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!
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