The Top Five BEST Animated Movies I watched in 2023

 

You know, doing a list of the best animated movies is always difficult. Not picking the movies or even ranking them, honestly that is usually the easy part, and I do love when that is the difficult part. Unfortunately, when that is the easy part, the hard part is finding anything to really say about these movies. Like, you probably know why these movies are good, or you have probably heard people say similar things about why these movies are good. I guess you could make the same arguments about Worst lists, but I always find it much easier to explain why something doesn't work than why it does. I mean, I don't need to be a mechanic to see a broken chain on a machine, and I don't need to be an animator to know that some movies just don't work.

You know, I've been told a couple times that "You should learn to do something before you criticize it", well I learned how to animate, it's actually made me more critical of animation. In some strange way, you would think that would make me better at recognizing good qualities in movies, but ultimately, these type of lists aren't about what is "good" or "bad", those are things that measure the quality of the writing, acting, animation, cinematography, choreography and everything that goes into the movie, lists like these are ultimately about whether or not we liked these. Sure, some movies don't work and are "bad" because of that, but if that was the case one hundred percent of the time, Plan 9 From Outer Space would have faded into obscurity years and years ago.

None of this is really relevant to the list proper, all of it is really to say "If this list feels underwritten, please know I tried", on with the show.

5. Elemental

Is Elemental one of the "best animated movies of 2023"? Honestly... no. It's a good movie, but it is kind of a weak entry in Pixar's line-up. I'll be damned if I don't respect it a lot though.

Elemental seemed to be doomed from the get go, everyone was worried it would be Onward again, or Zootopia again, the trailers were not that great (Though really most animated trailers are pretty bad now-a-days), and on opening week the movie was underperforming like mad. Yet, someone at Disney or Pixar had faith in this movie, and... against all odds it did pay off. Elemental was a sleeper hit, and people seem to agree it's a fine movie. It's the kind of movie that I'm glad succeeded, because it does lessen my worries about Pixar's treatment by Disney.

This actually is similar to last year's list where I put the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Rehydrated at number ten, where even though I wouldn't argue it as one of the best movies, I had enough respect for it to want to give it a shout out. Elemental deserves a shout out for... not being Onward.

4. The Boy and The Heron

The Boy and The Heron is an interesting movie. It's interesting in that, I do like it, but I also kind of hate it. I mean, it's a Miyazaki movie, and his standards are usually pretty high. I love the slower pacing and quiet ambience of the movie, it's pretty much a hallmark of Ghibli movies that they're gonna take more of their time and have plenty of moments where you just let the scene sink in. Honestly, Miyazaki is kind of like the anti-Baz Luhrmann in my opinion. I think the moment I knew I was going to put this movie on my best list was a really small scene, just the lead character lying on a bed and breathing. The animators actually animated his body rising and falling to his breathing, and that's the scene, it's not really a scene you would find in any typical American animated film, though I can't say that for absolute sure.

But the second half, I honestly really began feeling the length of this movie, like the first half, nearly an hour went by and it felt like ten minutes, but the second half went by and it felt like an hour went by. It kind of became a movie akin to Suzume or Night is Short, Walk on Girl at the end, just a bizarre and strange trip through... something? I did like those movies fine, but this isn't really what I watch a Ghibli movie for, I watch Ghibli movies because they are usually ambient and let the mood sink in, and it's not like the second half wasn't that, it just expected us to take in a lot of stuff at the same time. I mean, it is definitely a movie worth watching, but I don't know if I'd say this is Miyazaki's "Magnum Opus".

Oh yeah, I also watched the Subbed version, in case anyone is Curious.

3. Suzume

Between The Boy and The Heron and Suzume, I think I have to pick Suzume as my favourite anime movie this year, even though it is technically a release from last year and it got a theatrical release in the West this year, look one day release dates aren't going to matter too much for most people.

Suzume is the kind of movie that really shows what animation can be and can do. It is a visual delight that has charming characters and an interesting story. This is from the same guy who directed Your Name and The Garden of Words, so if you're into Makoto Shinkai's work, I think this is definitely gonna be up your alley. If you're new to his work, I don't think this is a perfect starting place, but being a newcomer myself, this movie definitely tells me to keep my eye on his future works.

