Our Annecy 2026 Studio Report Card: The Winners, Losers, And How One Company Actually Did More Harm Than Good

Over the past decade, U.S. studios have taken over Annecy.

The last couple of editions have seen the world’s oldest animation festival take positive steps toward reclaiming some of its indie and international magic, but for an event the size and scope of Annecy, it’s clear that Hollywood dollars are needed to keep the gears turning behind the scenes.

In return, Annecy has largely supplanted Comic-Con as the year’s most important promotional event for the animation industry’s biggest players, offering an unparalleled spotlight to the animation art form.

With another festival in the books, we looked back at the week that was and graded the major studios on their performance at Annecy 2026.

Netflix – A

Ray Gunn had everyone talking before the festival even kicked off, and the conversation only intensified once attendees actually saw footage from Brad Bird’s long-awaited original feature. It instantly became one of the week’s defining talking points and reinforced Netflix’s reputation for arriving at Annecy with serious ambitions.

More surprising was the response to Ghostbusters: Night Shift and Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory. Both made their most significant public debuts yet, and the audience reaction was overwhelmingly positive. We didn’t see enough to know whether either has the storytelling chops to break through in an increasingly crowded streaming landscape, but visually they were among the most impressive studio projects screened all week. We also heard, from more than one person who made it to the movie’s Work in Progress pitch, “Don’t sleep on Steps.”

Netflix continues to understand Annecy better than almost anyone. It doesn’t simply show up with trailers. It arrives with films people genuinely want to talk about afterward and discusses its titles in a language that attendees understand rather than the corporate execu-speech that some other companies favor.

Warner Bros. – A-

No studio can claim to take Annecy more seriously than Warner Bros., and it was another strong showing across its sprawling animation empire, including Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Warner Bros. Animation, DC Studios, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim.

The biggest statement came from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation president Bill Damaschke, who spent much of the studio’s presentation laying out an “artist-first” vision for WBPA’s future. He promised there would be no house style, that filmmakers would drive the creative direction, and that the studio would prioritize original voices over a uniform brand identity. At Annecy, that’s exactly what people want to hear. Better still, the slate backed him up.

Rather than leading with familiar franchises, WBPA introduced Vivienne Medrano’s original musical Prehistoria, showcased Swaybox’s visually daring Dynamic Duo, previewed Locksmith’s Bad Fairies and The Lunar Chronicles, and offered another energetic look at The Cat in the Hat.

Elsewhere, Warner Bros. kept its footprint broad. Adult Swim generated plenty of excitement around Common Side Effects and Genndy Tartakovsky’s newly announced Heist Brothers, while also confirming that Tartakovsky’s long-gestating Conan project has landed at Warner Bros. Animation. Few studios arrived with as much to show across features, television, adult animation, and creator presentations, and that’s exactly why Warner Bros. remains the company that treats Annecy less like a marketing stop and more like animation’s annual convention.

DreamWorks – B+

DreamWorks didn’t bring a huge slate to Annecy, but it hardly mattered. Forgotten Island may have been the single biggest success story of the entire festival.

Directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado gave one of the week’s strongest filmmaker presentations, offering audiences an extended look at the film’s mythology, design choices, and emotional core. The footage alone generated enormous enthusiasm, but DreamWorks had one final surprise. As the presentation wrapped, the filmmakers announced that attendees would have the chance to see the completed film in a special screening the following day.

The gamble paid off spectacularly.

The screening quickly became one of Annecy’s hottest tickets, and by the time the credits rolled, the audience responded with more than five minutes of sustained applause, cheers, and more than a few tears. Forgotten Island leaves France looking like one of the year’s most exciting animated films, arguably 2026’s most promising original feature, and a title that seems destined to become a fixture throughout awards season.

DreamWorks may not have had the largest presence on the schedule, but when one film dominates conversations for the rest of the week, you don’t need much else.

