October Animation Preview: Spooky season is here (and so is Dora as a mermaid)

Happy Spooky Season, everyone! If you're looking to celebrate, this month's animated releases are ready to rise to the occasion. Let's take a look.

In Theaters

The month's first animated release is one I learned about from Rotten Tomatoes of all places: DORA: Magic Mermaid Adventures hits the big screen on October 3. This is a collection of episodes from the show revolving around magic mermaid adventures (I assume), clocks in at under an hour, and doesn't seem to be getting much press? Seems like it's following in the footsteps of Peppa Pig's approach to cinematic outings, but maybe with a bit less fanfare. If it's playing near me, I'll check it out and report back.

DORA: Magic Mermaid Adventures

A movie I've been really looking forward to this year is 100 Meters, the latest feature from On-Gaku: Our Sound director Kenji Iwaisawa. Based on Uoto's manga, it follows Togashi, a runner who is dominant in 100-meter races until a new student shows up and pushes him to train harder than ever. Years later, the two meet up again as rivals on the racetrack. It looks fantastic, it's from GKIDS (who basically never miss), and yeah, I'm just super stoked for another Iwaisawa movie. It hits some theaters on October 10 before opening wider on October 12.

Pets on a Train (also known as Falcon Express in many countries) hits theaters on October 17. It follows a colorful cast of animal characters who end up in the middle of a high-speed train heist. It looks pretty cute and fun, certainly harmless. In such a packed month, it's probably not going to be a standout, but it'll hopefully be a good time.

Pets on a Train

In last month's preview, I mentioned that Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning was hitting Disney+ overseas, and wondering if a VPN was going to be the way to get to see it. However, per Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is coming to American theaters on October 17. This horror action anime follows a monk, an excommunicated priest, and a powerful young boy who become an unlikely team in the face of a demonic uprising. Seems very cool -- I'm excited to see it.

October 20 brings Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: A lonely dragon wants to be loved (from what I can see, that's the correct capitalization for the title) to theaters as the first entry in Crunchyroll's Anime Nights program, which will bring monthly anime-related releases to theaters. This is continuation of the anime series that aired a season in 2017 and another in 2021. I'm not sure I'll have time to catch up in time to understand this, but I will try to see it nonetheless, even if it means I'll be hopelessly lost.

On October 24, anime movie Chainsaw Man -- The Movie: Reze Arc hits theaters. This is a follow-up to the first season of the show, and looks to be a proper movie rather than a collection of disparate episodes, which is always nice to see. I'm planning to catch up on the show before seeing this, so I don't want to spoil myself on plot details by looking at a synopsis, but the trailer shows that the hero has the ability to make a chainsaw come out of his face, I guess? It looks bloody, over-the-top, and very fun.

Chainsaw Man -- The Movie: Reze Arc

October means Spooky Season, and this year brings a wonderful animated movie that deserves to be added to your seasonal watchlist: Stitch Head, which comes to theaters on October 29. This movie is such a delight, and tells a story that's silly and sweet, while imparting great lessons for kids such as celebrating difference and not fearing "the other." I'll have a full review up closer to release, but this is one to definitely seek out.

A movie that is very near and dear to my heart is Lesbian Space Princess, a charming Australian indie that's coming to American shores on October 31 (and is also continuing its string of festival appearances at NewFest and Animation is Film, amongst others). I adore this movie, about a shy princess who sets out on a quest to rescue the hard-ass bounty hunter who broke her heart. It finds a perfect balance between raunchiness and sweetness, while also being queer right down to its bones. It's got a great art style, one of the best voice ensembles of the year, and is just all-around a good time. My review will be up closer to release.

Lesbian Space Princess

Also starting its theatrical rollout on October 31 (before going wider in November) is GKIDS' Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, which is adapted from Amélie Nothomb's autobiographical novel by directors Mailys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han. Amélie and her family are living as foreigners in post-war Japan, and the film follows her budding curiosity in the world around her, and the family's housekeeper, Nishio-san. The art looks so beautiful, and I have a feeling this will make me cry. It also seems like it might be GKIDS' strongest play at the Oscars, since they're normally in the mix. (This one is also playing at Animation is Film -- I might review it for the fest.)

Re-Releases

One of the greatest movies of all time, Satoshi Kon's incredibly influential Perfect Blue, is coming to theaters in a new 4K restoration on October 3. Kon died so young, but left behind an incredible body of work. For me, Perfect Blue is the pinnacle. If you haven't seen it, it's a must, and experiencing it on the big screen would be incredible (and appropriate for spooky season).

GKIDS continues their popular Ghibli Fest series with one of the studio's heaviest hitters: Oscar-winner Spirited Away comes back to theaters starting on October 18.

The marquee re-release this month is ParaNorman, which returns to theaters on October 25 for a limited engagement. LAIKA generally puts Coraline back in theaters (often to impressive box office numbers), so it's nice to see their sophomore feature getting the spotlight this time around. It's especially exciting because it's accompanied by a new short, ParaNorman: The Thrifting, starring Anna Kendrick and Finn Wolfhard. That should definitely be a draw to catch this re-release.

At Home

Take this one with a grain of salt, because the only source I'm going off of it Netflix Japan's Twitter account. But they tweeted about a movie called Fureru (Touch) coming to the service on October 5. That is the only place on the internet where I've seen this mentioned, so I don't even know if it applies to Netflix in other countries, although obviously I hope it does, as Japanese Netflix often lacks English subtitles. Their tweet describes the movie as the story of three young men living with a mysterious creature, which sounds good enough to me!

Fureru

The Glassworker, after playing in US theaters last month, is making its way to digital on October 14. I really loved this movie when I saw it last year. It's a lovely story told with gorgeous animation that takes obvious inspiration from Studio Ghibli. Hopefully being available to watch at home will help the film find an even bigger audience.

Another October 14 release is The Royal Cat, the Chinese adventure that sort of feels like Detective Pikachu, and that was sadly a bit of a slog. You can check out my full review for more, but I can't recommend checking this one out. Still, it'll be out on digital if you're curious (but remember what curiosity did to the cat...).

Netflix is releasing one of their big animated movies on October 17: The Twits, adapted from Roald Dahl's book of the same name. The titular Twits are a nasty couple who run a nasty amusement park, and gradually rise to power in town. Two kids and a family of magical Muggle-Wumps (?) have to stand up to them. It's the first animated project to come from Netflix's acquisition of the Roald Dahl Company a few years ago, and it boasts a very starry voice cast including Margo Martindale, Emilia Clarke, Natalie Portman, and Nicole Byer. (This one is also playing at Animation is Film -- that festival has it all!)

Festivals

Obviously, the big festival of October in my book is LA's Animation is Film, which takes place October 17 - 19. Their lineup is killer as usual, and I'm definitely seeing All You Need is Kill, Decorado, and Nobody there, all of which have been blazing hot on my radar. If you're in LA, I cannot recommend this festival enough -- it's always a great time.

All You Need is Kill

Also worth noting: AFI FEST, which also takes place in LA (October 22 - 26) is hosting the world premiere of The SpongeBob Movie: Search For Squarepants. SpongeBob movies are notoriously hit-and-miss, so I have no idea how this one is going to end up, but I'm hoping to make it to the premiere so I can cover the movie ahead of its theatrical release in December. This outing follows SpongeBob as he tries to prove how tough he is by joining the Flying Dutchman on an adventure into the ocean's depths. Could be fun!