Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is here for the first adventure for the second half of this year! I cannot wait to share our first 5 animated movies of the year, so let’s get thing started!
The first movie, Jumbo, tells the tale of an Indonesian boy who encounters a spirit who needs his help to reunite with her troubled family while she also helps to retrieve Jumbo’s storybook for his school’s storytelling competition. Jumbo is yet another Southeast Asia animated movie, this time coming from Indonesia whose animation industry is somewhat non-existent. However, this movie already made its presence known with it becoming the highest grossing animated movie in Southeast Asia. And yes, you heard it right: highest in its region. Is this movie actually worth that status?
The second movie, Into the Wonderwoods, features a boy who dreams of becoming an explorer who had to venture into a forest after he was left behind at a rest stop, discovering hidden gems that could help him find his way back to his family. Ever since it was announced as one of the competition movies at last year’s Annecy Film Festival, I was excited to see this movie, only for me to have to wait for more than a year to be able to cover this movie. Will this long wait be worth it?
The third movie, I Am What I Am 2, is a sequel to perhaps one of the most underrated animated movies of the 2020s so far. Starting off where the first movie left off, with Ah Juan (Li Xin), together with his lion dance friends Ah Guo (Hao Guo) and Ah Miao (Chen Yexiong) beginning a new life in Shanghai, where Ah Juan deciding to compete in a martial arts competition to win a cash prize to pay for his father’s medical fees. To win, he must hone in his existing skills as a top-tier lion dancer while picking up new skills to win the competition despite all odds against him. I am extremely excited to see one of my most favourite Chinese animated movies ever created getting a sequel, but the question is: is the sequel as good as the original?
The fourth movie, Bartali’s Bicycle, is a very obscure Italian animated movie about two teenager cyclists from two different rival communities coming together to cycle together, inspired by Tour de France and Giro d’Italia cyclist legend Gino Bartali. This was a movie I was supposed to cover last month as part of the Italian Film Festival Singapore, but because of scheduling conflicts with my Masters coursework assignment, I had to skip out on the movie’s theatrical screening. Now that I got to see it online (through other means), was skipping this movie initially a mistake?
The fifth and final movie, Smurfs, is the 2025 animated movie adaptation of the legendary comic franchise, as the Smurfs are on an adventure once again to rescue Papa Smurf after he was kidnapped by the Gargamel once again. The Smurfs have a lot of animated movies throughout its history, but their ventures into the CG world had been not so promising unfortunately, with most of the CG Smurfs movies not great enough to capture what makes this beloved franchise a well-loved series in the first place. Will this 2025 edition finally break the curse?
Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s begin the second half of 2025!
Jumbo
Key Information
- Director: Ryan Adriandhy
- Animation Studio: Visinema Studios
- Country of Origin: Indonesia
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 26 June 2025 (in Singapore)
Trailer
The Review
I covered many, many family-friendly foreign CG animated movies, and 80% of the time, I either felt bored or worse, insulted by the lack of quality in those movies,with 10% more of those movies being actually passable and the remaining being the mixture of good to surprisingly amazing. It has been said that throughout the history of the animation industry, the likelihood of seeing a good quality family-friendly foreign CG animated movie is slim, even when the global animation industry continues to improve. It is why most major animation reviewers do not cover these movies, because if you have seen one of them, you would probably have seen them all.
However, I covered those movies for one reason: to show that not every family-friendly foreign CG animated movie is terrible. Most of them are, but not all of them are, because there are a handful of movies in that sub-genre that managed to go up and beyond the typical family-friendly foreign CG animated movie that only serves to distract its target audience. Jumbo, thankfully, is one of the best examples of this genre.
From the first 5 minutes of this movie alone, I knew I was in for something very special indeed, because Jumbo might be one of the best written family-friendly foreign CG animated movies of this year. There are a couple of moments that felt forced, but other than that, this movie is just an imaginative and well-rounded animated movie that highlights storytelling in such a creative light. This movie is also well-paced from start to finish and the comedy is on point. Most importantly, however, is that at no point in the movie’s runtime where I felt the movie insulting my intelligence in any way, thus making this movie experience such an emotional rollercoaster, even if I admit some parts are slightly manipulative.
