^{Credit: Iron Boy (Eddy Cinéma, Beside Productions, France 3 Cinéma, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma), Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer (Bobbypills uMedia)}

The lineup for the 2026 Cannes Film Festival has been announced. Among this year’s animated entries are Iron Boy (Le Corset), which will be competing in the Un Certain Regard section, and Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer, which is part of the Midnight Screenings section. Although not animated, this year’s competition includes Arthur Harari’s psychological fantasy The Unknown, which is loosely based on Lucas Harari and Arthur Harari’s graphic novel, The Case of David Zimmerman. Also in the Midnight section is the live-action zombie thriller Colony from director Yeon Sang-ho, whose filmography includes animated projects like The King of Pigs, The Fake, and Seoul Station.

^{Credit: Iron Boy (Eddy Cinéma, Beside Productions, France 3 Cinéma, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma)}

Iron Boy is from director Louis Clichy, who previously co-directed Astérix: The Mansions of the Gods and Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion. He’s also worked in the animation department for Pixar films such as Up and WALL-E. The synopsis for Iron Boy reads as follows: “In rural France, Christophe (10) tries to live up to his rigid and distant father on the family farm. But the young boy starts to lean over and collapse without warning — on the tractor, at school, at dinner... A doctor finds the solution: Christophe must wear an iron corset to keep himself upright. Forced to reinvent his life away from the farm, Christophe discovers a new passion for music, meets a new friend, and follows her into his first mischief. But will any of this really fix what is out of balance?”

^{Jim Queen and the Quest for Chloroqueer (Bobbypills uMedia)}

Nicolas Athane and Marco Nguyen are the directors behind Jim Queen. Athane was a character animator on Michael Dudok de Wit’s The Red Turtle. Nguyen received an Annie nomination for his character animation on The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales. Both also worked on the French animated feature, The Rabbi's Cat. Jim Queen’s synopsis reads, “On the Parisian gay scene, Jim is the king of Gym Queens, the sexiest and most coveted community on social media. One day, he realises he’s been infected with Heterosis, a strange virus decimating the community and turning gay men into… heterosexuals! Jim loses his throne and is abandoned by his entire entourage. All but one follower: Lucien, a scrawny young virgin. Together, they set off on a journey across the Marais (the Parisian gay village), in search of the mysterious Doctor Ragoult, who claims to have found a cure for the virus. This cure could not only save Jim, but also prevent the extinction of homosexuality.”

Last year, Arco, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, and A Magnificent Life screened at Cannes, with the former two going on to receive Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations. The year before that, Flow premiered at Cannes and went on to win the Oscars. Robot Dreams, Flee, I Lost My Body, Waltz with Bashir, and Persepolis are just some of the other animated films that played at Cannes on their way to the Oscars. The festival has attracted a few big-budget U.S. animated productions, such as Pixar’s Up and Elemental. Animation’s presence at Cannes traces back even further, with 1973’s Fantastic Planet winning the Grand Prix special jury prize, 1953’s Peter Pan entering the main competition, and 1941's Dumbo winning an award for Ben Sharpsteen’s animation design.

Considering how Cannes has spotlighted several animated films that went on to achieve Oscar nominations, Iron Boy and Jim Queen are two films to keep in mind for your Best Animated Feature predictions. We won’t know the critical consensus for either film until they play at Cannes. There’s also the matter of whether they’ll receive U.S. distribution, giving them qualifying runs for next year’s Oscars. For now, though, both should be on your radar. A few more films are expected to be announced for this year’s Cannes lineup over the coming weeks. If any of them are animated, you’ll hear about them here on Cartoon Contender.

(UPDATE: Phuong Mai Nguyen’s In Waves has been announced as the opening film for Critics' Week at Cannes).

(UPDATE: Sébastien Laudenbach's Carmen, The Rebel Bird (Viva Carmen), Kohei Kadowaki's We Are Aliens, Quentin Dupieux's Vertiginous (Le Vertige), Elizabeth Hobbs' Daughters of the Late Colonel, and Yano Honami's Eri have been announced for Directors' Fortnight. Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Guigue's Blaise (Les Sauvages) will also play in the ACID section.)

(UPDATE: Olivier Clert’s Lucy Lost has been locked in as a Family Screening, while Leah Nelson’s Tangles is part of the Special Screenings section.)

The 2026 Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 12–23.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!