Feb 21, 2019

"Playmobil: The Movie" will be world premiere at Annecy

The Annecy International Animated Film Festival will host the world premiere of Playmobil: The Movie on the opening night of its 2019 edition to take place on June 10 -15.

Directed by Lino DiSalvo, the feature was presented as a work-in-progress at Annecy in 2018, and it's now ready to screen ahead of its August rollout in France, U.K., Germany, and other European countries. This is DiSalvo's first feature in the director's chair following 16 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he was notably head of animation on Frozen.

Playmobil: The Movie was produced by On Animation Studios in Montreal, Canada, which is part of the Paris-based company On Kids & Family managed by Aton Soumache, who recently produced the feature Mune: Guardian of the Moon and The Little Prince. Soumache also served as a producr on Playmobil: The Movie.

Based on the popular toy line produced by the Brandstätter Group in Germany, the movie will follow Marla, who must find her younger brother Charlie after he disappears into the animated world of Playmobil. Along the way, Marla partners with other characters including food truck driver Del, secret agent Rex Dasher, a robot, and a fairy godmother.

The voice cast includes Daniel Radcliffe, Jim Gaffigan, Anya Taylor Joy, Gabriel Bateman, and singer Meghan Trainor.

In addition to his work on Frozen, DiSalvo worked as a supervising animator on Tangled and Bolt, and an animator on Meet the Robinsons and Chicken Little. Currenty, as head of creative at On Animation, he is developing an original animated feature titled The Badalisc, inspired by Italian folklore and his own heritage.

The world premiere screening of Playmobil will take place in the presence of DiSalvo and the film's producers.