Most importantly, however, are the characters because seeing the main character Don, aka Jumbo (voiced by Price Poetiray) and his character from start to finish, I felt like a kid again, because Don might have one of the best character developments of any animated movie this year so far. The other characters have their own personality and are very well-developed too, and yeah, that means talking about Nurman (Mohammad Yusuf Ozkan) and his cute pet goats if I wanted to, Don’s ghost companion Meri (Quinn Salman) or the real MVP that is Don’s grandmother (Ratna Riantiarno), but we don’t have time for that.
The animation is also top quality and is well and above the animation quality in most family-friendly foreign CG animated movies. Sure, the more recent and much better movies in that sub-genre are already better than similar movies of the past, but the imaginative and expressive animation is just as important. Even with a simiplistic animation style, the rendering of this movie makes it more akin to a big budget mainstream animated movie instead of the typical family-friendly foreign CG animated movie. There is one animation sequence in the middle of the movie that felt very magical and is easily one of my most favourite animation sequences of any family-friendly foreign CG animated movie this year (and we already got great animation sequences from similar top quality family-friendly foreign CG animated movies this year such as The Lost Tiger and Night of the Zoopocalypse).
The soundtrack is also fun and well-composed, with one particular song, “Selalu Ada di Nadimu” by Poetiary and Salman, being one of the best ballads of any 2025 animated movie. I honestly cried when hearing that song in the context of the movie, but here’s my advice: don’t listen to this song or see the music video on YouTube until you see the movie for yourself. Seriously, don’t let the curiosity get ahead of you, once you watch this movie, you will understand why.
As for my level of enjoyment, there is a reason Jumbo is the highest grossing Southeast Asian animated movie of all time, because man, after seeing the hype and praise for this movie, I knew Jumbo would be something very special and indeed, this movie is. This is already among the very best family-friendly foreign CG animated movies in existence, because this is a movie that is quality first and foremost. The writing is never condescending and plays well to a child’s imagination, while also having deep emotional connections with the characters. The animation is one of the very best for family-friendly foreign CG animated movies in existence and the soundtrack is equally remarkable.
However, the question is, does it top the 2 family-friendly foreign CG animated movies that I rated 18/20 and above, Mosley and The Brothers Gruff Go to Splash World? Yes, it definitely did. It will get the same score I gave to the latter, but I am very happy to rank it higher because of how much it left a lasting impact. Go see Jumbo, you will not regret this experience.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Into the Wonderwoods
Key Information
- Directors: Vincent Paronnaud and Alexis Ducord
- Animation Studios: Gao Shan Pictures, Je Suis Bien Content
- Country of Origin: France, Luxembourg
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 23 October 2024 (in France)
Trailer
The Review
I got to be very honest, I am starting to get confused over the sudden rise in the quality of family-friendly foreign CG animated movies this year. Normally, most of these movies are not great and as someone that is a bit of an expert in those movies, I had gone through the trials and tribulations of those movies. Now, with The Lost Tiger, Jumbo earlier on and this, they have restored my faith into the family-friendly foreign CG animated movie sub-genre in general.
Given I spent a lot of time covering Jumbo earlier, I will make this slightly quick, because while I also love Into the Wonderwoods, Jumbo is such a bigger standout for me. Regardless, even if the writing felt juvenile for my taste (with some inappropriate jokes and reliance on animated movie tropes), it is nevertheless a fun and imaginative story that is filled with colourful characters and surprisingly decent messaging about the environment and even artificial intelligence, surprisingly enough.
However, if there is one reason I will recommend Into the Wonderwoods, it is the animation. The animation style is very creative and fun, mixing between different animation styles and mediums without skipping a beat, with those styles making Wonderwoods a colourful experience. This is a visual spectacle that is worth seeing it on the big screen, which is a shame given that I had to wait to cover this movie for more than a year before I ended up seeing it online instead. It also helps that the animation quality and detailing is nearly perfect and even the CG in this one is very well-polished, to a point where I was questioning whether this was produced on an apparently lower budget like most movies of that category.
