Annecy 2026 Adds Gervais, Brad Bird, Brothers Quay to Lineup
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Annecy International Animation Film Festival announced Ricky Gervais, Oscar-winning director Brad Bird, and stop-motion duo the Brothers Quay as guests for its 2026 edition, joining previously announced Mike Judge (Honorary Cristal) and Laika President and CEO Travis Knight.
- Gervais will present a masterclass on Netflix's adult animation Alley Cats with a sneak peek of the first two episodes, while Brad Bird joins the Next on Netflix showcase to discuss his long-gestated sci-fi detective project Ray Gunn, featuring Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Waits in the voice cast.
- Walt Disney Animation Studios will debut never-before-seen footage of Hexed (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), Pixar will go behind the scenes of Enrico Casarosa's Venice-set Gatto, and Warner Bros. Animation will present Batman: Knightfall Part 1 and a first look at its November-bound The Cat in the Hat movie.
- The Official Selection features close to 50 animated features with 11 films in the main competition and 11 in the Contrechamp sidebar, opening with Minions & Monsters and including China's $215 million box office hit Nobody and Taiwanese work Welcome to Dolly's House.
- Brothers Quay (Stephen and Timothy Quay) will receive the festival's Honorary Cristal alongside Judge, while the International Animation Film Market marks its 41st edition with more than 975 exhibiting companies.
- The 2026 edition will be immediately preceded by the opening of La Cité internationale du cinéma d'animation, a new year-round hub featuring an animation museum, 332-seat cinema, and artist residency space.
- Festival logistics include dates pushed slightly later (June 21-27) to accommodate the G7 Summit earlier in June in nearby Evian, with 2025 having drawn a record 18,000 guests including over 6,500 animation professionals.
Why it matters: Annecy is the world's largest animation festival and a critical launchpad for studios' international strategies; the heavy U.S. studio presence (Disney, Pixar, Warner Bros., Netflix) signals that animation remains a high-priority growth area even as theatrical attendance wavers. The opening of La Cité marks a permanent infrastructure bet on animation as year-round cultural infrastructure, not just an annual showcase.
