On the heels of a strong Q1, Netflix is gearing up to make a big splash at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which takes place from June 9 to 15.

The streamer is bringing a sizable number of kids and family features to the annual event, which is expected to welcome thousands of attendees. (It set a new record last year with nearly 16,000 badgeholders on the ground representing more than 100 countries.)

For Annecy’s “Work-in-Progress” sessions on June 11, Netflix will spotlight its new CG-animated holiday pic That Christmas, which is set to roll out on the platform in Q4 this year. Based on The Empty Stocking and other books by Richard Curtis, this is Locksmith Animation’s second film after Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021).

But one of the streamer’s most hotly anticipated presentations will offer a first look at Aardman Animations’ yet-to-be-titled Wallace & Gromit movie sequel, which picks up nearly two decades later from Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). Centering around an advanced “smart gnome” who goes haywire and wreaks havoc about town, this new pic will drop on Netflix worldwide later this year—except in the UK, where it’s slated to debut on the BBC first.

The Wallace & Gromit sneak-peek—featuring an exhibition of puppets from the movie—is scheduled for June 12, followed by previews for a pair of new CG-animated movies. First up is Spellbound, which Netflix took on when it signed a content deal with Skydance Animation last year. Also in the mix is The Twits (2025), based on a Roald Dahl children’s novel that was first published in 1980.

Annecy will serve as the launch pad for Ultraman: Rising, with an advance screening taking place at the event on June 12, two days ahead of the film’s wide release on the streamer. Japan’s Tsuburaya Productions co-produced this feature with Netflix Animation, based on its iconic sci-fi franchise Ultraman, which is all about an alien race of superheroes battling other aliens and monsters called kaiju. Doubling down on the brand, Netflix will also delve into the final creative process on Ultraman: Rising as part of Annecy’s “Making Of” sessions on June 13.

And finally, Pokémon Concierge (four x 20 minutes) has entered the festival’s official competition. The streamer started co-developing this first stop-motion toon for the franchise with The Pokémon Company last year, and it premiered in December. 

Netflix signaled a shift to focus on third-party acquisitions after scaling down its in-house animated productions last year, but it remains to be seen whether this is a long-term strategy. According to The Wrap, Netflix Animation held a town hall earlier this month where new film division chairman Dan Lin (whose resumé notably includes production credits on multiple LEGO movies) emphasized a passion for animation and the importance of a cohesive vision for films. This talk reportedly left many in the room feeling bullish about the prospect of more internally developed animated features going forward.

Pictured (L-R): The Twits, Ultraman:Rising, That Christmas, Pokémon Concierge and Spellbound (courtesy of Netflix)