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Animation

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

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Lulu is a Rhinoceros is a new 2D animated special we just found out about. It’s based on a popular children’s picture book by Allison Flum and Jason Flum. In a world of anthropomorphic non-humans, Lulu appears to be a young, jovial bulldog. But when she looks in the mirror, she sees a rhinoceros! And so she sets out to convince not only her friends but the whole world that that’s what she is — in the meantime, spreading a message of tolerance and kindness for those who might be different and who don’t fit into the Norm. The musical special just premiered on Apple TV+. It features the voice of Auli’i Cravalho (Moana) as Lulu.

image c. 2025 Apple TV+

The Ursa Major Award Winners for 2024!

The winners for the 2024 were presented at Furry Weekend Atlanta 2025 by Rowedahelicon, one of the newest members of the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association (ALAA). This year’s recipients, as chosen by furry fans like you from around the world, included:

Best Anthropomorphic Music: Monarch of Monsters, by Vylet Pony

Best Anthropomorphic Web Site: FurAffinity.net

Best Anthropomorphic Game: Webfishing, developed and published by Lame Developer

Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration: Adventurers and Explorers, by Royz

Best Anthropomorphic Magazine: Dogpatch Press, edited by Patch Packrat (We came in 3rd!)

Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip: Foxes in Love, by Toivo Kaartinen

Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story: Swords and Sausages, by Jan

Best Anthropomorphic Non-Fiction Work: Celebrating 85 Years of Conventions, by Con History

Best Anthropomorphic General Literary Work: Swords and Sausages — Volume 2, by Jan

Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction: Monarch  of Monsters, by Vylet Pony

Best Anthropomorphic Novel: The Varcross Key, by Aeron Dusk

Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work: Bun Hunting — Overture, directed by Piti Yindee

Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Series: Beastars — Season 3, directed by Shinichi Matsumi

Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture: The Wild Robot

The ALAA congratulate all the winners, all the nominees, and all of you who took the time to nominate and vote! Makes sure to do so again in early 2026! Visit www.ursamajorawards.org to find out more about the awards.

image c. 2025 ALAA

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

Another Brick at the Mall

If you’re not big on collecting exclusive toys, you might not be familiar with the Be@rbrick series of collectible anthro-bear figurines, created by the MediCom Toy Company of Japan. Well now, they’ve stepped things up even further by teaming with Dreamworks Animation to bring us the new Be@rbrick CGI series, which premiered on Apple TV+ this month. According to Animation World Network, “Be@rbrick follows Jasmine Finch and her bandmates as they pursue their dreams and inspire others to do the same. But it won’t be easy to do when living in a world where everyone’s role is chosen for them and where the painted-on look you receive when you graduate from high school determines who you’ll be for the rest of your life. Jasmine realizes that in order for her world to change, she and her friends will have to make it happen themselves.” More interesting stuff: “Meghan McCarthy (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Centaurworld) serves as developer, showrunner, executive producer, and writer. Alex Almaguer (TrollsTopia) is the supervising producer, with Taylor Orci (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts) serving as story editor, and Athena Hofmann (Amateur) serving as line producer. Timbaland serves as executive music producer.” That’s a serious line-up of experienced talent for a new show. Check out the article over at Billboard, which includes an interview with Ms. McCarthy and an exclusive trailer.

image c. 2025 Dreamworks Animation

Changing The Guard

Quite a while ago we learned about the Wereworld series of young adult dark fantasy novels by Curtis Jobling. Well, now Netflix has just dropped a trailer for Wolf King, the brand new animated series based on those very same books. “In a land once subjugated by werelords, sixteen-year-old Drew Ferran realizes he is the last member in a long ancestral line of werewolves. Drew must confront and overthrow the tyrannical rule of the Lionlords and take back the throne as the statutory wolf king.” The series is set to premier on March 20th.

image c. 2025 Netflix

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

Ruff Is Ready

Apartment D Films is an independent stop-motion animation studio who made a name for themselves creating unique (and wonderfully weird) commercials for Mattel toys. Now, after a successful Kickstarter campaign, they’re ready to launch their first original full-length series, Ruff Ruff Danger Dogs. “In the series, Earth has been locked in an unending struggle against Galactic Evil for a century. When the planet’s mightiest heroes sacrifice themselves to buy the world one more fighting day, humanity must seek out the five ‘goodest’ beings on the planet – The Ruff Ruff Danger Dogs! Can these once-abandoned pets learn how to pilot mecha and unlock their true potential when they’re still getting housebroken?” Animation World Network has an extensive interview with the creators, and preview videos. The series premiers this month on YouTube.

image c. 2024 Apartment D Films