Netflix Heats Up Holiday Slate with New Movies & ‘Jentry Chau’ Virtual Event

Netflix Kids & Family is offering many opportunities for cozy home viewing this holiday season, including a trio of exciting new animated feature titles and a special virtual event for its new toon heroine, Jentry Chau!

Starting this week, viewers can enjoy Spellbound, a new original movie produced by Skydance Animation premiering Friday, November 22. The CG fantasy-adventure follows Ellian (Rachel Zegler), the tenacious daughter of the rulers of Lumbria, who sets out on a daring quest to save her parents (Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem) from a monstrous transformation spell and her kingdom from ruin. Directed by Vicky Jenson (Shrek).

The year’s closing month kicks off with That Christmas, an animated adaptation of the children’s books by acclaimed filmmaker Richard Curtis (Love Actually). Director Simon Otto and U.K. studio Locksmith Animation’s take intertwines multiple tales of one troubled Christmas, touching on love, loneliness, family and friends, a big mix-up for Santa Claus (Brian Cox) and tons of turkeys. The voice cast also boasts Bill Nighy. You can read more about the movie in the January ’25 issue of Animation Magazine, available soon!

More Brit-tastic fun will be unboxed in the new year, when Aardman’s beloved claymation duo returns for a new feature-length adventure in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, available January 3, 2025. Directed by Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, this misadventure sees the return of an old nemesis, whose machinations clash with Gromit’s concerns about Wallace’s (Ben Whitehead) latest invention: the world’s first “smart” gnome (Reece Shearsmith). The voice cast also features Peter Kay,Diane Morgan, Adjoa Andoh, Muzz Khan and Lenny Henry.

December 4 will also be a can’t-miss tune-in date for animation lovers, as Netflix presents a free virtual event for Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld! Kicking off at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET, the screening will present the first two episodes the new 2D-animated supernatural series, followed by an exclusive conversation with producer/voice star Ali Wong and series creator Echo Wu.

RSVP using this link by November 25.

The series centers on a Chinese-American high school girl (Wong) whose life is turned upside down when a demon king tries to steal her fiery magical powers. Now, Jentry must juggle battling demons of all descriptions and the everyday drama of being a teenager. You can read more about Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld in the January ’25 issue of Animation Magazine, available soon.

Also making their Netflix debuts this season are family-friendly animated titles including Season 1 of the PAW Patrol spin-off preschool series Rubble and Crew (Dec. 9), the seventh and final season of animated epic The Dragon Prince (Dec. 19) and a flurry of animated feature acquisitions including Sony’s Open Season: Scared Silly (Dec. 1), Sony/Jim Henson’s The Star (Dec. 4), Illumination’s The Lorax (Jan. 1), DreamWorks’ The Road to El Dorado (Jan. 1) and Universal’s live-action/CG hybrid comedy Woody Woodpecker (Jan. 1).

Netflix viewers can also revisit holiday animation classics any time, including Sergio Pablos’ Oscar-nominated Klaus (2019); Aardman’s Robin Robin (2021) and Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (2021); DreamWorks’ Trolls Holiday Special (2017), The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus (2022) and The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday (2023); and Damien O’Connor’s Angela’s Christmas (2017), produced by Brown Bag Films.

Hop over to the Netflix Holiday Hub for even more festive treats.