Editorial: The Best Animated Movies of 2019

Well, Happy new year everybody, with the coming of the new year, I figured it would be nice to send the year away properly, by looking back on it and talking about the best and worst stuff of the year, and since I am an animated movie critic, you know what this post is going to be about.

Now, I have already talked about the worst animated movies of the year on my BitChute, I'm going to use this to talk about the movies I enjoyed this year.

While 2019 is the year theatrical animation seemed to give up, that doesn't mean it was all bad, as there was still some pretty good movies released. Plus, it isn't like all the bad releases were theatrical, however, I don't think there were very many "Great" animated releases this year, there were some, but a lot of the releases were "Good but not great", like, if I didn't go see The Lion King in theatres, I don't think I would have seen Frozen II twice. Either way, here are the animated movies of 2019 that I thought were pretty good, and I'm going to talk about them in order of release (As according to Letterboxd).

Talk about amazing, being only vaguely familiar with the How to Train Your Dragon movies, I went in with expectations that this was going to be a good movie, but completely lost on me. Thankfully I was wrong because, with the exception of one of two pieces of information, the movie is still accessible to new comers. Barring that, the action scenes were great, the animation was breathtaking, and I really did enjoy the humour of the movie as well. This was before I did my "First Impressions" blogs, but I do highly recommend this movie if you have yet to watch it. Honestly, it came close between this and Toy Story 4 as my favourite movie of the year.

I may or may not have a review for this one planned in 2020, not that this movie isn't a good one, but because honestly, I found this came off as a big joke. I mean, there are moments the movie is self-aware of itself, and, while I'd be lying if I said this movie wasn't really funny, I will say that kind of meta awareness does drag it down a little for me. It is still good though, I did enjoy the movie for what it was, and the reveal that the characters from the Sis-star system weren't the bad guys was actually pretty funny, not for the reveal itself, more how it was handled in the movie. While the movie may come off as a self-aware joke of itself, it is still an enjoyable movie that can be enjoyed by many.

Laika scored another goal with Missing Link, while they did let go of their usual horror edge for this one, I think that choice worked in their favour, as Missing Link was not just a funny and beautiful movie, but also an emotional one. While it is a bit paint-by-numbers at times, I will admit that the familiar scenes are done quite well, and I really did enjoy the characters. While I think this is probably on the weaker end of the spectrum, I still can't deny it is a decent watch for fans of Laika, adventure films, or just in general. Seriously, it did not deserve to be a box office flop.

Is this movie pointless? Maybe, but did we really need a Toy Story 2 either? Toy Story 4 took everything I loved from the previous Toy Story movies and combined them all together, with a few additions to make it a little less stale. While it was a tough choice between this and How to Train Your Dragon, ultimately I had to choose this as my favourite movie of the year. I loved how the story moved, the characters grown and how amazing this movie looked. Let's just hope this is going to be the definite end to the Toy Story movies. I don't think they could end on a stronger note.

Unpopular opinion but, I didn't find this movie to be that funny. I think overall this is the weakest movie in this selection, but I can't deny that it isn't terrible. Personally, I found a lot of the satire to be either too on the nose or too subtle to get on first viewing, that being said, if you are a fan of Rocko's Modern Life, you might find enjoyment in this movie, and while it was not my thing, I can safely say that it isn't one of the worst movies I've seen this year. The satire is still good, even if it's too blatant or subtle, the characters are still good, and the animation is wonderful, and who knows, maybe it's funnier on rewatch.

Even then, I still think that Enter the Florpus is one of the funniest movies I've seen this year. As a new comer to the series, I found myself laughing at so much of this movie, especially GIR, GIR is awesome. I got to this one really late in the year, but I am glad that I checked it out.

Speaking of surprisingly funny movies. I really don't know what else to say with this one, it was just really, really, really funny. Even some of the lame jokes that in any other movie I would have rolled my eyes at, I found funny here. I think a lot of it is because, in some of the other movies, they tried to be more attune to the real world reality, but this movie went straight for the cartoonish and silly. Characters inflating themselves like balloons is not something we see in very many animated movies anymore, and while I do like what animated movies are doing now a days, sometimes it is nice to see something that is just fun, and this movie was just fun.

I might have been more kind to Abominable than I should have been, but honestly, I could not help myself. I was blown away by how well the music and visuals complimented each other in some of the scenes. I loved how the characters grew and developed, and I could never hate Everest, he was just too adorable. Even if the plot is a bit standard, I still highly recommend this movie, if only for others to see how animation can compliment the shots you are trying to pull off.

Klaus was a bit of a slow burn, but once the fire got going, it roared. While the movie had a few familiar beats to it, the rest of the movie was still a wonderful experience. I eventually forgot how much I hated the characters, and found myself really rooting for them. Also, the animation is incredible, characters are expressive and the settings can be beautiful. Seriously, if you haven't seen Klaus, give it a chance, you might find a new addition to your Holiday viewing list.

