Introduction
Hey, hey, fellow adventurers! Blaziker has returned for this very belated mid-year report on the animated movies I had covered in the first half of 2026, and yeah, it was a lot to take in.
In fact, if we are only judging by this first half, this is the year with the number of animated movies I had covered the most. It is also not just the quantity of animated movies that blew me away, but also the quality, as the overall quality of the lineup were carried by animated movies that featured at this year’s or last year’s Annecy Film Festival. However, I noticed other observations worth discussing that showed that maybe some common trends that are often proven in the animation industry may be broken.
So, in this report, it is time we recap on those animated movies I saw in 2026 so far, some observations and, of course, briefly explained how 2026 was carried by the Annecy Film Festival (yeah, I know), before we wrap up with my 5 most favourite (and 5 least favourite) animated movies of 2026.
If we are ready, then here we go!
The Rise of Non-Mainstream Animation (And Broken Trends)
Before I talked about some of the observations from the first half of 2026 so far, here are the statistics of the animated movies I covered in 2026 so far:
- Average score: 15.0/20
- Average rating: Hot
- Number of countries explored in animation this year: 35
- Number of mainstream animated movies: 6 out of 54 (11%)
Did you notice something among those brief statistics? Yeah, I only covered 6 animated movies from the big Hollywood mainstream animation studios, and no, this is not a one-off; in fact, last year at this point, I saw 6 mainstream animated movies so far, and this is quite exciting.
If you had seen my essay on my update towards the worrying Americanisation trend of non-mainstream animation, you would realise that the non-mainstream animation industry has changed for the better, as we are getting more non-mainstream animated movies that not only challenge the norms of this sub-category, but at times exceeding what the big Hollywood animation studios are producing. It is also refreshing that more countries are showcasing their animation capabilities, especially the ones that are genuinely making the effort to stand out compared to other animated movies within their countries, including those that are not well known for their animation.
This is also the year where we are seeing trends from the past that were broken, in a great way, that is. One of those trends is the worrying state of Latin American animation, and for most readers from that region, I am certain that they are fairly disappointed over how aggressively mediocre their animation industry is, especially their animated movies. Thankfully, I got to cover two Latin American animated movies that were not only excellent, but are worth adding to your watchlist, which are I Am Frankelda (which is now available on Netflix) and Brave Cat (which I saw at Annecy, more on the Festival later).
There are other trends that were broken, such as:
- German animated movies suck most of the time (with The Last Whale Singer)
- Japanese animated movies being top-tier all the time (with Labyrinth, one of my least favourite animated movies of the year so far)
- China having a stronghold in the foreign CG animation sub-category (with France now having great foreign CG animated movies, such as In Waves and Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog)
- Skydance Animation not being a good animation studio (with Swapped, though I should preface it not having good working conditions allegedly might still make that trend true to a certain extent, but until there is confirmation, I cannot confirm whether the poor working environment is true)
- Dinosaur-centric animated movies not being good all the time (with Kiri and Lou Go Raaa!)
- Amazing box office numbers co-relating with overall quality (such as Toy Story 5, the highest grossing animated movie of 2026 despite me scoring it 17.5/20)
Honestly, these go to show that anything goes, and past results do not always equal proven predictions. This is quite exciting for me and the overall animation industry, to be honest.
The Annecy Special
This year, I was able to cover 23 animated movies in theatres, of which I saw 5 outside of Annecy. Those 5 are, in order:
- Three Kingdoms: Starlit Heroes
- GOAT
- Hoppers (in Indonesia)
- The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (in Malaysia)
- Toy Story 5
As for the 18 animated movies competing in the Annecy Film Festival this year, I covered one just after the festival in Paris, and that was Jim Queen, but for the 17 others, I covered 2 before the festival, and the remaining 15 during the festival itself. I have a series of posts exploring my experience there coming up, but of my top 20 animated movies of the year so far, 11 of them are from this year’s edition with 6 more from last year’s.
Yes, the proof is in the pudding: the Annecy movies are something else altogether, as most of the movies I covered there are worth seeing, even if you might need to wait a bit longer to see those movies. For example, We Are Aliens, my 2nd most favourite animated movie of 2026, is only releasing in France by the end of this year, although home country is getting it in September, but for some others, such as Muyi, the theatrical release date is next year (20 January 2027 to be exact)!
