14 Animated Films and Shows We Can’t Wait to See This Fall
This year has proven a tumultuous one for animation, from nostalgic debuts like X-Men ’97 to blockbuster sequels like Inside Out 2, to say nothing of the (extremely justifiable) fight of animation unions to improve working conditions in their industry. And it isn’t slowing down either: The rest of 2024 is chock-full of both new series and films and a grab bag of sequels, prequels, and spinoffs to enjoy.
Whether it’s an animated action series created by one of Hollywood’s most divisive names, a gentle show about a raccoon that just wants to collect things, or the feature-length comeback of one of animation’s finest directors, fall 2024 has something for everyone. In this article, we’ll cover the 12 that either appear to be the most promising or interesting. And before you ask, no, there is no anime below, but we’re not ignoring it: Our most anticipated anime releases are getting a list all to themselves later this week.
September
Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy (September 13, Disney+)
While the recent Star Wars live-action efforts will be debated by fans until the end of days, its animation division has been a consistent pleasure. Young Jedi Adventures is a great time for half-pint audiences, some of the installments of the anime anthology Star Wars: Visions were outright masterpieces, and the 3-D-animated series like The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch have been more stable than not. The latest, Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, looks like a lot of fun as well.
Developed by IP whisperers Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit (Detective Pikachu, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem), it — pun very intended — disassembles the Star Wars timeline thanks to a young man toying with a mystical, dimension-altering relic. With a voice cast that includes Mark Hamill playing a disillusioned version of Luke Skywalker and Ahmed Best voicing fan-fiction-favorite “Darth Jar Jar,” it’s a breezy spin on a mythology that often takes itself far too seriously.
Twilight of the Gods (September 19, Netflix)
The most immediately striking thing about Twilight of the Gods is its credited creator. Branded as “From Zack Snyder,” it’s another piece of the filmmaker’s ongoing partnership with Netflix that’s included live-action efforts like Army of the Dead (fun!) and Rebel Moon (not so fun!). Another listed co-creator is Jay Oliva, Snyder’s longtime storyboard artist and a very capable action director who hails from millennial classics like The Jackie Chan Adventures and went on to helm solid DC Comics DTV films and episodes of the acclaimed Young Justice.
With Snyder at the wheel (and Hans Zimmer crafting the score), one can imagine that bombastic liberties will be taken even with the notoriously violent Norse mythology source material. But Twilight of the Gods looks to be an adept addition to Netflix’s current adventure animation library, one that includes hits like Castlevania and the recently licensed Scavengers Reign.
Transformers One (September 20, Theaters)
As the first animated theatrical Transformers film since The Transformers: The Movie in 1986, Transformers One is tasked with rejuvenating a franchise that’s been soured by live-action efforts and the crutch of nostalgia. It’s not alone in this: Titles like the Spider-Verse films and last year’s surprisingly delightful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem wrestle with breathing new life into an exhausted brand and jangling the keys of “Oooh, remember that!” But none of those are as blatantly toyetic as Transformers, where no character is added without a corresponding action figure in mind.
That said, Transformers One has the chance to escape the bonds of being its own commercial thanks to the talent behind Cybertron: Director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) and co-writer Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok, Godzilla vs. Kong) both have experience in handling big, nostalgic franchise efforts without letting them descend into corporate sludge. Along with an interesting voice cast (Brian Tyree Henry is an inspired choice for Megatron), Transformers One will inevitably fill up toy shelves this fall, but it might also provide for a spirited reboot for the robots in disguise.
The Wild Robot (September 27, Theaters)
A cursory look at The Wild Robot reveals what seems like a cavalcade of inspiration and homage. In the story of a robot finding itself in nature, one sees shades of The Iron Giant, Wall-E, Hayao Miyazaki films, and more. And the difference between the two official trailers is jarring, as the addition of Dreamworks-branded voice acting and quips in the second one make it seem like an entirely different movie. But The Wild Robot (based on a book series by Peter Brown) looks undeniably beautiful in a way that makes you forget that it’s well-trodden thematic territory.
It also marks the feature-animation return of director Chris Sanders, the filmmaker behind Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Croods. Since 2013, Sanders has dipped into live-action fare with the underwhelming The Call of the Wild, but this return to animation (and a return to the story of an outsider finding a new family, à la Stitch) looks like a lovely homecoming.