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Poor Spider-verse, forever stuck as my second favourite animated film of the year. Into the Spider-Verse was just topped by Isle of Dogs, and now Across the Spider-Verse ranks as number two on this list. Like last time, it was a pretty close call, but there are a couple things that keep it from being number one.

Across the Spider-Verse genuinely feels like this was what the first movie was building towards, little things that carried over from the previous movie and a deeper exploration of this universe-portal technology all feel like a natural step for these movies, and the introduction of these new Spider-Heroes like Spider-Byte, Spider-Punk and Spider-Man 2099, among others is fascinating. Spider-Verse, both into and across, feel like movies made by people who love Spider-Man, and it shows. The focus on Gwen is also a welcome shift, but it doesn't take away from Miles' story, it balances out, and it gives me high expectations for the second part.

Which brings me to why I can't justify putting this film at number one. Production sounds like it was a bit of a nightmare for a lot of the staff on this movie, to the point where the second part is said to be delayed from it's original 2024 release. This is a good thing, I would rather have a movie be made under fair conditions than not, and I hope that 2023 is a wake-up call to many executives and filmmakers that the staff that don't get their names celebrated are just as important to the film.

I can't justify putting Across the Spider-Verse at number one, because there is one movie that has a better ending to it's production nightmare, and don't act like you didn't see it coming.

1. Nimona

I mean... how could I not have chosen Nimona as my favourite animated movie of 2023? It has been my most anticipated movie since it was announced, and all my fears and worries have been quashed by a string of fortunate events. I was worried Blue Sky was involved, than they made Spies in Disguise, a really good movie. Blue Sky shut down, then Netflix picked Nimona up. I was worried about Netflix's involvement, then 2022 had a string of really good Netflix releases, so finally the only worry I had to deal with was that this movie would not meet expectations.

Nimona was everything I wanted it to be, fun, exciting, dramatic, and kept the theme of the book. Sure I would have liked a more one-to-one adaptation, but I like to view them as the same story told two different ways. I compared it to Coraline in my First Impressions blog, saying that Nimona was a different story but kept the theme close to the book that it didn't feel that different. Really, the only thing I can say I didn't like about Nimona, is that it isn't a complete one-to-one adaptation, but that does mean that the characters, animation, story and writing are all such top notch work, it stopped mattering that Nimona the movie was different from Nimona the graphic novel.

Congratulations Nimona, you crawled out of Development Purgatory and became one of the best movies of the year. Your success makes me hope for two things, that Bob Chapek is kicking himself that he's the reason this can't be a Disney movie, and that other cancelled projects have a shot at redemption. Looking at you Warner Bros.

The Top five WORST animated movies I watched in 2023

You know how I said 2022 was a mediocre year for animated movies? How they were all kinda same-y in quality and nothing really stood out? 2023 was almost a complete opposite year, it started off very strong, the first half of the year was some of the strongest animated films of the decade, and then... they just stopped. I'll admit I didn't get around to watching a lot of movies this year, which is evident with the lack of First Impressions blogs I did, but even with some of the movies I did see, like... what is there to say about them? So, this list isn't the "Worst" worst of the year, but it's the ones I think are the weakest, and the top three are genuinely awful movies. Would this list be more accurate if I watched more movies? Absolutely, but it's actually kind of getting harder to watch movies now, I mean theatres are still expensive, and streaming has basically become the new cable, and good piracy sites are, you know I don't want to say they're impossible to find but I'll be damned if anyone makes it easy, and no that is not an invitation for anyone to give me recommendations. Watching a movie is slowly becoming what playing video games was in the 2010s, an expensive hobby that you almost need a spreadsheet to keep track of everything, I mean how is trying to keep track of what game is coming out with what bonuses on what release on what system any different than what movie is releasing on what streaming service?

