An Art Form Grows Up: The Transformation and Evolution of Animation Is Celebrated at Annecy

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Thirty years after Pixar launched a revolution when it introduced the world's first fully computer animated feature, 'Toy Story,' its anniversary will be marked amid another sea change at this year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where the close-knit animation community gathers in the picturesque French city on Lake Annecy near the Swiss border.
The festival will take place from June 8-14 amid a collision of artistic, business and technological shifts, driven by factors from a post-strike business climate to AI developments. 'It's just south of chaos,' admits Pixar Animation Studio's chief creative officer Pete Docter, who was a young animator at Pixar when Woody and Buzz were birthed. But as the industry evolves, he remembers the words of Disney legend Joe Grant, one of the writers of 'Dumbo,' who years ago advised Docter to remember that the business is cyclical.
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'I keep that in the back of my head as we face what seems like, craziness, that it is cyclical. And I think the thing that I take comfort in is, regardless of the business, I have confidence in the artists,' Docter says. He recalls coming out of CalArts at a time when artists struggled to find a job. 'But that was when some of the greatest animation was produced in the form of shorts. I think the artists will always find a way to express themselves and continue to challenge the medium and push it forward. So I have a lot of optimism.'
The animation community uses the mantra 'animation is film' to suggest that it's not just for kids. Rather, animation is an art form that can be used to reach changing, global audiences with all sorts of stories and on a range of budgets. Just look at this year's animated feature Oscar winner, Latvia's 'Flow,' a moving dialog-free tale of a solitary cat's journey as it learns to survive after a great flood, that was made with open-source software Blender for just $3.4 million. Or 2024 category winner, Hayao Miyazaki's semi-autobiographical 'The Boy and the Heron,' which was distributed in the U.S. by indie distributor GKIDS.
'I think the assumption that animation is tied to a particular type of four-quadrant family film has really been challenged,' says GKIDS president Dave Jesteadt, who sees opportunity for all types of films. 'I think that you see a greater acceptance of animation as a film and artform. It certainly feels like whether that's 'Flow' last year or 'The Boy and the Heron' from two years ago — and obviously there's lots of projects in between — it does feel like the things that we're sort of looking at, that are playing in Annecy, do have the potential to reach commercial audiences.'
Alex Woo, director of upcoming Netflix original 'In Your Dreams,' points to not just features but series work: 'A show like 'Arcane' just wouldn't have existed without a platform like Netflix. And 'Love, Death & Robots' feels like a spiritual successor to (the Wachowskis' 'Matrix'-themed) 'The Animatrix' anthology, but with all original stories. It's been encouraging to see studios taking more chances and telling different kinds of stories in animation — and even more exciting to see audiences embracing them.'
Director Genndy Tartakovsky, whose 'Fixed' (the story of a dog who learns that he will be neutered, produced by Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix) will have its world premiere at Annecy, suggests that adult animation is thriving. 'Adult series animation definitely feels like it offers the most creativity as far as art and story,' he says adding, though, that he finds it's 'very difficult these days to get an original theatrical feature made.'
In 2024, three of the five highest grossing theatrical releases were animated, with Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' and Disney Animation's 'Moana 2' both topping $1 billion.
Dreamworks Animation chief Margie Cohn says it's 'imperative' to create stories that give audiences a reason to see a movie in a theater, and DWA is delivering two to three theatrical films per year, a mix of original and franchise titles. 'We will continue to strike the right balance with one original and a reimagined franchise title each year,' she reports, adding 'there is great nostalgia for existing franchises, but there still needs to be a compelling reason to add another chapter — evolving your character, story and look — making it relevant for today's audiences.'
To address competition for viewers' time between social media, gaming, streaming and cinema, Laika describes its emphasis on building its audience. 'It's very challenging in a world where audiences' attention is massively fragmented,' admits Laika's CMO David Burke, citing the studio's next release, 'Wildwood,' which will part of the studio's Annecy slate presentation as an example.
'Over the last couple of years, we've really focused on building out our social platforms, so we have an audience who's aware of Laika as the creator of these five kinds of wonderful films [including 'family horror' titles 'Coraline' and 'ParaNorman'], Burke says. 'Now that we've built in this kind of foundation of brand awareness directly with the audience, we're able to build anticipation and have a conversation with our fans directly, online, as it relates to 'Wildwood.''
