Fixed (film)

Fixed (stylized in all caps) is a 2025 American adult animated comedy film directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Vitti, and produced by Michelle Murdocca. Produced by Sony Pictures Animation, it features the voices of Adam DeVine, Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, and Bobby Moynihan. The film follows a dog who learns that he is going to be neutered. It is the first adult animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, as well as their first traditionally animated film.

The film was first conceived in 2009, and first worked on in 2018; following the successes of Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018) and the fifth and final season of Samurai Jack (2017), Tartakovsky signed on to direct the film for Sony Pictures Animation. The cast was publicly announced in June 2023.

Warner Bros. Pictures was originally set to distribute the film through their New Line Cinema banner, but dropped the film by August 2024 as part of cost-saving measures by Warner Bros. Discovery, canceling its theatrical release. Streaming service Netflix acquired the distribution rights to the film, releasing it on August 13, 2025. The film had its world premiere on June 11, 2025, at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Fixed polarized critics, as while the animation, visual style, voice acting, and musical score were praised, its humor was met with mixed reception regarding whether or not it was "inappropriate" given the context, while its storytelling was criticized.

Bull is a four-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier who frequently humps anything that piques his interest to vent his perverse instincts. He is friends with Rocco, a gruff, proud Boxer, Fetch, a wannabe-influencer Dachshund and Lucky, an eccentric Beagle, all of whom except for Bull have been neutered, which makes them a target of ridicule from the haughty, self-absorbed Borzoi show-dog, Sterling. Bull also harbors a crush on his show-dog neighbor, a Borzoi named Honey, but is hesitant to reveal his true feelings for her.

One day, Bull's owners make a great show of pampering him, feeding him treats and filling the toiler with Kool-Aid. Bull realizes that he is due to be neutered in the following morning, as Luther, a Great Dane, had a similar pre-neutered experience. Bull bemoans his experience, and soon decides to leave home in order to save himself from being sterilized. He soon reconsiders when he is accosted by a large clowder of alley cats, but is saved by his friends, who came searching for him when he ran away from his home and they're all chased out of the cats' territory.

As Bull decides to return home and face his impending neutering, Rocco convinces him to have a wild night on the town to make his last night of having his testicles will be one to remember.

The foursome get into various shenanigans, such as infiltrating a dog show that Honey is competing in alongside Sterling. Bull finally musters the courage to share his attraction with her until she and Sterling win, causing him to sadly leave.

The group soon visit a dog-version of a strip club, where Lucky falls for the intersex dobermann bouncer, Frankie and Bull is seduced by Molasses, an attractive Borzoi, who reminds him of Honey. Molasses gets Bull to accidentally knot her, as Honey, who abandoned the dog show to be with Bull, stumbles upon the scene and angrily confronts him.

Soon, Bull, Honey and the others are seized by animal control and taken to the dog pound, where Honey is eventually released when her owners are contacted of her whereabouts via a microchip. Realizing that Honey and Sterling will mate due to both of them winning the dog show, Bull and his friends escape the pound and venture to Bull's house, though Lucky deviates from the group to reunite with Frankie.

Managing to come between Honey and an oblivious Sterling as they're about to mate, Bull confesses his feelings for Honey and apologizes to her. Later at night, after Bull reunites with his family, Honey lures Bull to a small play-pen, where she confesses her love for Bull, and the pair mate.

Inevitably, Bull gets neutered but has managed to show resilience with the procedure and he becomes the father of his and Honey's litter of thirteen puppies. Meanwhile, Sterling discovers that he also will be neutered, much to his horror. Later on, Honey and her own pack of friends visit the dog strip club from earlier to have a wild night out, similar to how Bull, Rocco, Fetch and Lucky did.^[3]

• Adam DeVine as Bull, a blue, slick and quick-witted mutt who learns that he is going to be neutered in the morning^[4][5]
• Idris Elba as Rocco, a self-assured British-accented boxer^[4][5]
• Kathryn Hahn as Honey, a yellow Borzoi show dog and Bull's next-door crush^[4][3]
• Fred Armisen as Fetch, a wannabe influencer dachshund^[4][5]
• Beck Bennett as Sterling, a Borzoi who is Bull's love rival^[4]
• Bobby Moynihan as Lucky, a nervous and goofy beagle^[4]
• Michelle Buteau as Molasses, a seductive irish setter^[4]
• River Gallo as Frankie, an intersex Dobermann^[4][3]
• Grey DeLisle as Nana, the grandmother of Bull’s human family^[6]
• Aaron LaPlante as Luther, a hysterical Great Dane^[7]
• Scott Weil as Alex, the father of Bull’s human family
• Julie Nathanson as Julia, the mother Bull’s human family
• Michelle Ruff as Emma, the daughter Bull’s human family
• Kari Wahlgren as Honey's Mom
• Sean Chiplock as Ol' Spice
• Daran Norris as Napoleon

According to Genndy Tartakovsky, the film was first conceived in 2009, as an animal road-trip film under the title Buds, with Tartakovsky wanting to capture the dynamic of his friend group. The film originally consisted of different types of animals, but after an executive suggested that it needed a stronger hook, Tartakovsky asked "What if one of them is a dog and he realizes he's going to get neutered in the morning?". The film was later titled The Shift before finally becoming Fixed.^[8][9][6]