You know what I miss? I miss 2022, yeah, 2022 had a slew of massive releases, and not all of them were good, but I'll be damned if they weren't interesting. Like, DreamWorks making a sequel to such a nothing movie and that sequel being one of the best god damn movies of the year? Netflix actually hitting multiple home runs with really amazing releases? Pixar making a movie that every one lost their minds over in both good and bad ways? That blazing saddles for kids movie finally being released? A stop motion mockumentary? Henry Sellick and Jordan Peele collaborating? I'll even throw a bone to Luck, yeah, god damn Luck. Like 2022's line-up wasn't spectacular, but it at least warranted interest, I look back at that line-up and I think, damn, I really did not give 2022 the time of day. You know I may think that about 2023 in the following years, but I doubt it.

Anyway, I've ranted enough, here's the list proper.

5. Wish

I liked Wish, I did. It was a fine fairy-tale movie that was good. Just good. Wish isn't on this list as a movie, it's more on this list because it is making me really worry about the quality of future movies. Strange World was boring, but Wish is a step in the right direction, but they didn't need to go in this direction because prior to Strange World, Disney released arguably their best movie in years, Encanto. Encanto was really good, but it just seems painfully obvious to me that nobody at Disney seems to understand why it was so good, and really I don't think I can explain either. Encanto was a movie I wasn't expecting to be as good as it was, Strange World is a movie I was expecting to be better than it was, Wish is a movie I expected it to be exactly as good as it was, better than Strange World, not as good as Encanto, it reached for good, but it could have been great.

There are so many people talking about how Wish could have been improved, make it 2D, use original plans and have the star be the lead's love interest, ditch all the references, but really there is only one thing I can suggest to make it great, actually have it take one-hundred years to make. No really, if they actually took a full century to make this movie, it could have been so fascinating, but it genuinely only feels like they called this "A hundred years in the making" just as a marketing gimmick, like "Oh, this movie was made out of scrapped plans from the early days of Disney", well it doesn't feel like it, it feels like an excuse to make as many Disney references in two hours as you can, that isn't a movie, that is me at trivia night.

I want to reiterate I did like this movie, but I don't think I liked it enough to want to actively watch it again.

4. Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken

From a movie I did like, to a movie I really so desperately want to like. Ruby Gillman is a movie with so much potential, so much good qualities, so much it could have been... but what did we end up getting? A movie that is weaker than the sum of its parts.

I talked about this in my First Impressions blog and my blog where I compared it to Elemental, but it bears repeating, Ruby Gillman desperately needed a re-write so that they could flesh out the actually interesting elements. They wanted Turning Red, but they also wanted The Princess Diaries, but they also wanted to be Luca, but they also wanted to be-Just pick a god damn movie you want to be!

I gave this movie a full First Impressions blog because, I really needed to gather my thoughts about it, and even now I'm still not sure if I actually dislike it. Maybe I just don't want to dislike it because I would love to see this world and these characters fully fleshed out, but the problem with that is, first I want to know how being a Kraken hiding amongst humans is really affecting Ruby and her family. How does having a crush on a human affect her relationship with her parents? How does living out of the sea affect how they view themselves and their own kin? Well guess what, none of this will ever get explored now because the movie flopped and was pulled from theatres rather quickly. DreamWorks was scared this movie was gonna tank and be a money pit and they pulled it rather than take a risk like Disney and Pixar did. You know, I didn't even think Elemental was all that great, but I have to respect that they took a risk in extending that movie's theatrical run.

This was probably Dreamwork's biggest waste of potential since they stopped making 2D movies.

3. Toopy and Binoo: The Movie

I mean... you didn't need me to say this movie sucks right? It's Toopy and Binoo, a toddler's franchise that nobody likes. If Franklin or Blue's Clues got a theatrical movie, that would make sense, people like those franchises beyond the fact that it keeps their children quiet for half an hour, but Toopy and Binoo? I mean it ain't Caillou, but it sure as Hell ain't Blue's Clues.

The big problem is really the characters, they were all really annoying and not entertaining to watch, and they didn't go through a relatable nor even a visible arc. It's just, one scene these two are cowards, the next they're not anymore. One scene this character is a stuck-up B-word, the next she isn't. Like, it really is just a... not pleasant movie to watch. These character's don't really improve on their own, and it's not fun to watch. Honestly, I think a Caillou movie would be better, there would at least be something to talk about. Then again, it would probably be more difficult to watch, so... careful what you wish for I guess.

