2014- Song of the Sea
I know others would pick The LEGO Movie or How To Train Your Dragon 2 as their favorite animated movie of 2014, but I wanted to include as many 2D films as I did of 3D films.
Song of the Sea takes place in Ireland during the 80s. Ben, whose mother passed away shortly after giving birth to his sister, Saoirse, discovers that his sister is part Selkie, a mythical seal-like creature whose race is in danger. Together, they embark on an adventure to go back home to find Ben's dog Cú (pronounced Coo), and to save the Selkies.
Song of the Sea is a gem of a movie with beautiful animation, three-dimensional characters, a story and musical score that bring you right into Irish culture, and strong messages about sibling cooperation and love.
2015- Inside Out
Inside Out tells the story of what goes on inside the head of an 11-year-old girl named Riley Anderson. Riley's emotions, Joy (Amy Pohler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Anger (Lewis Black), help Riley out through her lifetime. When her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco, California, Riley spirals into depression and cries in front of her new classmates. Things get worse when Joy and Sadness get sucked into the labyrinth of long-term memory, and without Joy, Riley can't be happy.
Inside Out is Pixar's most original movie since Up and their best since Toy Story 3 with breathtaking animation, an emotional (no pun intended) story, likable characters, and a strong message about how it’s okay to be sad sometimes.
2016- Your Name
Mitsuha is the daughter of the mayor of a small mountain town. She's a straightforward high school girl who lives with her sister and her grandmother and has no qualms about letting it be known that she's uninterested in Shinto rituals or helping her father's electoral campaign. Instead, she dreams of leaving the boring town and trying her luck in Tokyo. Taki is a high school boy in Tokyo who works part-time in an Italian restaurant and aspires to become an architect or an artist. Every night he has a strange dream where he becomes...a high school girl in a small mountain town. When a meteor threatens to destroy Mitsuha’s town, she and Taki have to find a way to save everyone.
Your Name is an anime masterpiece with a deep emotional story, three-dimensional characters, Ghibli-quality animation, and excellent music from the band Radwimps. As much as I love Zootopia and Moana, I picked Your Name as my favorite animated movie from 2016 because I wanted to include more than just one or two anime movies.
2017- Coco
Pixar’s 19th feature film is about a 12-year-old boy named Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzales), who wants to be a musician. However, his family hates music because his great-grandfather Ernesto de La Cruz (Benjamin Bratt) abandoned his family to pursue his career. When Miguel breaks into La Cruz’s mausoleum to take his guitar, he gets bewitched into the Land of the Remembered, on Dia de los Muertos, to boot! Now, with the help of a bum named Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal),Miguel has to find a way back to the Land of the Living before sunrise, or else he will remain in the Land of the Remembered forever and become a skeleton.
Coco is another Pixar gem with vibrant and gorgeous animation, likeable characters, excellent music, and a story that not only embraces Mexican culture, but also has a strong message about family and forgiveness.
2018- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) always thought he was the only Spider-Man, but when he gets sucked into a vortex, he ends up in an alternate dimension in which a different Peter Parker dies at the age of 26 during an intense fight with the Green Goblin. Peter meets a teenage Afro-Latino trainee named Miles Morales (Shamiek Moore), and when more portals open up, they encounter Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), the anime-influenced Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and her robot boyfriend, and Peter Porker/Spider-Ham (John Mulaney). Together, they have to stop the broad-shouldered Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) from building a device that will destroy all the Spider-Men/Women's worlds.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the best animated movie of 2018 with a paper-thick story, groundbreaking animation, awesome music from Daniel Pemberton, and likable characters.
2019- Klaus
All mailman Jesper Johansson (Jason Schwartzman) wants is to be respected, but after failing postman training academy, his father sends him to the violent and gloomy town of Smeerensburg. If Jesper delivers 6,000 letters, he can return home. With the help of a woodcarver named Klaus (JK Simmons), they decide to bring joy to the children of Smeerensburg by delivering toys.
Klaus is not only a near-perfect Christmas movie, but also a perfect way to end the decade with fluid animation, a heartfelt story, an all-star cast, and a strong message how one act of kindness always sparks another, even in the most bleak of places.
In Part 5, you’ll see movies with robots, cats, a shapeshifter, and even a shepherd!
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