Anyway, given we got the festival dates for next year’s edition, if you can afford it, I highly recommend you head to the Annecy Film Festival in June to see those movies before others do. Trust me, it was worth it, and I have a series of posts about my Annecy Film Festival experience, so stay tuned!
No Longer Strictly a Children’s Genre
Even though we had gone past the notion that animation is a kids-only genre, 2026 was the year we really see some amazing animated movies geared towards adults as well, with movies like Decorado and Jim Queen showcasing stories for the adult crowd that both exciting and quite refreshing, while also taking needed risks in order to stand out against an already crowded field of animated movies.
In fact, the top animated movies of this year so far are movies not strictly catered to families, since most of them are movies I would categorise as general audience and mature audience movies. Even for the family-friendly animated movies, such as Hoppers, Julian, Lucy Lost, Iron Boy and to my surprise Iggy the Eagle, they are well-crafted and well-realised animated movies that are very high-quality for family-friendly animated movie standards.
Further to my recent essay on the non-mainstream animation industry moving away from the Americanisation of their animated movies, I am happy to report that the non-mainstream animation industry is even producing great-quality family-friendly animated movies that even adults can enjoy, and it does not hurt that the mature animated movies are as great too.
My Most Anticipated Animated Movies for the Rest of 2026
With the first half of 2026 being over, it’s time we look ahead at some of the animated movies I am looking forward to for the second half:
- Forgotten Island: Obviously. It’s probably the biggest favourite to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the trailer we got looked amazing and yes, so many furries are simping Raww, the weredog in this movie. Sign me up, DreamWorks!
- Wildwood: Laika’s newest movie looked set to be another Laika hit, and this will be my first ever Laika experience. More stop-motion movies, please!
- Mononoke the Movie: The Curse of the Serpent: It is very likely we are getting the third and final movie in the Mononoke movie trilogy through Netflix, and considering its positive reception during its Japanese release, we are most likely finishing this trilogy on a very positive note.
- Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom: One of the movies that was showcased at the Aardman showcase at Annecy was the newest Shaun the Sheep movie, and as a fan of the Aardman series, I cannot wait to cover this one!
- A New Dawn: The Contrechamp jury winner at this year’s Annecy festival, it looks liked the mixed reception it is getting so far is not stopping A New Dawn from getting more releases across the world. Hopefully, I get to see this one!
- Flamingo Flamenco: A bit of a wildcard pick, but Disney veteran Raul Gracia, who won the Annecy Cristal for The Violinist alongside Erwin Han, is not stopping at one animated movie with music as the core of the story, because Flamingo Flamenco is another movie from him with a music focus. With a slated release for the end of the year, this could be an interesting one!
My Most and Least Favourite Animated Movies of 2026 (So Far)
Before we end the mid-year report, it’s time we look into my 5 most favourite animated movies of the year so far, and they are in order based on different categories since I covered so many movies at Annecy:
Overall Top 5
- 1. In Waves (20/20)
- 2. We Are Aliens (20/20)
- 3. Decorado (20/20)
- 4. Hoppers (20/20)
- 5. Julian (20/20)
Annecy Film Festival 2026 Movies Only
- 1. In Waves (20/20)
- 2. We Are Aliens (20/20)
- 3. Decorado (20/20)
- 4. Julian (20/20)
- 5. Lucy Lost (19.5/20) – 6th Overall
Non-Annecy 2026 Movies Only
- 1. Hoppers (20/20)
- 2. Iggy the Eagle (19/20) – 9th Overall
- 3. I Am Frankelda (18.5/20) – 12th Overall
- 4. GOAT (18.5/20) – 13th Overall
- 5. Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog (18/20) – 14th Overall
Likewise, here are my 5 least favourite animated movies of the year so far:
- 50. Jungle Beat 2: The Past (8/20)
- 51. Labyrinth (7/20)
- 52. The Myth of Maracuda (4.5/20)
- 53. Extinction (3/20)
- 54. The Land of Sometimes (0.5/20)
Conclusion
This was honestly one of the most insane first half of any year I had ever been on, especially when considering my Annecy adventure, but we still got the second half of 2026 to contend to, so let’s continue on our 2026 adventure, shall we?
Tune in next time as we begin the first Rundown of the 2nd half of this year. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
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