Animated films are usually considered kid’s stuff, but as “Inside Out” showed us, even the toughest of adults can be brought to tears with a good animated film. 2015 saw a good slew of animated films from across the globe that crossed all genres. So here’s the best in animation, both 2D and 3D, that the year brought us.
Hailing from Britain was “Shaun the Sheep Movie,” which took Shaun and his friends on an adventure into the big city to rescue the amnesiac Farmer. Even though it had virtually no dialogue, the escapades of Shaun and the farm animals left audiences guffawing away. And that’s thanks to good direction and superb animation. Think about it — how many actors can pull off good humour without a single spoken word?
It also had touching moments between Shaun and the Farmer, and even gave us a good number of action scenes where the animals wreak havoc across the city. It was aimed at kids, but even adults found themselves enjoying the film.
2)Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods
France and Belgium gave us “Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods,” which was groundbreaking in that it was the first 3D animated Asterix movie. And what a treat it was to see the energetic Asterix and bumbling Obelix rendered in full 3D to battle the evil machinations of Julius Caesar and the Romans.
It retained all the elements of the comics that made it so endearing, while giving it a new shine through the strengths of 3D animation. Seeing the supporting cast of Asterix, like wizard Getafix, was equally entertaining, as well as watching the easily influenced Gauls sway from one side to the other.
From Japan, we got the new “Dragon Ball” movie held a rematch between classic villain Frieza and Goku. But since Goku had since been significantly powered up from his Frieza days, the antagonist had to be similarly powered up to match Goku’s abilities. And hence this film gave us the classically cheesy Golden Frieza!
Of course, Frieza was never really a threat to Goku, especially with the presence of Beerus and Whis. But the nostalgia it generated by hearkening back to the 80s was the true appeal of the film.
And of course, we have this year’s knockout animation film of the year from Disney, “Inside Out.” You never really quite recovered from seeing Bing Bong’s sacrifice, even though there were plenty of laughs after that. The guileless sincerity of all the characters is what really moved us, and its depiction of depression was authentic without being too dark for child audiences.
It’s what moved depression to the forefront of discussions, with its depiction of how victims struggled with depression. Yet it never got too melancholy despite the subject matter. Its ultimate theme, that of balance, resonated not just with sufferers of depression, but audiences everywhere.
So what are your picks for animated films in 2015?
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