Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back to cover more 2025 animated movies, and I especially need one after divulging my animated movie hot takes last time round. This time, we got eight, yes eight, animated movies to cover so let’s introduce the elite eight we are exploring!
The first movie, Sultana’s Dream, sees a Spanish artist, inspired by Rokeya Hossain’s novel “Sultana’s Dream”, travelling across her country to find a place where women can live in peace. Sultana’s Dream is the winner of the Contrechamp category at the 2024 Annecy Film Festival, so this would be my 20th Annecy Film Festival 2024 movie. Given three Contrechamp movies, The Missing, The Glassworker and Pelikan Blue, all got high praise from me last year, will Sultana’s Dream also get the same praise?
The second movie, Sea in a Box, is a Chinese streaming animated movie, taking place in a virtual reality game where the main characters discover a mysterious force that could affect the actual state of the game itself. With China now grasping the power of animation, various Chinese animation studios and stream studios capitalise on the rise of Chinese animation, including Chinese streaming giant Bilibili, who decided to produce the movies themselves.
The third movie, Dance with the Finless Porpoise, centres on a dolphin fairy who sets on a mission to venture into the real world save her people in the dolphin tribe from extinction. Just like with Sea in a Box, this movie was also as a result of the rise of Chinese animation, but one notable mention was the negative response it got from the Chinese movie rating site, Douban, scoring a low 3.5 out of a possible 10. Now that I had seen this movie, was this movie deserving of this low rating?
The fourth movie, Rebellious, is a fractured fairy tale animated movie by relative first-timers where a scholar uses his wit to save his princess who got kidnapped by an evil sorcerer. Well, it seems just as I was done with the family-friendly foreign CG animated movie slop, so that I can focus on the better quality animated movies, here comes another one of those movies. Well, let’s get that out of the way…
The fifth movie, Fox and Hare Save the Forest, is a stop-motion style CG animated movie where Fox and Hare, two unlikely friends, went on a quest to find their Owl friend who had suddenly gone missing one day. Fox and Hare debuted at least year’s Annecy International Film Festival in the non-competition Annecy Presents category two months after its premiere screening in The Netherlands, but will this short environmental adventure land on its feet?
The sixth movie, Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom, centres on a princess and a young man from two opposing warring nations who met by chance, and realised they must act as a couple to maintain peace in their lands. This was an animated movie that came out in 2023 and even so, not many people had the chance to see this movie, so I was lucky to get a free screening of this at a local library. How will this free screening go?
The seventh movie, Plankton: The Movie, sees the evil Plankton on another quest to steal the elusive Krabby Patty recipe from his arch-rival and owner of the Krusty Krab Mr Krabs. After my horrible experience with another SpongeBob SquarePants CG animated movie in Saving Bikini Bottom last year, Plankton: The Movie was also leaked but now, it finally is getting a proper release on the platform in March 2025. Will this movie be at least an improvement?
The eighth and final movie, Ne Zha 2, is the sequel to the 2019 blockbuster Chinese animated movie hit, and this sequel continues where the movie left off with Ne Zha and Ao Bing’s souls being rescued, but their souls slowly disappearing, the Taoist deity Taiyi Zhenren plans to use a magical lotus to reconstruct their bodies, but it turns out trying to do so might be difficult for both Ne Zha and Ao Bing as they had other issues to deal with before that could happen. Ne Zha 2 already made history by becoming the highest grossing animated movie of all time, beating the record set by Inside Out 2 last year. What’s more impressive, however, was that Inside Out 2 relied on its global success, Ne Zha 2 only required one country to do so, which made its feat already earth-shattering. With all eyes on this sequel, is Ne Zha 2 worthy of the gods?
Shall we? Let’s get started on this adventure!
Sultana’s Dream
Key Information
- Director: Isabel Herguera
- Animation Studios: Sultan Films, Abano Producions
- Country of Origin: Spain, Germany
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 17 November 2023 (in Spain)
Trailer
The Review
While Sultana’s Dream was not on my radar due to how difficult it is to find a copy of it, I was able to find one and I got to see it. Considering this won the Contrechamp category at Annecy 2024, especially since I covered three Contrechamp movies last year… Sultana’s Dream was a letdown.
Talking about the negatives first, and the writing is what lets down the entire movie. The story has no cohesion whatsoever as the story is a sequence of stories that just do not flow well, not to mention the lack of direction to bring this story forward. As a result, This creates a rather boring experience, where I found it easy to zone out of whatever was going on within the plot of Sultana’s Dream.