October
The Legend of Vox Machina season three (October 3, Prime Video)
Making a series based on a Dungeons & Dragons game is a risky proposal. The game itself can feel labyrinthine to a newcomer, and while it’s certainly influenced decades of pop culture (and one awesome movie), much of the fun can get lost in rote mythology-making if you try to take it off the tabletop. Thankfully, the first two seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina managed to distill the broad joy of a long-running D&D game into palatable television. Rather than feel like a password-protected ode to hardcore fans, it’s spirited and accessible.
With animation from Cartoon Network mainstay studio Titmouse Inc., Vox Machina jumps around story arcs from the acclaimed Critical Role web series. With central characters based on D&D character classes (like ranger, cleric, druid, etc.), Vox Machina takes on a sort of ragtag Star Wars cadence among its misfits. But most importantly, it’s clearly a series that’s having fun with itself, dropping fantasy self-importance in favor of rousing adventure — one you don’t have to own a bag of dice for to enjoy.
Gremlins: The Wild Batch (October 3, Max)
Turning Gremlins, a distinctly ’80s IP that remains a favorite even when it only had two entries, into an animated series seems like something that you would’ve seen on Fox Kids back in 1993. However, the 30-plus-year wait for a Gremlins cartoon was worth it. Much like Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous’s balance, the first season, Secrets of the Mogwai, manages to blend the cutesy antics of the titular critters with a thrill-ride atmosphere that doesn’t talk down to its audience or shy away from the fact that, like in the first film, these little guys are terrifying.
Season two has been subtitled The Wild Batch. It follows the cast on a new journey from Shanghai to San Francisco and beyond, and streaming service Max has promised not only more evil Mogwai but other “supernatural creatures. Maybe ‘80s nostalgia can be okay, but only if you’re willing to feed it after midnight.
Piece by Piece (October 11, Theaters)
Despite being based on a popular toy, the Lego franchise of films has proven to be an odd hit. The Lego Movie and its sequel were far better than anyone could’ve hoped for, and The Lego Batman Movie has had staying power that many of the recent live-action Gotham City adventures lacked. But it’s doubtful that anyone expected their next effort to be … the life story of the musician Pharrell Williams?
Classifying what Piece by Piece will be exactly, especially in the often self-aggrandizing realm of the musical biopic, is a challenge. It’s co-produced by I Am Other and stars a bunch of the people that participated in Pharrell’s rise from working in groups like the Neptunes and N.E.R.D. to seeing his music featured in Despicable Me films and the Lion King remake. The trailer obviously takes great glee in showing us what Snoop Dogg looks like as a Lego figurine, but it’s also a big-budget experiment. It will be interesting to see if, how, and where it will land among its intended audience.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (October 10, Netflix)
It’s a little hard to believe that even with a major game series, movie duology, and subsequent reboots of both the game series and movies, the only Tomb Raider cartoon we’ve gotten is a forgotten anthology show from 2007. But Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft returns the character to a medium that she seems practically made for. The franchise has always thrived on a kind of serial-esque cliffhanger energy, making it ripe for Netflix’s binge-friendly model.
Though the story bridges the gap between the reboot trilogy and the original games, Tomb Raider has never really been a franchise built on backstory. So the most difficult thing isn’t accessibility but translation: The Lara Croft games are built on discovery and navigating through levels and puzzles, something that doesn’t have quite the same feel when you’re watching another person or character do it. But Lara Croft is inherently exciting — Netflix and showrunner Tasha Huo’s challenge is giving her a story worth exploring.
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory season two (October 17, Netflix)
The Jurassic World franchise has proven a mixed bag, but one area it’s excelled in is its underrated animated spinoff, Camp Cretaceous. Though it featured teens as its leads and couldn’t offer the same kind of dinosaur violence that the live action films are known for, Camp Cretaceous was a solid and often extremely suspenseful take on the world of the blockbuster films. Its character dynamics and cat-and-mouse set pieces recalled the classic Jurassic Park films in a way that the World sequels were never able to.
Chaos Theory ages the characters up a bit and drops them in a new storyline, full of spy-esque intrigue and slightly more mature scenarios involving scarier sequences and a relationship subplot. (Camp Cretaceous mostly had them trying to survive the tropical desolation of Isla Nublar.) For fans of Camp Cretaceous, it’s a nice chance to continue to grow up with beloved characters, a rarity when streaming services appear to look for any reason to cancel a show. For newcomers, hey, it’s cool dinosaurs.