When I went to see the Lion King, I made the promise that if Frozen II was any good, I would see it twice. Thankfully, Frozen II was really good, so I did see it in theatres twice, same theatre too. I really liked what they did with the story of this movie, how they didn't go with a twist villain and instead made the villain the past, that is something I don't see very often in movies, and it was nice to see some definitive answers about Elsa and Anna's parents, I guess the whole "They were going to Rapunzel's wedding" theory is debunked, though I guess it would have been debunked by Rapunzel showing up in Frozen in the first place. The animation was wonderful, and I really liked seeing Elsa being in control of her powers this time.

That being said, I really don't care for awkward proposal scenes, and that is basically the entire subplot. Plus, I don't think the music was as good, I really don't care for a lot of the lyrics and deliveries of "Into the Unknown" and Kristoff's soft rock power ballad can burn alongside "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" and "Glory of Love". Other than that, Frozen II was a pretty solid movie, but sadly I can't say it was truly "Great".

And now, the biggest surprise of the year. Spies in Disguise not only surprised me with how funny it was, with how the plot wasn't completely predictable, and how dark the movie could be, but I was also surprised at how the movie hid a crucial plot point as a lame joke in the trailer, I will admit that was quite impressive. Still, don't be fooled, the movie is a lot darker than the trailers made it out to be, while we never see characters die on screen, we do come pretty close to it, and the villain's design is... though toned down for younger audiences, still pretty gruesome for a kids movie. Honestly, I was expecting this movie to just be "Okay", but now, this was a really good movie, and a solid recommendation from me. Seriously give it a chance if you haven't already.

And that wraps up the best of the year, if I had to rank these movies, I think the ranking would look pretty close to this.

11. Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling

10. Missing Link

9. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

8. Frozen II

7. Klaus

6. Spies in Disguise

5. Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus

4. Abominable

3. The Angry Birds Movie 2

2. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

1. Toy Story 4

Maybe give or take a few spaces. As a whole, while I am disappointed that there weren't more Really Great releases, I can't be disappointed with the quality of the good releases. Though few are amazing, I don't think a film needs to be amazing, a film just needs to have some good qualities about them. I will say, the movies I expected to be good, most of them were really good, and it is still a good thing that releases were at least of a consistent quality.

And now, I await for 2020, it looks like we're getting some pretty good stuff in 2020 alone. Have a happy new year and I will see you all next time at the Odeon.

Fare-thee-well!

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964) - Yes, this counts as a movie

To get this out of the way, the AFI and BFI do classify the minimum running length of a feature film has to be 40 minutes, so yeah, this counts. Plus, I really do want to look at more older animated movies, so I would have probably stretched my rules anyway for this one.

That being said, since it is the month of winter festivals, most notably Christmas, I figured I had to look at a holiday film this month, and you know what, I'll be damned if I let another Christmas go by without watching this one, this was one of the specials I used to watch a lot as a child, this and Frost the Snowman and of course the classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Of course, having become much older, and watching this with a more critical view, how does it hold up?

The plot of the movie is well known, Rudolph is born with a glowing red nose and becomes an outcast amongst other reindeer. Meanwhile, one of Santa's elves named Hermey is also outcasted because he doesn't like to make toys and instead wants to be a dentist. When the two meet, they decide to run away and come across a prospector named Yukon Cornelius. After being chased by the Abominable Snowmonster, the trio find themselves on the island of misfit toys, where they wish to stay. The king of the island however, says they cannot, but allows them to stay one night on the promise that when they return to Christmas Town, they tell Santa about the island so he can find homes for the toys. Rudolph strikes out on his own during the night to avoid getting his friends hurt by the snowmonster, and realizes he can not run from his problems and goes home, to find that his family and friend left to look for him. He finds them, but is attacked by the snowmonster, but they're all saved by Hermey and Cornelius, who then head back to Santa's workshop, they all make-up, and then learn of a bad storm that might cancel Christmas, but then Santa has the bright idea (Pun intended), that Rudolph's glowing nose might help guide them.

Man, the plot is a lot longer than the film made it seem. Overall, I am going to be more lenient towards the plot of this one. While I would typically comment on the use of time skip and narrator, I do have to concede that this is a Television special, and those usually only go up to an hour, and there is only so much you can do in an hour. Even so, while some important things did get rushed, the plot is still mostly solid, and even when something big was glanced over like Rudolph coming to the realization he can't run from his problems, while it would have been nice if it was a scene of cinematic quality, I will concede that, a throw-away, blink and you'll miss it explanation is better than no explanation. So, while the plot is not of cinematic quality, it is still a solid and easy to follow plot, even if my explanation makes it seem complicated.

