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