I will always respect an animation studio that goes for hand-drawn animation.

Arco, a boy living in a house above the clouds, risks everything and finds himself in a strange world below. Iris, a girl who finds him, has her life turned upside down trying to help him return to wherever he came from.

Arco is a directorial debut for directors Urgo Bienvenu and Gilles Cazaux (a director and storyboard artist, respectively) and stars (in the English dub) Mark Ruffalo, Natalie Portman, Will Ferrell, and America Ferrera. The French casting includes Vincent Macaigne, Louis Garrel, William Lebghil, and Alma Jodorowsky. A hand-drawn animation, Arco appeared in the 2026 Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature with a nomination. It is a French production, that started life during the Covid pandemic, and received multiple funding sources to become reality, including from Portman herself.

So is Arco just a pretty face?

The world of Arco is an interesting one. Iris, our main protagonist, is living in the year of 2070. Her parents are always away at work, leaving her, and their housekeeping robot Mikki, in charge. Oh, and the houses of their neighbourhood are within retractable protective domes; to defend against terrible storms that ravage the planet.
Arco, comes from a further future than even Iris’s. His family can fly upon rainbows and even time travel. But they are limited to living in small houses far above the clouds. Arco rebels against the rules that he is too young to fly, and does so anyway. This leads him plummeting into Iris’s life.

The idea of someone flying and leaving a rainbow trail through the sky is evocative, and certainly is the animation highlight of the film. Director Ugo Bienvenu drew up the concept of a “rainbow turning into a man” during the Covid-19 lockdown. Seeking some optimism for the world. Thus, Arco‘s development began.
Already there is significance in the world-building. Though understated (and not in the script itself) the world is clearly ravaged by climate change, and it has not abated in 2070. The robot Mikki is a bipedal robot servant, although an older model, that the family cherish and treat respectfully. Manual labour, education systems, and police force are entirely automated.

In the middle of all this is Iris, a girl who feels out of place and lonely. She speaks to her parents through hologram “phone calls”, seemingly for extended periods. But when Arco arrives, she finds a purpose, and a strong bond of friendship.

The plot escalates with the inclusion of three men interested in hunting down Arco. The middle act of the movie is a chase with Iris and Arco evading these pursuers, but also the trappings of their own lives and… most importantly… their own mistakes.

Arco is a very pretty piece of animation. The backgrounds are lush and detailed. The characters move similarly to rotoscoping, although it doesn’t appear to be literal rotoscope. The use of colours (and lack of colours) and elemental effects, are all very good and deserving of a nomination. I also enjoyed Arco’s ability to talk to birds. That was delightful.

The story didn’t particularly move me, though. It boiled down to two things for me: “where are the parents?” and “kids make the silliest decisions”. These are in aid for the story to happen, I understand. But we aren’t told why the parents have to both be away. Having kids be alone means virtually any antics can occur. Mikki, our robot butler, even powers down at one point. How convenient.
I find movies can easily make me cry, or at least feel something. I am a sentimental person. It felt like Arco was supposed to… but it did not.

So it didn’t wow me in terms of story. But absolute respect to the animators and the people behind it. Getting this made, making it look as great as it does. It is wonderful to see crafted animation rather than the usual Disney 3D animated movies. Disney claims hand-drawn is “too expensive”. Of course it is… It just so happens this little French team made something better than Wish.