It is a shame, because the animation is something special. It utilises a lot of hand-drawn and unique animation sequences that make it stand out compared to other non-mainstream animated movies. There is a reason why it competed in the Contrechamp movie, because it felt very different from what you would expect from a typical animated movie. That is also not to mention the well-executed music score that puts you back into the world of Sultana’s Dream, creating an experience that, despite the lacklustre writing, you can never forget.
I got to be honest, while Sultana’s Dream is overall a disappointment thanks to its aimless writing, the animation and score is still worth seeing it at least once. It is at least something to behold, which is better than nothing, I guess.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Sea in a Box
Key Information
- Directors: Yang Ke
- Animation Studios: Bilibili (with Spice Animation)
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 3 October 2024 (in China)
Trailer
The Review
For the past two years, one common issue I have with an animated movie in general is the writing quality, as while there are movies with fantastic writing, most of them just do not have strong enough writing to stand up on its own, and with Sea in a Box, that is the case.
For me, the writing felt overwhelming and confusing, and given its two-hour runtime, the movie felt quite long just like the runtime because of its confusing story. That said, when the story picks up in the third act during the final 40 minutes, it definitely pick up its pace and provided a satisfying conclusion to this otherwise confusing story. Characters are decently developed and treated with respect, and voice acting is overall fine.
The animation is also great, having beautiful background animation as do most Chinese animated movies, but when it incorporates its 3D animation elements into the mix, the animation style becomes weird and uncanny, and I just wish the movie sticks to its 2D style more. Still, this weird style did not take away from the brutal and well-constructed animation sequences, which were more prevalent during the second half.
With everything else in this movie being good and nothing more, as for my level of enjoyment, considering this movie was meant to be released in a streaming service (Bilibili), I felt Sea in a Box serves its purpose of being a decent animated movie very well, but that is all to it about this movie, I’m afraid.
Overall, Sea in a Box is the type of animated movie that is decently executed and has a good amount of intrigue that at least makes it stand out. Unfortunately, with its confusing plot that goes nowhere during the first two acts and its weird animation style, Sea in a Box will be lost at sea once more exciting animated movies come into play.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Dance with the Finless Porpoise
Key Information
- Directors: Chen Weijian and Chen Xi
- Animation Studio: GDC
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 20 January 2024 (in China)
Trailer
The Review
Having seen the movie even knowing the low Douban score, I am confused… Confused with the score that is, because yes, the movie has its flaws, but it did not deserve that low of a score.
Talking about the flaws, the movie’s story combining a character from an ancient world with another character from the modern world felt too heavily-handed with its romantic plot between those two characters, resulting in not enough focusing on its main messaging about the environment and the Yangtze River Dolphins. I also feel some animation sequences, including the water elements, are not that well-rendered compared to other animation sequences, and the soundtrack felt slightly more heavy on the Mandopop side.
However, despite those flaws, I feel the overall story and pacing is pretty good. The characters have good enough development, especially when these character dynamics are essential in the climatic scene. Additionally, there were a lot of fantastic animation sequences where the animators mix in 2D and 3D elements together, and they gel together in the end. This turns Finless Porpoise into a surprisingly beautiful movie that may not be as great as some of the best animated movies from this country, but it is a beautiful enough animated movie, with competent animation to boot.
In conclusion, for an animated movie with that low of a Douban score, I honestly do not get how Dance with the Finless Porpoise got such a low rating, because for the numerous faults it has throughout its runtime, there were more than enough bright spots to carry this movie, especially with some of the animation sequences. It is such a shame this movie is getting a lot of hate from the Chinese community, because it is definitely a decent enough movie that can stand out when needed.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Rebellious
Key Information
- Director: Alex Tsitsilin
- Animation Studio: Magic Frame Animation
- Country of Origin: United Kingdom, Cyprus
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 25 October 2024 (in the United Kingdom)
Trailer
The Review
I am not sure whether this movie was worth discussing in an extensive manner, especially since Rebellious is yet another Americanised family-friendly foreign CG animated movie, so I will go straight to the point: I do not recommend it, but because it is terrible, but it is a very middle-of-the-road animated movie not worth highlighting.
To cut to the chase, while the writing is not that terrible, it relies a lot on animated movie tropes other good quality fractured fairy tale animated movies do better, the story and its consistency felt rather bizarre, and the characters felt under-baked, not to mention having a phoned-in voice acting performances you would expect from this type of animated movie.
Additionally, the animation felt cheap looking and under-rendered at parts. That is also not to mention some of the character designs very generic looking. That said, the overall animation is not too bad, as even with the cheap designs, it still looked competently animated, especially one from relative first-timers. While the other elements are not worth highlighting, I honestly do not feel too annoyed with Rebellious. Was its existence necessary? Perhaps not, but at least it did not made me furious about it.
