Netflix Will Premiere ‘Ultraman: Rising’ at Annecy Animation Festival

Netflix returns to the Annecy Animation Festival (June 9-15) with a robust slate of animated feature and TV projects, highlighted by the premiere of “Ultraman: Rising” on June 12 (two days ahead of the feature’s streaming debut).

Also on June 12, Netflix will offer sneak peeks of an untitled “Wallace and Gromit” stop-motion feature from Aardman (streaming this winter), and Zack Snyder’s upcoming adult animated series, “Twilight of the Gods” (streaming this fall). Franchise creator Nick Park returns to directing “Wallace & Gromit” with franchise creative director Merlin Crossingham. It’s about an out-of-control “smart gnome” with a mind of its own. Meanwhile, Snyder digs into Norse mythology for a violent Viking revenge actioner (from Xilam Animation).

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Netflix will additionally offer previews on June 12 of Skydance Animation’s musical adventure “Spellbound” (streaming this year), about a king and queen turned into monsters, directed by Vicky Jenson (“Shrek”), and “The Twits” (2025), a comedy about the never-ending battle between cruelty and empathy, from first-time director Phil Johnston (writer of “Zootopia”).

Work-in-progress sessions on June 11 will spotlight “That Christmas” (streaming in the fall), based on the trilogy of children’s books by award-winning writer-director Richard Curtis (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”). Curtis will be present along with first-time director and animation vet Simon Otto (“How to Train Your Dragon”), producer Nicole Hearon, and production designer Justin Hutchinson-Chatburn.

In addition, the June 13 making-of sessions will go behind the scenes of “Ultraman: Rising” and Season 8 of “Big Mouth” (2025), led by co-creator Nick Kroll and fellow co-creators. “Ultraman: Rising,” a partnership between Netflix, anime franchise creator Tsuburaya Productions, and Industrial Light & Magic, concerns a conflicted baseball star and superhero, who reluctantly adopts a 35-foot-tall, fire-breathing baby kaiju. The sessions will feature first-time director and animation vet Shannon Tindle (“Lost Ollie”), co-director John Aoshima, art director Sunmin Inn, and Hayden Jones, VFX supervisor with ILM.

Finally, the Emmy-winning “Blue Eye Samurai” and “Pokemon Concierge” will be in official competition.

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