Annecy 2026: Netflix Previews Their Animated Slate

Annecy Festival is basically Christmas come early for animation fans. The screenings, panels and presentations offer enthusiasts a smorgasbord of new animation content. And among the eagerly awaited events over the past few years has been Netflix's headline panel.

Netflix revealed new details about its animation slate, covering films, series, anime, from CG to hand-drawn, kids to family to adult content. The streamer says that more than 130 million members watch some form of animated content every month. Anime titles reached more than 1.5 billion views in 2025. The announcements come in the wake of an unprecedented year for Netflix Animation, with K-Pop Demon Hunters taking home two Oscars, and becoming the most watched film in the platform's history. They also won 13 Annie Awards, including three for Love Death + Robots, and two Children's and Family Emmys for Ultraman Rising.

Film

IN WAVES

Release date: December 11, 2026

Logline: In Los Angeles, AJ, a shy teenager, meets Kristen. She lives for surfing; he loves skateboarding and drawing. They fall madly in love, and a happy future seems within reach. But everything changes when Kristen faces a sudden illness. Together, they face adversity, driven by the strength of their love, their friends, and their newly shared passion for surfing and the ocean. 

Director: Phuong Mai Nguyen

Writers: Fanny Burdino, Samuel Doux (Based on the graphic novel by AJ Dungo)

Producers: Priscilla Bertin, Judith Nora

Cast: Will Sharpe, Stephanie Hsu

RAY GUNN

Release date: December 18, 2026

Logline: In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova.  

Director: Brad Bird

Producers: John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Lisa Beroud

Cast: Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits

Animation Studio: Skydance Animation

STEPS

Release date: November 20, 2026

Synopsis: Think you know Cinderella's “evil” stepsisters? Think again. Sick of living in Cinderella’s shadow, Lilith (Ali Wong) steals the Fairy Godmother (Bette Midler)’s magic wand and hijacks the Royal Ball with her sister Margot (Stephanie Hsu), breaking the Cinderella story as we know it and dooming the kingdom to the tyrannical rule of Priscilla (Nikki Glaser), a villainous schemer who swoops in and snatches the throne. Now, Lilith must team up with Cinderella (Amanda Seyfried) to fight biker trolls, outrun evil henchmen, and escape the Screaming Woods on an epic quest to save the kingdom, but most importantly, their relationship.

Produced by: Amy Poehler, Jane Hartwell, Kim Lessing. Poehler and Lessing producing for Paper Kite Productions.

Screenplay By: Ava Tramer, James Madejski, Jen Chuck, Dana Schwartz, Felicia Ho

Story By: Ava Tramer, James Madejski, Dana Schwartz, Felicia Ho, Riki Lindhome, Kate Micucci

Cast: Ali Wong, Amanda Seyfried, Stephanie Hsu, Nikki Glaser, Bette Midler

Animation Studio: Netflix Animation Studios

Series

ALLEY CATS

Release date: August 7, 2026

Synopsis: Alley Cats is a sitcom created by and starring the multi-award-winning Ricky Gervais. The adult animation follows the trials and tribulations of a group of feral British cats from all walks of society, who seek companionship while ruminating on everyday life. From the funny to the absurd, the series is packed with Gervais’ signature style of heart and social commentary that audiences have come to expect.

Creator and Director: Ricky Gervais

Co-director: Elliot Dear

Executive Producers: Ricky Gervais of Derek Productions, Steven Hamilton Shaw of Shush Creative. James Stevenson Bretton and Ben Lole for Blink Industries.

Producer: Hugo Donkin

Production Designer: Tang Heng

Cast: Ricky Gervais, Tom Basden, Andrew Brooke, David Earl, Kerry Godliman, Jo Hartley, Diane Morgan, and also featuring Natalie Cassidy and Tony Way

Animation Studio: Blink Industries

GHOSTBUSTERS: NIGHT SHIFT

Release date: 2027

Logline: New York City, 1994 — Five years after the Ghostbusters took the Statue of Liberty for a walk, a new wave of supernatural terror hits the Big Apple, forcing a group of scrappy, young New Yorkers — untrained, underappreciated, and kinda sorta responsible for the problem — to put on proton packs, face their fears, and bust some ghosts.

Executive Producers: Ben Hibon, Elliott Kalan, Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan, Amie Karp, and Dan Aykroyd  

THE ONE PIECE 

Release date: February 2027

Original manga by: Eiichiro Oda (Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha)

Synopsis: Produced by WIT Studio, THE ONE PIECE is a brand new anime adaptation starting from the very beginning of the original manga’s East Blue saga. Separate from the TV anime series that has charged full speed ahead over the course of more than 25 years, this series taps into the expressive potential of modern technology to offer a familiar yet fresh take on the adventures of Luffy. 

Director: Masashi Koizuka

Assistant Director: Hideaki Abe

Series Composition: Taku Kishimoto

Character Design & Chief Animation Directors: Kyoji Asano, Takatoshi Honda

Creature Design & Image Boards: Yasuhiro Kajino

Prop Design: Eri Taguchi

Action Animators: Ken Imaizumi, Shuhei Fukuda

Art Director: Tomonori Kuroda

Animation Producer: Ryoma Kawamura

Animation Studio: WIT STUDIO

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