November
Carl the Collector (November 14, PBS Kids)
While millennials may regard PBS Kids with a sense of past fondness, recalling series like Arthur, Reading Rainbow, and Wishbone, the programming block is still going strong of late. Soon to be added to the inclusive recent lineup of shows like Work It Out Wombats! and Lyla in the Loop is Carl the Collector, the story of a young raccoon on the autism spectrum. Many PBS Kids series are built around giving lessons in empathy and Carl the Collector’s focus on building curiosity around different ways of thinking fits right in.
Perhaps the most promising aspect is PBS’s crew for the show. This not only includes its creator, the talented children’s author Zachariah Ohora, but “neurodiverse writers, production staff, animators, advisors, and voice talent,” according to PBS. It’s a thoughtful approach that stands out among industry-wide concerns for animation staff and it will hopefully ensure a spot in PBS Kids’ wider legacy.
Spellbound (November 22, Theaters)
Shrek filmmaker Vicky Jensen returns to animation after a two-decade hiatus (her last directorial effort in the medium was 2004’s Shark Tale) with Spellbound for Netflix. The film looks to provide a lot of the same beats as Shrek: The storyline involves members of royalty being turned into monsters and a quest through a magical world to save them. And the voice cast is predictably star studded, though names like Tituss Burgess and Nathan Lane are certainly welcome.
What truly pushes Spellbound into more exciting territory are the names behind the music: Longtime Disney composer Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the the Beast, Aladdin) is joined by Tony-nominated lyricist Glenn Slater in crafting it. Netflix isn’t entirely new to musicals (its Matilda was quite good), but Spellbound does provide a test to see if it can make a true hit in the animated branch of the genre. It’s already cornered the market on shows about people fighting. Perhaps it can do the same with people singing.
Moana 2 (November 27, Theaters)
As the first in a wave of Disney sequels (including at least two more Frozen films and another Zootopia), Moana 2 might come off as a creative circling of the wagons. Especially since Moana 2 actor Dwayne Johnson will be both producing and starring in a separate live-action remake of the first film. Moana, while lacking the ubiquity of something like Frozen’s “Let It Go,” was widely beloved but did not seem especially tailored for a follow-up. In fact, Moana 2 wasn’t even intended to be a movie at all at first: It began its life as a Disney+ series, and the transition to a theatrical film was only announced earlier this year.
The trailer for Moana 2 makes the sequel seem comparatively weightless. The plot concerns Moana meeting back up with demigod Maui and going on another oceanic adventure. However, with a change in songwriters (Lin-Manuel Miranda has lost his Disney stranglehold to the team-up of Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear), a continued focus on Maori culture, and a lack of Frozen-esque cultural saturation or Zootopia’s tiring discourse weighing it down, it could bring enough fresh energy to warrant its creation.
Arcane season two (November TBA, Netflix)
It’s no shock that League of Legends, the massive online multiplayer game, got an animated spinoff. The game is action-packed and obsessed with steadily expanding its own mythology. What is shocking is how good the first season of Arcane was as an action fantasy. Totally welcoming for newcomers and League of Legends addicts alike, it told the story of sisters Vi and Jinx and their attempts to survive in a world on the brink of war.
And that’s saying nothing of the gorgeous animation from the French studio Fortiche, a company that is now most closely associated with Arcane, but were also behind the lovely Rocket & Groot Marvel shorts from 2017. Arcane returns for a second (and sadly final) season this fall, one that promises even more of the deft storytelling and lovely moodiness of the first. Arcane might have a relatively short run, but two incredible seasons are better than none, and along with series like Castlevania, it’s proof that video-game adaptations don’t have to settle for boilerplate mediocrity.
More coming this year
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (TBA, Disney+)
Disney+ is no stranger to Spider-Man cartoons. In addition to carrying most of his classic series (minus the consistently underrated and consistently rights-entangled The Spectacular Spider-Man), it’s recently become the home of preschooler favorite Spidey and His Amazing Friends. As such, a new animated series that once again dives into the character’s early years might feel crowded out. Do we truly need another series where we find out what happens when you’re not aware of the radioactive arachnids in the room?
But Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man promises an inspired twist — the infamous Norman Osborn becomes Peter Parker’s mentor instead of MCU stalwart Tony Stark — and its animation is inspired by the original Stan Lee and Steve Ditko comics. That said, with nary a trailer released, it’s hard to predict where it will fall in Spider-Man’s animated legacy. Right now, we’re just going on some very cool-looking series art, which — considering how far the MCU has shifted from the character’s Lee and Ditko origins — has potential.