Witchy

Witchy would be a 2026 American computer-animated fantasy film directed by Steve Martino and produced by Cornelius Uliano, Michael J. Travers, Lori Forte, and Jerry Davis, while the screenplay would be written by Daniel Shere and Matt Ember. Produced by Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Animation, and based on the webcomic of the same name by Ariel Slanet Ries, the film would star the voices of Gihana Khan, Jin Xing, Celina Jaitly, Kumail Nanjiani, and Jason Scott Lee. Ries and Chris Wedge would serve as executive producers, while David Newman would compose the score for the film.

A film adaptation of the webcomic Witchy would start development on early 2023, with Martino set to direct, Travers set to produce, and Ries set to executive-produce the film. Uliano and Forte would join as producers in mid-2023, alongside Shere and Ember as screenwriters. Khan would be cast in the lead role in early 2024, while Xing and Jaitly would join in mid-2024, with Lee and Nanjiani joining the cast in late 2024.

The filmmakers would watch Japanese anime as inspiration for the film's animation. Ries would also work closely with the writers during production, with her giving suggestions on how to alter the story based on what she feels went wrong with the original version. The film would mark the first animated film in Hollywood to star an Afghan-Indian actress, as well as Blue Sky Studios' first film to feature LGBTQ+ characters, and Blue Sky Studios' first film to be composed by an enterily non-white cast. The writers would investigate how both closeted homosexuals and people with dead parents live, for the film's story. The film would also have a somewhat darker tone than most Blue Sky Studios films.

Witchy would be released on February 27, 2026, by 20th Century Studios, and would become a critical and commercial success, Critical praise would be directed towards the film's screenplay, themes, direction, faithfulness to the source material, vocal performances, score, and animation, with several critics calling it one of Blue Sky Studios' best films to date. The film would also earn 970 million dollars at the worldwide box office, becoming the studio's hightest-grossing film. Witchy would earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Score and an Annie Award for Best Film.

Synopsis
Set in a world where magic is real and society judges everything according to length of the hair, Witchy centers on a young woman named Nyneve, who became embittered towards the "Witch Guard" after they killed her father because his hair was so long he was considered an enemy of society. Having long hair herself, Nyneve chooses to hide it with an illusion to avoid being ostracized. However, during a conscription at her school, Nyneve's hair is exposed, causing her to be ridiculed and mocked by her classmates. Nyneve then cuts her hair out of desesperation, but this causes her to be targeted by the Witch Guard. On the run and with her life on the line, Nyneve must make a choice: Survive and join the organization that killed her father, or stand-up for her own beliefs, even if it means death?

Voice cast
Additionally, Wanda Sykes would voice Idra, the teacher in Nyneve's class. Grey Griffin, Nikita Futterman, and Jessica DiCicco would voice Nyneve's classmates.
 * Gihana Khan as Nyneve, a young witch who secretly has long-hair, and who had to deal with the loss of her father ever since he was killed by "Witch Guard" when she was a child. According to Khan, the film would further explore how Nyneve feels about herself after cutting her hair, and how she was affected by her father's death.
 * Jin Xing as Prill, a transgender woman who initially bullies Nyneve, but slowly begins to warm up to her.
 * Celina Jaitly as Venda, Nyneve's mother, who withdraw into herself after losing her husband.
 * Kumail Nanjiani as Banana, a talking raven who represents the spirits, and requests Nyneve's help in restoring spiritual balance.
 * Jason Scott Lee as Viceroy Jung, Captain Regent of Hyaun, who is hunting down Nyneve for draft dodging.

Casting
In January 2024, director Steve Martino would state that he aims for the film's cast to reflect the vision Witchy creator Ariel Slamet Ries had for each character's nationality, claiming that "the only way there's a white actor here is by being blackmailed", describing representation in the film as "a priority for both the studio and [him]".