I do think the characters are charming as well. They aren't exactly complex, but they have a goal and they have their own thoughts. Rudolph doesn't want to put his friends in danger, Yukon Cornelius welcomes others alongside him with joy, again the characters are not of cinematic quality, but they are still identifiable, and charming enough that I never disliked watching them. Even the side characters I kind of liked, I especially like Donner, and how he does realize that he was too hard on his son.

Speaking of which, yeah, this film has garnered a bit of a reputation recently, and not a very positive one. Some say that it says that differences will be mocked until they can be used to serve one's purpose.

Stop that.

If you actually watch the special, you will know that it wasn't the storm that made everyone change their minds about Rudolph, it was the bravery he displayed trying to save his family and friends. Again, something that might have been better explained by the plot being more detailed, but what can we do? We need not forget that Donner went out to find his son way before the storm began. Of course, people also say that the special kind of encourages bullying, but I think that might be an over exaggeration, it's like saying SpongeBob promotes working for exposure. Even if you actually think that, the other reindeer are kind of supposed to be seen as jerks, and we are meant to sympathize with Rudolph.

But now let's talk about the animation. Being a stop motion animator myself, yeah, this special doesn't have great animation. Even for the time I would have to assume it looked choppy and basic. Keep in mind, some of our first filmed animations were stop motion, look up J. Stuart Blackton. On top of that, I noticed a few small errors here and there like mouths not syncing properly and repetitive movements. Despite that, the animation is not actually terrible, scenes like the wind storm blowing things away, that is actually quite impressive and a lot of the movement itself is actually pretty smooth. Yeah, some of it is jerky and some of the models look sparse and cheap, but I never found myself overly critical of the animation or visuals.

And I think there is one reason why, the special is not great on a critical point of view. Characters are simple, the plot glances over important moments and the animation is a bit crude. That being said, it still is a lot better than other hour long films I've seen in all of those aspects. Characters do have a goal they wish to obtain, the plot is simple and flows well and the animation does have it's moments. However, none of that is why this special is well loved, it's well loved because it is just so charming.

It's simple, but that helps many viewers get attached to it. It's cheap, but they still put effort into it. It is a special that I enjoy watching every year, and I am sure that many other do to. It is a charming special, and it has some good elements that keep it from faltering on a critical level. Honestly, I think the only problem I really have with this special, is a small one but still; How cool would it be to have a cowboy that rides an ostrich? Ostriches are cool, why is the cowboy on the ostrich a misfit toy? I would love to have a toy cowboy on an ostrich.

Anyway, this is a classic special and one that you're probably watching every year.

Editorial: Talking about Disney+

So, Disney+ has been out for a while now. I actually started this post pretty much the day after it was released, but because the service was still brand new, I put this post off a little bit.

So, after having used Disney+ for a little while now, I can say that it is... a streaming service.

Look, I am not crazy over streaming services, I like having physical copies of things I watch, and barring that, there are a dozen other streaming services. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, I mean, if we really want to get technical, sites like YouTube and BitChute, which are video hosting platforms, are not that different from a streaming service like Netflix, the only difference is that the content that is made for the platforms and who makes it. You'll never find something like "Is It a Good Idea to Microwave This?" or "Eddsworld" on Netflix, but you'll find "Red vs. Blue" and "RWBY" on there because... Rooster Teeth is pretty much the internet equivalent of Disney, not saying anything, but it is kind of a Disney thing to acquire a property and have no clue what to do with said property (Cough, Muppets, Cough). I'm sure the ScrewAttack acquisition was a good idea at the time, and I like Death Battle fine... but you know, they kind of forgot why people liked ScrewAttack to begin with.

I got off topic there.

Anyway, if I am being honest, I was pretty interested in Disney+, if only because it meant that Disney was gonna get rid of the Disney Vault. I realize that there are probably a few people that don't know what that is, put simply, Disney had a thing where, they would only release a certain movie or a set of movies for a limited time, and when that time was up they would go "Back into the vault", it was a marketing thing, and one that became obsolete, quickly or not, it became a bad idea quickly, so yeah, if anything good came from Disney+, it's that the vault may very well be officially gone forever, huzzah!

Really the prospect of having one quick and easy place to watch almost any Disney property is really exciting, especially if you're like me and collect Disney movies. Like seriously, I have like, three separate VHS copies of Alice in Wonderland, it is bloody wonderful. Of course, it would also hold the Pixar, Marvel, Fox acquired, Star Wars and National Geographic stuff, which... I didn't even know National Geographic was owned by Disney... damn, really expanding potential Kingdom Hearts worlds aren't we?

Seriously though, the amount of content Disney has on Disney+ is crazy. They have the animated movies, the direct-to-video sequels, the live action movies, Disney channel movies, Disney channel shows, the Home Alone movies, Nation Geographic shows, Pixar movies, Pixar Shorts, old Mickey Mouse shorts, the Star Wars movies, the Marvel movies, seriously, there is more than enough content to suffice a decent streaming service, granted they don't have everything, (seriously where the Hell is Dave the Barbarian? ) but they have a lot.

