There’s a new animation in the works (or is finished), which pitches Halloween vs Day of the Dead and both sides need your help to hit theatres.
At long last, people curious about the differences between the last two calender holidays will them will get a family friendly film to explore the differences! That’s assuming Celso García and Studio 100’s gets the financing required to go forward to make Halloween vs Day of the Dead. And just whether this idea is borrowing from The Nightmare Before Christmas, we will have to wait.
The idea sounds promising, and here’s what we know so far: In what’s key to go forward is securing global partners so it will have distribution. This film isn’t just a holiday crossover for novelty’s sake; the studio went to the 2025 American Film Market to pitch this product is to show that what they got has international appeal.
Yes, we even need an aside from Fantasia Film Festival. Heidi Rescue of the Lynx is a continuation, especially if you know the story from Heidi, Girl of the Alps already.
Now Playing in Cinemas Across the UK and Ireland.
Heidi Rescue of the Lynx continues a beloved story, capturing the same charm and warmth found in Johanna Spyri’s classic Swiss tale—while also welcoming a new generation of fans. I first discovered this story through the 1970s animated series Heidi, Girl of the Alps, one of Hayao Miyazaki’s earliest projects. His work on the screenplay and production art—centered on nature, kindness, and emotion—would shape many of his later cinematic works.
At the time, shows like Lupin the Third and The Rose of Versailles introduced me to European stories told through anime. But Heidi stood out. It had a quiet, heartfelt tone that stayed with me. Its characters and designs even helped inspire others, like Mei in My Neighbor Totoro. Over the years, Heidi has returned in a few new versions. Most of them stayed close to the original story.
Belgian production house Studio 100 are certainly busy bees these days. Not only have they licensed Maya the Bee Movie to Shout! Factory to fly into North America next year, but also they have the simply titled Heidi getting ready to bring her charm to the world in an all new animated television program that will be aimed for young girls when the series finally launches in 2015. Products from toy manufacturer Famosa will also be made available in most European markets.
The novels Heidi’s Years of Learning and Travel and Heidi Makes Use of What She has Learned are amongst the best known works of Swiss literature written by novelist Johanna Spyri. Over 50 million books were sold and translated into other languages. These stories have been adapted into other forms of media over the years and this CGI update will only further interest. Hopefully Shout! Factory and Studio 100 will continue their relationship and work together to bring this title to North America.
Amongst anime fans, she is known as the Girl of the Alps, Heidi (アルプスの少女ハイジ), which saw release back in 1974. This series is notable because of the work put into it by many notable anime pioneers, including Studio Ghibli founders Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. The updated version by Studio 100 pays homage to this fond favourite and it really shows in the trailer. The series has not started broadcasting yet, but it will most likely see release in Europe first, premiering on Austrian public broadcasting channel ORF, before showing up on other speciality channels.
Maya the Bee Movie will be buzzing into young North American hearts in 2015 thanks to Shout! Factory. This diminutive character perhaps became very popular due in part to the Japanese animation of the same name back in 1975. Since then it has been translated to many languages for airings in other countries. An updated CGI version returned to its fictional roots by animation production company Studio 100 in 2012. This series run lasted for 78 episodes and a film followed afterwards. Both are based on the book of the same name by German children’s author, Waldemar Bonsels.
At long last, people curious about the differences between the last two calender holidays will them will get a family friendly film to explore the differences! That’s assuming Celso García and Studio 100’s gets the financing required to go forward to make Halloween vs Day of the Dead. And just whether this idea is borrowing from The Nightmare Before Christmas, we will have to wait.
Now Playing in Cinemas Across the UK and Ireland.
