Netflix has lined up some stellar animated shows and films, not just for the next month, but for the next YEAR! You can look forward to 33 – count ’em, 33! – animated movies and shows on the streaming giant, from reimagined childhood classics to brand new titles. Your inner child is gonna binge like there’s no tomorrow!
To get things started, here’s the first part of our three-part list of must-sees, featuring 11 toons you just can’t miss:
Ultraman: Rising
- Release Date: 14th, June 2024
- Cast: Christopher Sean, Gedde Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita, Keone Young, Julia Harriman
With Tokyo under siege from rising monster attacks, baseball star Ken Sato reluctantly returns home to take up the role of Ultraman. However, the titanic superhero faces his match when he reluctantly adopts a 35-foot-tall, fire-breathing baby kaiju. Sato must overcome his ego in order to balance work and parenthood while also protecting the baby from forces bent on exploiting her for their own sinister purposes. Ultraman: Rising, produced by Netflix, Tsuburaya Productions, and Industrial Light & Magic, is written and directed by Shannon Tindle and Marc Haimes, with co-direction by John Aoshima.
The Imaginary
- Release Date: 5th, July 2024
- Cast: Louie Rudge-Buchanan, Evie Kiszel, Hayley Atwell, Sky Katz, Jeremy Swift, Kal Penn, LeVar Burton, Jane Singer, Ruby Barnhill, Roger Craig Smith, Courtenay Taylor, Miles Nibbe
“The Imaginary” by Studio Ponoc explores the depths of humanity and creativity through the eyes of young Amanda and her imaginary companion, Rudger, a boy no one can see but whom Amanda imagines to share her thrilling make-believe adventures. But when Rudger, suddenly alone, arrives at The Town of Imaginaries, where forgotten Imaginaries live and work, he is confronted with an unknown threat. The Imaginary, directed by renowned animator Yoshiyuki Momose (“Spirited Away”), is an unforgettable journey through love, loss, and the healing power of imagination.
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie
- Release Date: 2nd, August 2024
- Cast: Carolyn Lawrence, Tom Kenny, Wanda Sykes, Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, Mr. Lawrence, Rodger Bumpass, Johnny Knoxville, Craig Robinson, Grey Griffin, Ilia Isorelys Paulino, Matty Cardarople
When Bikini Bottom and its inhabitants are abruptly scooped out of the ocean, Sandy Cheeks and SpongeBob SquarePants travel to Texas to save the town from a villainous plot.
Spellbound
- Release Date: 22nd, November 2024
- Cast: Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Tituss Burgess, Nathan Lane, Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman
“Spellbound” follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of Lumbria’s rulers, who must embark on a perilous journey to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters. Vicky Jenson (Shrek) directs Spellbound, which features an original score by EGOT winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Glenn Slater (Tangled). Spellbound, a Netflix film from Skydance Animation, features an all-star voice cast including Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Nathan Lane, and Tituss Burgess. “Spellbound” is written by Lauren Hynek, Elizabeth Martin, and Julia Miranda, with Skydance Animation’s John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Bruce Anderson, and Linda Woolverton serving as producers.
That Christmas
- Release Date: December 2024
- Cast: Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, Bill Nighy, Lolly Adefope, Alex Macqueen, Katherine Parkinson, Sindhu Vee, India Brown, Zazie Hayhurst, Sienna Sayer, Jack Wisniewski, Rosie Cavaliero, Paul Kaye, Guz Khan, Andy Nyman, Kuhu Agarwal, Bronte Smith, Freddie Spry, Ava Talbot, Rhys Darby
“That Christmas” is based on the charming trilogy of children’s books by beloved award-winning writer-director Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually, Yesterday), and it tells a series of intertwined stories about family and friends, love and loneliness, and Santa Claus making a big mistake. Also featured: an enormous number of turkeys! This heartwarming comedy from Locksmith Animation is Curtis’s first foray into animation, and he serves as both writer and executive producer. Simon Otto (Love, Death & Robots, How to Train Your Dragon films) makes his feature directorial debut. Nicole P. Hearon (Moana, Frozen) and Adam Tandy (The Thick of It, Detectorists) produce.