Overall, it is clear Rebellious will all be forgotten as yet another Americanised foreign CG animated movie in a sea of countless Americanised foreign CG animated movies. Definitely not worth going out of the way to see, that’s for sure.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Fox and Hare Save the Forest
Key Information
- Director: Mascha Halberstad
- Animation Studios: Submarine, Walking the Dog and Doghouse Films
- Country of Origin: Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 24 April 2024 (in The Netherlands)
Trailer
The Review
Well, this is yet another family-friendly foreign animated movie, and if you had seen my various reviews on these movies, of which there are many, it can be very tiring to cover these movies and realised most are of the same old story formula and same old animation style. As such, family-friendly animated movies that deviate from this formula will always stand out, regardless of the overall quality, and… Fox and Hare Save the Forest did just that!
I was hesitant about it at first, especially given this was geared towards its children audience and this was by two animation studios behind Richard the Stork 2, which I personally did not like in my review of it last year. However, by the end of this relatively digestible 68-minute animated movie, I was shocked by how much I genuinely enjoyed it. A lot of it was because the writing is way less cynical compared to most family-friendly foreign animated movies, resulting in a story that is light but well-realised with its environmental messaging, as well as surprisingly decent character development despite its short run-time. In fact, the short runtime is my biggest complaint, as I feel five to ten more minutes of this and the movie would be better.
I was also surprised by its animation, as rather than going for the usual tired CG style that is apparent in most family-friendly foreign animated movies, uses a mixture of CG and stop-motion to create this rough stop-motion animation style that gets inspiration from nature, especially its forest setting. The deliberate ugliness of its character designs makes its background designs shine, and the overall animation quality is way better than most family-friendly foreign animated movies that suffer from the same old animation quality issues. It is also surprising to see such a movie with a surprisingly catchy soundtrack, and as a result, I enjoyed this movie way more than I should.
In conclusion, Fox and Hare Save the Forest has no right to be this engaging given this is yet another family-friendly foreign CG animated movie, but it managed to do just that and for that reason, this is at least worth seeing to a certain extent. It may not be a standout, but this movie achieves in what it was accomplishing, which cannot be said for most family-friendly foreign animated movies unfortunately.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom
Key Information
- Directors: Mario Asak and Kotono Watanabe
- Animation Studio: Madhouse
- Country of Origin: Japan
- Rating: PG13
- Release date: 8 October 2023 (in Singapore as part of the 2023 Japanese Film Festival Singapore)
Trailer
The Review
Up until the review of this movie, the Rundown has been rather mediocre, as there was not a standout animated movie. Sure, February is empty of the major animated movies (and no, before you ask, Ne Zha 2 does not count, as I only got that movie in March, but more about it later), but it does not excuse the fact that the animated movies I covered up until this point are not worth talking about. Thankfully, Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom redeems an otherwise lacklustre February for me.
To talk about some of the gripes I have, Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom is a familiar type of animated movie, and while it handled a lot of heavy-hitting issues, there were times where the movie sugarcoats those themes, resulting in a slightly cheesy animated movie where it does not take the story seriously enough. This is a problem, because it resulted in an inconsistent tone where the movie suddenly lightens up when it does not need to, and likewise, it becomes too serious without have good build-up.
With that said, Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom succeeds in exploring conflicts between two warring nations and the unexpected romance between two main characters, one from each of those nations, and dealt its themes well. The writing is solid and has well-developed ideas and messages that some cinemagoers can relate, given its relevance to today’s global issues. Additionally, the comedy, while a bit too much for this type of movie, felt effortless and does not rely on cheap jokes at all, the characters, especially its romantic undertones between the two main characters, felt well-developed with great voice acting performances. It might be a familiar plot, but the execution sells its concept better than it should have.
The minor elements are also as solid as the writing and animation, and as for my level of enjoyment, despite the cheesiness of this movie, I was sold by the movie at the end because this is just a great quality animated movie that succeeds in telling a great story. Sometimes, you do not need theatrics and flair to have a great animated movie; all you need is a great execution of the movie’s concept and animation style, and you will succeed in producing a great animated movie most cinemagoers can enjoy.
Overall, while this Rundown has been rather tiring so far, Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom redeems the entire Rundown for me up till this point. It might not be a flashy animated movie, but despite the cheese, this cheese is a good type of cheese; savoury, enjoyable and most of all, of great quality.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Plankton: The Movie
Key Information
- Director: Dave Needham
- Animation Studio: Nickelodeon Animation Studio
- Country of Origin: United States
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 7 March 2025 (on Netflix)
Trailer
The Review
While I was not looking forward to Plankton: The Movie coming from seeing Saving Bikini Bottom the previous year, I was still willing to give yet another SpongeBob CG animated movie another chance, and… This is easily more watchable than that!