2. The Magician's Elephant

You know, even if I did watch this movie the week it was put onto Netflix, I doubt I'd have anything to say about it. I never read the book this movie is based off, so I can't say whether it's a good adaptation or not, but what I can say is that this movie is really boring.

I'm just not interested in anything that's happening, nothing left a genuine impact, and I struggle to even remember what happened in the movie. The characters weren't that interesting, the setting wasn't that interesting, even the animation is boring, it looks so unspectacular and plain that you could have told me this was an Illumination movie, and trust me, that is an insult to Illumination. Really though, let's be real, this movie was just a movie they threw out to keep people somewhat invested until the actual good movies were being released. Netflix may have dropped the ball a couple times, but they did hit one major home run.

1. Mummies

How the Hell did nobody watch this movie? No seriously, I feel like I'm the only animated movie reviewer who did, Animated Antic, Cellspex, Saberspark? None of them talked about it, Saberspark only talked about after the movie left theatres, how did this squeeze under everyone else's radar? Somehow, nobody watched this movie, yet everyone did because it apparently made bank. Was there really nothing else to watch?

The worst thing is, I can't even say I'm that surprised in hindsight. When a movie is bad, people don't see it, and bad movies like Arctic Dogs, UglyDolls or Paws of Fury flop. However, when a movie is just "mediocre", people will see it because, well we want to watch A movie, but not really ANY movie. We're here to watch something to ignore the rest of the world and enjoy some snacks, we're not here to watch the greatest thing ever. Mummies is exactly the kind of movie that you watch because you want to watch something edgeless, tame and bland. It's not even offensively bad, it's not poorly put together, it's not phenomenally unpleasant, it's just a bad movie. It's so much of a nothing burger, that it's not even a spectacular list topper. Say what you will about The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wilde, that was a spectacularly bad movie, that was a movie that could, and did, piss me off. The only thing that pisses me off about this movie, is how much it doesn't piss me off. Worst animated movie that I saw this year, easily. It is the least ambitious, least polished, least good animated movie I've seen all year.

No extra mentions this time, this year has kind of been a slow drizzle of animated content. Though, that Baby Shark movie would totally make this list if I could actually watch it somewhere, maybe people are trying to bury that movie's existence. Oh well, the line-up next year should be more interesting, yeah? Please?

Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (2018) - A Harmless, if too Safe, Retelling of the Classic Story

When it comes to Christmas specials, I think one that everyone loves is the 1966 classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, it's Dr. Seuss, Chuck Jones and Boris Karloff, we love the characters, message and music. It really is one of the most perfect holiday specials there is, and while I would love to talk about it, at 25 minutes, it does not qualify as a feature. However, there were two attempts to make a feature film of the 50 page children's book, one in 2000s with Jim Carey, which was live-action so it's not on my table, and one in 2018 by Illumination. Oh boy, Illumination, my least favourite animation studio, I would say that I was not expecting anything great when this movie was announced, but let's be fair here, nobody was. I don't think there was one single person who watched this movie that expected it to be great, honestly I doubt half of the people who watched it thought it was gonna be good. It seemed like another Illumination movie that was harmless but not much else. Well, it's Christmas, so I may as well give it a watch.

The story follows the basic premise of the book, all the Whos who live in Whoville really love Christmas, but the Grinch does not. So, one night he decides that he's gonna steal Christmas, the gifts, the lights, the lot. To flesh and pad things out, they want to give The Grinch a reason he hates the holiday, but it's glossed over, to the point where it probably could've been cut out. I do appreciate they wanted to show the actual planning of the holiday heist, but the movie is still pretty... meh? I can't say it's really weak, because the only thing that makes it weak is how they handle the scene where the Grinch's heart grows. In the original, him pulling up the massive sled is symbolic of the power of the true spirit of the Holiday, but here, he gets outside help. However, I will concede that maybe, they wanted to try a different theme with this interpretation, a theme about love, kindness and friendship. Okay, I'm not against that on principle, I just don't think it's done all that well. I should also mention the B-Plot with Cindy Lou Who, which is... okay. I admire it tackles he subject of overworked parents, which is especially rough around the holiday, but it doesn't really get solved. Cindy blames herself for Christmas being stolen, but the actual issue is not really addressed, at no point does she tell her mom that she thinks she's overworked.

