January 2026 Animation Preview: Sperm, a time loop, and Don Hertfeldt's latest

 It's hard to believe that 2025 is coming to an end. Time passes too fast, doesn't it? But animation is here to ease the pain of getting older, time going by, etc. And January is a pretty packed month!

In Theaters

IMDb has a January 2 release listed for Spermageddon, a Norwegian comedy that follows two teens falling in love (and fumbling toward sex), and the parallel story of the teenage boy's sperm trying to make it to an egg. I've been wanting to see this one for a while, and I hope that it is indeed coming out this week, but I haven't been able to find any showtimes, so I'm not sure where IMDb is getting their information. My kingdom for a crumb of actual information about this movie's US release!

Spermageddon

GKIDS is getting us their year to an exciting start with the release of LUPIN THE IIIRD: The Movie -- Immortal Bloodline on January 4. Lupin, the master thief, has been around since the 1960s, and has been the star of anime series, movies, stage musicals, video games...dude is everywhere. I have limited familiarity with him, though every time I've dipped my toes into the series, I've enjoyed it (especially Miyazaki's feature directorial debut, The Castle of Cagliostro). This time around, Lupin and friends are stranded on an island where they face off against the island's inhabitants, past enemies, and an immortal being. It sounds like it'll be an especial treat for longtime fans, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it nonetheless.

LUPIN THE IIIRD: The Movie -- Immortal Bloodline

Another GKIDS release this month is ALL YOU NEED IS KILL on January 16. I reviewed this one at Animation is Film a couple months back, and enjoyed it pretty well. It's a visually dazzling adaptation of the Japanese light novel which previously hit the big screen as the Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt-starrer Edge of Tomorrow. The film follows Rita, a woman who keeps reliving the same day as she tries to destroy the sudden alien scourge that, day after (same) day, keeps killing her and everyone she knows. It's a pretty mean and lean adaptation with a lot of style, cool action, and heart.

January 16 also brings us the first release of the year from Viva Kids: Charlie the Wonderdog, starring Owen Wilson as the eponymous hero's voice. It follows a dog who gains superpowers after his owner is abducted by aliens. He ends up becoming a famous hero, fights an evil cat (naturally), and (I assume) saves the day. I always think "Maybe this will be the movie that helps put Viva on the map -- their breakout movie," but this time it really feels like they could have their first big (ish) hit on their hands. Feels like the kind of broad family comedy that could fill seats.

Charlie the Wonderdog

NEON is giving its awards-contender Arco its proper theatrical release on January 23. (Thankfully, they aren't benching it til mid-year like they did with Robot Dreams.) This French charmer that takes obvious inspiration from Studio Ghibli follows a rainbow-clad time traveler boy who befriends a girl when he crash lands in her time. Together, they try to figure out how to get him back to his time, and maybe to let her tag along. I really liked this one when I saw it. It's imaginative, thoughtful, hopeful, and the English dub is great. I think this will find a solid audience, either in theaters or in years to come as people stumble upon it on streaming.

On January 30, Blue Fox is bringing Tafiti: Across the Desert to theaters. It's about a meerkat who sets off across the desert to find a flower that can save his grandpa's life from a poisonous snake bite. He reluctantly teams up with a bush pig named Bristles for the journey. Yes, this could end up being a Dollar Store version of Timon and Pumbaa, but I'm keeping an open mind!

Tafiti: Across the Desert

Streaming

I only have one streaming release on my radar for this month (hopefully there are more that I'm not aware of/haven't been announced yet): Cosmic Princess Kaguya! hits Netflix on January 22. It draws inspiration from the same folktale that Isao Takahata's masterpiece The Tale of Princess Kaguya did, though this is taking the source material in a vastly different direction. Plot details are hard to come by, but we know the film takes place in a "virtual realm" and has a lot of music in it. It's also the feature directorial debut of Shingo Yamashita, who is known for his work on the openings of Chainsaw Man and the first season of Jujutsu Kaisen. So this should at least be visually dazzling, if nothing else!

Cosmic Princess Kaguya

Festivals

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival starts on January 22. The fest doesn't have any animated features on the program this year, but there is a particularly exciting entry on the shorts side: Paper Trail, the latest work from Don Hertzfeldt. The synopsis on the fest's site simply says "A life, seen through paper." I'm intrigued, gagged, gooped, etc. I can't wait until I get to see it.

Paper Trail

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) starts its 2026 edition on January 29, and they have a great lineup of animated offerings including ChaO, Scarlet, and Peliliu: Guernica of Paradise. But the real highlight to me is 58th, the new movie from Carl Joseph E. Papa. Papa's last film, The Missing, was a stunning excavation of childhood trauma told in multiple animated styles. It was the Philippines' Oscar submission (and should've been nominated), and remains one of the most striking and emotional movies in recent memory -- a major work. So I'm extremely excited to see what he's cooked up this time. 58th is about a politically motivated massacre that happened in 2009, told through the eyes of a woman whose father was among the casualties. It sounds like it's primed to be a highlight in both the realms of animation and documentary this year.

58th