The soundtrack and minor elements are also good but not that note-worthy, and as for my level of enjoyment, I was having a lot of fun with Into the Wonderwoods. Despite the slightly lacklustre writing, the animation is still fun and creative that I am willing to let go of its shortcomings, because this is such a fun family-friendly foreign CG animated movie.
Overall, Into the Wonderwoods is yet another example of a family-friendly foreign CG animated movie that does not suck or is just a poor imitation of past animated movies, because like the forest where most of the movie takes place, it has a personality and life of its own. I love a good animated movie that does not take itself too seriously, and Wonderwoods passed that vibe check with absolute ease, especially with its animation.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
I Am What I Am 2
Key Information
- Director: Sun Haipeng
- Animation Studio: Yi Animation
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 11 December 2024 (in China)
Trailer
The Review
As someone that is a huge fan of the first movie, I was very looking forward to what this movie has to offer, and needless to say, this movie delivered in every way and is almost as fantastic as the first movie.
While there are a couple of story elements that I personally feel do not conclude in the way I wanted to, and a couple of character arcs just did not hold up for me. However, these are small nitpicks I have with I Am What I Am 2 because everything else was just spectacular. The main character arcs, the villain development and the pacing are all fantastic, and you can tell the writers took their time to pack an emotional punch (pun intended) in the two-hour runtime this movie was given (in fact, this is slightly shorter than another top-tier Chinese animated movie sequel from this year with Ne Zha 2). It’s honestly great that yet another sequel expands the first and does so almost as well as the original.
However, if there is one reason to see this movie, it is the animation. In fact, the animation sequences, whether it is the training montages or the fighting sequences, are beautiful, brutal and above all, thrilling. It is rare to see a photorealistic CG animated movie in 2025 but this movie proves why this style of animation should continue to exist. With every fight sequence, you feel the impact of every punch and kick without feeling cheated out of the experience, and I appreciate an animated movie that showcases the brutality of the animation style.
Again, the soundtrack is as great as the first movie, and as for my level of enjoyment, while it was slightly weaker than the first movie, I still had a lot of fun with I Am What I Am 2. This was another sequel I was looking forward to, and this sequel did not disappoint me in any way.
Overall, if you enjoyed the first movie about lion dancing, then you should be able to enjoy the second movie focusing more on martial arts with some elements of lion dancing. If a third I Am What I Am movie is in the works, then yeah, sign me up!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Bartali’s Bicycle
Key Information
- Director: Enrico Paolatonio
- Animation Studios: Lynx Multimedia Factory, Telegael and Toonz Media Group
- Country of Origin: Italy
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 7 June 2025 (in Singapore as part of the Italian Film Festival Singapore)
Trailer
The Review
Given I finally got to see this movie one month after I missed out, I got to be honest… I almost did not regret seeing this movie in theatres, because although I appreciate what it was aiming to achieve, there was just too many issues for me to ignore.
Given the sheer obscurity of this movie and that there is a lack of interest with Bartali’s Bicycle (not to mention its very limited distribution), I will go straight to the point. While the story about two cycling rivals from two different religions and families who were inspired by the same cyclist legend is nice, and there was some good build-up between those two families towards the second and final acts of the movie, the story just felt too simplistic and underdeveloped for me. While simple stories can work in other animated movies of the past, there were a few story moments that were missing from the final movie that I sorely missed. That also extends to the characters with the lack of enough character development for me to remember, not to mention the English dubbing of this movie not being the best.
The same can be said for the animation. This is a more simplistic approach to the animation style, which can work in some animated movies, but not for Bartali’s Bicycle in this case. There is something about the styling and colouring in the movie that just felt off, like the animation elements do not gel well for me. While there were some great animation sequences that put it above most disposable animated movies I had the displeasure of seeing, in 2025, where the non-mainstream animation scene is getting more exciting, a movie like Bartali’s Bicycle would be forgotten because its animation style, while decent, is nothing special.
The other elements are not as exciting to talk about as well, although quite decent at the very least. As for my level of excitement, I felt indifferent about this movie’s existence. While this is far more tolerable than most poorer quality animated movies, given I had been discovering more animated movies that push the boundaries of animation time and time again, something like Bartali’s Bicycle where it is a completely fine animated movie just would not stand to today’s standards.
