Swapped
Promotional release poster
Directed by	Nathan Greno
Screenplay by	John Whittington Christian Magalhaes Robert Snow
Story by	John Whittington Adam Karp Christian Magalhaes Robert Snow Nathan Greno
Produced by	John Lasseter David Ellison Dana Goldberg Mary Ellen Bauder Andrews
Starring	Michael B. Jordan Juno Temple Tracy Morgan Cedric the Entertainer Justina Machado
Edited by	Tim Mertens
Music by	Siddhartha Khosla
Production company	Skydance Animation
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	May 1, 2026 (2026-05-01)
Running time	102 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English

Swapped is a 2026 American animated fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Nathan Greno and written by John Whittington, Christian Magalhaes, and Robert Snow, who all co-wrote the story with Greno and Adam Karp. Produced by Skydance Animation, the film features the voices of Michael B. Jordan, Juno Temple, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, and Justina Machado. It was released on Netflix and select theaters on May 1, 2026, and received mixed reviews from critics.

On an island populated by animal-plant hybrids lives a group of small brown sea-otter-like creatures called Pookoo. A young Pookoo named Ollie is curious about the other creatures living in the valley, despite the warnings of his parents and his grandmother, who tells Ollie a story about how all the creatures of the valley use to live in harmony due to tree-like creatures called Dzo, who give the creatures magical pods that enabled them to change forms and understand each other better. However, a Treewolf, who terrorized the valley, stole a pod that gave it the gift of fire, becoming the "Firewolf", and caused a forest fire that resulted in there being a large dam blocking the river and the surviving Dzo running away. The animals have been separated to live with their own kind ever since.

Ollie soon meets a hatchling of green bird-like creatures called Javan and shows her how to get food on the island. The Javan then calls to her flock, causing the flock to storm the island for many years. The Pookoo are worried that they might starve the more the Javans stay, but Ollie ends up attempting to fix his mistake by using glass shards to make the Javans leave. However, one Javan attacks him, and he falls into a hole where a pod is, landing on it and transforming into a Javan as a result. He is chased off the island by his pack, and falls into the river.

Ollie is soon saved by the Javan who attacked him earlier, named Ivy, alongside her sisters Violet and Lily. Ollie acts hostile to them, and he soon learns from a grouper-like fish named Boogle of a pod on a nearby dead Dzo. He tries to get to it, but Ivy interferes, and she gets turned into a Pookoo. Boogle then tells them of another pod by The Great Waterfall. As the duo journey there, they encounter various creatures of the valley like Treewolves, Root Snakes, Rock Bears, and they soon learn of each species' strengths. During the journey, Ollie learns from Ivy that she only brought her flock to the island because the food sources at her own home, Javan Rock, were running low.

They make it to the pod, promising Boogle to bring it to him to change into something on land. However, when they reach the pod, Ollie hesitates about trusting Ivy, and soon, their fighting turns them into fish. Boogle says he knows where to find more pods, and Ollie and Ivy decide to put their differences aside. They find the pods and transform back to their original forms, but Boogle takes one and reveals that he is in fact the Firewolf, who divided the valley years ago due to his own pain of being rejected by his pack and was transformed by the Dzo into a fish to stop him. The Firewolf then destroys the remaining pods, and before brutally injuring Ivy into unconsciousness, forcing Ollie to drag her to her Javan Rock.

After Ivy recovers, they discover that the Firewolf is destroying the valley, and the only safe place is on the island, so they and the other creatures they’ve encountered venture over there, and Ollie convinces his father, Caloo, to trust the other creatures despite their differences. As the Firewolf approaches the island, a desperate Ollie goes to the hole he fell into earlier, as the cobwebs in said hole are connected to a dead Dzo that lies there and begs for his spirit to send him a pod, which Ollie uses to turn into a Dzo himself. He battles the Firewolf, and soon, their fight causes the dam to be destroyed, washing them both away.

As Ollie’s friends and family mourn him, the Dzo who left the valley years ago come back and reveal that Ollie is alive and has turned back into a Pookoo. The valley becomes peaceful once more as both the Pookoos and Javans now reconnect and work with each other.

• Michael B. Jordan as Ollie, a Pookoo, a small brown sea-otter-like creature who switches and forms bodies with Ivy.
• Juno Temple as Ivy, a Javan, a green bird resembling a cross between a kakapo and a secretarybird, who switches and forms bodies with Ollie.
• Tracy Morgan as Boogle, a purple grouper-like fish with algae for fins, who is later revealed to be the Firewolf.
• Cedric the Entertainer as Caloo, a Pookoo and Ollie's father.
• Justina Machado as Calli, a Pookoo and Ollie's mother.
• Ambika Mod as Violet, a Javan and Ivy's sister.
• Lolly Adefope as Lily, a Javan and Ivy's sister.
• Táta Vega as Ollie's grandma.
• Nate Torrence as Lodd, a Pookoo and friend of Ollie's.
• John Ratzenberger as Elder Javan.

In February 2018, it was announced that Nathan Greno had signed a multi-year contract with Skydance Media to write and direct an animated film provisionally titled Powerless, as well as consult on projects in development.^[2] In January 2019, Skydance Animation hired former Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios CCO John Lasseter as head of Animation.^[3] The project reunited Lasseter with Greno, who had previously co-directed Tangled (2010) under Lasseter's leadership at Walt Disney Animation Studios.^[4] In April 2020, Greno's film was revealed to be retitled to Pookoo.^[5] In October 2023, Siddhartha Khosla was revealed to be composing the film's score.^[6] In October 2025, Skydance Animation Madrid's VP of Finance and Operations, Carolina Borreguero Sanz, confirmed that the studio had delivered the film, which had been retitled from Pookoo to Swapped.^[7][8][9] Michael B. Jordan and Juno Temple were revealed as cast members the following month.^[10] In January 2026, Tracy Morgan and Cedric the Entertainer were revealed as cast members.^[11] That same month, Tim Mertens, editor of Wreck-It Ralph (2012), was revealed to be the editor of Swapped.^[12]

Swapped was originally intended to be released on Apple TV+, but in October 2023, Netflix took over the film's distribution rights from Apple, as part of a new multi-year deal with Skydance Animation, while setting it initially for a 2025 release.^[6] In June 2025, Netflix announced that the film would premiere in 2026.^[13][14][11] The film was screened at the Sebastiani Theatre in Sonoma on January 9, 2026,^[12] ahead of its limited theatrical release and premiere on Netflix on May 1.^[15][16][17]

In June 2024, a first look of a rendered image from the film was released in Netflix's Next on Netflix: Animation 2024 presentation.^[18] In June 2025, Netflix revealed a second rendered image at the Annecy Film Festival.^[14]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 65% of 25 critics' reviews are positive.^[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[20]

Benjamin Lee of The Guardian awarded the film two stars out of five, comparing it unfavorably with Hoppers, criticizing the "off-brand, bought down the market quality of Skydance animation" and summarizing it as "a fairly rote buddy comedy quest narrative".^[21] Grant Hermanns of Screen Rant gave the film a score of 3 out of 10, writing: "Swapped is not merely bound to be forgotten. It's also one of Netflix's worst animated movies yet."^[22] Jacob Oller for The A.V. Club gave the film a "C" grade, writing: "Even if it wasn’t hot on the tail of Pixar's Hoppers, Swapped would still be an overly familiar adventure towards empathy, one light on comedy and insight despite plenty of visual imagination in its world of flora-fauna hybrids."^[23]

• Swapped at IMDb