In Your Dreams
- Release Date: 2025
- Cast: Simu Liu, Craig Robinson
In Your Dreams is a comedy adventure about 12-year-old Stevie and her younger brother, Elliot, who travel through the absurd landscape of their own dreams. If the siblings can get past a snarky stuffed giraffe, zombie breakfast foods, and the queen of nightmares, the Sandman will grant them their ultimate wish: the perfect family.
K-POP: DEMON HUNTERS
- Release Date: 2025
- Cast: TBA
K-Pop: Demon Hunters is a musical action adventure that follows the members of a world-famous K-pop girl group as they balance their celebrity lives with their secret identities as badass demon hunters. It all takes place against a colourful backdrop of fashion, food, style, and the most popular music movement of this generation.
The Twits
- Release Date: 2025
- Cast: Margo Martindale, Johnny Vegas, Natalie Portman, Emilia Clarke
Mr. and Mrs. Twit are the meanest, smelliest, and nastiest people on the planet, and they also own and operate Twitlandia, the world’s most disgusting, dangerous, and idiotic amusement park. But when the Twits gain power in their town, two brave orphans and a family of magical animals must become as cunning as the Twits in order to save the city. The Twits is a hysterically funny, wild ride of a film (packed with the Twits’ beloved tricks, from the Wormy Spaghetti to the Dreaded Shrinks), but it is also a story for our time, about the never-ending battle between cruelty and empathy.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
- Release Date: 2024
- Cast: Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith, Diane Morgan, Adjoa Andoh, Muzz Khan, Lenny Henry
Nick Park, a four-time Academy Award winner, and Merlin Crossingham, an Emmy Award nominee, return with a brand-new epic adventure, “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.” Gromit is concern that Wallace is becoming overly reliant on his inventions and is vindicated in this episode, as Wallace creates a “smart” gnome that appears to develop its own mind. Gromit must save his master from a vengeful figure from the past, or Wallace may be unable to invent again.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos The Movie (Part 1 / Part 2)
- Release Date: 22nd, August 2024
- Cast: Kotono Mitsuishi, Hisako Kanemoto, Rina Satô, Ami Koshimizu, Shizuka Itou, Misato Fukuen, Ai Maeda, Junko Minagawa, Sayaka Ôhara, Yukiyo Fujii, Kenji Nojima, Saori Hayami, Megumi Hayashibara, Yôko Hikasa, Marina Inoue, Mariya Ise, Mitsuaki Madono, Nana Mizuki
This film covers the Shadow Galactica arc, which is the final chapter of the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series. When a new enemy known as Shadow Galactica, an organisation bent on destroying everything and ruling the universe, begins eliminating her friends one by one, Sailor Moon must rise to fight once more. Her task requires her to persevere even when loneliness threatens to consume her. Will she be able to protect the people she cares about? What awaits her beyond the battle? Sailor Moon fights on despite the pressures of her self-imposed mission, as the final chapter of the beautiful and strong Sailor Guardians begins.
My Oni Girl
- Release Date: 24th May, 2024
- Cast: Kensho Ono, Miu Tomita
In an extraordinary world where winter meets summer, “My Oni Girl” tells an enchanting story of friendship and self-discovery. It tells the story of Hiiragi Yatsuse, a first-year high school student who finds it difficult to make friends despite his best intentions. His life takes an unexpected turn one summer day when he meets Tsumugi, an oni (demon) girl searching for her mother in the human world. Snow mysteriously begins to fall … and their adventure begins.
This youth fantasy film, produced by the cutting-edge Studio Colorido and directed by Studio Ghibli alumni Tomotaka Shibayama, combines human emotions and mythical elements in a heartwarming narrative. My Oni Girl is the second of three films produced by Netflix with the animation studio, which has received critical acclaim in Japan for feature-length anime such as Penguin Highway, A Whisker Away, and Drifting Home.
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