In May 2024, it would be announced that Afghan-Indian actress Gihana Khan has been cast in the film as Nyneve, the film's main protagonist. This would mark Witchy the first Hollywood film to feature a lead Afghan-Indian actress. Khan would be honored to "finally give Afghan-Indians a spot on the big screen", while Martino would say that "Kahn gives such relatability and heart to the role, that not casting her would be a sin".

In June 2024, Celina Jaitly and entertainer Jin Xing would join the cast as the voices of Venda and Prill, respectively. The film would mark Xing's first animated role, her first film role since Birth of the Dragon (2016), and the first transgender actress to be part of the cast of a Blue Sky Studios film. In November 2024, Jason Scott Lee and Kumail Nanjiani would be cast in the film Viceroy June and Banana, respecitively.

Animation
Hoping to "catch the spirit of the webcomic", animators at Blue Sky Studios would watch films by Studio Ghibli as inspiration for the film's animation, as Studio Ghibli was a visual inspiration for the webcomic's visuals. Animators would also be inspired by films such as the Harry Potter franchise for the design of the film's enviroment, as they would want it to look "neither too old nor too new".

Animators would struggle to animate Nyneve's hair at the start of the film, as she would require to have an extremely long hair during the start of the film. As such, the animators would create a new simulation program in order to properly animate her hair. Many of Blue Sky Studios' animators would work exclusively in animating Nyneve's hair. Director Steve Martino would describe the fact that "thousands of animators having to work so hard in that hair only for that work to be cutted in a half" as "quite depressing".

Dragon Ball would be described by many as a "half inspiration" for the magic present in the film. The filmmakers would aim for the film's magic to "feel like straight out of an anime", but at the same time "feel new and original", so they would watch Dragon Ball, and then would try to "give their own spin" to the more mystical visual elements present in the film "even througth most weren't actually magic". As the spirits would be the first non-corporeal entities to appear in a Blue Sky Studios film, the animators would create a new animation software titled Spirit to animate them, as well as create several new animation techniques to animate them in a way "that is non-corporeal, but faithfull to the webcomic and very Blue Sky Studios-like".

Music
David Newman would compose the score for the film, marking his first collaboration with Blue Sky Studios since Ice Age (2005). Newman would create a "dark, emotional, and magical score" to "capture the spirit of the film". Newman would create a motif for Nyneve that was "rebellious and emotional" and could work with both a limited and great number of instruments to represent her "closeted personality". Newman would similarly compose a theme for Venda that requires a small amount of instruments, but that at the same time "showcases how much she loves her daughter", as he would feel it would be "the perfect way to catch her personality". By contrast, Newman's theme for Prill would be "rebellious but at the same time changing" to reflect the character's redemption arc. Newman would also compose a "deceiving, corrupt, and evil theme" for Viceroy Jung.

Beyonce and Sia would perform a song for the film's end credits, which Beyonce would perform, titled "Magic". Beyonce would say that she joined the film because "Witchy has such an empowering story. It's more than just being yourself, its about defying expectations, finding your own worth no matter what, and embracing those who are different. And [she] really wanted to be a prat of that story".

Trivia

 * While the webcomic at first seemed to suggest that Nyneve was going to commit suicide before cutting her hair, this would be removed for the film in order to make the film more family-friendly. However, the scene would be shot in a way as if it seemed that her hair "died" when she cut it off, something Witchy creator Ariel Slamet Ries would explain would be to establish that Nyneve "killed" a part of herself by cutting her hair.
 * The film's opening would be one of Blue Sky Studios' darkest opening sequences, as it would be a near shot-for-shot recreation of the webcomic's first chapter.
 * According to director Steve Martino, the scene would be mostly mute because he would feel a "show-not-tell" approach would make the scene even darker.
 * Wanda Sykes previously voiced Granny in Blue Sky Studios' Ice Age franchise.
 * According to Martino, the production team would consult with Witchy creator Ariel Slamet Ries on how to pronunce the characters' names.
 * According to executive-producer Chris Wedge, the reason lo and the resistance wouldn't appear in the film because the filmmakers would feel that their appearance prevented the story from furthering exploring Nyneve's mental and emotional status after the first act's events.