Netflix once again made a significant impact at the prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival, treating attendees to exclusive previews and sneak peeks of its highly anticipated upcoming animated movies and shows. Throughout the festival, award-winning filmmakers and creators, including Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Genndy Tartakovsky, took the stage to unveil exciting details about Netflix’s animated future.
One of the highlights of Netflix’s presentation was a look at Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. This new animated series will expand the beloved Stranger Things universe, propelling familiar characters into an adventure filled with action, suspense, and horror, perfectly suited for the animation medium.
Netflix hosted a dedicated Animated Series Studio Focus, providing an in-depth look at its full animation series slate, which includes anime and adult animation.
- Howl-arious adult animated film Fixed, which releases globally on August 13, opened to paw-tastic reviews and raised the ruff following its World Premiere. Visionary director Genndy Tartakovsky expressed his excitement: “That. Was. Crazy! What an incredible reception! This is truly one of the reasons that I became an animator, to sit in a theater and watch people laugh and love hand-crafted animation! I’ve always had great experiences in Annecy but this was the most exceptional one.
- Writer and producer Raphael Bob-Waksberg delighted audiences with a masterclass that focused on his career from BoJack Horseman and Undone to his upcoming adult comedy series, Long Story Short. He also treated audiences to a preview of the first episode ahead of the series coming to Netflix on August 22. Bob-Waksberg said: “There’s nothing like Annecy when it comes to celebrating the vast, beautiful universe of animation. I’m honored I get to be a part of it. With all my projects I aspire to create something that will make people laugh, make people cry, and make angry dorks on the internet call me dumb and bad. I achieved all three with BoJack Horseman. With my new show I’m hoping to get at least two.”
- The studio held its inaugural studio focus Netflix Series Animation: Get Ready for What’s Next! led by executive John Derderian (Vice President, Animation Series). The team provided an exclusive look at the upcoming shows from visionary storytellers and studios from around the world including sneak peeks of Blue Eye Samurai Season 2 and Magic: The Gathering and adult comedies Mating Season and Haunted Hotel.
- Derderian announced the celebrated French animated series sensation Samuel will be available on Netflix in the US, Canada, Australia, Spain, India and France. The show is the brainchild of director Émilie Tronche, about a 10-year-old boy living in a small town who keeps a diary documenting his life and originally aired on Arte’s platform, is co-produced by Les Valseurs, Arte and Pikkukala.
- In addition, smash hit Devil May Cry competed in Annecy’s Official TV Films Competition, while Mononoke The Movie: Chapter II – The Ashes of Rage was screened as part of the festival’s Midnight Specials programming, which are held out of competition.
- There was also a Work-in-Progress session for Ubisoft’s popular Tom Clancy game franchise Splinter Cell: Deathwatch.