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Movie News

The Secret is Out

The things we stumble across on the Internet — when we’re looking for something else. The Secret Kingdom is a 2023 family fantasy film from Australia, written and directed by Matt Drummond. “Hidden beneath their bedroom floor lies a land of enchantment, which must be protected from an ancient enemy — the evil Shroud. As they embark on their quest to unite five mystical treasures and save the Kingdom, Peter and Verity must face epic challenges that will test their bravery to the limit.” Doesn’t sound like much, but take a look at the trailer (and the poster!) and you’ll see what caught our interest. True, it’s clearly plotted and written for the younger set, but how often do you get anthropomorphic armadillos? It’s available on YouTube and other platforms too.

image c. 2025 Little Monster Productions

Let My Spirit Carry Me

Recently we stumbled across a new trailer for an upcoming animated film called Iggy the Eagle — from Poland, of all places, but it’s being released in English. The story goes like this: “Every night, a young eagle named Iggy dreams of flying alongside his imaginary brother, Felix. In reality, Iggy lives in a technically advanced society of birds so civilized, they all forgot how to fly. Iggy is being raised by his highly responsible Mom and a slightly rebellious, old-school Dad. When Iggy meets his new aviation-crazy classmate Eve, he finally gets the courage to confront his dreams, discovers the true nature of Felix… and spreads his wings in the real world for the very first time.” The 2D animation on realistic backgrounds style is highly unusual and very interesting in today’s media. We’ll be looking for this one when it comes to North America in 2026.

image c. 2025 Horus Movies

Her Avatar is a Beaver — Almost Literally

We’re learning more about Hoppers, the upcoming Pixar Studios feature for 2026. It’s written and directed by Daniel Chong, the creator of We Bare Bears. The official Pixar press release goes like this: “What if you could talk to animals and understand what they’re saying? In Disney and Pixar’s all-new feature film Hoppers, scientists have discovered how to ‘hop’ human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals! The adventure introduces Mabel, an animal lover who seizes an opportunity to use the technology, uncovering mysteries within the animal world that are beyond anything she could have imagined.” Hoppers is set to hit theaters in March of 2026. Want to see some early footage? Check out the report from last year’s D23 Expo (and look for the Zootopia cosplay!)

image c. 2025 Pixar Studios

The Annie Awards for 2024 are Totally Wild

This year the Annie Awards (the annual “Oscars for animation”, presented by ASIFA-Hollywood) were utterly dominated by two works: Arcane from Netflix in TV/streaming, and Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot in Feature Films. Both of them won the award for 2024 in each and every category they were nominated for. Obviously the more “furry” of the two, Wild Robot won for Best Character Animation, Best Character Design, Best Production Design, Best Voice Acting (Lupita Nyong’o as Roz the robot), Best FX Animation, Best Music, Best Editing, Best Direction (for Chris Sanders), and Best Feature Film. Meanwhile, Gintz Zilbalodis’ blender-animated film Flow took home Annie Awards for Best Writing (Feature) and Best Independent Feature. (More than one person commented that it’s interesting the film that won Best Writing has not one word of spoken dialogue in the entire movie…) Now the big question is whether the Oscars will follow the Annies and award The Wild Robot, or follow the Golden Globes and award Flow. In other news of interest to furry fans, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur won Best TV for Children, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes won Best Character Animation in a Live Action Feature. Among the Special Awards categories, ASIFA gave the Windsor McCay Award (a lifetime achievement honor) to Aaron Blaise, one-half of the directing team of Disney’s Brother Bear (among many other films that he’s worked on). You can see the complete list of Annie Awards for 2024 over at Animation Magazine. (And don’t forget: Nominations are open now through the end of this month  for the 2024 Ursa Major Awards too!)