The characters are mostly just there, not really the most memorable, not really leaving a massive impact. The Grinch's characterization in this version does leave some people a little frustrated I think, because, what was just a sour, grumpy, mean jerk, has his edges sanded down and became much softer. On principle, I'm not against this change, one of my issues with the original story is that The Grinch just goes from mean to nice with no real transition. I remember Cellspex calling this version of The Grinch a "Tsundere", and honestly I think Cellspex covers why this version of The Grinch just doesn't work as a character the best. The rest of the cast is... fine, I guess. I didn't hate them, but I was not eager to see more of them. The voice acting isn't bad though, we've got an Angela Lansbury cameo, which is always pleasant, and most of the cast like Kenan Thompson, Cameron Seely and Rashida Jones do a good job, Benedict Cumberbatch is... okay, he does just kinda sound like that generic nasal voice anyone can do, like Herman from The Simpsons, and Pharrell Williams as the Narrator is wholly unnecessary. The original had narration because it was 25 minutes, this is over an hour, it did not need narration.

The animation is... trying. It really wants to look like a colourful Christmas movie with all the lights and stuff, but the actual colour is kind of washed out, and what we're left with is a lot of white, blue and brown tones, I think spectacles like the lit up town at night, and the lighting of the tree were meant to look really colourful and festive, but they just don't, they look faded and the actual colour gets over taken by other bright lighting. The actual animation is fine, it moves nicely and I didn't notice any obvious flubs, but it really isn't that visually appealing. Plus it puts a lot of scenes full of nothing but "thrilling" movement, and again it's just unnecessary, I'd take less of unfunny slapstick and chase scenes, and more character development scenes, or a scene where Cindy Lou's story actually gets some kind of resolution, and I mean a real resolution.

I think the sad thing about this movie is, I can't say it's bad. It tried, it tried to be something, which... I think is worth something. I'd rather a movie try and fail, than not try. Like is this movie "good"? I can't say that, but is it better than something like Duck Duck Goose or Open Season? Definitely, yeah. I think the big problem is that, they wanted to carve their own identity in something that is already iconic, it's like that version of A Christmas Carol on Netflix from 2022, I enjoyed that movie, but it had the same basic idea. The Grinch and A Christmas Carol are iconic stories, and putting ones own spin on them is a risky venture, sometimes we'll get a Muppet Christmas Carol, but other times we'll get a 2009 Christmas Carol. Do I recommend this movie? That's a difficult one, because I don't want to say it isn't worth seeing, it's not, but like I can see really young kids getting into this movie. It's these kinds of movies that are toughest to rate for me, because what good is a movie that only one specific audience can enjoy? But on the other hand, that does mean someone still enjoys it. Plus, it's not like this movie is straight up harmful or anything, so... I'm going to go Slight Recommendation on this one. If you have really little kids, they might like it, but this is a "If it's on streaming and you want something easy" recommendation.

Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002): A Perfectly Adequate Bible Movie for Kids

 

Well this review is a bit tricky to write. I was thinking about movies to watch for this blog, and since it is December, this is a biblical story, and I was a big fan of VeggieTales as a kid, I thought this would be the perfect movie to talk about. Then I put the movie in and got reminded that most of the Bible is set in Israel, and Israel has kind of been a hot topic at the moment. Still, I do think this is a good time to talk about this movie, or more accurately the themes of the movie, but my job primarily is to review a movie as a movie, so I'm going to save my soap box standing for the end. Still, Christmas, and most of the winter holidays, is a good time to remind people about good will, kindness, love, friendship and especially compassion and mercy. So, the themes of this movie are good, but the question now becomes, is this a good way to teach these themes?

