Animated Movies Throughout the Years: 2011

Animated Movies Throughout the Years: 2011

February saw the release of Gnomeo and Juliet, which told a kid-friendly version of Romeo and Juliet with lawn gnomes.

There were two animated movies released in March. The first was Mars Needs Moms, Robert Zemeckis's final motion-capture film. It was a sexist knockoff of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and got rather negative reviews. The film was also a box-office bust, forcing Image Movers Digital, Zemeckis's mo-cap studio, to go out of business.

The second was Rango, from special effects house Industrial Lights and Magic. Their credits include the Star Wars movies, the Indiana Jones movies, Jurassic Park, ET, Dragonheart, and many more. Anyway, Rango got mixed reviews, but managed to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. If you ask me, however, I think Arthur Christmas deserved the Oscar that year.

In April, Blue Sky released their first musical, Rio. It brought viewers to Brazil with colorful and vibrant animation, catchy songs, some likable new characters, and even a warning about poachers who illegally catch endangered animals and sell them for profit. Rio even got the Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, but lost to The Muppets.

Also released in April was Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil. While the animation has slightly improved, the film ruined the original characters we've grown to like in the original film.

In May, our favorite panda bear Po made his return in Kung Fu Panda 2. This became the first American animated movie to be solely directed by a woman: Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Kung Fu Panda 2 also got the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Rango.

June saw the release of Cars 2, which is considered by fans Pixar’s worst film. However, I believe Hoodwinked Too was even worse.

In July, Disney released what appears to be their final hand-drawn film, Winnie the Pooh. In this movie, the critters of the Hundred Acre Wood have to find a new tail for Eeyore, as well as save Christopher Robin from a monster called the 'Backson'. The film was a box-office flop, and Disney decided to abandon 2D animation until further notice.

In October, Puss in Boots, the popular cat from the Shrek films, starred in his first feature film simply called Puss in Boots. It got good reviews, did very well at the box-office, and got the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. Puss in Boots was also the first DreamWorks movie to be co-produced in India, which animated select scenes. The India Unit contributed to every DreamWorks film from then on up to The Boss Baby in 2017.

There were two animated movies released in November. The first was Happy Feet Two, which was about Mumble’s son Eric trying to fit in. Even though the first Happy Feet was successful, Happy Feet Two tanked at the box-office.

The second was Arthur Christmas, Aardman’s first collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation. While the film got very good reviews, it unfortunately didn't meet box-office expectations.

And finally, in December, movie legends Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson teamed up to work on a top-notch motion-capture adaptation of Herge's Tintin. The film was called The Adventures of Tintin, which got good reviews and grossed over 370 million dollars worldwide. Surprisingly, even though Monster House got the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, ‘Tintin’ would be snubbed from that category, as the Academy thinks motion-capture doesn't count as animation. That's all I have to say for this week's Animated Movies Throughout the Years! Tune in next
week when we talk about animated movies from 2012, in which Disney dove into the world
of video games with Wreck-it Ralph, both Pixar and DreamWorks broke traditions with
Brave (Pixar) and Rise of the Guardians (DreamWorks), and three different stop-motion
films were released and each got the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature.