Movies in the Animated genre

My lack of enthusiasm about the 1977 theatrical feature, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, makes me feel a little like a Scrooge or a Grinch. The sad truth is, however, that as important as the Peanuts Gang was to those growing up in the ‘6...

The long-gestating, often-delayed sequel to 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet is one part fan service, one part product placement, and one part pop culture inundation. It’s breezy and fun and, like its predecessor, relies mor...

The first animated film from ILM is also the first memorable motion picture of 2011. Also, in a break from Hollywood's incessant race to surcharge parents to death by releasing anything bearing the "family film" moniker in 3-D, Rango is available i...

Brad Bird may be one of the few animated filmmakers working today who understands what the concept of a "family film" means. It's something that offers material to viewers of all ages and doesn't lose one group by catering too strongly to another....

Generic animated cash-grab.  It’s hard to think of a more appropriate phrase to describe Ratchet and Clank, the video game-based movie being dumped unceremoniously into theaters for what will probably amount to a one-week run. (Tepid box office co...

Distilled to its essence, Raya and the Last Dragon could best be called “quintessential Disney” in that it incorporates many of the tropes viewers have come to associate with the Magic Kingdom’s generic animated films. Although the film�...

The Red Turtle is one of the most unique high profile animated films to have come along in recent years and in a way represents a repudiation of the commercial arm of the genre. Lacking even a line of dialogue and using hand-drawn images, The Red Tur...

Renaissance is the latest in a growing range of screen titles with a graphic novel sensibility. Coming in the wake of Sin City, Renaissance treads through similar territory, but with a striking difference: director Christian Volckman uses rotoscop...

When one distills Rio to its essentials, it's all about a bird traveling several thousand miles for the express purpose of getting laid. However, since such a reduction of the plot would not go over well with the parents planning to send (or accomp...

The summer of 2012 was dismal for animated fare but, with releases like Frankenweenie, Wreck-It Ralph, and Rise of the Guardians, things have taken a turn for the better during the autumn. This movie, which is targeted at older children (rather tha...