He adds that Laika additionally used the theatrical rerelease of 'Coraline' for its 'Wildwood' title release, which additionally played online. 'In total, we got like 30 million cumulative views — eight million views in theaters and 25 million views online for the title reveal,' he says.
At Pixar, Docter says the team remains focused on universal stories but that also 'take advantage of what animation can do, bringing to life characters, inanimate objects and looking at things from a unique viewpoint.' As to evolving technology, notably the thorny subject of AI, he observes that it 'kind of feels like there's a very close equivalent' to the sorts of questions and discussions that surrounded the 'Toy Story' release about the future of animation.
For Docter, technology doesn't replace the humanity. 'Movies are going to change. I don't know exactly how, but at the heart of it, people don't want to watch heartless robots making stuff. I think they go to the movies because they want to feel that they're not alone, that someone else out there had a feeling and an idea about the world and experience,' he says. 'It comes from going out and taking risks and feeling pain and struggle and then putting that into a story. … It comes from living.'
THINGS TO SEE AT ANNECY
Walt Disney Animation Studios' CCO Jared Bush will introduce a sneak peek at Nov. 26 theatrical release 'Zootopia 2,' which Bush directed (with Byron Howard) and wrote. Fans may enjoy an evening, open-air screening of 2016's 'Zootopia.' During the week, Disney Animation director Ron Clements ('The Little Mermaid,' 'Aladdin') will be inducted into Annecy's Walk of Fame.
Dreamworks Animation's slate presentation will include Aug. 1 release 'The Bad Guys 2.' Helmer Pierre Perifel, who also directed the original, will be at Annecy, joined by returning composer Daniel Pemberton.
Universal will present a preview of writer/director Dean DeBlois' upcoming live action reimaging of 'How to Train Your Dragon.'
A first look at Paul McCartney's 3D animated film 'High in the Cloud' helmed by Toby Genkel joined the lineup. It's recently-announced all star cast includes Celine Dion, Himesh Patel, Hannah Waddingham, Idris Elba and Ringo Starr.
Pixar's Pete Docter will host a slate presentation, joined by 'Elio' directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, and producer Mary Alice Drumm. This will include footage from June 20 release 'Elio' and first looks at the studio's 2026 releases, 'Hoppers' and 'Toy Story 5.' Marking the 30th anniversary of the original 'Toy Story,' Docter will share footage of Pixar as a young studio working on the movie.
Andy Serkis will introduce a screening of 'Animal Farm,' his upcoming animated adaptation of the George Orwell novel, produced by Aniventure and Imaginarium. Its all-star voice cast includes Seth Rogen as devious pig Napoleon, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox and Kieran Culkin. Serkis will also lend his voice.
Next on Netflix will include new footage of Fall release 'In Your Dreams,' its upcoming comedy adventure set in the dreams of a pair of siblings, introduced by director Alex Woo, production designer Steven Pilcher, and VFX supervisor Nicola Lavender; and a first look at its animated series 'Stranger Things: Tales From '85,' with showrunner Eric Robles.
Annecy will host the world premiere of Genndy Tartakovsky's 'Fixed,' produced by Sony Pictures Animation (Tartakovsky's 'Hotel Transylvania'). The movie will be released by Netflix on Aug. 13. SPA's Annecy plans also include more on its upcoming feature 'GOAT' with director Tyree Dillihay and producer Michelle Raimo-Kouyate.
Paramount & Nickelodeon Animation's slate presentation will include'Smurfs,' directed by Chris Miller ('Puss in Boots') and 'The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,' helmed by Derek Drymon.
A first look at Paul McCartney's 3D animated film 'High in the Cloud' helmed by Toby Genkel will be featured. It's recently-announced voice cast includes Celine Dion, Himesh Patel, Hannah Waddingham, Idris Elba and Ringo Starr.
Laika's development slate presentation will include a sneak peak at Travis Knight-helmed 'Wildwood.' Additionally, Laika director Chris Butler ('Paranorman,' 'Missing Link') will present a masterclass during the festival.
Honorary Cristals will be awarded to Michael Gondry, who will also screen his new film 'Maya, Give Me Another Title;' animator and advocate Joanna Quinn, who will receive her honor as part of the 10th Women in Animation Summit; and 'The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening, who will participate in a session on the longrunning series.
Annecy's 2025 country of honor is Hungary and related programming will include Hungarian feature films, such as 'Bubble Bath' and 'Heroic Times,' as well as student films.
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