Sony Pictures Animation’s next theatrical feature “Goat,” is set in a world full of anthropomorphic animals in which the main character (Caleb McLaughlin), an actual goat, dreams of becoming a sports sensation. Yes, that title is pun on the acronym for Greatest Of All Time. Sony premiered a first look at the film, produced in partnership with the NBA, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, with director Tyree Dillihay and producer Michelle Raimo Kouyate on hand to explain the world of the film and to share some scenes. The movie opens on February 13, 2026, timed with the NBA All-Star Game happening in Los Angeles that same weekend. Dillihay, making his feature debut, said that the movie would center around roar-ball, a sport that is dominated by big animals, with courts as big as soccer fields. (ROAR stands for Regionally Organized Animal Roundball.) In this world, small animals aren’t allowed to play (“smalls can’t ball” is a refrain from some characters). Eran Alboher, the film’s character designer, has created a unique spin on the animals, emphasizing their animal features through sharp angles and exaggerated shapes. Dillihay compared him to Cory Loftis, the legendary Disney character designer whose work made “Zootopia” so indelible. What’s nice is that the animals are all standing on two legs but when they need to, they switch to four legs, with the animators emphasizing the “weight, force, power and speed” of the creatures (according to Dillihay). And like “Zootopia,” each area of the world in “GOAT” is dedicated to a different biome and a different type of species. Our main character Will Harris lives in Vineland, which is inspired by the jungle (Raimo Kouyate described it as “Brazil meets Brooklyn”). The slogan for the local team, the Thorns, is “Roots run deep.” The first scene showed Will practicing at the local court and getting bullied by some larger animals. He just wants to play, but as they said, “smalls don’t ball.” The second scene, with the most completed animation, showed him retiring to a rented apartment, which is actually the garage of a gerbil – Will is behind on his rent money and if he doesn’t find some cash soon, he’s going to be on the streets. He looks to a pair of beloved sneakers, modeled after his favorite Thorns player Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union, who in real life is married to Dwayne Wade, professional NBA player and co-owner of the Utah Jazz). Will is in a real pickle. The look of the movie is stylized and illustrative, although it’s hard to pinpoint its exact style yet (there was so little finished, or even remotely close, animation). Dillihay said that, since “Into the Spider-Verse,” Sony Pictures Animation has embraced their place as “rebels of the industry” and promised a new look for the movie. But again it’s hard to tell. The second scene was scored to a cue from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score for “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” if you want to get a sense of the atmosphere and melancholy of the scene. Of course, Will sells his Fillmore Fours but on the way back from the sneaker shop, he stops by the court, where Mane Attraction, a basketball-playing horse, is holding court. They shoot it out, set to DJ Shadow’s “Nobody Speak” (featuring Run the Jewels), and Will ultimately loses to Mane Attraction. But there were enough cameras at the game to turn Will into something of a social media superstar – as he walks down the street, he gets noticed by passersby. When he finally gets to his job as a waiter at a greasy spoon called Whiskers Diner, he is met by Florence Everson (voiced by Jennifer Lewis), the owner of the Vineland Thorns. They’re down a player and she wants him to join their team of misfits and hasbeens, including Jett; a outrageous, Dennis Rodman-style lizard named Modo Olachenko (voiced by Nick Kroll); an insecure ostrich named Olivia Burke (voiced Nicola Coughlan); rhino tough guy Archie Everhardt (voiced by David Harbour); and Lenny Williamson, a laidback giraffe (Curry). In another scene, Jett, a powerful panther, learns of Will’s recruitment and goes berserk in her home; in the next she goes to Florence’s office to complain about Will. She looks over to see that he’s sitting in the room. Jett tells Florence this is her whole point. “If I can’t see him in the room, how am I going to see him in the court?” she asks, incredulous. The final scene is a press conference with Jett and Will, where she hangs him up to dry. The press are asking probing questions about Will and his abilities on the court – including whether or not his hiring was a publicity stunt. He doesn’t know how to answer and she lets him flounder. It’s a really charming, funny scene and the perfect note to end on. There was a lot of talk during the presentation about the courts for the different biomes – one, in The Arctic (the team is called the Shivers), is on a floating glacier and if the glacier cracks and breaks the game keeps going, for example – but there weren’t any scenes to share from these dynamic environments and locations. Instead, it was these smaller scenes and sequences, which weren’t even all that finished either. It was clear, though, from the passion and commitment of Dillihay and Raimo Kouyate that they are looking to honor NBA and its culture (both on and off the courts, there’s a great commitment to the NBA tunnel walks, with the characters indulging in some high-fashion ensembles) and create a one-of-a-kind comedic sports adventure. Could “GOAT” be the greatest of all time? We’ll have to wait and see. “GOAT” opens on February 13, 2026 from Sony Pictures Animation.