Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius (2001)
Animation/Juvenile Scientific Genius
Amiable animated film about a juvenile inventor that only serves to show how more polished Pixar’s films are by comparison
Animation
Animation refers to films in which the films are drawn individually by hand, each frame moved slightly to give the impression of movement. Animated films from the mid-1990s onwards have been increasingly drawn by computer to the point that today the art of hand-drawn animation is a dying art form.
The first animated film was Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and the success of this has spread until animation now covers a sizeable percentage of contemporary box-office earnings.
Animation in the American mainstream is almost always sold as being for family audiences (although there is a reasonable amount of animation for grown-ups, particularly outside the US, this has by and large not been financially successful). Content frequently deals with fantastic topics such as fairytale adaptations, the lives of anthropomorphic talking animals or adventures featuring young protagonists.
See also: For animation from Japan see Anime. Films in which animation is blended with live-action are discussed under Toons. For animation using three-dimensional models see Stop-Motion Animation, for animation that uses models molded in clay see Claymation. For films that remake prior animated works in live-action see Animation in Live-Action.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001)
Anime/Future Bounty Hunters
The feature film spinoff of a cult anime tv series
Waking Life (2001)
Philosophy and Dreaming/Animation
A unique and very original animated film from Richard Linklater where a character wanders through a dream, encountering various people and their different philosophical outlooks
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Anime/Alien Soul Devourers
Despite being made by the same company, this has absolutely nothing to do with the Final Fantasy videogame. It is a visually stunning work of anime that takes place on an epic scale set after Earth has been invaded by spirit beings
Barbie in The Nutcracker (2001)
Animation/Barbie Enacts Fairytale
The first in a long series of animated films based on Mattel’s girl’s doll Barbie. This casts Barbie as a lead in an adaptation of The Nutcracker ballet
Malice@doll (2001)
Anime/Sex Robot Becomes Human
Perversely original anime about a sex robot in the aftermath of civilisation who is transformed into a human. Imagine Pinocchio by way of H.R. Giger
Metropolis (2001)
Anime/Retro Future/Android Girl
Stunning anime remake of Metropolis based on an Osasmu Tezuka. The visuals and particularly the design are overwhelming – like a Cyberpunk film set in a stylised Art Deco world
Millennium Actress (2001)
Anime/Actress's Surreal Biography
An anime from Satoshi Kon that tells the story of an actress and become a surreal journey through Japanese cinematic history
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Pixar Animation/Monsters in the Closet
This was the fourth animated film from Pixar and is a winning and delightful Maurice Sendakian tale about the monsters in the closet and their friendship with a young girl
Shrek (2001)
Animation/Fairytale Spoof
Before this was spun out into a series of ho-hum sequels, the original was an animated film that burst with a freshness and a series of winning voice characterisations
The Trumpet of the Swan (2001)
Animation/Talking Swans
Animated film based on a book by Charlotte’s Web author E.B. White about a trumpet-playing swan
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Disney Animation/Malevolent Alien Creature
Likeable Disney animated film about a young misfit Hawaiian girl who befriends an unruly alien creature. This has a good deal of oddball energy and humour that makes it rather appealing
Mercano the Martian (2002)
Animation/Alien Visitor/Satire
Satiric Argentinean animated film about a Martian stranded on Earth
The Cat Returns (2002)
Anime/Girl's Adventure in the World of Cats
Studio Ghibli anime in which a girl saves the life of a cat only to be drawn into a world of cats where a cat prince decides she will be his bride
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
Animation/The Lives of Wild Horses
Beautifully animated DreamWorks film that tells the life of a horse on the Western frontier. For once, anthropological realism is maintained and the animals do not talk
Ice Age (2002)
Animation/Prehistoric Talking Animals
This begat an interminable number of tedious sequels. However, the original is a still likeable and appealing animated film about a group of prehistoric talking animals migrating with the onset of an Ice Age
The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002)
Disney Animation Sequel
One of Disney’s cheaply produced video sequel to their animated film made during the 1990s/2000s. This one actually emerges as superior to the original
Treasure Planet (2002)
Disney Animation/Treasure Island in Outer Space
Disney animated film that proved a flop, this lazily remakes Treasure Island set in space. The result is bad science-fiction with sailing ships in space, Ben Gumm as a malfunctioning robot and so on
Return to Never Land (2002)
Disney Animation/Peter Pan Sequel
Among the cheap video-released sequels to their classics Disney made during the 00s, this Peter Pan sequel emerges as halfway reasonable
Barbie as Rapunzel (2002)
Animation/Barbie Enacts Fairytale
The second of the animated Barbie films, this casts her as the title character in the popular Brothers Grimm fairytale, which has been considerably embellished. This suffers the glassy plasticity of the early Mainframe films
Tamala 2010 (2002)
Demented Anime/Girl Cat's Space Adventures
Grungy low tech anime that comes out like a sarcastic version of Hello Kitty
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)
Comic-Book Superhero/Animation
One of the better films spun off from the 1990s animated Batman tv series, introducing the character of Batwoman (although a different one to the comic-book incarnation).
