Animation World Network

King of the Hill returned to Hulu last month for its 15th season, with Hank and Peggy settling into a retirement neither of them is much good at, and Bobby, 21 and cooking in Dallas, finding out what running a business does to old friendships. All 10 episodes went up July 20 on Hulu. Hulu renewed the animated comedy for two additional seasons last October. The streamer had originally brought back the show for two new seasons in 2023.

Cascadeur, the physics- and AI-assisted 3D character animation package that game studios, indie animators and solo riggers use to build motion that obeys physics, is now shipping version 2026.2. It adds animation layers, easing controls and the first three interface language packs, with more promised in later releases. Nekki, which develops it, notes layers is the feature professional studios asked for most.

Netflix has announced that its upcoming animated feature, Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory, will debut first with a global theatrical run beginning November 5, 2027 before it starts streaming on December 22, 2027. The film picks up years after the Golden Ticket contest at the center of Roald Dahl's famous Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with Willy Wonka out of prison for turning a child into a blueberry and back at his factory to add a little sweetness to a bitter world.

CEE Animation, in partnership with national film institutions and organizations from Central and Eastern Europe, has launched the call for the CODA – Co-Development Animation Awards, a new funding initiative designed to support early-stage animation development and strengthen cross-border collaboration across the region. Independent producers from the CODA member countries: Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are invited to apply until 27 September 2026.

Star Wars Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi (Disney+/ Hulu) Among anime, this spinoff from a spinoff got most attention last week (its eight episodes all dropped last Wednesday), with much of that attention coming from outside anime fandom. In such ways it's an important series, but it's the least interesting of the three anime I'm covering this time. It's spun off from the anthology series Star Wars: Visions, which involved multiple anime studios (I reviewed Season 3 last year).

All Animal has shared the reveal trailer for the World of Warcraft and Dungeons & Dragons crossover that Wizards of the Coast and Blizzard Entertainment announced at the recent Gen Con in Indianapolis. The Prague-based CGI studio built the 37-second cinematic around a single D20, the 20-sided die tabletop players roll. The die rolls through handcrafted-style dioramas of Azeroth locations, and its golden facets reflect moments out of World of Warcraft history along the way.

Jerome Chen, overall visual effects supervisor on the box office smash Spider-Man: Brand New Day, will break down the film's VFX work in-person at VIEW Conference 2026, the animation, visual effects and games conference running October 12 to 16 in Turin, Italy. Chen is an Oscar nominee whose credits include Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, The Amazing Spider-Man and Godzilla.

Fallout Season 2, now streaming on Prime Video, carried Lucy (Ella Purnell), the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) and Maximus (Aaron Moten) out of the Mojave wasteland and into the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas. Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner created the series and serve as showrunners, adapting Bethesda Game Studios' game franchise, with Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy executive producing through Kilter Films. Jay Worth serves as the overall VFX Supervisor, returning from Season 1 duty.

Doomsweepers is now the official name of the original animated project Flying Bark Productions and Lightfold announced two weeks ago. The action "zom-com" is created and directed by Sarah Harper, and a crowdfunding round to finance it is now open. You can find the first look video below. Set in a mysterious research facility, the show follows a team of misfit janitors who go from cleaning the staff room one day to saving the world the next, unraveling the facility's dark secret along the way.

Crunchyroll has acquired worldwide theatrical rights to Makoto Shinkai's next feature, covering every territory outside Asia plus India, and will co-distribute the film with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Neither company disclosed a title, plot or release date. In 2023, Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures released Shinkai's 2022 hit feature Suzume, which grossed more than $300 million worldwide and earned a Golden Globe nomination and seven Annie Award nominations, including Best Feature.