Adult Swim returned to the global celebration of animation at Annecy this year with an array of exclusive looks and announcements that underscore the network’s position as an international leader in adult animation. Amongst new and returning series, Adult Swim announced a forthcoming special that will feature some of the most acclaimed names in animation.
“Annecy, with its unique and global mix of industry professionals and passionate fans, is the perfect place for us to share what we are up to and most excited about,” said Michael Ouweleen, president, Adult Swim. “We’re not just announcing new series, but also new ways of creating – from Adult Swim SMALLS to a special done in an unconventional way – all that hopefully help push the boundaries of animation. As always, we will be creator-driven and chance-taking until such time someone puts us in handcuffs. Literal ones.”
At this year’s Annecy Festival, Adult Swim revealed the following forthcoming projects:
Celebrated for shaping some of the most beloved and groundbreaking animated series of our time, a powerhouse collection of creators including Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe), Ian Jones-Quartey (OK K.O.!), Patrick McHale (Over the Garden Wall), and Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time) are reuniting for a one-of-a-kind animated event so mysterious, even they don’t know what it’s about. Adult Swim’s The Elephant is an animated special where one team is responsible for one of three acts without any knowledge of what the others are making. With Sugar and Jones-Quartey working as a duo and McHale and Ward overseeing their own separate parts, The Elephant is guided by “game masters” Jack Pendarvis and Kent Osborne for a storytelling experiment that unfolds as a collaborative surprise, ultimately merging into a single, unexpected narrative. Married to the animated special will be a behind the scenes documentary, showing the unconventional situation in which the directors were operating. Coming to Adult Swim, The Elephant promises to be a truly original experience — not just for audiences, but for the creators themselves. The Elephant is produced by Titmouse for Adult Swim.
From creators Hugh Davidson, Rachel Ramras, and Larry Dorf comes Keeping Up With The Joneses, a half-hour adult animated comedy that follows the Newberry family as they try to “keep up” with their staggeringly wealthy Dallas neighbors – including the one next door, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. The trio previously co-created and executive produced the Netflix series The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. Davidson also wrote for Adult Swim’s Mike Tyson Mysteries and Robot Chicken, earning an Emmy® Award for the latter. Keeping Up with the Joneses is produced for Adult Swim by Warner Bros. Animation.
Adult Swim and Cartoon Network Studios are in development for Heist_Safari from celebrated creator and director Genndy Tartakovsky. One year ago, during the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the series was pitched live on stage to Adult Swim President Michael Ouweleen at the network’s Studio Focus Panel. An animated high-octane action comedy, Heist_Safari tells the story of three Frog brothers robbing a bank. Seems simple enough, but the execution is special as !#&$??!!!!
Adult Swim also announced renewals for two hit series:
During the SMILING FRIENDS Making of Annecy panel featuring series co-creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel, alongside Adult Swim’s Vice President of Development Cameron Tang, it was revealed that Adult Swim has greenlit the hit comedy for two additional seasons. After debuting an exclusive first look at season three of SMILING FRIENDS, set to debut this fall, it was also confirmed that the fourth and fifth seasons of the series are currently in production at Williams Street.
Adult Swim has officially renewed the high-octane anime Ninja Kamui for two additional seasons. A breakout hit during its debut on Adult Swim’s anime/action block Toonami, the series also earned critical acclaim, winning “Best Original Anime” at the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards. The next season, Ninja Kamui Season Two: Red Vendetta, will follow Higan as he uncovers a new conspiracy of cataclysmic proportions. Ninja Kamui is produced for Adult Swim by SOLA ENTERTAINMENT.
Adult Swim also announced that the new quarter-hour comedy Women Wearing Shoulder Pads will premiere globally beginning Sunday, August 17 at midnight ET/PT.
Created by Gonzalo Cordova (Tuca & Bertie, Adam Ruins Everything) and produced in partnership with Mexico City-based studio Cinema Fantasma (Frankelda’s Book of Spooks), the stop-motion series follows Marioneta, a proud wealthy Spaniard living in 1980s Quito, Ecuador. There she encounters a diverse group of eccentric and ambitious women navigating the complicated worlds of love, family, and cuys. Featuring an all-woman cast, Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is produced entirely in Spanish with English subtitles.
The announcement was made during Annecy’s Work in Progress panel in which Cordova, director Ana Coronilla, and series Executive Producers Roy Ambriz and Arturo Ambriz of Cinema Fantasma exclusively presented a never-before-seen episode of the forthcoming series.
Source: Press Release
