Netflix on Tuesday announced the new animated films In Your Dreams and Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, coming to the platform in 2024, also setting new voice cast for the fantasy adventure Nimona and offering new first-look stills from each of its animated titles debuting over the next 18 months, which you can view above and below.
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The streamer’s first new film, In Your Dreams, is billed as a comedy adventure about Stevie and her brother Elliot, who magically travel into the world of dreams with the mission of finding The Sandman who will grant them their ultimate wish — saving their parents’ marriage. The kids are total opposites, making them an unlikely duo to navigate the absurdity of their own subconscious. Along their journey, they discover that as long as they have each other, they can face anything, even their worst nightmare. Alex Woo is directing, with Erik Benson as co-director, and Gregg Taylor & Tim Hahn producing.
The second title, Saving Bikini Bottom, based on the hit kids’ series SpongeBob SquarePants created by Stephen Hillenburg, watches as Bikini Bottom and all its denizens are suddenly scooped out of the ocean, with Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) and SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) then journeying to Texas to save the town from a villainous plot.Liza Johnson (The Last of Us) directs from a teleplay by Kaz and Tom Stern, which is based on a story by Kaz. Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller are exec producers on the title featuring additional vocal performances by Wanda Sykes, Clancy Brown, Bill fa*gerbakke, Mr. Lawrence, Rodger Bumpass, Johnny Knoxville, Craig Robinson, Grey DeLisle, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino and Matty Cardarople.
Set to debut on Netflix this summer is the Annapurna animated pic Nimona, based on the bestselling graphic novel by ND Stevenson, which has supporting cast members Frances Conroy, Lorraine Toussaint, Beck Bennett, RuPaul Charles, Indya Moore, Julio Torres and Sarah Sherman joining the previously announced Chloë Grace Moretz, Riz Ahmed and Eugene Lee Yang. The film directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane follows Ballister Boldheart (Ahmed), a knight framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and the titular shapeshifter (Moretz) who sets out to help him prove his innocence.
Getting new images alone today are films including Anthony Stacchi’s The Monkey King (which bows this summer), the Adam Sandler-led Leo and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (which debut this fall) and the 2024 titles That Christmas, Thelma the Unicorn and Ultraman.
Boasting a voice cast that includes Jimmy O. Yang, Bowen Yang, Jo Koy, Stephanie Hsu, BD Wong and more, The Monkey King is a family comedy that follows a charismatic Monkey and his magical fighting Stick on an epic quest for victory over 100 demons, an eccentric Dragon King, and Monkey’s greatest foe of all — his own ego!
A coming-of-age musical comedy about the last year of elementary school, as seen through the eyes of a class pet, the Happy Madison-produced Leo is directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel and David Wachtenheim.
Aardman’s long-awaited Chicken Run sequel Dawn of the Nugget, from director Sam Fell, picks up with the chicken Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) following her death-defying escape from Tweedy’s farm, at a point when she’s finally found her dream — a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky (Zachary Levi) hatch a little girl called Molly (Bella Ramsey), Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland, the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat.
Directed by Simon Otto from a script by Richard Curtis, which adapts his children’s book series, That Christmas is a Locksmith Animation title telling a series of entwined tales about love and loneliness, family and friends, and Santa Claus making a big mistake, not to mention an enormous number of turkeys!
From directors Lynn Wang (Unikitty!) and Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Thelma the Unicorn follows the small-time pony of the same name, who dreams of becoming a glamorous music star. In a pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma is transformed into a unicorn and instantly rises to global stardom. But this new life of fame comes at a cost.
Finally, there’s Ultraman, based on the beloved Japanese character, which follows baseball superstar Ken Sato as he returns to his home country of Japan to pick up the mantle of Earth-defending superhero Ultraman. Shannon Tindle (Lost Ollie) is directing alongside co-director John Aoshima, from a script by Tindle and Marc Haimes.