One question I ask the SpongeBob is “Why are you guys still sticking to computer-generated animation?” I get that CG animation is more popular than the 2D hand-drawn style animation this legendary series is known for, on top of its endless suite of gags and throwbacks. I will admit, there are some scenes where the Plankton movie spice up the animation with sequences utilising different animation styles, and the animation itself is less nauseating compared to the previous SpongeBob CG animated movie. With that said, however, the movie still relies on old and tired SpongeBob cliches that just feel tired, the animation style is just not my personal taste and the musical numbers are just fine.
I know I had not anything else further to say about Plankton: The Movie, but the fact of the matter is that it just felt like any other CG animated movie that serves to be for the family audience and SpongeBob fans, and not any animated movie that is willing to do something different to stand out. As a result, this movie becomes too stale real fast, and most importantly, we need to get to Ne Zha 2 right now, because this is where things shift to high gear…
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Ne Zha 2
Key Information
- Director: Yu Yang
- Animation Studios: Coco Cartoon, Coloroom Pictures and Beijing Enlight Pictures
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: PG13
- Release date: 6 March 2025 (in Singapore)
Trailer
The Review
Going into this movie having seen the first one, I knew Ne Zha 2 would be something special, especially given I enjoyed the first Ne Zha movie. Yes, there were flaws in the first one, but it was already a fantastic Chinese animated movie that shows the shift in Chinese animation from outsourcing their animation to other countries to producing better quality animated movies on their own with so much passion and dedication. However, after seeing this one… HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!
I do not have any idea what to say about Ne Zha 2, except this is why I had been talking about modern Chinese animation for a good amount of time. Ne Zha 2 pretty much takes what was fantastic about the first movie, such as its vulgar but refined humour, the relationship between Ne Zha and Ao Bing, the thrilling action sequences and the exciting music score, and turn them up to eleven while also polishing the flaws within. The jokes are much more refined and less distracting compared to the first, which is always a good thing, the existing and new characters have much more depth and top-quality voice acting, the writing and pacing is so on-point and its many twists and turns made it an emotional rollercoaster ride from start to finish. As such, despite its two-hour runtime, this is such a bombastic yet earth-shattering two hours that I do not mind its runtime at all. In fact, Ne Zha 2 having a two-hour time is actually perfect, and I have little to no complaints about the writing whatsoever.
In addition, if the animation is already fantastic in the first, then the animation is even better in the second! This time, every action sequence felt very cinematic and well-paced especially in the final battle sequence where it might give Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse a run for its money as the best third-act cinematic battle sequence in any animated movie. The character and background designs are even more detailed and polished compared to the first, some of the action comedy is on point and most of all, this was a torrent of colours from start to finish without feeling overwhelming. Honestly, the animation is also fantastic from start to finish and is easily one of the best photorealistic CG animated movies of the past two years.
Once again, the music score is excellent and hyped up every action scene when needed and slows down once the movie hits any emotional scene, thus further enhancing the already on-point animated movie. As for my level of enjoyment, after almost complaining about a lacklustre start to this year, March is proof of it being the fire-starter for the theatrical animation scene almost every year, because I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The first movie already got me excited about the sequel, but Ne Zha 2 elevated everything that was great about the first one, I am already seated for Ne Zha 3 just like almost everyone else that had seen this movie.
In conclusion, it is easy to see why Ne Zha 2 became the highest grossing animated movie of all time, because this sequel not only does everything better than the first one, but vindicates my views that non-mainstream and international animation is here to stay for good. This not only dethrones I Am What I Am as my most favourite Chinese animated movie of all time, but is also one of the best foreign CG animated movies of all time. If you want something different and exciting, Ne Zha 2 fits the bill and you must see it!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Conclusion
Despite this Rundown having eight animated movies, I feel this should have been titled “2025 Animated Movies Rundown (Part 2): Ne Zha (Plus Seven Other Animated Movies)” because Ne Zha 2 blows every other animated movie on this Rundown out of the water. In fact, just go see Ne Zha 2 because this is proof non-mainstream animation is now more exciting than the big Hollywood animated movies.
Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure. Well, after 10 animated movies, it is finally time we venture out to our first full animated movie adventure of the year, and let’s say this adventure will be a bit on the looney side. Well, until next time, see you on the next adventure!
