Mind Your Business: Best & Worst Animated Films of 2011

I always love the end of the year list of the Best Of…, Biggest of…, etc of things and events of the year. But most movie lists get it wrong. They list the best reviewed movies or the ones that made the most money.

This is animation. I want to talk about the animated movies of 2011 that were the most FUN to watch.

TOP 10 MOST FUN ANIMATED FILMS OF 2011

1: Arthur Christmas
Incredible character designs and super funny script. I laughed hardest at this movie from beginning to end than any other animation this year. I’m stunned that more people aren’t talking about it. Completely under-rated. The Grandpa Santa is one of the greatest designs I’ve seen in years. Just looking at him is funny.

I think the title may have hurt it in the box office. It’s accurate, but not enticing. In other words the title sucks…but go see it. It’s the must-see film of the season.

 

2: The Adventures of Tintin
I was wary of this movie since all of the performance capture movies by Zemeckis have looked absolutely terrible. Every character had that horrible ‘dead eyes’ look. Luckily, Spielberg and Peter Jackson have conquered that problem with this movie. The characters look incredible.

 

This is truly an animated Spielberg movie. It’s an adventure like his Raiders movies. It’s a blast.

I think the problem here, again, is the title. I’m a huge comic book fan and have known about Tin Tin for decades, but I never read it. The name turned me off, and it looked like I’m not the only one since this great movie is not making much money in the States. Here in the U.S. the name Tin Tin is reminiscent of the old TV series Rin Tin Tin, giving us a skewed feeling of what the property really is. Forget the name but don’t miss the movie.

 

3: Kung Fu Panda 2
I love these characters. Jack Black’s live-action movies are tanking, but his VO on animated films is great. The 3D stereography was the most comfortable I’ve seen (with the exception of Avatar). Fun and funny with lots of outrageous action.

 

 

4: The Illusionist
Everyone talks about the first part of Up being so great because the story was told with no dialogue. Well here’s an entire movie with no dialogue. It’s slow-paced, but it’s a great pace for this type of story. Great look and keeps you interested from the first frame to the last.

 

 

5: Paul
I put Paul in the list because the lead character is animated. I’ve seen this twice and loved it each time. Great character writing and design. A foul-mouthed, wisecracking alien is always good for laughs. One of the best comedies of the year.

 

 

6: Cars 2
After hearing so many people trash this movie, I went in with low expectations. That must have helped because I really liked it. Fun action, quick pace, great visual bits. Held my attention and had me giggling throughout.

 

 

7: Priest
I know, this isn’t a traditional animated movie, but those creatures WERE SO COOL! I watched this with a group of 12-year-old boys and we were pumped during it. Any movie that makes a big group want to sit and draw the characters after it’s over is a great movie. Cool popcorn movie at its best.

 

 

8: Gnomeo and Juliet
It’s got a funny title but I had low hopes. But, the animation is great and it’s a fun story. I enjoyed this movie.

 

 

9: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
It’s bigger than life. More action than anyone could ever ask for. Cool robots and a neat backstory. Oh yeah, and a really hot girl.

 

 

10: Puss In Boots
Didn’t see it…yet. Loved the character in the Shrek movies and the trailer looked good. DreamWorks does a great job with movies so I expect it will be pretty good. I’m looking forward to the DVD.

 

Of course, the best lists also talk about those that failed. There’re a few things I thought about when making the FAIL list. Did I fall asleep in the movie? Do I want to see it again? Did it suck? Here’re a few animations that didn’t live up to my expectations (in no particular order).

 

ANIMATED MOVIE FAILS OF 2011

 

Mars Needs Moms
Never saw it. I actually LOVE Berkeley Breathed’s humor. His Christmas special, A Wish for Wings That Work is my favorite every year. (We made a DVD of it so we can see it each year.) Bloom County is one of the greatest strips every produced.

But, the marketing for this movie never made me want to go see it. Part of the problem was the designs. I just looked ugly and many of the characters looked like they were designed for different films. The elements didn’t visually fit together. Evidently I’m not alone. I don’t know anyone who saw this film.

 

The Smurfs
I was never a fan of the original animated series. The movie didn’t help. Watching the DVD made me very glad I didn’t pay for my family to see it in the theaters.

 

I loved Hank Azaria. He was more animated than most of the Smurfs. But Neil Patrick Harris was completely miscast. He was wasted as the straight man.

I do have to say the stereography was great and the character animation was amazing. But the characters and story were … ugh.

 

Rio
Colorful characters and a great location. But I still fell asleep while watching it. Actually, I went back to see it a second time…and wouldn’t you know it I started sawing logs again. The story bored me.

 

 

Transformers: Dark of the Moon
I know I listed it as one of the most fun, but it was also too much. I had a headache at the end. Hard to believe I’m about to say this, but it was too much spectacle. I really didn’t care about what happened to the characters. I have no interest in seeing it again, yet I’ll watch the first one over and over.

 

 

Happy Feet Two
Sleeping in a movie is one of my main ways of determining a bad movie. I loved the first movie, but nothing in this movie was as much fun. I didn’t even like the music choices. Once again, I didn’t care what happened to the characters so I caught up on my sleep. In fact, it put me to sleep multiple times. I would wake up and the next section would put me out again.

 

One other great movie I want to mention before I go is Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol. It’s not an animation at all, but it was directed by animation super-star Brad Bird. For that reason alone I feel justified in including it here on the list of great films of 2011.

MI:4 is AWESOME. Best of the series. Proof that an animation director can do live-action better than most live-action directors. Luckily this also bodes well for Andrew Stanton’s (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) upcoming movie John Carter.

What are your thoughts?

Mark Simon, is the co-founder of SellYourTvConceptNow.com and the owner of Animatics & Storyboards, Inc. He’s worked on over 3,000 productions and authored books like Storyboards: Motion In Art and the Facial Expressions series of books (www.Expressions-Books.com [1])