‘Hoppers’ Headlines Animation Slate For Upcoming New York International Children’s Film Festival

The New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) has unveiled the animation lineup for its 2026 edition, running February 28 through March 15.

As North America’s largest kids-focused film festival and an Oscar-qualifying event, NYICFF continues to balance studio-backed premieres with boundary-pushing international animation, spotlighting work made for young audiences that doesn’t talk down to them.

This year’s slate leans heavily into themes of identity, curiosity, and emotional resilience, with animated features spanning dialogue-free visual storytelling, literary adaptations, and culturally specific coming-of-age narratives. Alongside major studio fare, with Pixar’s Hoppers headlining the features lineup, the festival maintains its reputation for elevating independent voices and filmmakers working across a wide range of animation styles and production scales.

The shorts programs remain one of NYICFF’s strongest calling cards, offering an expansive survey of contemporary animation from emerging artists, students, and established auteurs. Representing dozens of countries and creative traditions, the 2026 selection underscores the festival’s commitment to global storytelling and to treating children as thoughtful, engaged viewers.

2026 New York International Children’s Festival Animation Lineup

Animated Features

• Hoppers, Daniel Chong — United States
• Mary Anning: Chase Aux Fossiles, Marcel Barelli — Switzerland, Belgium
• Moominvalley, Steve Box, Nigel Davies & Avgousta Zourelidi — United Kingdom
• My Grandfather Is a Nihonjin, Celia Catunda — Brazil
• My Life in Versailles, Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat & Nathaniel H’limi — France, Luxembourg
• Papaya, Priscilla Kellen — Brazil
• Space Cadet, Kid Koala — Canada
• Whoever Steals This Book, Daiki Fukuoka — Japan

Animated Shorts (Selected)

• 9 Million Colors (9 milionů barev), Bára Anna Stejskalová — Czech Republic, Norway, Germany (Heebie Jeebies Shorts)
• A Pizza Me!, Farrah Shikara — United States (Student Showcase; World Premiere)
• The Apricot, Alex Z. Zavala — United States, Mexico (Short Films Two; ¡Hola Cine!)
• Autokar, Sylwia Szkiłądź — Belgium, France (Short Films Three)
• Bats & Bugs, Lena von Döhren — Switzerland (Short Films One)
• Beast of the Seine, Jon Portman — United States (Short Films Three)
• The Big Bad Wolf, Leo Wright — United Kingdom (Short Films One; Student Showcase)
• Bread Will Walk, Alex Boya — Canada (Heebie Jeebies Shorts)
• Butterfly, Florence Miailhe — France (Short Films Three)
• Cardboard, Sam Thornton — United Kingdom (Short Films One)
• Chiquito, Anna Riva & Lesley Marroquin — United States (Student Showcase; World Premiere)
• Cloud Fish (Poisson Nuage), Noé Garcia — Belgium, France (Shorts for Tots)
• The Day I Licked a Pebble (Le Jour Où J’ai Léché Un Caillou), Flavie Eliézer, Chloé Bernuchon, Goli Atefi, Maud Kolasa, Nathan Jauze & Marie Pijollet — France (Short Films Two; Student Showcase)
• Dormilón, Olivia Maria Valdez — United States (Heebie Jeebies Shorts)
• Duet, Léo Brunel — France (Short Films One; World Premiere)
• Evening Escapades, Darcy Tara McDiarmid & Chantal Rousseau — Canada (Native Stories)
• Experiences and Learning. And Parenting., Malgorzata Rybak — Poland (Short Films One)
• Family Harmony, Natalie Greene — United States (¡Hola Cine!)
• First Winter, Schantelle Alonzo — United States (Shorts for Tots; Student Showcase)
• Fluff & Furious, Joey Chieh-Chih Liao — United States (Student Showcase; World Premiere)
• Frankie, Madison Helland — United States (Student Showcase)
• Freddy, Brad Mestenapéo — Canada (Native Stories)
• The Girl Who Cried Pearls (La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles), Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski — Canada (Short Films Three)
• Inkwo for When the Starving Return, Amanda Strong — Canada (Heebie Jeebies Shorts)
• Konigiri-kun: Super Machine?, Mari Miyazawa — Japan (Shorts for Tots)
• Lena’s Farm: A Pain in the Butt (Der Stachel im Po), Elena Walf — Germany, Croatia (Shorts for Tots)
• Lena’s Farm: Full Nest (Volles Nest), Elena Walf — Germany, Croatia (Short Films One)
• Lena’s Farm: The Motherless Egg (Das Mutterlose Ei), Elena Walf — Germany, Croatia (Shorts for Tots)
• Lola and the Sound Piano (Lola et le piano à bruits), Augusto Zanovello — France, Poland, Switzerland (Short Films Two)
• Maus im Haus, Rebecca Van Houten — United States (Student Showcase; World Premiere)
• Mine!, Louis Morton — United States (Heebie Jeebies Shorts)
• Murmuration (Zwermen), Janneke Swinkels & Tim Frijsinger — Netherlands, Belgium (Heebie Jeebies Shorts)
• Nanu!, Ansh Sirohi — India (Student Showcase)
• No Room (Nema mjesta), Jelena Oroz — Croatia (Short Films Three)
• Passing By (지나가는 것), Hanna Kang — South Korea (Student Showcase)
• Pear Garden, Shadab Shayegan — Germany (Student Showcase)
• Polliwog (kaulquappe), Julia Skala — Germany (Girls’ POV)
• Pow!, Joey Clift — United States (Native Stories)
• Prout, Marc-Henri Wajnberg — Belgium (Short Films One)
• Puddle, Samuel O’Dair Holovacs — United States (Student Showcase; World Premiere)
• Rest, Ryotaro Miyajima — Japan (Heebie Jeebies Shorts)
• The Scarecrows’ Wedding, Jeroen Jaspaert & Samantha Cutler — United Kingdom (Shorts for Tots)
• Shanley, Beau McCombs — United States (Short Films One; World Premiere)
• Sketches on Ice (Esquisses sur glace), Marion Auvin — France, Belgium (Shorts for Tots)
• Something Greater Than You, Gordon LePage — United States (Short Films Two; World Premiere)
• Spooky, Adeola Lawal — Ireland (Celebrating Black Stories)
• Sprout, Addison Fujimoto — United States (Student Showcase)
• There Are No Such Things as Ghosts (Obake Nante Nai sa / おばけなんてないさ), Fumiyuki Uehara — Japan (Shorts for Tots)
• Tule, Jocelyn Garcia — United States (Native Stories)
• Turbulence, Christopher Rutledge & Magnus Igland Møller — Denmark, United States (Heebie Jeebies Shorts)
• Ümit, Amina Ömirjan — United States (Student Showcase)
• Waves, Jason Raymond — United States (Student Showcase)
• We’re Kinda Different, Ben Meinhardt — Canada (Short Films One)
• Whereabouts, Suejee Lee — United States (Short Films Three)