We love our animated critter films don’t we? I know I certainly did growing up. It felt like I had no shortage of films centered around not just animal leads, but those in the forests and trees, the wilderness beyond we so infrequently get to explore. Because of my generation, Ferngully always comes to mind, but it certainly isn’t the only animated feature to explore woodland creatures and their complicated dynamics in their own biome. Netflix does have a surprising amount of animated features worth rewatching, from last yer’s K-Pop Demon Hunters, to older titles like Nimona, Vivo, The Mitchells vs the Machines, and of course, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. While critics might lament the movie of the week, it doesn’t quite seem to apply to their animated output. Swapped is one more example in how the format works, and when they pair with a responsible and reputable animation house, their chance for success goes up.

For Swapped, Netflix paired with Skydance Animation, the studio that picked up John Lasseter after his exit from Pixar. That’s an entirely different article, as Pixar’s output has been dramatically different in a post-Lasseter world. He helped usher in Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, and Up, among others, but his tenure ended with The Incredibles 2. So, films in a post-Lasseter world that have struggled to find an audience, could easily point to a specific turn of the tide. That’s not saying Lasseter without Pixar has gone onto rave success. Case in point, Apple’s Luck, which seemed like a big swing for apple, but fell short of the bar set by Lasseter. Not this one though. At minimum, I definitely enjoyed it more than The Good Dinosaur, and likely more than the Cars franchise, Finding Dory, or Monsters University.

The story is simple. Two animals swap bodies, see things from each others points of view, and learn to rely on each other in order to not just swap back, but to save their families, and their biome. Michael B Jordan voices Ollie, who is optimistic about being able to interact with other species. His parents (Cedric The Entertainer, Justina Machado) warn him of the dangers, which he ignores. he bonds with a lone baby bird that can’t figure out how to open a nut, and so he harmlessly shows her how to open it. That becomes a problem when the adults of her species also find out, which leads to near famine for his tribe. He grows up,feeling responsible, and like an outcast, so while trying to solve the problem, eh ends up falling into a magical bubble (which his grandmother has some early exposition on) that transforms him into one of those damn birds. Then, he runs into the grown up version of that bird that betrayed him, Ivy (Juno Temple), who ends up also swapping, but becomes the little rodent species he was. They must not only survive, but learn to trust one another. Will their journey possibly even save the whole forest? Is this bigger than they realized?

the voice cast is delightful, the score was wonderful, and the heart behind this film is full of the kind of hopeful empathy you want your kids to have. The funny thing is the backstory about the magic orbs suggest that the orbs find animals in need of a swap, but Ollie is already wanting to have a universal experience with everything around him. It is the system that breaks him down, but even in his darkest moment, he still seems to retain some of the spark of unification, and living in harmony. His father has none of that, and almost would have made for a better swap. But, recent Oscar winner Michael B Jordan is having a blast here, and Juno Temple is an excellent scene partner for him.

I felt 2025 was light on excellent animation, and already, swapped for me feels as good as, if not better than the animation I got last year. I already look forward to seeing it again. International Digital center had an uphill climb here with the audio description. Narrator Jamie Lemcheck is perfect for this, but Emily Grove’s descriptions are often stunted due to time. Some of these creatures are wholly original, and don’t exist in our world. Ollie, for example, is broken down into resembling a chipmunk. I’ve also heard him described as being like a sea otter. those two things are not the same.

Still, it isn’t really bad writing, but limited space in which to describe all the creatures and their spaces. the film has enough action too that keeps things busy. it is a nice track, doing what it can with what is allowed.

Get the family together on the couch for Swapped, a delightful new adventure that is heartfelt, hilarious, and pure magic.

Fresh: 8.4/10