Sony – B

On its own, Sony would have only just scraped a passing grade. Netflix handled the major Ghostbusters reveal, KPop Demon Hunters remained one of the festival’s most talked-about recent releases, and virtually every discussion about animation’s box office resurgence eventually circled back to GOAT. But that’s about it for the company who, next year, should have everyone’s spider senses tingling with a bit more to share. (Beyond the Spider-Verse comes out the week after Annecy next summer)

Fortunately for Sony, Crunchyroll carried a significant share of the load.

The anime powerhouse had one of the festival’s biggest footprints, with major presentations for Sekiro: No Defeat and Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia. But the bigger story was Crunchyroll’s evolving strategy. The company used Annecy to announce European collaborations on The Wolf and Dreamland, making a clear case that its future isn’t just about bringing Japanese anime to the world, but also helping create the next generation of anime-inspired animation outside Japan. Even when Sony Pictures Animation wasn’t commanding attention, the broader Sony ecosystem remained highly visible throughout the week.

Illumination – C+

Minions & Monsters received a warm reception following its opening-night world premiere, and bringing director Pierre Coffin together with founder and CEO Chris Meledandri gave Illumination a much larger presence than usual.

Veteran Annecy attendees were struck by how visible Meledandri was throughout the week. He gave interviews, attended events, and spent far more time engaging with the festival than many expected.

The strategy makes sense. Speaking with Cartoon Brew after the premiere, Meledandri emphasized that Illumination wants to be known not only for blockbuster franchises but also as a studio that supports distinctive filmmakers. If that’s the direction the company is heading, there are few better places to make that case than Annecy.

That said, Illumination’s biggest stories were broken far away from the French festival, which seemed an odd decision given the spotlight Annecy offers. The company could have scored much higher if the news of Not Alone, another original feature, had been integrated into its Annecy presence.

Disney/Pixar – C

Disney’s Annecy unfolded almost exactly as expected.

The studio’s biggest feature presentation centered on an original film that comes with big question marks, with almost half a year before it hits theaters, while its splashiest announcement was a new 2D-CG hybrid Lilo & Stitch short.

Pixar followed a remarkably similar playbook. Gatto impressed audiences with its painterly visual style and distinctive Italian setting, while Loving Dory gave longtime fans of the Finding Nemo universe another reason to revisit one of the studio’s most beloved franchises.

Neither studio stumbled, but neither generated much urgency either. Compared with several competitors, Disney and Pixar spent more time reminding audiences of what they already knew than giving them something new to get excited about.

Prime Video – C-

This was Prime Video’s first studio focus at Annecy, and for a debut, it was perfectly respectable.

The presentation leaned heavily on familiar names. There were updates on Invincible, Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, The Mighty Nein, and The Ghost in the Shell, all projects with passionate built-in audiences that were always going to play well in Annecy. The biggest reveal was Genndy Tartakovsky’s long-awaited animated Conan series, but that’s a WBA title so credit can only be shared.

The problem was that there weren’t many genuine surprises. Much of what was shown expanded on projects audiences already knew were coming, and the overall presentation lacked the sense of discovery that makes the best Annecy studio sessions feel essential. If attendees are willing to queue for an hour in record-breaking heat, it helps to reward them with at least one announcement nobody saw coming.

That said, it’s encouraging to see another major streamer making a meaningful investment in Annecy. Amazon clearly wants to become a bigger player in animation, and simply hosting a dedicated studio focus is a positive step. This year felt like an introduction. Next year, it needs to feel like an event.

Paramount Skydance – F

Although Paramount Skydance had a wildly muted presence at this year’s Annecy, it managed to cast a shadow over the event nonetheless, only not for any enviable reason.

Beyond Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn, which was pitched much more as a Netflix title rather than the next Skydance original, the studio barely registered during the week. There were no major announcements, no defining screenings, and little reason for attendees to spend much time talking about the company itself.

Worse still, Paramount Skydance cast an ugly shadow over this year’s event. As speculation continued about its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, industry insiders openly wondered how deeply Warner Bros.’ animation divisions could be affected by the enormous debt that would accompany such a deal.

It’s rare for a studio’s biggest contribution to Annecy to be anxiety rather than excitement. This year, that was Paramount Skydance’s unfortunate distinction.