Movies in the Animated genre

The mention of Pinocchio generally stirs up memories of the 1940 Disney animated feature, which (at the time) was the greatly anticipated follow-up to 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Today, Disney’s Pinocchio is regarded as one of the...

The familiar fairy tales we were weaned on aren't good enough any more. First, Shrek playfully toyed with some of our old friends by having them interact in atypical ways with a big, green ogre. Then along came last year's Hoodwinked, which refus...

Happy Feet is a weird movie. No one can accuse director George Miller and his co-writers of playing it safe, but there are some genres - such as family-friendly animation - where adherence to conventions can be viewed as a positive trait. 75 minu...

Let me start by saying that Hercules, Walt Disney Pictures' 35th animated feature, makes for good family entertainment. Good, not great. While this film is capable of providing a ninety minute diversion for both kids and adults, it's a far cr...

Not since Reese Witherspoon figuratively donned the red cloak in Freeway has there been a fresh take on the story of "Little Red Riding Hood." With Hoodwinked, the production team has made an attempt to change that, although the end result is more...

Admittedly, it's been about 35 years since I was reader of Dr. Seuss, but my memories of his books are that they're short and economical with words. Neither of those descriptions applies to this theatrical version of Horton Hears a Who!, which has...

Not since Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein have the great Universal monsters been subjected to such dismal treatment. Okay, maybe Van Helsing was a greater embarrassment. Hotel Transylvania is an animated monster movie for older kids (in the ...

Seen in standard digital 3-D. When Dreamworks released Shrek in 2001, it appeared the company was ready to challenge Disney/Pixar in the family film arena. Since then, however, Dreamworks' animated efforts have been made more with kids in mind ...

It's an axiom of the filmmaking industry that any time an animated movie shows a profit, it instantly becomes the foundation for a franchise. Unfortunately, when money drives creative decisions, it's like the cart pulling the horse. Take away the f...

The third (and likely final) installment of the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, The Hidden World, continues a trend that started with the previous film: muting adult-friendly content in favor of material with a greater appeal to kids. Althoug...