On July 25, 2018, Deadline Hollywood reported that Tartakovsky was set to write and direct the film, with Michelle Murdocca producing it. Sony Pictures Animation was set to produce it, marking the studio's first R-rated film; Tartakovsky previously worked on the Hotel Transylvania films for the studio.^[10] More details were revealed about the film in June 2019 at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival;^[11] Tartakovsky stated, "it's really funny and heartwarming, it's not all about balls, we're trying to make it a character comedy."^[12] In July 2022, he stated that despite being a Sony Pictures Animation production, the film would be released through New Line Cinema.^[13][14] He reaffirmed the film's focus on character-based comedy in December 2022, saying that it is what makes the film "much more unique and stand out".^[15] In June 2023, Tartakovsky stated that the "camaraderie" between the characters was inspired by Judd Apatow films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) and Knocked Up (2007).^[4]

Speaking about the film with Polygon in 2025, Tartakovsky described Bull having "kind of a false sense of security about his balls, like Samson and his hair," with his friends having been neutered and "just normal".^[16]

Aaron LaPlante, who previously starred in Tartakovsky's Primal and Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, was revealed to have a role in the film in September 2022.^[17] On June 13, 2023, Adam DeVine, Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen, Bobby Moynihan, Beck Bennett, River Gallo, and Michelle Buteau, were announced to star in the film at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.^[4] When Hahn came onto the film, according to Murdocca, she did not want to be "the sweet girl in the background who doesn't have any depth to her", aiming for her character to be raunchier.^[4][8]. Todd Haberkorn provided addtional voices for the film.^[18]

The animation was done by Renegade Animation and the Brazilian studio Lightstar Studios.^[13] Scott Wills served as art director, having previously worked with Tartakovsky on Samurai Jack and Primal.^[8][13] Production began by July 2022,^[13] and was eyeing completion for September 2023 when the cast was announced.^[4] While the film was originally intended by Tartakovsky to be made through hand-drawn animation, he later considered using computer animation to "better sell the film". He ultimately decided to keep the film's hand-drawn animation, making it the first hand-drawn film to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation, due to the hand-drawn aesthetic working better for the film's plot.^[8]

Tartakovsky wanted the animation to be reminiscent of Walt Disney Animation Studios' Lady and the Tramp (1955) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961),^[15] while also drawing inspiration from the works of Tex Avery and Chuck Jones' Looney Tunes shorts, particularly due to their emphasis on expressive animation.^[8] However, the film became more cartoony.^[6] Tartakovsky did have to soften the animation for the genitals, however, coloring the anuses "a bit more subtly".^[16] The film was completed in September 2023.^[1][19]

Tyler Bates and Joanne Higginbottom, who previously collaborated with Tartakovsky, composed the score,^[20] which will be digitally released on August 13, 2025.^[21]

Fixed had its world premiere on June 11, 2025, at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.^[22][23] It was released on August 13, 2025, both on Netflix and in select theaters.^[5][21]

It was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on an undetermined date by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. Animator Jaison Roberto Carvalho, who worked on the film, confirmed on Instagram that the film would be released in 2023.^[24] Speaking about the film on the podcast This Is Important on May 7, 2024, Devine stated the film would be released in 2025,^[25] while in a June 2024 interview with Animation Magazine, Tartakovsky said that the release situation was being figured out.^[26]

On August 9, 2024, it was reported that Warner Bros. and New Line would no longer release the film as part of cost-saving measures by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. The distribution rights returned to Sony Pictures Animation, with the film being shopped to other studios and streamers. First reported by Matthew Belloni of Puck News, the news was a surprising announcement given Tartakovsky's history with WBD's Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Netflix was considered as one of the potential options where Fixed could end up given Sony Pictures Animation's previous collaborations with the company, while Belloni suggested that if negotiations are unsuccessful, the film could be canceled and written off in a similar manner to Batgirl and the then-shelved Coyote vs. Acme.^[27][28][29]

On October 1, 2024, while attending the SCAD's AnimationFest to be honored with the Award for Excellence, Tartakovsky reassured Collider's Steve Weintraub that Fixed was completed and "is not dead by any means nor shelved, just waiting to find a distributor he and Sony are trying to get."^[30] In an exclusive article from TheWrap, it was revealed that the film was dropped in 2023, after the film was completed the same year. In January 2024, Netflix seemed uninterested, as the streaming service's Animation Film team is focused on family-oriented films. Tartakovsky offered to rent out a theater for three months and pay for it. In early 2025, Netflix's Animation Series team, led by John Derderian (who oversees adult animation for the streamer), became involved, and within a few weeks, the film was sold to the streamer.^[9] The film had an advance screening and a Q/A on August 2, 2025, at the Paris Theater in New York City,^[31] and closed the 29th Fantasia International Film Festival on August 3, 2025.^[32]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 64% of 39 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Animation legend Genndy Tartakovsky cuts a little too loose with Fixed, an aggressively crude cartoon that might just scratch the itch for those who like their comedies frisky."^[33] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[34]

Ryan Gaur of Discussing Film gave the film a 3/5 star rating, writing "Genndy Tartakovsky has provided some of the highest highs in Western animation. Unfortunately, Fixed isn't one of them. The foul humor might work for some viewers on the cusp of adulthood, but it falls into a trap of adult animation where it mistakes 'adult' for 'gross'. Nonetheless, there's enough here to prove that Tartakovsky is still a master, beautiful 2D animation that I pray he's given another chance to flex his muscles in. Not his best, yet I'm glad he gave it a try."^[35] Peter Debruge of Variety gave a positive review, stating that "the film proves impressively grown-up about how far Bull must go to atone for his behavior."^[3]

• Official website
• Fixed at IMDb
• Fixed on Netflix