Barbie of Swan Lake (2003)
Animation/Barbie Enacts Fairytale
The third animated film based on the popular girl’s doll Barbie. This places Barbie into Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake in an okay telling, if one that suffers from the usual limited animation of Mainframe’s early films
Brother Bear (2003)
Disney Animation/Inuit Warrior Transformed into a Bear
One of the flop Disney animated films of the 2000s, set among the Inuit with the head-scratching premise of a warrior who is transformed into a bear
Finding Nemo (2003)
Pixar Animation/Talking Fish
An unabashed delight among the Pixar films about a fish parent on a quest to find his missing son. This comes with an extraordinarily vibrant palette of colours and a line-up of winningly eccentric characters
Stitch! The Movie (2003)
Disney Animation Sequel
Cheaply made video-released sequel to Lilo & Stitch, which is only a rehash but does surprisingly reunite all the voice talents
The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
Gonzo Animation
Splendidly original and completely off the wall work of stylised animation from Sylvain Chomet
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Arabian Nights Adventure/Animation
DreamWorks animated Sinbad adventure by the numbers that seems to go out of its way to tell a Sinbad story divorced of its Islamic cultural background
The Animatrix (2003)
Compilation of Matrix Anime Shorts
To accompany their two Matrix sequels, The Wackowskis hired seven anime directors to each make a short film set in The Matrix universe. The results are often quite remarkable
Interstella 5555 (2003)
Anime/Intergalactic Rock Band
Dance music duo Daft Punk collaborate with anime directors to create an animated space opera based on their album Discovery about an intergalactic rock band and their fight to save the galaxy
Atlantis: Milo’s Return (2003)
Disney Animation Sequel
Another shabby Disney video-released sequel, in this case to Atlantis the Lost Empire. The result looks like three episodes of an unsold tv series slapped together to sell as a film
The Jungle Book 2 (2003)
Disney Animation/Jungle Boy
From the late 90s/early 00s period where Disney were churning out cheap sequels to their animated classics of yesteryear, a wholly unnecessary continuation of The Jungle Book
Steamboy (2004)
Steampunk Anime
Sixteen years after making Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo returns to direct a full-length anime, making a Steampunk work that is dazzling in its epic quality and vistas of mass destruction
The Incredibles (2004)
Pixar Animation/Superhero Spoof
Big hit for Pixar and director Brad Bird, a witty spoof of the superhero film that shows a superhero family trying to deal with everyday life. Enormously good-natured fun all around
Shrek 2 (2004)
Animation/Fairytale Spoof
Shrek was a fresh and original hit. The first of four insipid sequels, this seems to merely coast by on our liking of the characters while upping the fairytale parody
Appleseed (2004)
Anime/Future Anti-Terrorist Squad
A dazzling reboot of the earlier manga/anime made with stunning photorealistic animation design and breathtaking action scenes that made this a benchmark for modern anime. Sequels followed.
