Annecy Preview: Fest Boss Talks 2026 Edition, US Studio, Asia Presence

France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival gets underway this weekend with Illumination’s Minions & Monsters, the latest movie devoted to the mischievous army of yellow underlings first introduced in 2010 breakout Despicable Me.
 
This third spin-off prequel – which hits cinemas worldwide on July 1 – returns to the Golden Age of Hollywood, with the minions unintentionally unleashing a monster on Tinseltown as they try to make a movie.
 
The world premiere on Sunday – in the presence of Illumination boss Chris Meledandri and director Pierre Coffin, who is also the origin of the minions’ unintelligible chatter – kicks off one of the biggest Annecy Film Festival’s yet.
 
Running from June 21 to 27, more than 18,000 accredited professionals and students from 120 countries are due to attend this year for the festival, spanning studio and indie TV and movie animated fare, as well as the MIFA market, hosting some 2,700 companies and an extensive talks and networking program.
 
Annecy Artistic Director Marcel Jean points to the strength of the selection of films available for the Competition and the competitive Contrechamp lineup.
 
“We hear so much about the crisis in the animation industry but paradoxically, it’s not evident in the feature films that were completed across this past year,” he says.
 
“Of course, given the lengthy production times in animation, the impact of strikes, funding crises, things like that always occur with a delay after the industry first feels it, [because] what we’re seeing here are projects that started three, four, sometimes even five years ago.”
 
He describes a “rich offering” from Europe including main competition titles such as Sébastien Laudenbach’s Viva Carmen!, Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy, Olivier Clert’s Lucy Lost and Alberto Vazquez’s Decorado.
 
European players in the mix outside of the film program include Mediawan, which is holding a special event for Twisted, the new European-produced fantasy adventure directed by Lino DiSalvo. The former Frozen head of animation has ambitions to produce a feature on a par with his longtime home of Disney, out of Europe and Canada.  

There will also be presentations by TeamTO, Superprod, Mikros Animation and Ankama, with the future of European animation in the spotlight in a day-long summit touching on topics such as cross-border collaboration and how to support the region’s talent.

European Works in Progress include folkloric vendetta tale The Wolf co-directed by France’s Benjamin Massoubre, who previously worked as an editor on Arcane, The Summit of the Gods, Little Vampire and I Lost My Body, and directed Little Nicholas – Happy as Can Be.
 
“This year has been an extremely rich one, there’s been a lot of European animation, and a strong output from Japan, a respectable output from Korea, but also a rise in power from China,” adds Jean.
 
Japan is in competition with Kohei Kadowaki’s We Are Aliens, which world premiered in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May, while Toei Animation tops a national delegation of some 250 market attendees, as its celebrates its 70th anniversary.
 
China has two films in the main competition, the 2025 $215m box office hit Nobody by Shui Yu, and Tana, a contemporary tale about a young woman who leaves Shanghai to support her ailing father in Inner Mongolia.
 
“It is truly remarkable how Chinese animation, and if we say all of China, including Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, is an extremely important constellation that is undergoing real evolution,” says Jean.

“Historically, where China has distinguished itself is in its increasingly technically advanced 3D animation, which is able to compete with major American studios like DreamWorks or Pixar,” he says.
 
“We’re seeing a diversification of Chinese production. There’s still a huge amount of 3D, but there’s also more than just 3D. There are 2D series inspired by Japanese anime. There are also more films addressing contemporary issues. Whereas the Chinese have tended to make historical films about great myths, epics, and so on,” he adds.
 
“Tana, which is in competition this year, is an excellent example of this. It’s a technically very high-performing 3D animation, but also a story about parent-child relationships, that talks about grief, that shows us something of contemporary China, something we’re not used to seeing in Chinese production.”

U.S. Studio presence
 
Alongside Europe and Asia, the U.S. studios are out in force in contrast to recent A-list film festivals such as Berlinale and Cannes, where there was a dearth of live-action U.S. studio fare.

“Honestly, we’re seeing the opposite,” says Jean, when quizzed on the trend seen in Cannes and Berlin. “There are more and more studios coming to Annecy, wanting to be in Annecy. If you look at this year, Warner Bros., DC Comics, DreamWorks, and Pixar are here.”
 