image c. 2025 Dreamworks Animation

The Annie Award Nominations for 2024

ASIFA-Hollywood (one of the biggest chapters of the International Animated Film Society) recently announced this years nominees for the best in animated movies, TV series, short films and more, all from the year 2024. Surprising no one probably, Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot lead the pack with 10 nominations — including of course Best Animated Feature, where it joins Inside/Out 2, Kung Fu Panda 4, That Christmas, Ultraman: Rising, and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. (Conspicuous in its absence, perhaps: Disney’s Moana 2.) Inside/Out 2 and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl follow behind with seven nominations each. Wild Robot is also up for Best Effects Animation, Best Character Animation, Best Character Design, Best Direction (Chris Sanders), Best Music, Best Production Design, two for Best Voice Acting (Lupita Nyong’o as Roz the robot and Kit Connor as Brightbill the goose), and Best Editing. The feline film Flow (from Latvia) is up for Best Independent Feature Film, as well as for Best Writing and Best Direction. (Interesting side note: Flow just recently won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature!) All this, and we haven’t even talked about video games or TV shows! Animation World Network has a write-up of the nominees, or visit the official Annie Awards site to find out more. The Annie Awards will be handed out at a gala event at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Saturday, February 8th. (And don’t forget: Very soon it’s time to start sending in your nominations for the 2024 Ursa Major Awards!)

image c. 2025 Dreamworks Animation

A Bird of a Different Feather

We just learned of a new upcoming furry movie, thanks to Animation World Network: “Jason Isaacs, Jimmi Simpson, and Russell Peters have joined the voice cast of the musically-driven animated feature Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk, Variety reports. The first of six projects in a co-production and co-financing deal between Toonz Feature Film and Gold Valley Films, the film also stars Will.I.Am; Jennifer Coolidge; Luis Guzmán; Jennifer Hudson; Snoop Dogg; Whoopi Goldberg; Alison Jaye; and Howie Mandel. In the film, a mixed-breed Pigeon-Hawk sets out on a quest of self-discovery. While embracing the things that make him different, he finds the courage to change the world he lives in. John D. Eraklis and Tara Whitaker direct from a script by creator Ciaran Crampton and Jay Dowski.” There’s no word yet on a release date.

image c. 2024 Toonz Feature Film

She and HER Canines

Utterly out-of-nowhere department. Thanks to friends we stumbled upon Nightbitch, an upcoming horror-comedy starring Amy Adams (Enchanted, Arrival), based on a 2021 novel by Rachel Yoder. Adams stars as a suburban mom not only struggling with raising her young son, but also wrestling with resentment over having to give up her previous life as an artist. Oh, and at night, she’s turning into a domestic dog. Yes. The film is directed by Marielle Heller, and it’s coming to theaters on December 6th. Check out the first trailer — but be warned, it does have some naughty words!

image c. 2024 Searchlight Pictures

Keep Trying ‘Till You HIT!

And speak of the Devil… Here’s another bit of Viva Pictures news we got (again from Cartoon Brew): “Viva Pictures has signed on as the U.S. distributor of Hitpig! and will release the film theatrically on November 1, 2024. The film, adapted from characters first introduced in the children’s book Pete & Pickles by Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed, is from British production company Aniventure, which has previously completed Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank and Riverdance: The Animated Adventure. The animation provider is Cinesite (The Addams Family 2, Iwájú, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem).” Here’s the official synopsis: “Hitpig is a clever bounty hunting pig who catches escaped animals and returns them to their owners. His next job is his biggest yet: return a dancing elephant named Pickles to a maniacal Vegas showman, for a million bucks. The mission quickly escalates into a wild adventure around the world. When danger looms, it is up to Hitpig to save the day but he can’t do it alone.” As you can see, there’s a lot of “professional furry” experience behind this film, and we’ve been talking about it for a while now. See the trailer, too!

image c. 2024 Viva Pictures

Race to the Rides

More interesting news from Cartoon Brew: “Viva Pictures has picked up North American rights to the animated feature Grand Prix of Europe. The story of the film revolves around Edda, a racing car-obsessed young mouse, who must disguise herself as her idol, Ed, and take his place to compete in the Grand Prix to save her family’s amusement park. The film is a tie-in for the German theme park Europa-Park, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year. The theme park has won the Golden Ticket Award eight times for being the best park worldwide.” Viva Pictures is also making quite a name for itself for distributing more obscure animated feature films. After finding success with The Amazing Maurice, they went on to bring us Dragonkeeper and the upcoming 200% Wolf.

image c. 2024 Viva Pictures