Annecy: the International City of Animated Cinema has finally opened!

Six decades of waiting, 54.5 million euros, seven spaces. On June 19, Annecy inaugurated its International City of Animation Cinema. Travis Knight and Ankama headlining.

It all started with a film club. At the beginning of the 1960s, Annecy operated one of the largest film clubs in France (we are talking about 1,500 members). And its film buffs dreamed of a cinema museum in the city. But a museum is long and expensive to set up. So, in the meantime, they are launching a festival: it will be that of animation, starting in 1960. Very quickly, it takes off, and better: it even becomes a global event. The museum will therefore wait. It took sixty years, several mayors, and as many upwardly revised estimates for the project to succeed.

But that’s it: 54.5 million euros and a 19th century stud farm resurrected for the occasion finally enabled the birth of the International City of Animated Cinema which opened its doors on Friday June 19, 2026.

First, the site: 2.5 hectares of park in the city center. These are the military stables which date from the 1880s. Architect David Devaux and landscaper Philippe Deliau reopened the place, which had been dormant for a long time, to install seven spaces. The centerpiece, the Manège will house the major annual exhibition (650 square meters, from June to January). Next door, the 160 square meter Gallery hosts more cutting-edge projects, backed by a 332-seat cinema. The Museum of Animated Cinema is permanent: we are talking about 400 square meters to show part of the 10,000 works of the Musée-Château, collection labeled Musée de France – drawings, puppets, equipment, archives – one of the most solid in Europe on the genre. There is also an Image Attic (image education center), a Villa for artist residencies, and a boutique-cafe in the fall.

Laika and Ankama arrive

For the opening, CITIA – which also manages the Festival – hits hard. For your first exhibition, you have the right to Wildwood: discovery of a handmade worldpresentation of the next film LAIKA. Travis Knight, president of the studio and director of the film, sets foot in Annecy for the first time in his life. And he didn’t come empty-handed: miniature sets (including a replica of the Pittock Mansion in Portland), unpublished images from the feature. For those who haven’t followed, LAIKA is this stop-motion studio located in Hillsboro, near Portland, where everything has been made by hand for twenty years (silicone, latex, resin, fabrics, wood). We owe them Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009), nominated for an Oscar. Norman’s Strange Power (Butler/Fell, 2012) which was the first film to use color 3D printing for the puppets’ faces. Then Kubo and the Magic Armor (directed by Knight himself, 2016). The power of childhood and craftsmanship as dogma. Faced with the invasive presence of AI and algorithms, inviting them to open up the city is a political statement.

In another space – at the Manège – change of atmosphere with Ankama, from sketch to epic – 25 years of creations. If the name doesn’t mean anything to you, ask a teenager you meet on the street. He will give you the CV and a detailed description of the production of this company, plus some unnecessary information on Wakfu, Dofus and Mutafukaz… The Roubais studio has opened its archives for a Maousse exhibition. A quarter of a century of French animation seen through the prism of Krosmoz. The stroll reminds us that the French response to Pixar and Marvel was being prepared incognito in Ch’ti country… In France!

Annecy 365 days a year

Beyond history, beyond archives, the issue is essential. For six decades, the city was the animation capital of the world… for one week a year. A week when 17,000 people disembarked, lived at a run around Bonlieu, then left, leaving Annecy at its lake. The City is a game-changer. “We don’t just watch films, we understand them, we experience them, we share them”summarizes Dominique Puthod, president of CITIA. Guillermo del Toro, who symbolically sponsors the project, goes even further: “Annecy is a beacon for entertainment, the city will become a center of excellence. » And we know it: Guillermo is always right.