Overall, I appreciate this movie as an animated movie from a country with a non-existent theatrical animation scene like Italy, but I just felt that their overall package is nothing memorable, for good or bad. It’s a decently executed animated movie that is of passable animated movie, but unfortunately, that is all there is to it.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Smurfs
Key Information
- Directors: Chris Miuller and Matthew Landon
- Animation Studio: Paramount Animation (with Cinesite)
- Country of Origin: United States, Belgium
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 17 July 2025 (in Singapore)
Trailer
The Review
There is no secret that Paramount Animation is one of the weakest mainstream animation studios out there alongside the equally troubled Skydance Animation. Despite being in existence for a long time and being responsible for Rango and Transformers One, this is a studio that consistently produced dud after dud, not to mention having terrible marketing campaigns for most of their movies that are not a SpongeBob or Paw Patrol movie. With that said, I think it’s clear Smurfs might be one of the most outdated animated movies of the 2020s so far, because this felt stuck to the past in the worst way possible.
Talking about the writing, and even knowing that most of the Paramount Animation’s past movies had bad writing and that the three previous Smurfs movies have issues with the writing, the writing in this year’s Smurfs movie is really, really outdated. This is a movie that relies on the outdated animated movie tropes that most of the mainstream animation studios had moved on from, resulting in very outdated writing that feels both predictable and tiring at the same time. While being generic is not inherently bad, it is because of how poorly executed a lot of the writing moments were, from the terrible comedy to the nonsensical twists and poorly crafted characters that make the writing in Smurfs 2025 so outdated and uninteresting. Seriously, getting the director of Shrek the Third to be in charge of this movie might not be a good idea.
It also did not help that the voice acting is as equally bad, bringing in former late night talk show host James Corden (whose track record in movies is shall we say, not good) as the main character, plus the other celebrity voice actors who seems to be there just for the paycheck. I will talk more on this when I get to the marketing side of things.
The only good thing I say about this Smurfs movie is the animation, which while not as impressive as the animation styles of the top-tier animated movies from both mainstream and non-mainstream animation studios, is still one of the better animation works from Cinesite, whose track record and consistency is all over the place. The style at least pays respect to the original style of the original comics, even when turning this movie into another live action hybrid like two of the previous Smurfs movies might not be a wise choice. There were some change ups of animation style towards the end that make it jarring, but other than that, it’s clear the animation is not the biggest issue I have.
As for the soundtrack, as do the movie, the soundtrack feels dated. Doing generic pop in 2025 is already a mistake, but it did not help that the movie did not advertise itself as an unexpected musical (yeah, Rihanna is Smurfette and James Cordon has singing experience, but even so), so I was taken off-guard by the soundtrack. As for the marketing, let’s just say this movie has an equally disastrous marketing campaign as the other Paramount Animation movies. It pains me when it gets worse marketing than a Viva Kids distributed animated movie in Grand Prix of Europe, which is throwing everything and the kitchen sink with its marketing material, from it having a theme park ride to a video game, along with a better edited trailer and interesting character reveal posters.
As for my level of enjoyment, I obviously hated this movie. I knew I was going to suffer a lot, but even with those expectations, the fact that the audience were enjoying the Grand Prix of Europe trailer and the SpongeBob short showing before the movie says it all.
All in all, while I do not like to talk down animation studios and that Smurfs is at least more tolerable than Sneaks, I feel Paramount Animation needs to stop producing animated movies for a while and reflect on their horrendous track record. This might be the final nail in the coffin for Paramount Animation due to how poorly outdated Smurfs is as a mainstream theatrical animated movie, and it is a shame that the animation studio behind Rango and Transformers One only have two true hits to their name, and nothing else. Oh well, cue the SpongeBob ending credits song…
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Conclusion
It is funny we only got one big mainstream animated movie in this lineup, and yet it is my least favourite of the five in this Rundown. On the other hand, both Jumbo and Into the Wonderwoods show that family-friendly foreign CG animated movies do not need to suck hard, and I had been heavily proven of this fact.
Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure. Well, it’s time we get back to space for a third time this year because we are going to need a bigger spaceship, and also a group of criminals gone good to steal that spaceship. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
