Salamander Pictures and Nippon Animation announced that their anime short 20001: An Earth Odyssey will premiere in competition at the Fantasia International Film Festival 2026 on July 18. The festival runs in Montreal from July 16 to August 2.

The story is set in the year 20,001, long after humanity has vanished. Three aliens land on Earth to investigate why human civilization collapsed. Led by Captain Kepo, the team comically misinterprets human artifacts—mistaking a swing for a sacred altar, an umbrella for a communications device, and a graveyard for a farm. While Kepo is stubborn but respectful of humanity, Alcia applies logic to their findings, and rookie Regal relies on intuition to uncover the truth. Through their misunderstandings and discoveries, the film explores questions like "What does it mean to be human?", "What is civilization?", and "Were humans really an intelligent species?" using surreal comedy.

The voice cast includes Yōji Ueda, Yū Kobayashi, and Eito Kawahara. Director Haruki Kasugamori (Dragon Goes House-Hunting) helms the project, with character design by Kazuto Nakazawa (Samurai Champloo, Kill Bill). Taiki Sakurai (Pokémon Concierge) provided the original story and production concept, while composer Akira Miyagawa (Grimm's Variations) created the score. Sakurai and Hitomi Hiratsuka produced, with Yumiko Yoshizawa and Sakurai writing the screenplay.

The film was first announced at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (MIFA) in June 2026.