Dragonfire's Picks for the Best Computer Animated Movies
Sep 28 '07 (Updated May 29 '09)
The Bottom Line These are my picks for the best computer animated movies. All of them are worth watching for fans of computer animated movies.
I have loved animated movies since I was a child and I have many fond memories of going to see different animated movies growing up. I haven't lost my love for animated movies as an adult and I still tend to see most of the new animated movies. Now, just about all the animated movies are created with computers instead of the traditional hand drawn animation. I personally like both types of animation and feel there is room for both.
I have seen many computer animated movies in the last several years, some that I loved and others that I didn’t like as much. This is a list of what I feel are the 10 best computer animated movies. I am basing this on the computer animated movies that I have up until September 28, 2007. If I feel that any of the computer animated movies that I see in the future deserve to be added to this list, I will edit it. This list will probably end up with more than ten movies because of that.
The Wild - This was one of the first computer animated movies done by Disney. The movie had been planned and in production for several years before it was released in the spring of 2006. The movie did have some similarities to Madagascar, but I think that The Wild was the better movie. It was about a young lion, Ryan, who had been living with his father Samson in the New York City zoo before he ended up on the way to Africa. Samson and his friends set off to find Ryan. The characters were likable and added a lot of humor, especially Nigel the koala bear. The animation was beautifully done.
Flushed Away- This computer animated movie released by Dreamworks was created by the people responsible for Wallace and Gromit. The movie told the story of Roddy, a pet rat who was flushed down the toilet and ended up in the sewer under London. Roddy desperately wanted to return home and he managed to convince Rita to help him even though she was having trouble with Toad and his henchmen. The movie was very entertaining and funny, with singing slugs providing a lot of the humor.
Ice Age/Ice Age: The Meltdown - I really enjoyed both of these movies which is why I decided to list them together. Both movies feature the same group of main characters with a few new ones being added for the second movie. In the first movie, three animals become unlikely friends while trying to protect a human baby and return it to its family. In the second movie, the same friends had to deal with the melting of the ice and trying to get to safety. Along the way they made some new friends. Both movies were very entertaining and had beautiful animation.
A Bug's Life - This was the second full length computer animated movie created by Pixar. There were improvements to the animation just since the first movie had been released. This movie was about an ant colony that was trying to gather enough food to give to the grasshoppers, led by Hopper. If the ants didn’t give the food, the grasshoppers would attack and destroy the colony. Flick set off to find warrior bugs to stand up to the grasshoppers and returned with circus bugs instead. The movie was very entertaining and featured likable characters and strong villain.
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 - Toy Story was the first full length computer animated movie ever made. It gave Pixar a name and a reputation that they continue to live up to. Toy Story told the story of a group of toys and how they came to life when no humans were around. Woody was Andy’s favorite toy until he received a Buzz Lightyear for his birthday. Woody and Buzz had some conflicts before they had to work together. Toy Story 2 was the third movie that Pixar released and featured the same main characters plus the addition of a few others. Woody was stolen by a greedy toy collector who intended to ship him off to a toy museum now that his collection of toys connected to the old television show Woody had been on was complete. Buzz led the other toys on a rescue mission.
Monsters, Inc.- This movie, the fourth Pixar animated movie, was set in a world populated monsters. Many of them worked at the power plant, Monsters, Inc. Monsters would travel through doors and jump out of the closets in the bedrooms of children to scare them as a source of energy for their world. The movie spent most of the time showing how Sully and his friend Mike dealt with a human child that ended up coming back with Sully. Children were considered toxic to the monsters, so that added a lot of complications to the movie. The movie was very funny and entertaining and featured spectacular animation. The animation for all of Sully’s hair was amazing and groundbreaking.
Finding Nemo - This Pixar movie featured Marlin, a clown fish, who was frantically searching the ocean for his son Nemo with the help of Dory. She had a short term memory problem but still managed to be helpful. Nemo had one fin that was smaller than the other and his father was very over protective of him. Nemo was trying to be more independent when a human caught him, which set Marlin off on his journey. Marlin ended up learning a lot while looking for his son. The movie was very entertaining and funny. It also had a lot of heart in the story. The animation lived up to Pixar’s reputation.
The Incredibles- I think this is one of the best superhero movies as well as one of the best animated movies. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl were famous superheroes before they were forced into retirement by an onslaught of lawsuits from people they helped. Bob and Helen settled down to a normal married life though Bob really missed his work as Mr. Incredible. He jumped at the chance he was given to do that sort of work again which ultimately put Helen and their children in danger. This movie featured the wonderful animation that people have come to expect from Pixar to go along with a very strong story.