The Polar Express (2004)
Animation/Train Journey to the North Pole
This broke ground in being the first animated film made using the motion-capture process. Robert Zemeckis directs with a quite magical touch
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Anime/Epic Fantasy
This Hayao Miyazaki film about a girl who becomes assistant to a mysterious magician is not quite in the same league as Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away but has the sublime beauty, eccentric characters and tender charms that all his work does
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie – Pyramid of Light (2004)
Anime/Playing Card Dueling
An animated film based on the hit playing card phenomenon, which proves largely incomprehensible to anybody not versed in the game
Barbie Fairytopia (2004)
Animation/Land of Fairies
The previous Barbie animated films had adapted various fairytales but this casts her as a fairy in a magical kingdom – simplistic, but one of the most colourfully animated of Mainframe’s Barbie films
Shark Tale (2004)
Animation/Talking Fish
DreamWorks animated talking fish film that was dismissed in the shadow of Pixar’s earlier Finding Nemo but is perfectly likeable in its own right
Home on the Range (2004)
Disney Animation/Talking Cattle
The last hand-drawn animated film from Disney and one of their few flops, but by no means unlikeable. The premise of talking cows setting out on a quest gives this a madcap eccentricity
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)
TV Series Spinoff/Gonzo Animation
Spongebob Squarepants was a sleeper hit on the Nickelodeon Channel that crossed over to find an adult following; this is the first of the film spinoffs. The film comes with a zanily surreal sense of humour that ran through the series that is frequently downright hilarious
The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)
Anime/Alternate History/Mysterious Tower
Beautiful anime from Makoto Shinkai, made in the Hayao Miyazaki style set in an alternate history Japan concerning a mysterious hyper-dimensional tower
Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper (2004)
Animation/Barbie Fairytale
Here the Barbie films turn to Mark Twain’s classic (non-fantasy) tale of rags and riches and spins it as a fairytale This has the same blank, plastic style of the early Barbie films and is otherwise bland
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
Cyberpunk Anime
Mamoru Oshii’s follow-up to Ghost in the Shell where he makes a work that pushes both an artistic envelope at the same time as taking his philosophical fascination with the Cyberpunk world to a stunning level
Mindgame (2004)
Surrealist Anime
Anime based on an autobiographical manga that leaps off into a variety of styles and comes filled with madcap surrealistic visuals
Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts (2015)
Comic-Book Superhero/Animation
An animated Batman film that is essentially an extended commercial based on a line of toys wherein Batman fights super-villains that have an animal motif
The Emperor’s New Groove 2: Kronk’s New Groove (2005)
Disney Animation
Another of the cheap made-for-video Disney animated sequels that were made during the 1990s/2000s, they tries to get by on association with its predecessor’s name
Kong, King of Atlantis (2005)
Animation/King Kong vs the Lizard People of Atlantis
The most ridiculous work to bear Kong’s name – an animated film with songs where Kong has two buddies who says “dude” and “bro” a lot and Kong fights the lizard people from Atlantis
Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005)
Animation/African Folk Tales
Michel Ocelot returns to make a sequel to Kirikou and the Sorceress. This expands the quality of animation and is slightly the lesser than its predecessor but not without its charms
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2005)
Animation/Mouse Boy
The third of the Stuart Little films, this one animated instead of its live-action predecessors
Robots (2005)
Animation/Cute Robots
Enjoyably likeable animated film from Blue Sky Studios set in a world inhabited by robots. Lots of visual invention and madcap slapstick
Chicken Little (2005)
Disney Animation/Talking Animals/Alien Invasion
Head-scratching animated oddity from Disney that adapts the talking animal fairytale only to throw in a series of bizarre plot elements that end up as an alien invasion story
Valiant (2005)
Animation/Talking Carrier Pigeons
Amiable British animated film set amongst the Allied Resistance during World War II, all cast with talking carrier pigeons
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)
Anime/Computer Game Adaptation
Not a seventh sequel to Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, this adapts the videogame of the same name. Dazzling anime action but is take-no-prisoners with explanations about what is happening to non game players
Madagascar (2005)
Animation/Talking Animals
Enjoyably silly DreamWorks animated film concerning a group of talking zoo animals that are released into the wilds of Africa for the first time. This spawned a series of sequels
The Batman vs. Dracula (2005)
Comic-Book Superhero vs Vampire/Animation
A film spinoff from the animated The Batman tv series, this offers a great title match but proves a disappointment. Moreover, it has to twist comic-book canon to make the plot work
Hoodwinked! (2005)
Animation/Little Red Riding Hood Deconstructed
Animated film that offers a revisionist take on Little Red Riding Hood. Everything is played in a manic barrage of pop culture gags and level of inanity that is seriously mind damaging
Flushed Away (2006)
Animation/Talking Rats
Aardman Animation abandon Claymation for regular animation in this story of a pet rat thrown out of his comfort zone down into the sewers. Alas, this only serves to make it just another talking animals animated film
Open Season (2006)
Animation/Talking Animals
Passable animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, although the story arcs too closely resemble every other animated film for it to have much in the way of notability
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Animation/Philip K. Dick Adaptation/Identity Bending Drugs
Richard Linklater conducts an animated adaptation of the Philip K. Dick novel with extremely faithful results. Keanu Reeves is a police officer assigned to investigate what he realises is himself
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Anime/Time Travel
Mamoru Hosoda delivers an appealingly sweet anime about a girl who discovers that she has the ability to travel through time. Based on a popular Japanese Young Adult novel
Azur and Asmar (2006)
Animation/Arabian Fairytale
Next to Hayao Miyazaki, Michel Ocelot is the greatest animators of all time but one of the least widely recognised. Here he conducts a beautifully made Arabian fairytale
The Wild (2006)
Animation/Talking Zoo Animals
Likeable animated film about a group of zoo animals making an escape that ended up being overshadowed by the similar, more high-profile Madagascar
Renaissance (2006)
Animation/Futuristic Film Noir
Dazzling French animated Cyberpunk film shot in the performance capture animated process and then rendered in striking two-tone black-and-white
Over the Hedge (2006)
Animation/Talking Animals
Likeable DreamWorks animated film filled with much slapstick energy about a group of talking animals that venture into a housing estate in search of food
Arthur and the Invisibles (2006)
Miniature Magical World
Lightweight Luc Besson directed children’s fantasy with a young boy shrunken down to miniature size to engage in a series of CGI animated adventures among a race of fairy-like people. Several sequels followed
Bambi II (2006)
Disney Animation/Talking Animals
One of the better video-released Disney sequels churned out during the 90s/00s, this finds some of the innocence of the original even if it never scales the same heights
Barbie Mermaidia (2006)
Animation/Fairy Barbie Visits the Mermaid Kingdom
Seventh of the animated Barbie films, spinoff of the earlier Barbie Fairytopia, all delivered in sugary upbeat sentiments amid pastel colour schemes that would look eye-poppingly psychedelic if one were high
Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (2006)
Animation/Comic-Book Superhero Team
The first film featuring DC Comics; Teen Titans, a spinoff from the Teen Titans animated series
Paprika (2006)
Anime/Dream Therapy Device
A venture inside the dreamscape from anime director Satoshi Kon who creates a beautifully animated work even if some of the ideas become excessively convoluted
Tekkonkinkreet (2006)
Anime/The Lives of Street Kids
Anime about two homeless boys living in an inner city neighbourhood. The background artwork has a stunning degree of detail such that the city almost becomes its own character
Curious George (2006)
Animation/Mischievous Monkey
An animated film based on a popular series of children’s books about a mischievous monkey. Amiable but a film mostly intended for the pre-school set
Tales from Earthsea (2006)
Anime/Epic Fantasy
Hayao Miyazaki’s son Goro more than capably takes up his father’s mantle in a anime beautiful adaptation of one of Ursula K. Le Guin’s later Earthsea books
Aachi & Ssipak (2006)
Demented Korean Anime
South Korean anime that is set in a future world where people are obsessed with shit. This comes with a demented energy and a filthy-mindedness that is determined to outrage
Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses (2006)
Animation/Barbie Fairytale
Another animated Barbie film that leaves you quite certain that every problem in life can be solved with a positive upbeat ditty
Ultimate Avengers II (2006)
Marvel Comics Superhero Team/Animation
Follow-up to the previous animated Marvel Comics film featuring The Avengers, this serves to introduce Black Panther to the screen for the first time
Barnyard (2006)
Animation/Talking Animals
An incredibly silly animated film set around the antics of talking barnyard animals. Directed by comedy writer Steve Oedekerk, this is almost entirely centred around gags involving animals doing parodies of human things
Happy Feet (2006)
