February Animation Preview: Time Hoppers, Horse Girls, and a Disney Legend in the Spotlight

Love is always in the air in February, and so is a lot of animation this year. Check it:

In Theaters

On February 6, Viva Kids is bringing Buffalo Kids to theaters. This is a Spanish movie from 2024, so I honestly had kind of forgotten about it. It was on my radar back then, but it felt like one of those movies that wouldn't make it to the US, or would randomly pop up on Hulu someday. Glad it's getting a theatrical bow instead. The film follows two 19th-century Irish orphans who emigrate to the US  to reunite with their uncle, then team up with some other orphans and a stray dog when their uncle turns up missing. 

Buffalo Kids

That same weekend, but on February 7, Time Hoppers: The Silk Road is hitting theaters. It's being billed as the first movie being made specifically for Muslim kids, which is a pretty cool hook. The film follows a group of brilliant children who travel through time to save famous scientists from a nefarious alchemist. It's only in theaters in the US for a couple days, so make sure to plan accordingly if you want to see it on the big screen.

Time Hoppers: The Silk Road

GOAT, from Sony Pictures Animation, hits theaters on February 13, some interested Valentine's Day counter-programming. Like all of Sony's recent movies, this movie has such a cool look to it, super stylized and interesting. It's sure to be a feast for the eyes. The film is about a goat who, due to his diminutive size, isn't an obvious choice to be an all-star roarball player, but he's dreaming big anyway. The colorful cast of characters and Sony's recent string of hits could make this one a big deal at the box office.

GOAT

On February 16 and February 18, The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie gets a big-screen release in ten US cities. I've recently started watching this anime, which is pretty strange but mostly enjoyable watch. It follows creepy loner Kyotaro Ichikawa, obsessed with thoughts of murdering his classmates, who starts to obsess over his classmate Anna Yamada. Yamada is a model, very popular, and a downright weirdo. Where I'm at in the show, they've formed an unlikely friendship, even though Ichikawa is still completely thrown off by Yamada's way of moving through the world. This movie is a compilation of the show but will include some new sequences as well. I'm hoping I can make it to a subtitled screening, but we'll see if the timing works out.

The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie

Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Beginning of a New Era makes its way to theaters on February 27, courtesy of GKIDS.. I don't know a lot about this franchise, but I've heard of it and have seen a lot of love for it online. The gist, as I understand it, is that in this world there are literal horse-girls (basically girls that have horse ears and manes and whatnot) who participate in races and do other horsey things. This will be my baptism into the series, and maybe it'll even be a conversion to super-fandom. I honestly wouldn't be surprised!

Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Beginning of a New Era

GKIDS is also distributing HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle- Interactive Movie, which releases on February 29. The movie is based on the anime series, and is exactly what it sounds like. A bunch of rap groups are duking it out, and with the use of a smartphone app, the audience will be able to choose how the various rap battles play out, and who will be crowned the winner. I'm really hoping to make it to a screening to see how it all works, as it sounds pretty intriguing, even though I hate the idea of people having to be on their phones in a theater. I'll make an exception this one time.

HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle- Interactive Movie

At Home

On February 6, Florida-weird Boys Go to Jupiter makes its streaming debut on HBO Max. I've done my fair share of gushing about this movie since I saw it in 2024, and I'm excited for more people to see it. You can read my review here.

PBS has a new documentary premiering as part of their Black History programming: HUZ: Drawn to Life, chronicles the life and work of Ron Husband, who broke ground as Disney Animation's first Black animator. Directed by Disney veteran Don Hahn, I'm so excited to watch this and learn more about a true legend in Disney's history. The documentary premieres February 12 at 9pm (at least here in southern California -- maybe check your local listings, or plan to catch it on the PBS website after the fact).

HUZ: Drawn to Life

Festivals

The New York-based Animation First Film Festival, which puts a spotlight on French and Francophone animation, is back February 3 - 8 with an incredible lineup, including some favorites I've already reviewed like Heart of Darkness, Dandelion's Odyssey, and Death Does Not Exist. I'll have reviews of some of the other movies showing there soon. This is one of those fests I really hope to attend in person someday, because they always have an awesome lineup.

A movie from last year that I loved, and which made me sob, Space Cadet, makes its US debut at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on Thursday, February 5. The dialogue-free film follows Celeste, a space explorer, and her robot caretaker who remains behind on earth. Fans of Robot Dreams (and crying in general) will find a lot to love here. Hopefully a theatrical release will follow later this year.

The Berlin International Film Festival takes place February 12 - 22, and has some exciting animated movies in its lineup, including Papaya (for which I have a review ready to go), the recently-announced Light Pillar, and Chimney Town: Frozen in Time (the sequel to Poupelle of Chimney Town).

Papaya

Another fest that always has a great program, the New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) starts on February 28 and runs through the first half of March. The fest features live-action and animated offerings. On the latter side, the opening film is a special screening of Hoppers, and some movies I covered last year like Mary Anning and My Grandfather is a Nihonjin will be showing. Hopefully I have a chance to review some movies showing there that I haven't seen yet.