Animated Movies Throughout the Years: 1995-1997

Animated Movies Throughout the Years: 1995-1997
1995

There were two animated movies released in April. The first was the feature film debut of everyone's favorite dim-witted anthropomorphic dog Goofy, simply called A Goofy Movie. The film did actually well at the box-office and got favorable reviews. It's even a favorite of film critic and historian Leonard Maltin!

The second was Don Bluth's final film from Sullivan-Bluth Studios, The Pebble and the Penguin. The film did poorly at the box-office and got negative reviews. However, the VHS sales were good.

In June, Disney released their 33rd animated movie, Pocahontas. While the film was successful at the box-office, it got mixed reviews. However, Pocahontas did win the Oscars for Best Original Song and Best Original Score.

November saw the premiere of Toy Story, the world's first-ever computer animated feature film. The film grossed over 373 million dollars worldwide and received critical acclaim. Director John Lasseter even received an honorary Oscar for the completion of the first computer animated feature film.

And finally, in December, Amblimation released their third and final film, Balto. It did better at the box-office than their previous two movies, but had to compete against Toy Story.

1996

March saw the US release of Ghost in a Shell, another R-rated anime movie. It was about a half-android girl who must stop The Puppet Master, a government experimental super computer gone horribly wrong and starts hacking other networks.

Also released in March was All Dogs Go To Heaven 2. This movie is notorious for ruining the original film by turning Charlie Barkin, who was originally a gambling dog with a secret soft side, into an incompetent cheeseburger-loving doofus.

In April, Tim Burton released his second stop-motion film, James and the Giant Peach. While the film received good reviews, 'James' only earned 29 million dollars on a 38 million dollar budget.

In June, Disney released their 34th animated feature, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. While the film got better reviews than Pocahontas, it didn't meet box-office expectations.

And finally, in December, the famous dim-witted television duo, Beavis and Butt-Head, made their feature film debut with Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. In this film, Beavis and Butt-Head go on an adventure across the country to retrieve their stolen TV.

1997

In March, Turner Feature Animation released their second and final film, Cats Don't Dance. It's actually a bit like a predecessor to Illumination's Sing. Unfortunately, Cats Don't Dance was a box-office failure, but it did win the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature.

In June, from Ron Clements and John Musker, directors of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, came Disney's 35th animated feature, Hercules. While the film got great reviews in every country except for Greece, Hercules didn't meet box-office expectations. However, it did get the Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.

And finally, in November, Don Bluth released his biggest hit since The Land before Time, Anastasia. This was the first film from Arizona-based animation studio Fox Animation Studios. Anastasia did very well at the box-office, got great reviews, and even got the Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. Sadly, it lost to James Cameron's Titanic.
I'm sorry that I didn't include Space Jam. For this project, I decided to exclude to all movies that are part animated and part live-action, with the exceptions of Walking With Dinosaurs and Sponge Out of Water.
That's all I have to say for this week's Animated Movies Throughout the Years! Tune in on
January 4th when we talk about animated movies from 1998, in which Disney brought us
to China and gave us an honorable movie, DreamWorks made their feature film debut
with The Prince of Egypt, and two CGI insect movies were released simultaneously.