Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back after yet another outer space adventure (although more of a heist than an adventure), and since I am still reeling in the effects of The Bad Guys 2 (plus my recent essay about a distributor for one of the movies I am about to cover), let’s settle down with six more animated movies to cap off the summer season!
The first movie, Art College 1994, is a Chinese animated movie focusing on a group of students in a Chinese art college as they explore their ideals and ambitions in their final year at the college. Directed by Liu Jian, who turned heads with his 2018 movie Have a Nice Day, Liu Jian has a distinct personality and animation style that has divided opinion among Chinese and international animation buffs alike. Will this movie convince me of his genius?
The second movie, The Summer of Mermaid, is an animated movie about a mermaid who fell in love with a stranger, and that is about it, the plot is this simple. However, despite the simple premise and that this movie was produced by two people (yes, this has a very small crew), this movie gained notoriety among the Chinese animation community for being negatively received, to the point where this movie was ridiculed to death on various Chinese social media sites, just like with another Chinese animated movie that I covered earlier this year, Dance with the Finless Porpoise. Now that I got a chance to see this movie for myself, is this movie a misunderstood masterpiece, or is this movie as bad as what the community had dismissed it as?
The third movie, Endless Journey of Love, focuses on a fishing village girl in China who gained the power to control time and embark on a romantic adventure through time and space. Also known as The Girl Who Stole Time, this was a movie that debuted internationally at this year’s Annecy International Film Festival, which would make it the third Annecy 2025 movie I cover (after Into the Mortal World and Olivia & the Clouds which I both covered last year); it would also be the first Annecy Presents movie from this year’s line-up, and that line-up is a massive step-up, considering there are four animated movies that are so strong, they could have been in the Competition line-up. Is Endless Journey of Love worthy of being beyond an Annecy Presents movie?
The fourth movie, Benjamin Bat, is a Dutch animated movie about a bat who’s scared of the dark falling in love with a songbird and became outcasted from his family as a result. This was a movie that is as hard to find as some of the animated movies I covered in the past (given it only appeared in a few film festivals), but I was somehow able to find it recently via Tubi (and yes, I have a VPN that allows me to access that). So, how did this unexpected journey about a bat turn out for me?
The fifth movie, Fixed, centres on a dog as he experiences his last 24 hours with his weird and wacky friends before he gets neutered. This was created by the legendary director of classic animated series such as Samurai Jack, The PowerPuff Girls and Primal, Genndy Tartakovsky, got a chance to produce his very own animated movie with nearly no restrictions. Despite his dream being realised, he had to wait a long time before Netflix picked up that movie since almost no distributor would be willing to touch an animated movie produced in the United States meant for a mature audience. With it getting a good reception during its Annecy Film Festival, is Fixed worth a standing ovation?
The sixth movie, Mononoke the Movie: The Ashes of Rage, is the second movie in the Mononoke movie trilogy, and after the events from The Phantom in the Rain, The Medicine Seller returns to Ooku to investigate the secrets behind the Mononoke he previously defeated and the truth behind the Ooku. I love the experimental tones the first movie had left us with, so I was excited to see how this movie continues on from the first movie. With The Ashes of Rage also getting a Netflix release after its showing at Annecy this year, is this yet another great Mononoke movie?
The seventh movie, Norbert, is a movie about an incompetent spy from a bureaucratic and grey nation being sent to the other colourful world to spy and destroy the plans of the other world, only for him to begin embracing a side he has never experienced before. This was a peculiar animated movie given its obscurity, especially for Spanish CG animated movie standards. It was only when I suddenly got a chance to see it that I decided that now was the perfect time to see this movie. Will this unexpected find be worth it?
The eighth and final movie, Grand Prix of Europe, sees a young mouse named Edda (voiced by Gemma Arteton) seizing her chance to enter in to the Grand Prix of Europe to be with her idol Ed (Thomas Brodie-Sangster who already had a few voice acting roles under his belt) and be part of the Grand Prix. You may not know those two characters, but to most Germans and other Europeans, Ed and Edda are the main mascots of Europa Park, a very popular amusement park in Germany which is celebrating its 50th anniversary with this movie, which will also feature other characters you can find within this theme park. In fact, current owner of Europa Park Michael Mack (who owns the park and its intellectual property together with his family) is promoting so much of this movie that Grand Prix of Europe has gotten a lot of attention in not just the theme park industry, but also the animated movie scene. Is this European adventure worth visiting Europa Park with this celebratory movie and will this finally be the first German animated movie I like?
Without further ado, let’s enjoy the last days of summer for this year with these movies!
Art College 1994
Key Information
- Director: Liu Jian
- Animation Studio: Le-Joy Animation Studio
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: NC16
- Release date: 3 December 2023 (in Singapore as part of the Singapore International Film Festival)
Trailer
The Review
Given that this is by the same director behind 2018’s Have a Nice Day, which has divided opinion because of the director’s divisive story and animation style, I have tempered my expectations for Art College 1994, but thankfully, this movie truly spoke out to me despite how pretentious and slow this movie was.
I am going to put this slight disclaimer: Art College 1994 is not made for all audiences, but a specific type of audience: creators and appreciators of art in any form, whether it is actual art pieces, music, poetry and in this case, filmmaking and animation filmmaking. This is a very philosophical story that does not have a set plot per se, but instead are about Chinese art college students finding their identity and questioning their artistic beliefs, resulting in moments of long monologues and ramblings about art itself. As such, this is NOT a movie for the general audience, but for the specific audience this movie targets, it conveys its messaging very well.
With each conversation, you get wide ranging opinions that would make you question your beliefs about art, which can make for a pretentious movie, but that is the entire intention of this movie: Art College 1994 is not a movie made for your understanding, but rather your appreciation, which is exactly why this movie succeeds in terms of its messaging.
It is also not just the story that would divide its audience, but also its animation style. The rough and gritty hand-drawn animation style would be dismissed by some as sloppy, but director Liu Jian and his animators crafted a very raw style of animation that is tough to find, even in the best non-mainstream animated movies. This is especially so in China, where a majority of the top-tier animated movies from the country are CG and not hand-drawn animation. In fact, this reminds me of another Chinese animated movie in Spycies, which also has this industrial and gritty style of animation that felt extremely hyper-realistic, but also raw in the purest sense of the word. The main difference between the animation styles in both movies is that Spycies uses computer-generated animation, but Art College 1994 is hand-drawn. However, both movies deliver its raw animation style to the maximum, and that is why I appreciate the animation in Art College 1994 a lot.
The minor elements, which pay homage to the music of the 1990s with its soundtrack, are just minor elements and nothing else, which resulted in them not distracting the audience from the story and animation; as for my level of enjoyment, despite not being an animation professional, I truly appreciate Art College 1994 as someone that loves animated movies in general. The level of passion and dedication the main characters went through to create their own masterpieces remind me why I appreciate when writers and animators come together to create some of my most favourite animated movies of recent memory. This is a movie that needs to be appreciated, not digested quickly.
Overall, I love what Art College 1994 was going for despite its pretentious. It is a movie that would challenge common animated movie conventions, but at the same time, this is also why I considered this movie yet another reason to support more top-tier Chinese animated movies. I cannot wait to see what Liu Jian will craft up in his next animated movie, because Art College 1994 got me sold!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
The Summer of Mermaid
Key Information
- Director: Shen Xiaoyang
- Animation Studio: Shamozhou Animation Studio
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 22 November 2024 (in China)
Trailer
The Review
As much as I enjoy exploring different animated movies from all across the world, given my plans to be more selective into covering what animated movies to cover, it is inevitable I have to cover a handful that I regret seeing and reviewing, and The Summer of Mermaid is one of those movies. However, that is not because this movie is terrible, but it is because of the circumstances that resulted in it being a very over-hated animated movie.
Just to provide some brief context, The Summer of Mermaid was entirely produced by two people, released in late 2024 in theatres and was the subject of hatred from the Chinese animation community for being poorly produced. This movie has a Douban score of 3.9 (out of 10), which is very low for a Chinese animated movie, and you can find loads of YouTube videos ridiculing its existence. As such, I feared for the worst but instead, while this movie was very flawed, at least there is some merit and value for it to exist… Unlike a handful of animated movies I had covered this year so far.