Animation/Talking and Dancing Penguins
George Miller of Mad Max fame makes a motion-capture animated film about a young penguin who sets out to fulfill his dream of tap-dancing. This ends up being a film of unexpectedly winning charms
Ultimate Avengers (2006)
Marvel Comics Superhero Team/Animation
The first of several animated films based on Marvel Comics properties, this does a solid job in adapting Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, a retelling of The Avengers origin story
Happily N’Ever After (2006)
Animation/Fairytale Deconstruction
Another in the spate of animated fairytale parodies that came out in the wake of Shrek, this subjects Cinderella to an excruciating barrage of pop-culture jokes and one-liners
U (2006)
Animation/Talking Animal Frolics
A likeable and colourful French animated film
The Ant Bully (2006)
Animation/Boy Reduced to Ant Size
An animated film about a child who is cruel to ants only to be magically reduced down to their size and then have to become their saviour against an exterminator
Monster House (2006)
Animation/Living House Amok
Delightful motion capture animated film about children discovering a neighbourhood house that is alive. Written with refreshingly well-rounded characters and directed with a great sense of comic grotesque
Ice Age 2 (2006)
Animation/Prehistoric Talking Animals
The first in a series of interminable sequels to Blue Sky Studios’ animated prehistoric adventure. Everything has a tediousness that feels as though it is created by a script generating computer
Cars (2006)
Pixar Animation/Talking Vehicles
Winning animated film from Pixar based around the appealingly original idea of vehicles having personalities. The idea is spun out with considerable wit and sophistication. Two sequels followed.
Princess (2006)
Animation/Anti-Porn Vigilante
Animated film from Denmark about a man who goes on an ultra-violent crusade against the porn industry over the loss of innocence of his young niece
Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006)
Comic-Book Superhero/Animation
Spinoff of the 1990s animated Superman tv series, made as tie in for Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns Some good action, negligible use of the characters unlike the DC Universe Animated Original Movies that began the following year, at best a routine episode of the tv series
Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow (2007)
Animation/Land of Fairies
Sequel to the earlier Barbie animated film Barbie Fairytopia. Extremely colourful but essentially a fantasy version of a teenage girl high school drama that quickly slips into pre-packaged formula
TMNT (2007)
Comic-Book Superheroes/Animation
Animated revival of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which brings them back to the screen with a satisfyingly gritty edge and a series of kinetic action sequences
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Disney Animation/Gonzo Future Family/Time Travel
One of the more enjoyable efforts from the mid-2000s dead zone where Disney animation with filled with ideas that left-you scratching your head, this quickly gets demented and emerges like The Jetsons colliding with The Royal Tenenbaums
Vexille (2007)
Anime/Future Android Japan
Anime film about an android-overrun future Japan that resembles another episode of the Appleseed franchise
Battle for Terra (2007)
Animation/War Between Human Colonists and Aliens
Animated film that has a remarkable number of similarities to Avatar – even though it was released before. A simplistic variant of the same human colonists vs alien natives plot conducted with corner-cut CGI animation
Beowulf (2007)
Epic Legend/Animation
After the success of the motion captured animated The Polar Express, Robert Zemeckis turned his attentions to the classic legend. Armed with a Neil Gaiman script and a host of name actors in the mocap suits, the result is a soaring fantasy
Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone (2007)
Anime/Invasion by Vast Alien Machines
The first in a series of film reboots of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime tv series. Epic animation but you need to the part of the fanbase of the original to understand what is going on
Barbie as The Island Princess (2007)
Animation/Barbie Fairytale
Another of the animated Barbie films, this casts her as a desert island castaway accompanied by a retinue of talking animals. Visually colourful but slight
Bee Movie (2007)
Animation/Talking Bees
Appealingly nonsensical DreamWorks animated film written by Jerry Seinfeld who also voices a bee who befriends a human woman and then stands up against the exploitation of bees
Shrek the Third (2007)
Animation/Fairytale Spoof
The third of the Shrek films settles in with a formulaic blandness where the characters turn up more because everyone expects them to than the film finds much for them to do
Doctor Strange (2007)
Marvel Comics Magician Superhero/Animation
One among a handful of animated films based on Marvel Comics properties, this conducts a passable telling of the origin story of the Sorcerer Supreme