U.S. stop-motion indie Laika Studio also has a big presence with an exhibition entitled “Wildwood: A First Glimpse into a Handmade World”. The company’s president and CEO Travis Knight, and Wildwood director, will accompany the exhibition, touching down in Annecy for the first time.

As well as Minions & Monsters, Universal Pictures is also in town with a DreamWorks Animation preview special event for Forgotten Island by Puss in Boots: The Last Wish duo Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado.
 
Jean notes that Disney subsidiary Pixar’s Toy Story 5, which has been hitting red carpets since early June ahead of its wide theatrical launch today, would also have been in the lineup if the festival had not been forced to shift its habitual dates back a week due to the G7 meeting in the nearby city of Évian.
 
“If we hadn’t changed the Annecy dates because of the G7, we would have presented Toy Story 5 as a French premiere, but Pixar still wanted to be present in Annecy,” reveals Jean.
 
Pixar is at the festival with a behind the scenes presentation of Enrico Casarosa’s Venice-set upcoming movie Gatto, as well as a Work in Progress session for Cars: Lightning Racers, its joint project with Disney Kids & Family, the Disney TV arm which rebranded from Disney Branded Television earlier this week.  
 
The latter, which has been ramping up its activity of late, is previewing an episode of comedy adventure series The Doomies ahead of its launch on June 26 on Disney+.
 
Disney’s feature film-focused Walt Disney Animation Studios will also show new footage for upcoming movie Hexed. Disney’s presence will be rounded off with its traditional night barbecue bringing together all of it divisions on the last Friday.

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation will reveal exclusive footage of The Cat in the Hat and give a sneak peek at Cynthia Erivo-voiced Bad Fairies.  
 
TV-focused sister banner Warner Bros. Animation is teaming with DC Studios on  a presentation of their joint projects including Mister Miracle and will also put on a separate event showcasing the Super Mutant Magic Academy series and a preview of Batman: Knightfall

The streamers are also out in force with Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV and Sony’s Crunchyroll holding showcases.
 
Netflix, which traditionally has one of the biggest presences in Annecy, will hold its annual Next on Netflix Animation event promoting Ghostbusters, its series with Sony Pictures Animation; Ricky Gervais’ Alley Cats, Taika Waititi’s Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory and Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn.
 
Prime Video is in town with Robert Kirkman for Invincible and other creatives including Vivienne Medrano (Hazbin Hotel), Sam Riegel (The Legend of Vox Machina/The Mighty Nein) and Dave Wilson (Secret Level). Apple Original Films has a presence this year with Snoopy Unleashed, produced by Bonnie Arnold under the Wildbrain banner.

Guests: Mike Judge, Natalie Portman, Alfonso Cuarón & Ricky Gervais

Other program highlights this year, include the opening of the festival’s new-year round Cité internationale du cinéma d’animation on the eve of the festival, as well as an Honorary Cristals for King of the Hill creator Mike Judge as well as Stop-motion maestros the Brothers Quay, aka Stephen and Timothy Quay.

“Mike Judge is someone we’ve wanted to have in Annecy for a very long time,” says Jean, adding: “I’ve put a lot of effort in recent years to ensure that Annecy has a prominent place, American series aimed at an adult audience.”

“These series are one of the last spaces where it’s still possible, particularly on American television, to have a critical discourse on politics, on American society… last year we had Matt Groening, who was a major guest and Raphael Bob-Waksberg. He didn’t receive an honorary cristal, but he gave a masterclass and we launched his new series [Long Story Short] and this year it’s Mike Judge.”

Other guests this year include Natalie Portman and Alfonso Cuarón as part of its Carte Blanche program, under which they select a favorite classic animation as well as Oscar-winning The Incredibles director Bird as well as Gervais, to present Alley Cats.

“Ricky Gervais, it’s a real event. I was talking earlier about television and critical voices. For me, It’s more important than ever to have people who speak freely and Ricky Gervais embodies that even to the point of controversy,” says Jean.

“And yes, it could get a little heated but it’s a real honor to welcome and hear what he has to say about animation, because this is his first real foray into the field of animation.”

The fest runs from June 21 to 27. Keep up to date with Deadline’s Annecy coverage here.