Ping Pong Rabbit (7/29/2016, China)

Stop motion veteran Mike Johnson, who co-directed The Corpse Bride, teams up with Chinese animation director Yuefeng Song to make this film about a ping pong-loving rabbit written by High School Musical scribe Peter Barsocchini.

Director: Mike Johnson, Yuefeng Song
Production Company: Mili Pictures Worldwide
Technique: CG


The Red Turtle (September 2016, Japan)

Hayao Miyazaki hand-picked the Oscar-winning director for this dialogue-lesss film collaboration between his legendary studio and France’s Wild Bunch, which tracks the life stages of a castaway on a deserted tropical island populated by turtles, crabs, and birds.

Director: Michaël Dudok de Wit
Production Company: Studio Ghibli, Why Not Productions, Wild Bunch
Distributor: Toho
Technique: Hand-drawn


Animal Crackers (2016)

A family’s life is turned upside down when they inherit a rundown circus and a magical box of animal crackers, which change those who eat them into the animal they’ve eaten.

Director: Tony Bancroft, Scott Christian Sava
Production Company: Blue Dream Studios, Beijing Wen Hua Dong Run Investment Co., China Film Co., Exit Strategy Productions, Landmark International, Storyoscopic Films
Distributor: Odin’s Eye Entertainment
Technique: CG
Voice Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Ian McKellen, Danny DeVito, Patrick Warburton, Wallace Shawn, Gilbert Gottfried, Raven-Symoné, Tara Strong, Harvey Fierstein


Cinderella the Cat (Gatta Cenerentola) (2016, Italy)

This adult iteration of Cinderella is set in Naples and based on Roberto de Simone’s 1976 opera, La Gatta Cenerentola, a futuristic adaptation of the classic fairy tale celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2016.

Director: Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri, Dario Sansone
Production Company: Mad Entertainment
Technique: CG


Detective (2016, Bangladesh)

Produced for well under US$1 million, the film is notable for being the first animated feature ever produced in Bangladesh, according to its producers. It’s based on a story by Bengali hero Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.

Director: Tapan Ahmed
Production Company: Jaaz Multimedia
Technique: CG
Voice cast: Arifin Shuvoo


Henchmen (2016)

Sidekicks to super-villains take center stage in this tale of a new recruit, Lester, who joins the Union of Evil and is assigned to a motley crew of blue-collar workers seeking to defeat their nemesis, Captain Superior.

Director: Adam Wood
Production Company: Bron Studios
Distributor: Entertainment One
Technique: CG
Voice Cast: Rosario Dawson, James Marsden, Nathan Fillion, Jane Krakowski, Bobcat Goldthwait, Alfred Molina, Rob Riggle, Craig Robinson, Thomas Middleditch, Will Sasso


Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom (2016)

Based on the graphic novel by Bruce Brown, Howard Lovecraft is a blend of fiction and biography that combines new storytelling, events of H.P. Lovecraft’s life, and iconic elements of his writings.

Director: Sean Patrick O’Reilly
Production Company: Arcana Studio
Distribution: Shout! Factory
Technique: CG