‘I Am Frankelda’: Netflix Acquires Mexico’s First Feature Length Stop Motion from Guillermo del Toro

Netflix has picked up Soy Frankelda (I Am Frankelda), the Spanish-language stop-motion animated feature from Mexican directors Arturo Ambriz and Roy Ambriz, and set the film for a global release in 2026, reports THR.

Guillermo del Toro (Pinocchio, Cabinet of Curiosities) advised the Ambriz Brothers on Mexico’s first-ever feature-length stop motion production.

“Frankelda is a landmark in Mexican stop motion animation and a true triumph of vision, tenacity and love for the craft,” del Toro, who earlier partnered with Netflix to launch Gobelins Paris as a stop motion studio in France, said in a statement on Friday.

Developed by the Ambriz brothers at their Mexico City-based studio Cinema Fantasma, I Am Frankelda is set in 19th-century Mexico and centers on Frankelda, a gifted writer whose dark tales are ignored and dismissed.

“Forced to suppress her voice, she refuses to give up, even as many try to silence her. But when she is thrust into her subconscious, the very monsters she created come to life.

“Guided by Herneval, a tormented prince trapped between dreams and nightmares, she must restore balance between fiction and reality before both realms collapse. Meanwhile, the sinister writer Procustes and his conspirators plot to seize control. As Frankelda and Herneval grow closer, their bond becomes both a strength and a curse. To rewrite their fate, she must confront a love that defies existence and reclaim her power as a storyteller before dark forces consume her imagination and reveal horrors beyond her creation,” a synopsis from the film’s producers reads.

The film secured a nomination for Best Independent Feature Film at the 53rd Annie Awards, which will take place this weekend. The Ambriz Brothers wrote, directed, and produced I Am Frankelda, which has a voice cast that includes Mireya Mendoza, Arturo Mercado Jr., and Luis Leonardo Suarez.

Ana Coronilla and Bruce Zick handled production design on the stop motion pic, while served as the animation director and and were DOPs.