‘Ray Gunn,’ ‘Wildwood’ World Premieres Lead Animation-Heavy BFI London Film Festival Lineup

The BFI London Film Festival unveiled the full program for its 70th edition today, and animation drives several of the event’s most anticipated screenings.

Leading the lineup are the world premieres of two major U.S. animated features: Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn and Laika’s Wildwood. The festival will also host the international premiere of Alejandra Pérez González’s Mexican feature My Friend the Sun, while recent Cannes and Annecy standout Iron Boy, Louise Bagnall’s Julián, and Duncan Jones’ Rogue Trooper are among the other animated films headed to London.

Bird’s long-gestating Ray Gunn is perhaps the festival’s biggest get, continuing a strong connection with Netflix, which previously debuted the eventual Oscar-winning Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio at the London event. The retrofuturistic detective caper has been in development in various forms for more than 30 years and marks the director’s first animated feature since Incredibles 2. Produced by Skydance Animation, it will be released globally on Netflix on December 18.

Wildwood, Laika’s first feature since 2019’s Missing Link, is an equally impressive score by LFF and will receive its world premiere only weeks before its October 23 theatrical release from Fathom Entertainment. Directed by Travis Knight, the stop-motion fantasy follows a young girl who ventures into a forbidden forest to rescue her kidnapped brother. It is adapted from the novel by The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and illustrator Carson Ellis.

The rest of the program is an impressively diverse lineup of international titles. My Friend the Sun, Pérez González’s feature directorial debut, follows a father and daughter pulled into Tollan, the realm of the Mexica gods. The Brazil-Mexico co-production will make its international debut at the festival.

Louis Clichy’s hand-drawn Iron Boy arrives in London after one of the year’s most impressive festival runs by an animated feature. The coming-of-age drama premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section before winning the jury and audience awards at Annecy. Bagnall’s Julián, adapted from Jessica Love’s picture book Julián Is a Mermaid, is the Irish filmmaker’s feature follow-up to her Oscar-nominated short Late Afternoon.

The lineup also includes Rogue Trooper, Jones’ performance-capture adaptation of the British comic, which premiered at Annecy to strong reviews and audience reactions in June. Fernanda Salgado’s Brazilian animated feature debut, Ana, en Passant, will screen in LFF’s Journey section, dedicated to “stories that shift our perspectives.”

LFF will also host two animated shorts lineups, one for younger audiences and another dedicated to “shorts exploring what connects us to people, the world around us and, most importantly, ourselves.”

In total, this year’s festival will screen 251 titles from 88 countries, including 33 world premieres, 16 international premieres, and 20 European premieres. The 2026 BFI London Film Festival runs October 7-18.

Animated Features At The 2026 BFI London Film Festival

• Iron Boy, Louis Clichy (France, Belgium)
• Julián, Louise Bagnall (Ireland, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg)
• My Friend the Sun, Alejandra Pérez González (Mexico, Brazil)
• Ray Gunn, Brad Bird (U.S.)
• Rogue Trooper, Duncan Jones (U.K.)
• Wildwood, Travis Knight (U.S.)
• Ana, en Passant, Fernanda Salgado (Brazil)

Animated Shorts For Younger Audiences

• Aller & Retour, Lucia Bulgheroni and Michele Greco (Italy)
• Bats & Bugs, Lena von Döhren (Switzerland)
• Grounded, Chris Callus (New Zealand)
• Into the Forest, Antonin Niclass (Switzerland)
• LouLou, Hanneke van der Linden (Netherlands, Belgium)
• MaeBee: The Camping Trap, Tim O’Sullivan (U.K., Ireland)
• Piccolo Piccolo, Marta Gennari (France, Switzerland)
• Sphinx Alberta’s Smile, Dace Rīdūze (Latvia, Estonia)

Life / Drawing: Animated Shorts

• Babyface, Sacha Beeley (U.K.)
• The Bird’s Placebo, Rami Jarboui (Tunisia)
• The Clouds of Odessa, Luca Arcangeli (Italy)
• Dance of the Spirits, Andreea-Lorena Florea (U.K.)
• Daughters of the Late Colonel, Elizabeth Hobbs (U.K., Germany)
• Eyeliner, Aisha Boudjillouli (U.K.)
• Fantasies of a Rescue Dummy, Adrian Maganza (U.K.)
• Film Film, Artūrs Vobļikovs (Latvia, U.K.)
• I Was Kidnapped!, Dhananjay Barangule (U.K.)
• Please, Anna Mantzaris (Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Norway, Finland)