Parasite director Bong Joon Ho is making his first animated movie

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Published Apr 2, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT

Ally is about a curious piglet squid's adventures in the Pacific Ocean

A piglet squid named Ally — a soft blue sea creature with wide brown eyes and a mass of tentacles for hair — gapes in wonder, looking up through the water in Bong Joon Ho's Ally

Mickey 17, Snowpiercer, and Parasite director Bong Joon Ho is branching out into a new area of filmmaking. The Oscar-winning director is working on his first animated film, Ally, planned for release in 2027. On Thursday, production company V8 Pistons Pictures released the first image from that movie, showing a wide-eyed blue sea creature — the title character, a piglet squid called Ally. (Real piglet squid are not nearly this cute.) The film follows Ally through her Little Mermaid-like curiosities and hopes about the world above the waves, and the reality of her encounters with humanity. Here's the production company's plot summary:

At the heart of the story lies Ally, a curious and endearing piglet squid living in the uncharted depths of the South Pacific Ocean. She dreams of one day seeing the sun and becoming the star of a wildlife documentary. But when a mysterious aircraft sinks into the ocean, her peaceful world is suddenly thrown into danger. Alongside her colorful and loyal — yet unlikely — companions, Ally is thrust into an extraordinary journey that will take her all the way to the surface. Inspired by remarkable real-life marine creatures, the film explores themes of friendship and courage, as encounters between humans and the creatures of the deep reshape both worlds. Set against visually stunning underwater worlds and epic action sequences, the film is a family adventure blending humour and emotion.

That all sounds adorable and kid-friendly, like a Disney/Pixar movie that would sit next to Finding Nemo on the shelf. But Bong's storytelling has always been darker, and his narrative obsessions — particularly with environmental issues, human greed and humanity's oppressive power dynamics, and cruelty to animals — suggest this isn't going to be a light, whimsical movie. (Think Mad Max: Fury Road writer-director George Miller helming the surprisingly dark Happy Feet movies and Babe: Pig in the City.)

This might wind up being another movie like Bong's Netflix production Okja, a family-oriented story about a cute, hippo-like "super pig" (also an animated creation) threatened by the meat industry. We'll find out in 2027, when Bong plans to complete and release Ally.

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