Netflix To Release Five Animated Features This Summer, Including ‘Vivo,’ ‘America: The Motion Picture,’ And ‘The Loud House Movie’
While some animated films are holding fast to theatrical releases this summer, the season’s calendar will be dominated by the streamers, no question. Disney+ is getting Luca, HBO Max will premiere Space Jam: A New Legacy (at the same time as cinemas), and Netflix will fire a volley of five features.
The market leader has unveiled its slate of animated films for the summer. The big news here is the acquisition of Sony Pictures Animation’s Vivo, which is currently undated by Netflix but set for release this summer. We also have a release date for the adult-oriented America: The Motion Picture, which was announced way back in 2017 as Netflix’s first original animated feature. The other three titles were included in the company’s 2021 slate in January.
Check out cast and crew details, along with official synopses, below …
Vivo
Director: Kirk DeMicco
Writers: Kirk DeMicco, Quiara Alegría Hudes
Producers: Lisa Stewart, Michelle Wong, Rich Moor
Voice Cast: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ynairaly Simo, Zoe Saldana, Juan de Marcos, Brian Tyree Henry and Gloria Estefan — in addition to Nicole Byer, Michael Rooker, Leslie David Baker, Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo, Lidya Jewett
From Sony Pictures Animation comes Vivo, an animated musical adventure that follows Vivo, a musically gifted kinkajou (a.k.a. a rainforest “honey bear”) who must find his way from Havana to Miami in order to deliver a song to his cherished owner’s long-lost love.
Wish Dragon
Premiere date: June 11, 2021
Director: Chris Appelhans
Writer: Chris Appelhans
Producers: Aron Warner, Chris Bremble, Jackie Chan
Voice Cast: John Cho, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jimmy Wong, Constance Wu, Will Yun Lee, Jimmy O’Yang, Aaron Yoo, Bobby Lee, Ronnie Chieng
In Sony Pictures Animation’s Wish Dragon, Din, a working-class college student with big dreams but small means, and Long, a cynical but all-powerful dragon capable of granting wishes, set off on a hilarious adventure through modern-day Shanghai in pursuit of Din’s long-lost childhood friend, Lina. Their journey forces them to answer some of life’s biggest questions — because when you can wish for anything, you have to decide what really matters.
America: The Motion Picture
Premiere date: June 30, 2021
Director: Matt Thompson
Writer: Dave Callaham
Producers: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Will Allegra, Channing Tatum, Peter Kiernan, Reid Carolin, Matt Thompson, Eric Sims, Dave Callaham
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jason Mantzoukas, Olivia Munn, Bobby Moynihan, Judy Greer, Will Forte, Raoul Max Trujillo, Killer Mike, with Simon Pegg and Andy Sandberg
In this wildly tongue-in-cheek animated revisionist history, a chainsaw-wielding George Washington assembles a team of rabble rousers — including beer-loving bro Sam Adams, famed scientist Thomas Edison, acclaimed horseman Paul Revere, and a very pissed-off Geronimo — to defeat Benedict Arnold and King James in the American Revolution. Who will win? No one knows, but you can be sure of one thing: these are not your father’s Founding … uh, Fathers.
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
Premiere date: July 2021
Directors: Johane Matte, Francisco Ruiz Velasco, Andrew L. Schmidt
Writers: Marc Guggenheim, Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman
Producers: Guillermo del Toro, Marc Guggenheim, Chad Hammes, Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Lexi Medrano, Charlie Saxton, Kelsey Grammer, Alfred Molina, Steven Yeun, Nick Frost, Colin O’Donoghue, Diego Luna, Tatiana Maslany, Cole Sand, Nick Offerman, Fred Tatasciore, Brian Blessed, Kay Bess, Piotr Michael, James Hong, Tom Kenny, Angel Lin, Amy Landecker, Jonathan Hyde, Bebe Wood, Laraine Newman, Grey Griffin, Cheryl Hines
In Dreamworks’ Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, Arcadia may look like an ordinary town but it lies at the center of magical and mystical lines that makes it a nexus for many battles among otherworldly creatures including trolls, aliens, and wizards. Now the heroes from the hit series Trollhunters, 3Below and Wizards, team up in their most epic adventure yet where they must fight the Arcane Order for control over the magic that binds them all.
This summer… they will rise. 🌊🔮⚔️
TROLLHUNTERS: RISE OF THE TITANS, the final chapter in @realGDT's extraordinary animated saga, unites the magical worlds of TROLLHUNTERS, 3BELOW, and WIZARDS into one epic film on July 21. pic.twitter.com/d81k0xm74M
— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) April 27, 2021
The Loud House Movie
Premiere date: Summer 2021
Director: Dave Needham
Writers: Kevin Sullivan, Chris Viscardi
Produced by: Nickelodeon
Cast: Asher Bishop, Michelle Gomez, David Tennant, Grey Griffin, Jill Talley, Brian Stepanek, Jessica DiCicco, Liliana Mumy, Cristina Pucelli, Nika Futterman, Lara Jill Miller, Andre Robinson, Cat Taber, Katy Townsend, Carlos PenaVega, Izabella Alvarez
In Nickelodeon’s The Loud House Movie, the biggest family on television goes on the biggest Loud family vacation ever! The adventure follows the Loud family to Scotland where they discover that they are descendants of Scottish royalty. The family quickly indulges in the most wish-fulfilling high-life ever when they discover their ancestral home is a castle.