I was a huge VeggieTales fan as a kid, had plenty of the DVDs and VHS Tapes, and a couple DVDs for 3-2-1 Penguins too. So the main plot structure of this movie is not unfamiliar to me, and shouldn't be for anyone that is familiar with VeggieTales. The stories usually begun with a conflict and the stories being told were lessons on how to resolve the conflicts, and this movie works similarly. The conflict starts when, on their way to a concert, a few misfortunes happen to Bob the Tomato, Dad Asparagus, Junior Asparagus and Laura Carrot, as Bob and Mr. Asparagus get two flat tires on their bus, and Laura loses her concert ticket, which Junior says is her fault for teasing them with it. This is overheard by Pa Grape, Mr. Lunt and Larry the Cucumber, the infamous band of scallywags known as The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, who tell Junior that he should be compassionate to his friend, reciting the tale of Jonah and his voyage to Nineveh. The story is told in a kid friendly way, which... is fine. Sure, I would have liked something like The Prince of Egypt, a much darker movie that doesn't shy away from the drama and trauma of the events, but as a movie for really young kids, this is fine. I won't say it's completely sanitized, like they do have a ridiculous and kinda silly form of execution in the movie, but it's still is execution, it's toned down definitely, but it's still there. I can't think of anything plotwise I take issue with.

VeggieTales is a fun series, mostly because the characters in the films do feel like they're putting on a play or production. So when you see a character like Mr. Nezzer or Archibald Asparagus, even if they play a different character they still have their own characteristics, which means that Jonah, played by Archibald, has a sarcastic side to him that is very entertaining. We also spend a lot of time with the Pirates, and they're an entertaining bunch. I think the only character I'm not to keen on is Khalil, and for two reasons, firstly, he's not a vegetable, he's a half-caterpillar, I'm sorry that just weirds me out a little, like I know animals are a thing in the VeggieTales world, but... actually no, that also weirds me out, why does the VeggieTales world have animals? Okay, one thing at a time, the animals previously in the series were... animals, they never talked, or at least very rarely. The second thing is, you know the whole, white voice actor putting on an accent is a bit of a debate topic, but apparently the performance was nominated for an Annie in 2003, I mean it isn't a bad performance, as long as you can sit through bad Persian accents.

Animation wise, it looks like VeggieTales, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because it won't be too alienating to go from direct-to-video CG animation to this movie. To be fair, VeggieTales was a major step forward in CG animation, being one of, if not the first direct-to-video series made with Computer Generated Animation. However, it is also a bit of a weakness in this movie's case, as this was early 2000s CG, and couple that with the almost simplistic style of VeggieTales, some moments of animation don't really mask the weaknesses in the animation, stuff that makes you ask if this was worth putting on the big screen. That being said, there are a lot of fun details, little touches that make the animation a little better. Honestly, I think the same can be said for the writing, there are little moments that give this story more life and identity than just a flat re-telling of the story of Jonah, like during a huge storm, Larry and Mr. Lunt are just playing Go Fish as if nothing is happening. There are some moments in this movie where I did chuckle, or even straight up laugh.

I should also bring up the musical numbers, because as VeggieTales is known for their silly songs, this movie is as one would anticipate, a musical. The songs are... mostly okay. The first real song in the movie "Message from the Lord" is pretty good, there is a line about not eating bats which has aged... interestingly, but most of the other songs are not that great. "It Cannot Be" is a good moment with Jonah having a small crisis, but the backing music sounds like an ambient track you would get in a small quiet moment where the characters look up at the sky or something, and the song "Second Chances" has one of the worst editing choices I've ever seen in an animated movie. The background music is also alright, there was one moment where Jonah was riding a camel, and the music synced with the camel's movements, that was neat. Overall, I can't say this is a bad movie, it's adequate for young kids, and bearable for adults.

And I do think that the themes of this movie are delivered well, Khalil does kind of spell it out at the end, as do the Pirates, but it is shown throughout the movie what compassion and mercy are, and how people should be given second chances. I'm not going to discuss whether I agree with all of it, but I want to stress we should be living these themes, Christmas is a time of love, kindness, friendship and joy, and why do we have to keep that to one time of the year? What stops us from giving our friends gifts any other time of the year? Love, Kindness, Peace, these are not things we should keep to one time, these are things we should live year round, and I think we need to remember that above all else, we need to be good people. Is this movie the best way to send this message? Maybe not, but it's not a bad way either, if you have kids, I do think this movie is worth showing them, regardless of if you're Christian or not, because kindness knows no faith, pray for peace everyone, and fight for goodness.