Cars - This Pixar release was set in a world populated with talking cars. Even the insects were tiny flying VW Bugs. The main character, Lightening McQueen, was a cocky race car close to winning the Piston Cup in his rookie year. While he was traveling to his final race of the season in California, he ended up in the little town of Radiator Springs, a small forgotten town along route 66. Lightening slowly came to see the appeal of the town and its residents. The movie had wonderful likable characters and stunningly beautiful animation. I really feel that this movie should have won the Oscar for Best Animated Movie instead of Happy Feet.
Ratatouille - This newest release from Pixar continued the excellence they are known for. Remy, a rat, loved good food and dreamed of being a chef. He ended up in Paris after things went wrong and he was separated from his family. He managed to form a friendship with Linguini, a young man in danger of losing his job because he couldn’t cook. The movie was very entertaining and had a wonderful story dealing with following your dreams and not letting others stop you. Remy was a very likable and cute character even though he was a rat. The animation was gorgeous and I really believe this was one of the best movies of the year.
**UPDATE**
I have decided that I will add more movies to this list if I feel that they deserve to be incluced. Since I still feel the ones I picked originally are still among the best computer animated movies, I am just adding the new additiosn and not removing any of the previous picks.
WALL-E - The 2008 Pixar release continued the excellence that they are known for. The movie tells the story of WALL-E a small, trash compacting robot left on Earth to clean tons of garbage for 700 years. Over all those years, he became curious about things he found and longed for a friend. He was thrilled when a sleek new robot, Eve, showed up one day. He managed to make a connection with her before she headed off to complete her mission. WALL-E decided to follow and ended up going on an adventure that would take him across the universe. The movie provided an unlikely love story while also delivering a message. The movie featured the same amazingly beautiful animation that Pixar is known for. The scene with WALL-E and Eve dancing through space was gorgeous. The movie truly is one of the best I have seen in 2008.
Up - The 2009 release from Pixar is wonderful, with beautiful animation like I have come to expect from the studio. The movie is the first time they have done one in 3D and it works very well without distracting from the story and taking over. The movie is about Carl, an elderly man dealing with changes in his life that he isn't happy about, who decides to finally go on the trip to South America that he and his wife had planned for so long. He uses a very unique mode of transportation and ends up with an unexpected companion. This movie has more emotion than most live action movies and it truly is one of the best of the year.
Honorable Mentions
Those are my picks for the best computer animated movies. I do want to take the time to mention a few others that I did think were good, just not as good as the ones I already mentioned. All of these are also very good and worth the time to watch at least once.
Shrek - I know a lot people who think Shrek is the best computer animated movie and will think I’m nuts for not having it as part of my list. I did like the movie. I just didn’t like it as much as the others I’ve talked about. I don’t think it is as great as many have said it is. The movie was funny and entertaining, though I didn’t care for all the Disney bashing that was going on throughout it. The movie was about an ogre named Shrek who ended up rescuing a princess with the help of a talking donkey. Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third were also entertaining, though all the pop culture references started to get a bit old.
The Polar Express - This Christmas movie was based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg. Two of his other books, Jumanji and Zathura, have also been turned into movies. The Polar Express told the story of a boy who had started to doubt in Santa Claus and the magic of Christmas, so he was chosen to take a special trip on the Polar Express. Motion capture technology was used for the performances of the characters, several of which were performed by Tom Hanks. The animation was beautiful and worked well to tell the touching story.
Monster House- This 2006 release featured the use of motion capture for the characters. The movie was about three children believing that a creepy house was really alive. I really enjoyed the movie and thought the plot was interesting. Certain things that happened related to the house could be a bit scary for younger children.
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - This movie was made by Nickelodeon and led to an animated series. Jimmy Neutron is a very intelligent young boy with a secret laboratory. He spent much of his time creating unique inventions that didn’t always work out like he planned. After aliens kidnapped all the adults, Jimmy had to lead the children in rescuing them. Certain things that happened were a bit silly, but the movie was very entertaining. Patrick Stewart did a wonderful voice for King Goobot, the alien leader.
Chicken Little - This was the first fully computer animated movie made by Disney. They had released several previous computer animated movies, but those were all completely done by Pixar. I know that many people didn’t care for this one, but I thought it was very fun and entertaining. The movie was based on the well-known fable about the chicken who thought the sky was falling. The characters were likable and cute and added a lot of humor, especially the pig, Runt of the Litter.
I also feel like I should take a minute to say something about Happy Feet. The animation was wonderful and the characters were likable. There were several very cute sequences as well as some well done musical numbers. However, I felt like the movie got too preachy with the message about the environment. The last part of the movie got extremely heavy handed with the message which will rub some people the wrong way. The way the message was handled did decrease my enjoyment of the movie even though I still managed to like it for the most part overall.
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