The Annecy International Animation Film Festival took place from June 21 to June 27, 2026, bringing together major studios, independent filmmakers and animation professionals for a week of premieres, work-in-progress presentations and industry announcements.
The festival opened with the world premiere of Illumination’s Minions & Monsters, while Disney, Pixar, Netflix and Warner Bros. Pictures Animation each presented upcoming projects. The lineup included first looks at Hexed, Gatto, Ray Gunn, Ghostbusters: Night Shift, The Cat in the Hat and Batman: Knightfall – Part 1: Knightfall.
Rather than being a festival built around one major announcement, Annecy 2026 offered a broad look at where theatrical animation, streaming series and independent filmmaking are heading.
Minions & Monsters Opened Annecy 2026
The festival began on June 21 with the world premiere of Minions & Monsters, the latest animated feature from Illumination.
Directed by Pierre Coffin, the film follows the Minions as they search for creatures to use in a monster movie. Their plan goes wrong when they unleash actual monsters and are forced to help save the planet. The film runs for approximately 85 minutes and is scheduled for worldwide theatrical release through Universal beginning July 1.
The premiere continued Annecy’s long relationship with Illumination, whose films have regularly appeared at the festival.
Pixar Presented Gatto And Its Venice Setting
Pixar used Annecy to showcase Enrico Casarosa’s Gatto, an original animated film centered on a black cat named Nero.
The story takes place in Venice, where Nero explores a city shaped by canals, superstition and old-world atmosphere. Casarosa, who previously directed Luca, presented new plot details, previously unseen artwork and three exclusive sequences during Pixar’s June 26 presentation.
The presentation offered a closer look at the film’s visual identity and its balance of comedy and emotion. Unlike a franchise sequel, Gatto is another example of Pixar returning to an original setting and character-driven premise.
Disney Showed New Footage From Hexed
Walt Disney Animation Studios presented previously unseen footage from ** Hexed ** during its Bonlieu Grand Theater event on June 26.
Directed by Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand, with Josie Trinidad serving as co-director, Hexed follows an unusual teenage girl who discovers hidden magical powers and is pulled into a secret world of sorcery.
Disney showed selected scenes from the film ahead of its planned November 25, 2026 theatrical release. The presentation also highlighted the film’s combination of CG animation, hand-drawn techniques and watercolor-inspired backgrounds.
Disney’s Annecy presence extended beyond feature films. The company also presented material from the upcoming Cars: Lightning Racers, the Disney+ series The Doomies and the animated project Dragon Striker.
Netflix Brought Ray Gunn And Ghostbusters To Annecy
Netflix’s Next on Netflix Animation showcase included several major upcoming projects.
One of the most notable was ** Ray Gunn **, the new animated feature from The Incredibles and Ratatouille director Brad Bird. Netflix revealed new concept art for the film, which features a voice cast including Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Waits.
Netflix also previewed its upcoming animated ** Ghostbusters ** series, with creators Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan involved in the Annecy presentation. The series is expected to arrive in 2027.
The showcase also included a preview of ** Alley Cats **, the adult animated comedy created by and starring Ricky Gervais. The series follows a group of feral British cats attempting to survive in a world controlled by humans. Gervais also took part in a masterclass connected to the project.
Netflix’s anime presentation featured early looks at ** The One Piece **, Sparks of Tomorrow and The Ribbon Hero, along with material connected to Blue Eye Samurai Season 2 and Bass X Machina.
Warner Bros. Presented Batman: Knightfall
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, DC Studios and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment presented ** Batman: Knightfall – Part 1: Knightfall ** at the festival.
The film was described as the first installment in a larger animated event based on one of Batman’s most significant comic-book storylines. Annecy listed the presentation as a world-premiere screening, giving attendees an early look at the beginning of the planned multi-part adaptation.
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation also used the festival to introduce a new phase for its theatrical animation division. Its slate presentation included upcoming projects such as ** The Cat in the Hat ** and ** Bad Fairies**.
The studio also presented ** Daffy Season **, a new Looney Tunes short and the first theatrical Looney Tunes short in 14 years. The short was scheduled as a world premiere at Annecy and places Daffy Duck in a football-themed story connected to the 2026 World Cup.
The Ghost In The Shell Also Received A Special Presentation
Annecy’s special-event lineup included the new animated ** The Ghost in the Shell ** series.
The festival announced that the first two episodes would be revealed during a special presentation, with key creators discussing the new adaptation of the influential cyberpunk manga.
The project was one of several examples of Annecy giving major attention to animation from Japan, alongside its broader anime-focused programming.
Wildwood And Independent Animation Shared The Spotlight
Not every major presentation came from Disney, Pixar, Netflix or Warner Bros.
Laika offered a sneak peek at Travis Knight’s Wildwood, the stop-motion fantasy adventure featuring a voice cast that includes Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett and Jacob Tremblay.
The festival’s official competition also included films from France, Belgium, China, Canada, Singapore, Spain, Italy and other territories. Titles in the feature competition included Decorado, In Waves, Iron Boy, Lucy Lost, Tana, Tangles, The Sunrise File, Viva Carmen! and We Are Aliens.
That contrast is central to Annecy’s identity. A major studio can use the festival to promote a future blockbuster, while independent filmmakers compete for awards with projects that may have no established franchise or international marketing machine behind them.
Annecy’s 2026 Theme Focused On Animation Beyond Children’s Entertainment
The festival also placed particular attention on animation’s ability to work across genres.
Its “Animated Thrills and Chills” program explored horror, science fiction, fantasy, thrillers and other forms of animation that are often overlooked when the medium is discussed mainly as family entertainment.
Annecy artistic director Marcel Jean described animation as “a language” rather than a genre, emphasizing that it can support many different kinds of cinematic storytelling.
That idea was reflected in the festival’s wider program, which included studio films, independent features, adult animation, anime, shorts, television projects and experimental work.
Why Annecy 2026 Mattered
The 2026 festival offered a useful snapshot of the animation industry’s current direction.
Hollywood studios arrived with recognizable properties and major upcoming releases, including Minions & Monsters, Hexed, Batman: Knightfall and The Cat in the Hat. Streaming platforms focused on original animated series and films, with Netflix presenting Ray Gunn, Ghostbusters: Night Shift, Alley Cats and several anime projects.
At the same time, the official competition continued to highlight animation from filmmakers working outside the major studio system.
That combination is what makes Annecy different from a conventional promotional event. It is not only a place where studios show future projects. It is also a working festival where new animation is screened, judged and discussed alongside the commercial projects expected to dominate the next few years.
The Festival Showed An Industry Moving In Several Directions
Annecy 2026 did not point toward one single future for animation.
The festival featured franchise extensions, original theatrical films, streaming series, stop-motion productions, anime adaptations and independent features. It also demonstrated how studios are increasingly using animation across different audiences and formats rather than treating it as one category of family entertainment.
Minions & Monsters represented the power of an established global franchise. Gatto and Ray Gunn offered original worlds from major animation filmmakers. Hexed showed Disney experimenting with visual techniques, while Ghostbusters: Night Shift and The One Piece reflected Netflix’s growing investment in animated television and anime.
Annecy’s 2026 edition therefore functioned as both a showcase for upcoming releases and a broader picture of the medium itself: commercially ambitious, increasingly international and still capable of supporting stories that fall far outside the usual blockbuster formula.