Content wise, I really can't complain, it's got a decent selection of movies and show and shorts that I would be happy for a good while. Of course they have a few originals on there which, are fine. Mandalorian is okay, I'd rather watch it than Riverdale anyway.

I think the layout is alright too, it has a few categories and a watch list, basic stuff. I don't really notice a "New Additions" list, which, I don't know if they're gonna add one when they start releasing new stuff or if they are just going to ditch it entirely, but it would be nice to have. They do have a list for Ultra HD and HDR stuff, if you're into that, which I'm not, I own six movies on Blu-Ray and one of them was for a little plastic statue.

One thing I will say is that lodging a complaint is easy... too easy. I can't shake the feeling that they purposefully screwed up the order of some shows to turn around and say "See, we fixed them, we're listening to feedback." I mean, it should be pretty obvious which episode is the first episode of a series the begins with characters meeting each other. Yeah, as of right now some shows on Disney+ are way out of order, I mean, with most other streaming services, I would be more leniant, but you would think Disney of all companies would know which order the episodes of their shows should be in.

I do think the feedback page in general is really easy to use. You literally pick out what you want to do, whether it is suggesting something to lodge a complaint. Requesting a film or show is really easy, you type in up to three titles and click submit. Whether or not these shows or movies will appear is, yet to be seen, still waiting for The Muppet Show, but the fact that the feedback page is so easy to use is actually a very big point is Disney's favour here.

Overall, I can't hate Disney+, I love a lot of these movies and shows and it is nice that it is all in one place right now. Aside from a few hiccups, there isn't anything I would really not recommend the service over. I mean, if you already have enough streaming services, I would not recommend it, but at the end of the day, this is just a Disney themed streaming service, and that is what I was expecting. I would not recommend watching any of the shows until we know which ones are in correct order, Legend of the Three Caballeros is in proper order, so you should definitely check that one out. I also really like The World According to Jeff Goldblum, and they also have the X-Men animated series so, if you're curious, it might be worth looking into, but if you have reservations, I don't think you're really missing anything here.

First Impressions: Playmobil: The Movie (2019)

I am just gonna come out and say it right now, this movie is worse than Arctic Dogs, it is worse than Secret Life of Pets 2, I will even say that it is worse than UglyDolls. No exaggeration, this is possibly the worst animated movie of the year.

Did you know that in some countries this movie was released in the summer? Yeah, us in the west had to wait until the last few dregs of 2019 to watch this stinkfest, and no, the wait was not worth it. Tom Petty said the waiting was the hardest part, but sadly, watching this movie was the hardest part.

Actually, the hardest part was having to acknowledge that I was not the only person in the theatre for this showing, so, this movie has that over UglyDolls, more people came to the showing I sat in at, which was sad because this movie was terrible.

So, why is this movie worse than UglyDolls?

Well, UglyDolls, as atrocious as it was, at least knew what it wanted to be. It wanted to be a movie that marketed a soundtrack, and a message. What does Playmobil want to be? It wants to be The LEGO Movie, which is why it is more like Jumanji than the Lego Movie. It wants to have the same kind of adventure, so it thrusts us into worlds with no rhyme nor reason. At least the Lego Movie, had some kind of in universe barriers. It wants to be UglyDolls with a marketable soundtrack that... I'm gonna be honest, I completely forgot about the songs as soon as they were over. The only song I remembered was Rex Dasher's theme, and that is because it sounds like the Pepsiman theme.

Also, the plot really pisses me off. So what is the plot. While a young child is estranged from a busy relative who is taking on a parental role...

Have you seen Hook? Lilo and Stitch? Christopher Robin?

In Lilo & Stitch, the problem wasn't that Nani was working too much. In Christopher Robin, the problem wasn't solved by Christopher quitting his job, and in Hook... Well, it was entertaining.

Seriously, this is a young adult, college age, having to take care of a younger brother after their parents died, and the movie treats her like she isn't doing her hardest to make sure they can live to see tomorrow in decent living.

"We need to have fun"

Kid, if your sister was just having fun, you would be starving to death, and bored enough you would probably appreciate the outcome.

You know what... UglyDolls, I'm sorry. I am truly sorry for wanting you to flop. If I knew this movie was going to be this bad, I would have cut all of that out from my post.

On top of that, the song numbers are unnecessary, the plot is predictable, the jokes fall flat, characters literally leave and then show up at the literal final moment. This movie is garbage, the only good thing about it, is that it is out alongside Frozen 2, so go see that instead. I don't care if you think it is unnecessary, I don't care if you've heard it was a retread, if your choices are this, Arctic Dogs or Frozen 2, it should be a no brainer.