Animation has become a huge draw for Netflix. Last year, KPop Demon Hunters became the platform's most-streamed content ever. It's now been watched over 540 million times globally. But one of the records set by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans' Oscar-winning animation has been broken already.
The fantasy comedy Swapped has set a new record for weekly numbers for an animation on Netflix, notching up 38.7 million views in just seven days. Critics panned it, so why's it done so well?
Swapped follows Ollie, a fictional woodland creature called a pookoo, and a bird named Ivy. These natural enemies accidentally swap bodies after touching a magical plant and end up having to work together to reverse the spell and overcome a threat to their ecosystem.
Yep, it's kind of like Freaky Friday or Makoto Shinkai's Your Name but with a species swap instead of an age or gender swap. Thematically, there's also clearly a lot in common with Pixar's Hoppers in the documentary-inspired animal-like characters and the mission to save an ecosystem. While Hoppers took a science fiction approach, putting the human Mabel into the body of a robot beaver, Swapped turns to fantasy.
Critics have been harsh. The Guardian's Benjamin Lee gave Swapped two out of five stars and sums it up as a "rote buddy comedy quest narrative". Grant Hermanns at Screen Rant gave it 3 out of 10 and concluded that it's "not merely bound to be forgotten. It's also one of Netflix's worst animated movies yet."
Audiences seem to disagree. While rated critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes average at 5.70 out of 10, the movie has an 87% positive response from the public at the time of writing.
Swapped's success needs some context. It's not a hit that came out of nowhere like KPop Demon Hunters, which remains Netflix's biggest movie to date in terms of lifetime viewing figures. KPDH grew steadily in long-term viewer numbers as word about the movie spread, but Swapped had big names behind it, which may see it peak earlier.
The movie was produced by Pixar co-founder and Toy Story director John Lasseter for Skydance Animation (Luck and Spellbound). It was directed by Nathan Greno, the director of Disney's Tangled. Ollie was voiced by Michael B Johnson (Black Panther and Fantastic Four) and Ivy by Juno Temple (Ted Lasso). That's a strong team for a family-friendly animation.
KPop Demon Hunters did well thanks to its more grown-up appeal to older kids and young teens – and thanks to the cultural pull of KPop. Swapped goes the opposite way, aiming at the entire family with a simple, emotionally accessible story, bright visual style and animal-like characters.
I'm not sure if it would have been so successful if it hadn't followed so soon on the heels of Disney's Zootopia 2 and Pixar's Hoppers, but that's not to say that Swapped doesn't have an appeal of its own.
There's lots of creative imagination in the movie's vibrant worldbuilding, and particularly the detailed fantasy flora-fauna hybrid character designs. Creatures like snakes with scales textured like tree bark, hedgehogs wearing pinecone armour and fish with flowing fins resembling aquatic plants make the movie feel fresh despite the well-trodden premise. The use of HDR lighting and high-definition textures make it stunning to look at, while the simple themes of empathy and identity make it enjoyable comfort viewing amid uncertain times.
