Adult Swim’s ‘The Elephant,’ Netflix’s ‘Mating Season,’ and Prime Video’s ‘Kevin’ among the shows that will compete in the former Animated Series competition; Animation for Young Audiences 7+ and Animation for Teen Audiences 13+ selections also announced; fest runs September 23-27.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival has renamed its Animated Series competition as Platform Animation for its 2026 Official Selections, expanding the category for this year’s 50th anniversary event.
Formerly known as the Animated Series competition, the Platform Animation competition recognizes animated works created for or shaped by broadcast, streaming, web, educational, editorial and studio contexts. Eligible entries include pilots, episodes, series, installments and standalone shorts developed for platform-driven audiences.
The six works selected for this year’s Platform Animation competition are Adult Swim’s The Elephant, a collaboration directed by Pendleton Ward, Rebecca Sugar, Ian Jones-Quartey, Patrick McHale, Mike L. Mayfield, Humberto Irigoyen, Remus Buznea, Kyriaki Kyriakou; Glen: Wrestler, directed by Travis Pelto, Joe Hingelberg and Shawn Golden; Prime Video’s Kevin episode “Fourth of July,” directed by Angelo Hatgistavrou and Sarah Seember Huisken; Netflix’s Mating Season episode “The Truth About Canada,” directed by Henrique Jardim; Qui on croit et pourquoi? L’injustice testimoniale, also known as Who Do We Believe, and Why? Testimonial Injustice, directed by Martine Frossard; and TED-Ed episode “Can Saunas Make You Live Longer?,” directed by Noam Sussman and Ali Kellner.
“Animation made for audiences outside the traditional festival circuit has changed radically. What we once called series or television animation no longer fully describes the range of work we receive,” OIAF artistic director Chris Robinson said. “Some of these projects are not technically series, but they share more DNA with platform-based animation than with the more eccentric independent works in our main competition. Renaming the section Platform Animation is a nod to that shift — to animation now living across Netflix, YouTube, streaming services, social platforms and spaces that barely existed a generation ago. The old world of channels has largely vanished. This category reflects the new, unruly, wide-open landscape.”
The festival receives more than 2,000 entries each year; this year, for its milestone anniversary, it received a record 3,026 entries. By contrast, the inaugural 1976 Ottawa International Animation Festival received just over 400 films over a two-year period. The festival has grown in size and stature since its founding in 1976; it continues to champion animation from indie to industry, veterans to students, in all its forms, techniques, and outputs.
OIAF will continue to rollout selections over the next few weeks. In addition to the Platform Animation Competition selections, the Animation for Young Audiences 7+ and Animation for Teen Audiences 13+ competitions have also been released.
All released selection lists can be found here.
OIAF returns September 23-27, 2026, for its 50th anniversary edition in Ottawa. The Animation Conference runs September 23-25, 2026, and senior executives in development, acquisition and programming are invited to apply as Fast Track Buyers by August 7, 2026, with availability due by August 28.
Early Bird pricing is in effect through July 28 – all ticket information can be found here. Complete festival information can be found here.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival is one of the world’s leading animation events and North America’s oldest animation festival. Since 1976, it has presented screenings, exhibits, workshops and entertainment, bringing together artists, producers, students and animation fans from around the world.
Source: OIAF 2026
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
