Picture: Mojang Studios
In May 2024, Netflix first announced its development of a brand-new animated series set in the beloved world of Minecraft, created by Mojang and now owned by Microsoft. The IP has grown even bigger in the interim with the release of the Warner Bros. live-action film starring Jack Black, but what’s the latest with the Netflix series? We’ve just received a bunch of new intel courtesy of the Annecy Film Festival 2025.
To recap, WildBrain was tasked with the development of the new animated series, which last referred to it in their fiscal report for Q1 2025, referring to it as “the
Minecraft development project with Netflix”. Netflix officially confirmed the project on May 30th, 2024, to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the game’s release. Since then, all has been quiet regarding the show’s future.
That was until the Netflix Series Animation: Get Ready for What’s Next! Presentation at the Annecy Animation Film Festival. Dominique Bazay was on hand to present its lineup of what Netflix dubs its family spectacle offering. This is one of four central pillars in Netflix’s animated series output, alongside Kids + Pre-School, Adult Comedy, and Adult Spectacle.
“We’re very excited to bring an animated series in the Minecraft world to Netflix,” Bazy said to a packed audience, “We’re deep in collaboration with our friends at Mojang Studios, the creators of Minecraft, on the development of a brand new animated series. The love for this game is undeniable, as you’ve seen in the last few months. There are fans of all ages, and I’m very proud that our creative team on this show are huge fans as well. They play the game all the time and have really developed a love for the self-expression it inspires.”
Who is in the creative team? It was announced that Kevin Adams & Joe Ksander are to head up the creative team, serving as both executive producers and showrunners. Represented by Kinetic Media, the duo previously teamed up with Netflix on NEXT GEN, the animated feature film released in September 2018. Elsewhere, the pair worked on TMNT: We Strike Hard and Fade Away Into the Night and the animated film 9.
Speaking about their vision, Bazay said about the pair, “Obviously, they want to make something authentic and familiar to Minecraft, but also create a universe that is a new experience for fans. We want to delight those long-time fans, but we want new fans also to come in through this series.”
Also on the team for Netflix’s Minecraft series is A.C. Bradley, best known for her work on Marvel’s What If…? animation series, in addition to previously working with Guillermo del Toro on the Tales of Arcadia franchise for Netflix. Bradley is heading up the writer team for the series.
In a follow-up to the presentation, Netflix also confirms that Flying Bark, the Australian-based animation studio, is working on the show and has become a key partner for Netflix in recent years. They’re the same team working on Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, the Ghostbusters animated series, and the Clash of Clans series.
Kevin Adams, Joe Ksander, and A.C. Bradley – Pictures: Kinetic Media /Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney
In addition to that news, Netflix also presented several pieces of artwork and concepts for the new series, giving an impression of the visual style the series will take. Naturally, it’s staying true to the blocky format of the video game, but I’d refer to what was shown as a massive visual upgrade on the video game. One of the stills shown was of an interior with light rays piercing into the room, while another was a close-up of a leaf with blocky water droplets on it. If I had to put it in simple terms, what I saw was Minecraft with graphics set to the highest level, an extra level of sheen, and RTX enabled. We didn’t get a glimpse of any characters, however.
For a full list of all the new announcements that came out of the Annecy Film Festival, check out our full Annecy recap here or keep an eye out on What’s on Netflix in the coming days for all the latest.
Are you excited for Netflix’s new animated Minecraft series? Let us know in the comments down below.
