Annecy crowds were in for a treat as Ramsey Naito, President of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, and longtime festival supporter, opened the studios’ 2025 showcase with a preview of the upcoming projects during a presentation titled "Smurfs x SpongeBob x Turtles: A Paramount Animation & Nickelodeon Presentation" on Tuesday, June 10.
Naito, one of the most prominent animation executives in Hollywood today, expressed her excitement about returning to Annecy, and noted that the studios had a busy six months ahead with the release of Smurfs in July, and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants in December.
She also noted the packed production slate topped by PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2, with sneak peeks reportedly shown to the audience. All movies are all in active development, with PAW Patrol is set to hit theaters July 24, 2026, followed by Aang’s animated return on Oct. 9. Fans of pizza-loving martial artist turtles will need to wait until Sept. 27, 2027, for the next TMNT bigscreen appearance — or will they? Read on to find out.
During the presentation, Naito turned attention to a tiny mushroom village in a magical forest, home to the most famous blue characters on Earth.
Director Chris Miller returned to Annecy to present the first 20 minutes of his upcoming summer tentpole Smurfs, ahead of its July 18, 2025 release. Last year, he showed early footage at MIFA. Now, with the film nearly complete, Miller spoke about the project’s unique blend of CG and 2D animation.
“I’m delighted to bring the Smurfs back to the big screen with a project blending CG and 2D animation so closely,” said Miller. “For me, animation isn’t all about pixels and keyframes. It’s about moving an audience and infusing every frame with the same heart, color and charm that Peyo put in his original ideas more than 60 years ago.”
Production is already underway on Season 4 of the CG-animated TV series. Nele De Wilde, CCO of Peyo Company, noted how closely the studio collaborated with Paramount, eight years after Sony Pictures Animation’s Smurfs: The Lost Village.
“Paramount were very respectful of our input,” said De Wilde. “Friendship, helping each other and respecting nature are timeless values at the core of the Smurfs’ identity. Paramount was committed to bringing these ideas to life in a modern, adventure-packed film.”
These values also spoke to Rihanna, who voices Smurfette. “That’s gangster,” said her partner A$AP Rocky to Variety earlier this year.
Miller praised Rihanna, saying that she exhibited “a deep knowledge of Smurf lore, she knew way more than I did.”
The film’s musical energy and visually rich medieval-fantasy setting, powered by Cinesite Montreal’s animation, promise to get kids “Smurfin’ all day long.” The story centers on a Smurf with no name who seeks to discover his unique identity, aided by Smurfette, Hefty and other classic characters. Gags like “Quiet,” “Soundtrack” and “Shark-Taming Smurf” had the Annecy audience in stitches.
A standout moment introduced Razamel, Gargamel’s equally inept brother, as a new villain. By the film’s end, the Smurfs tumble through a multiverse portal into real-world Paris, to Grouchy’s great dismay.
The film will premiere in Brussels on June 28, 2025, coinciding with World Smurfs Day, painting the city blue ahead of its global rollout.
The CG-animated family feature also features the voices of Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña and Marshmello, with Kurt Russell and John Goodman.
Smurfs is directed by Chris Miller (Puss in Boots, Shrek the Third) and written by Emmy winner Pam Brady (South Park; Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken). The film is produced by Jay Brown, Ty Ty Smith, Robyn Rihanna Fenty and Ryan Harris, p.g.a.
The project is produced by Paramount Animation, Lafig Belgium and Smurfs rightsholders IMPS, with distribution by Paramount Pictures.
Next up, director Derek Drymon shared a behind-the-scenes look at The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. A SpongeBob veteran, Drymon returned to the franchise after co-directing Hotel Transylvania 4 in 2022.
“We wanted to recapture the spirit of the first season,” said Drymon. “I’m so thankful to Paramount for backing a creator-led project. What wins the day is being a kid, and that’s what we infused in this feature.”
Audiences were treated to the first full act, in which SpongeBob finally grows tall enough to ride a rollercoaster but backs out at the last moment, only to be pulled into an even scarier pirate adventure with the Flying Dutchman. He then signs away his fate and plunges into the Underworld.
Blending 3D animation with cutting-edge 2D, this visually dynamic installment follows in the stylistic footsteps of The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Spider-Verse. It will hit theaters Dec. 19, 2025.
Following a brief Q&A with Miller and Drymon, moderated by Paramount Senior Vice President (SVP) Emily Nordwind, audiences got one last surprise: two never-before-seen shorts.
Order Up, a dialogue-free SpongeBob short directed by Sean Charmatz (Orion and the Dark), will debut in front of Smurfs in July. The slapstick comedy had been sitting in the Nickelodeon/Paramount vault for nearly a decade.
The second short, Chrome Alone 2: Lost in New Jersey, is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tale directed by Kent Seki. With a visual style similar to Jeff Rowe’s Mutant Mayhem, this installment takes a comedic look at artificial intelligence and will premiere alongside the new SpongeBob film in December.
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