Swapped, a new animated feature written by Christian Magalhaes '10, Robert Snow '10 and Johan Whittington, enjoyed its Netflix premiere on May 1, 2026. The film is a buddy comedy about a small woodland creature and a majestic bird—natural sworn enemies of The Valley—who suddenly swap bodies. They must team up, while walking in each other’s feathers and fur, to survive the wildest adventure of their lives.
The two main characters are voiced by Michael B. Jordan, who plays Ollie, and Juno Temple who plays Ivy. Other stars featured in the film include Tracy Jordan, Cedric the Entertainer, Ambika Mod, Justina Machado, Lolly Adefope, and Táta Vega.
Critics have praised the movie’s compassion, heart, and visual prowess. A Collider review read, “Unlike recent digitally animated blockbusters, Swapped embraces an analog aesthetic that often resembles stop-motion. More impressively, the movie doesn’t turn to TikTok-style editing to keep its audience engaged. Its opening flashback, which lasts around 10 minutes, unfolds wordlessly.”
Snow and Magalhaes are a screenwriting duo who write comedy, drama, and have expertise in animation. Their careers launched after their dark comedy entitled Murder Of A Cat made the rounds in Hollywood, captivating readers with their signature voice. It was voted on to the Black List and quickly produced by Sam Raimi with Greg Kinnear and JK Simmons starring. In television, Snow and Magalhaes are developing an anthological sci-fi animation series entitled The End which sold at auction to CBS. Prior, they were part of the core writing/producing team behind Disney’s animated series DuckTales for several seasons. In features, Snow and Magalhaes have written on assignment for studios like Fox and Amblin. They have collaborated with filmmakers like Jared Hess, Shawn Levy and Justin Lin. Snow & Magalhaes recently adapted Illumikitty for Pearl Studios. Prior, Snow & Magalhaes were hired to write the four-quadrant, live-action family adventure entitled Toymageddon for Fox, Anonymous and Perfect Storm. Snow and Magalhaes met in the School of the Arts Screenwriting Concentration. Magalhaes was born in Alameda, California to a Brazilian immigrant father and an Irish-American mother and raised in Long Island, NY. Snow is primarily Scottish and hails from Philadelphia. They reside in Los Angeles with their respective families.
