Netflix Original animated movies vary wildly in quality, but with so many getting released, some of the best ones get buried by the sheer amount of content on the streaming platform. Every once in a while, a movie like KPop Demon Hunters breaks out, becoming a massive success and getting turned into a franchise. However, tons of Netflix Original animated features are filled with franchise potential yet get completely ignored, such as these five films.
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Since its release, KPop Demon Hunters has become a record-breaking success for Netflix, with it turning into one of the biggest movies of 2025. The massive success of the film has led Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation to expand the world of the original film, with a variety of future projects already getting greenlit. KPop Demon Hunters 2 is already in development, as well as a world tour, a stage musical, a third film, and a TV show. Netflix is putting the KPop Demon Hunters brand to good use, and these five other films deserve the same treatment.
5) Orion and the Dark
Like Sony Pictures Animation, DreamWorks has also put some of its animated projects out directly to Netflix, including the 2024 film Orion and the Dark. Based on the children’s book of the same name, Orion and the Dark tells the story of a young boy who must face his worst fear when he is visited by an embodiment of the Dark. Dark takes him on a magical journey through nighttime, where he meets all kinds of fantastical characters and learns to overcome his fears.
Orion and the Dark was well received, mostly due to its unique animation style and the screenplay by Charlie Kaufman. There has been no announcement of a sequel, which is a shame, as there are endless ways to expand on this concept. Like the Inside Out movies, a sequel could easily be justified by adding more personifications of abstract ideas to the already existing cast of Dark, Sweet Dreams, Light, Sleep, and the rest.
4) Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is the titular director’s stop-motion spin on the classic Italian fairy tale of a wooden boy who comes to life. If Netflix decided to turn this into a franchise, it is doubtful that it would be a Pinocchio 2 about the further adventures of the puppet. Instead, a sequel could be another stop-motion film directed by Del Toro that reimagines a different fairy tale. Movies like Guillermo del Toro’s Hansel and Gretel or Guillermo del Toro’s Sleeping Beauty could be a ton of fun and a fantastic way to continue the legacy of the Pinocchio movie.
3) Klaus
It is rare that a Christmas classic gets made, but in 2019, Netflix successfully released one in the form of Klaus. The film is a Santa Claus origin story, with it following an unsuccessful mailman who is stationed in a small frozen town in the North. While there, he meets a reclusive toymaker, with the duo eventually working together to make toys for the town’s children.
Klaus was beloved, receiving critical acclaim and getting the attention of a lot of viewers. The film is very much a fairy tale, and since it ends with the implication that these events are what led to the legend of Santa Claus, it may be hard to justify a sequel story. However, the world of Christmas is full of story potential, and Klaus 2 could wind up being another Christmas classic.
2) The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix’s 2021 film The Mitchells vs. the Machines is one of the best animated films of the decade, so it’s a shame that there hasn’t been a sequel yet. The film follows a bickering family who goes on a road trip across the country to bring the oldest daughter to college. While on the trip, however, a robot apocalypse happens, throwing a wrench into the Mitchells’ vacation.
Unlike the other entries on this list, it looks like a sequel to The Mitchells vs. the Machines could actually happen. After years of no news, a The Mitchells vs. the Machines sequel was finally announced in late 2025. Hopefully this project pans out, as the film has been deserving of a sequel since it was first released.
1) Nimona
Of all the Netflix animated films that need a sequel, 2023’s Nimona is the most deserving. The film got its start at Blue Sky Studios before being cancelled after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox. Luckily, Annapurna Pictures revived Nimona, with it finding a home on Netflix. The film adaptation of the Nimona graphic novel was incredible, with it telling the story of a knight in a futuristic fantasy world who befriends a mischievous shapeshifter.
Nimona‘s original author ND Stevenson and co-director Troy Quane have both expressed interest in a Nimona sequel, yet one hasn’t been announced yet (via Comic Book Club). There is a massive fantasy world to explore and tons of unanswered questions from the first Nimona that Nimona 2 could expand on. Plus, it would be interesting to see a Nimona film from Netflix and Annapurna that is wholly independent from the work of Blue Sky Studios.
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