There’s a straightforward family-movie pitch at the center of “Swapped,” and that’s probably the smartest thing about it. The first trailer and key art for the new Netflix and Skydance Animation feature lean into a clean, commercial hook: take a body-swap comedy, move it into the animal kingdom, and let Michael B. Jordan and Juno Temple carry the odd-couple chemistry. The film, directed by Nathan Greno, premieres May 1 and was previously known as “Pookoo.”
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The setup is simple enough to sell in one breath. Jordan voices a small woodland creature and Temple a majestic bird, two natural enemies of the Valley who suddenly trade bodies and are forced into the same survival adventure. The supporting voice cast includes Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Justina Machado, Ambika Mod, and Lolly Adefope, giving the movie a sturdy comic bench around its central pairing.
Greno, the Disney veteran behind “Tangled,” directs from a screenplay by John Whittington and Christian Magalhaes & Robert Snow, from a story by those writers with Adam Karp and Greno. Producers include John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Mary Ellen Bauder Andrews, with Siddhartha Khosla handling the score. In other words, this is not some tossed-off programmer; it’s one of Netflix’s bigger spring animation plays, coming through the same Skydance pipeline that previously delivered “Luck” and “Spellbound.”
And really, that premise is enough. Body-swap comedies are old hat, but sending that formula into a wilderness buddy movie gives “Swapped” a little extra lift. More importantly, Jordan and Temple are an appealing mismatch on paper, which is exactly what this kind of family comedy needs: a central pairing that can sell irritation, panic, and eventual affection without the machinery feeling too mechanical.
Whether “Swapped” turns that high-concept setup into something genuinely memorable is another question, but the pitch is clean, the cast is sharp, and Greno knows how to keep broad animation moving. “Swapped” premieres on Netflix on May 1. Watch the trailer below.
