the next two years. The first, is Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie. Craig Robinson, who voices Sandy’s father, came out to energize the crowd with one of the two films he is in. More on the second one a little latter. But Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is a road movie that finds Bikini Bottom and all its denizens are suddenly scooped out of the ocean. So Sandy Cheeks and SpongeBob SquarePants take it upon themselves journey to Texas to save the town from a villainous plot. Based on the snippet, the film implements an CG animation and live-action hybrid style — something that the SpongeBob franchise is familiar with.
Robinson also announced Plankton: The Movie, a movie about none other than Plankton. While it comes out next year, the film sees Plankton’s world is flipped upside down when his plan for world domination is thwarted.
Robinson then went on to announce his other voice role as Baloney Tony in In Your Dreams. In the film, Robinson voices Baloney Tony, a stuffed giraffe who literally smells like processed meat. The actor went on to joke about how Daniel Day-Lewis got Lincoln, and he got to voice Baloney Tony, and that he was already working on his Oscar speech. He then passed it to a pre-recorded video of his co-star Simu Liu, who shared more about In Your Dreams.
Liu described In Your Dreams as adventurous and filled with heart. The actor plays a dad of a strong independent 12-year old girl named Stevie and her messy, carefree little brother Elliott — who journey into the dream world in search of the Sandman. If they can find him, he promises to make their dreams come true.
Of course, if your in a holiday mood, then That Christmas is something you may want to watch. Richard Curtis, who co-wrote the script, said that the film would naturally be about the most wonderful time of the year, which has a focus of happiness and loneliness and joy and fear. Like Love, Actually, 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! Directed by Simon Otto, the film features the voice talents of 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.
Netflix is also bringing the imaginative world of its hard to beat Roald Dahl to life with an film adaptation of The Twits. The film “is based on Dahl’s iconic book about two mischievous characters who love playing pranks on everyone — and each other,” Sean said. “But it’s also a story about the power of empathy — which we could all use a little more of these days.” Phil Johnston is the director, with Natalie Portman and Emilia Clarke providing the voices.
Feathers McGraw has broken out of prison and is looking to wreck havoc in the new Wallace and Gromit film called Wallace and Gromit: A Revenge Most Fowl. As of now, 70% of the film has already been animated. Director Merlin Crossingham said the film’s story is “about technology and how great it can be — but also the danger of it getting in the way of our relationships.”
“As directors, it’s our obsession to never stop pushing ourselves to tell the funniest, most unique, and absurdly compelling stories that we can imagine,” director Nick Park added.
The presentation then moved on to Netflix’s Spell Spellbound — an animated feature in collaboration with Skydance Animation. Sean then welcomed Nathan Lane to the theater where he spoke about the film. “Spellbound is about Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria. And she has a secret… a mysterious spell has turned her parents into monsters,” Lane said. Directed by Vicky Jensen, the film also features the voices of Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, John Lithgow, and Jenifer Lewis. The film will also feature an original score from EGOT-winning composer Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Glenn Slater (Tangled).
Pookoo, Netflix and Skydance Animation’s second collaboration, is a buddy comedy about a small woodland creature and a majestic bird, two natural sworn enemies of The Valley, that must set off on an adventure of a lifetime. We got to see a small work-in-progress clip that saw a curious woodland creature interested in the wonders of a small lake. Unable to explore its depth without going back to the surface for air, he glues together goggles and a flotation device to hold a vine which he is using as a breathing apparatus from pieces of nature like vines and wood chips. As soon as he dives in, we get to see the wonders of what the deep waters – at least from his point of view — has to offer and Siddhartha Khosla’s score amplifies that amazement.
