Netflix Offers First Look at 2023–2024 Animated Films Slate

Following the Academy Award win for GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO and the purchase of Animal Logic, Netflix has announced nine animated movies that you absolutely must watch over the next 18 months.

Highlights include the announcements of an ensemble voice cast for the summer 2023 release of NIMONA as well as two new feature films, SAVING BIKINI BOTTOM: THE SANDY CHEEKS MOVIE and IN YOUR DREAMS, both of which will get released in 2024. Netflix has animated movies for everyone in any movie mood, whether your family wants to laugh along with their favorite characters or is prepared to go on a fantasy adventure in an epic new world.

The following list contains Netflix’s 2023–2024 Feature Animation Slate. These films are a part of Netflix’s expanding animated film library, which has received seven Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature, the most of any animation studio since its founding in 2018.

NIMONA

NIMONA, a highly anticipated Netflix original film based on ND Stevenson’s best-selling graphic novel, will debut this summer. Nimona centers on the shapeshifter who sets out to aid Ballister Boldheart, a knight who has been falsely accused of a crime.

As of today, Netflix has officially confirmed that Frances Conroy, Lorraine Toussaint, Beck Bennett, RuPaul Charles, Indya Moore, Julio Torres, and Sarah Sherman will be appearing in the movie alongside previously announced cast members Chloe Grace Moretz (Nimona), Riz Ahmed (Ballister Boldheart), and Eugene Lee Yang (Ambrosius Goldenloin). Troy Quane and Nick Bruno are the film’s directors.

Nimona – First Look

THE MONKEY KING

Coming Summer 2023

• Synopsis: The Monkey King is an action-packed family comedy that follows a charismatic Monkey and his magical fighting Stick on an epic quest for victory over 100 demons, an eccentric Dragon King, and Monkey’s greatest foe of all — his own ego! Along the way, a young village girl challenges his self-centered attitude and shows him that even the smallest pebble can have a big effect on the world.
• Director: Anthony Stacchi (The Boxtrolls)
• Producer: Peilin Chou
• Executive Producer: Stephen Chow
• Cast: Jimmy O. Yang, Bowen Yang, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Jo Koy, Ron Yuan, Hoon Lee, Stephanie Hsu, Andrew Pang, Andrew Kishino, Jodi Long, James Sie, and BD Wong

The Monkey King – First Look

LEO

• Synopsis: Actor and comedian Adam Sandler (Hotel Transylvania, The Wedding Singer) deliver signature laughs in this coming-of-age animated musical comedy about the last year of elementary school – as seen through the eyes of a class pet. Jaded 74-year-old lizard Leo (Sandler) has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium-mate turtle (Bill Burr). When he learns he only has one year left to live, he plans to escape to experience life on the outside but instead gets caught up in the problems of his anxious students — including an impossibly mean substitute teacher. It ends up being the strangest but most rewarding bucket list ever…
• Directors: Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, David Wachtenheim
• Produced by: Happy Madison
• Cast: Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Jackie Sandler, Heidi Gardner, Nick Swardson, Nicholas Turturro, Robert Smigel, Jo Koy, Stephanie Hsu

LEO – First Look

CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET

• Synopsis: From the multi Academy and BAFTA award-winning Aardman (Creature Comforts, Wallace & Gromit, and Shaun the Sheep), and Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated director Sam Fell (ParaNorman and Flushed Away, respectively), comes Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the eagerly anticipated sequel to the beloved and highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time, Chicken Run. Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s farm, Ginger has finally found her dream — a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk — this time, they’re breaking in!
• Director: Sam Fell
• Story by: Karey Kirkpatrick & John O’ Farrell
• From a screenplay by: Karey Kirkpatrick & John O’ Farrell and Rachel Tunnard
• Producers: Steve Pegram, Leyla Hobart
• Executive Producers: Peter Lord, Nick Park, Carla Shelley, Paul Kewley, Karey Kirkpatrick
• Cast: Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi, Bella Ramsey, Imelda Staunton, Lynn Ferguson, David Bradley, Jane Horrocks, Romesh Ranganathan, Daniel Mays, Josie Sedgwick-Davies, and Nick Mohammed

CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET – First Look

IN YOUR DREAMS

• Synopsis: A perfect family? Siblings who get along? Yeah… in your dreams. This is a comedy adventure about Stevie and her brother Elliot who magically travel into the world of dreams with the mission of finding The Sandman who will grant them their ultimate wish — saving their parents’ marriage. The kids are total opposites, making them an unlikely duo to navigate the absurdity of their own subconscious. Along their journey, they discover that as long as they have each other, they can face anything, even their worst nightmare.
• Director: Alex Woo
• Co-Director: Erik Benson
• Producers: Gregg Taylor, Tim Hahn

IN YOUR DREAMS – First Look

SAVING BIKINI BOTTOM: THE SANDY CHEEKS MOVIE

• Synopsis: When Bikini Bottom and all its denizens are suddenly scooped out of the ocean, Sandy Cheeks and SpongeBob SquarePants journey to Texas to save the town from a villainous plot.
• Director: Liza Johnson (The Last of Us, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Dead to Me)
• Teleplay by: Kaz and Tom Stern
• Story by: Kaz
• Based on the Series SpongeBob SquarePants Created by Stephen Hillenburg
• Executive Producers: Marc Ceccarelli, Vincent Waller
• Animation Supervisor: Piero Piluso
• Music by: Moniker
• Music Supervisor: Karyn Rachtman
• Cast: Carolyn Lawrence, Tom Kenny, Wanda Sykes, Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, Mr. Lawrence, Rodger Bumpass, Johnny Knoxville, Craig Robinson, Grey DeLisle, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, Matty Cardarople

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie – First Look

THAT CHRISTMAS

• Logline: Based on the successful series of children’s books by BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, Yesterday), Locksmith Animation’s heartwarming film marks the feature film directorial debut of renowned character animation and story artist veteran Simon Otto (Love, Death & Robots, How to Train Your Dragon trilogy). That Christmas follows a series of entwined tales about love and loneliness, family and friends, and Santa Claus making a big mistake, not to mention an enormous number of turkeys! Nicole P. Hearon (Moana, Frozen) and Adam Tandy (The Thick of It, Detectorists) are producers.
• Director: Simon Otto
• Producer: Nicole P. Hearon, Adam Tandy
• Writer: Richard Curtis

That Christmas – First Look

THELMA THE UNICORN

• Synopsis: Thelma is a small-time pony who dreams of becoming a glamourous music star. In a pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma is transformed into a unicorn and instantly rises to global stardom. But this new life of fame comes at a cost. Thelma the Unicorn is a hilarious, quirky and heartfelt ride from directors Lynn Wang (Unikitty!) and Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite).
• Directors: Jared Hess, Lynn Wang
• Producer: Pam Coats

Thelma the Unicorn – First Look

ULTRAMAN

• Synopsis: Based on the beloved Japanese character, Netflix’s Ultraman follows baseball superstar Ken Sato as he returns to his home country of Japan to pick up the mantle of Earth-defending superhero Ultraman. He soon finds more than he bargained for when he’s forced to raise the offspring of his greatest foe. Ken must go on a heroic journey, balancing parenthood, his estranged father, and the relentless Kaiju Defense Force to rise beyond his ego and discover what it truly means to be Ultraman.
• Director: Shannon Tindle (Lost Ollie)
• Co-Director: ​​John Aoshima
• Written by: Shannon Tindle, Marc Haimes
• Produced by: Tom Knott, Lisa Poole
• Production Company: Tsuburaya Productions, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM)

ULTRAMAN – First Look