Netflix has officially set the stage for chaos.
The Twits, Roald Dahl’s famously vile couple, will make their animated debut on October 17, 2025, and the newly released trailer confirms a gleefully grotesque ride arriving just in time for Halloween. Styled with the tagline “Twits or Treat!”, the film embraces mischief, moral chaos, and Dahl’s sharp satire with a musical twist, thanks to original songs by David Byrne and Hayley Williams.
This update marks the first full look at the tone of the film: anarchic, odd, and defiantly absurd. Rather than polishing Dahl’s cruelty, it leans into it, framing The Twits as a modern fable about empathy resisting power.
A Roald Dahl Classic Reimagined
Directed by Phil Johnston (Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph), The Twits becomes the first full-length animated feature starring Jim and Credenza Twit, the meanest, smelliest couple alive. Not only are they vile, they own and operate Twitlandia, billed as the most disgusting amusement park ever built.
When the Twits rise to power over their town, two children and a family of magical Muggle-Wumps take a stand. Their battle is not only about tricks and pranks, but the underlying war between cruelty and empathy, a theme Johnston pushes to the forefront.
“On behalf of the massive gaggle of weirdos who made this movie, we can’t wait for the world to meet our strange, ugly baby,”
Phil Johnston
Watch the Trailer
Music by David Byrne and Hayley Williams
Building on your original report, the updated press release reaffirms the musical centrepiece. David Byrne (Talking Heads) has written three original songs, We’re Not Like Ev’ryone Else, Lullaby, and The Problem Is You, which are performed within the film.
Byrne also collaborated with Hayley Williams (Paramore) on the end-credit song Open the Door, inspired by the emotional arc of Beesha, one of the film’s central characters.
“Hayley brought heart and connection after all the chaos,” Byrne said, noting the film’s balance between ridicule and redemption.
Williams described the project as “beautiful and bizarre, like a cautionary tale disguised in comedy.”
All-Star Voice Cast
The updated cast remains one of the film’s biggest draws:
- Margo Martindale and Johnny Vegas as Mr. and Mrs. Twit
- Emilia Clarke as Pippa
- Natalie Portman as Mary Muggle-Wump
- Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Beesha
- Ryan Lopez as Bubsy
- Timothy Simons as Marty Muggle-Wump
- Nicole Byer as Beverly Onion
- Jason Mantzoukas as Mayor Wayne John John-John
- Alan Tudyk as Sweet Toed Toad
- Mark Proksch as Horvis Dungle
- Rebecca Wisocky as Dee Dumdie-Dungle
- Charlie Berens as Gorb Klurb
Animation is handled by Jellyfish Pictures (The Boss Baby, The Bad Guys), blending oddity with exaggerated physical comedy.
A Story of Tricks, Power, and Resistance
Unlike typical Dahl adaptations, The Twits is not about redemption. It’s about resistance. The film doubles down on the book’s core, that cruelty, left unchecked, escalates. The Muggle-Wumps and children are not frightened victims; they are strategists.
In this light, The Twits lands as both chaotic entertainment and a mirror held up to power, all through the lens of slapstick horror.
Release Date and Production Details
- Release Date: October 17, 2025
- Director: Phil Johnston
- Co-Directors: Katie Shanahan, Todd Demong
- Writers: Phil Johnston, Meg Favreau
- Producers: Phil Johnston, Maggie Malone, Daisy May West
- Animation Studio: Jellyfish Pictures (The Boss Baby, The Bad Guys)
The Twits’ unique animation style, paired with its offbeat music, promises a lively adaptation that captures both the humor and the moral undercurrent of Dahl’s original.
The Poster
