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2025: The Year Ahead In Animated Film

 


2025 is here. Whatever else that means, it means its time for our annual look ahead to the animated films coming to cinemas in the year ahead. On the face of it, it might not look like a banner year for animation, but we've got high hopes for some of these- and maybe some of them will surprise us. Bear in mind there will probably be a few films that haven't been announced yet- mainly foreign and indie- so they won't be listed here- not to mention films released direct to streaming.


The Colours Within

Naoko Yamada returns with her fifth feature, her first since 2018's Liz and The Blue Bird. It's also, significantly, her first since parting ways with Kyoto Animation and hooking up with Science Saru. The film features a young girl who is able to see the colours within people's hearts, who forms a band with two other misfits.




ETA  January 24 (US) January 31 (UK)

Dog Man

DreamWorks adaptation of the children's book by Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey. Featuring a character who is half dog, half man, and all cop, in visual terms it looks similar to the first (and to date, only) Captain Underpants movie.Directed by Peter Hastings, it features the voices of  Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, Pete Davidson and Billy Boyd.



ETA February 7


Memoir Of A Snail (UK Release)

Adam Elliot's animated comedy-drama arrives in the UK on a wave of acclaim, including a win for the top award at the BFI London Film Festival, unprecedented for an animated film. The stop-motion feature centres on Grace Pudel (voiced by Succession's Sarah Snook), a hoarder of snails, romance novels and guinea pigs.


ETA: Februray 14 (UK)



The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Warner Bros Discovery, in their infinite wisdom, declined to release this, the first feature length animation featuring the Looney Tunes characters. But their loss is Ketchup Entertainment's gain, and at least it's not being shelved like Batgirl and Coyote Vs ACME. Pete Browngardt takes the helm for this big-screen spin-off of the recent revival Looney Tunes Cartoons.



ETA February 28


Night Of  The Zoopocalypse

An animated family-friendly spin on zombie movies. A wolf and a mountain lion join forces when a meteor unleashes a virus turning zoo animals into zombies. They must soon team up with other survivors to save the zoo and stop a deranged mutant leader from spreading the virus. Based on an idea by Horror icon Clive Barker.


ETA  March 7

Kayara

Meso-American story of a young Inca girl who dreams of joining the all-male Chasqui messenger group. She challenges traditions and gender norms to pursue her dream against all odds. Directed by Cesar Zelada, and starring Naomi Serrano, Nate Begel and Charles Gonzales.


ETA March 30


The King of Kings

This faith-based feature has an impressively starry cast. Its voice line-up includes Kenneth Branagh, Ben Kingsley, Oscar Isaac, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Forest Whitaker and Mark Hamill. The film recounts the life of Jesus Christ, as told by Charles Dickens.


ETA April 11


Sneaks

A designer sneaker finds himself lost in New York City, in Rob Edwards' animated feature. He must dig deep into his sole (geddit?) in order to rescue his sister and be reunited with his rightful owner. Featuring the voices of Anthony Mackie, Keith David, Laurence Fishburn, Martim Lawrence and Chloe Bailey.





ETA: April 18


Elio

Delayed from its original release date of last year, Elio sees Pixar return to sci-fi territory for the first time since Lightyear. In Adrian Molina's original feature, the titular space fantastic finds himself beamed into outer-space and mistaken for Earth's ambassador.  Co-directed by Madeline Sharafian and Turning Red's Domee Shi.



ETA: June 13


Naya: Legend Of The Golden Dolphin

Naya, The Golden Dolphin Princess is sent on a mission by her father, King Of The Golden Dolphins, to unite the dolphins of the world and save the oceans. Produced and directed by Jonathon Kay, and featuring the voices of Elliot Page, Kate Winslet, Gerard Butler, Quvenzhane Wallis, Megan Fox, Owen Wilson, Julian Lennon, Whoopie Goldberg, Diego Luna and more.


ETA : June 28



The Smurfs Movie

Yet another reboot for the little blue buggers. This time it's a fully animated film (not a live-action hybrid) and for the first time... it's a musical. Which probably explains the presence of Rihanna in the voice cast. Directed by Chris Miller, but not that one (the director of Shrek The Third and Puss in Boots not The LEGO Movie).


ETA  July 18





The Bad Guys 2

A pretty quick turn around for this sequel to 2022's stylish criminal caper. The Bad Guys are struggling to find trust and acceptance as Good Guys, only to be pulled out or retirement by an all-female gang of criminals (The Bad Girls), and forced to do "one last job". Director Pierre Perifel returns at the helm.


ETA  August 1



A Figgly Christmas 

We don't have many details about this festive animation, beyond a synopsis. "When Santa Claus crashes in the land of the Woodgies, Figgly has to help Santa and save Christmas".  The studio responsible, Angry Troll Studio seems to have about five movies (all the rest are live-action) all due out in 2025.

ETA November 20




Zootopia 2 (Zootropolis 2)

The long awaited sequel sees the return of Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps to our screens. This time the cast expands beyond mammals and sees the introduction of reptiles, birds, amphibians and primates for the first time. Where's the teaser trailer Disney?

ETA:  November 26


The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants

SpongeBob returns for a fourth movie- a fifth movie if you include Saving Bikini Bottom. Details are thin on the ground, but we feel you pretty much know what you're getting with SpongeBob Squarepants. We're not sure if this will be another CG movie or traditionally animated- we'll find out when the first trailer or images arrive.

ETA: December 26


Also Released

  • David Faith based animation ETA 21 November
  • Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie Preschool spin-off ETA 26 September
  • Light Of The World 2d animated faith-based animation ETA 5 September