In terms of the flaws within this movie, there is a lot to discuss, from the underdeveloped writing that felt very generic and not so exciting, to the poor character development and the weird voice acting performances in this movie. That is also not to mention its animation, which is filled with animation errors and weird character and background designs throughout the movie. Additionally, the shading and rendering in certain animation shots felt off due to its under-baked animation style, making it an amateurish-looking animated movie that is hard to ignore, especially for an animated movie produced by a very small team.
With that said, there are some redeeming elements within The Summer of Mermaid that do not justify its unnecessary hate. I find the concept to be quite charming, and could have been better at the hands of more experienced and top-tier animated movie directors and animation studios. Some of the background designs look nice and well-produced, and the overall pacing of this movie, while slow, is consistent and not too jarring.
As for my level of enjoyment, I could not help but feel regretful after seeing this movie. I do not feel this movie was great by any means, especially with the existence of better quality and more top-tier Chinese animated movies, but at least this movie was produced with a lot of passion and dedication, which already puts it above a lot of the disposable and low-quality animated movies of the past. I can see why this movie was hated by the Chinese animation community, but at the same time, I find the hate to be blown out of proportion.
Overall, while The Summer of Mermaid is undeniably flawed in many ways, there are enough redeeming elements for me to be indifferent towards this movie. I don’t think I will be rewatching this movie any time soon, but at the very least, I can say The Summer of Mermaid is not as bad as what its 3.9 Douban score suggests and is at least worth giving a shot. Who knows, maybe you will enjoy this movie more than I will, but that is up to you to decide after you finish seeing this mermaid tale.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Endless Journey of Love
Key Information
- Directors: Ao Yu, Zhou Tienan and Kuo Liu
- Animation Studio: Tianjin Maoyan Weying Media, Maoyan Entertainment
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 30 May 2025 (in China)
Trailer
The Review
I got to be honest, considering this is an animated movie produced by relative unknowns, I was going into this movie with tempered expectations. However, Endless Journey of Love might have produced what could be the surprise of 2025 so far.
In a similar manner to The Bad Guys 2 in the previous Adventure, Endless Journey of Love is an odyssey of time and space that is as exciting and hilarious. The comedy and slapstick are just as exciting and hilarious without overstaying their welcome, and the story is filled with unexpected twists that take the movie in an entirely different direction, making an adventure that felt unexpected, but fresh and innovative.
Additionally, despite the incorporation of the main romantic plot, it did not dominate the story and the interaction between the main character of Qian Xiao (Liu Xiaoyu) and Shi Qi (Karry Wang) might be one of my most favourite romantic partnerships of the year, which is impressive given another animated movie with a fantastic romantic plot in Lost in Starlight this year. Speaking of characters, the characters have a lot of depth and excitement, especially with operatic singer Zhou Shen who not only helped with the music score (more about it later), but voice acted as A Mu who might be one of my most favourite supporting characters of this year so far.
While the animation is nothing new and is kind of expected for top-tier animated movies from China, it is still impressive that a team of unknown animators produce top-quality animation on par with the veterans in other Chinese animated movies I cover such as Ne Zha 2 and I Am What I Am 2. Having picturesque background designs really helps, but it also helped when the action sequences are just as fun and well-paced as the entire movie. The animation style did not slow down at all throughout its run time which enhances the overall experience.
The soundtrack and music score are just as fantastic as the writing and the animation, especially for Zhou Shen’s song “Dreaming About You” which is the main song for this movie. Considering he had composed and performed songs for past great Chinese animated movies such as Big Fish and Begonia and Jiang Ziya, it is not surprising that this is a great movie song for my standards. As for my level of enjoyment, I was very happy with the overall experience, as Endless Journey of Love surpassed my low expectations with flying colours. This is a movie I did not expect to love, but now that I had seen it, I do.
In conclusion, Endless Journey of Love could be in contention for the most pleasant surprise of the 2025 animated movies so far. This is a movie filled with a well-written story, fantastic cast of characters and voice acting, top-tier animation and a great soundtrack. It is a fantastic animated movie that I feel people would write it off too soon, especially given it was an “Annecy Presents” movie at this year’s Annecy Festival. Go give this a shot, it will blow you away and shows why China continues to have one of the fastest growing animation industries in the world.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Benjamin Bat
Key Information
- Directors: Patrick Raats and Sarah Sutter
- Animation Studio: Capybara Animation
- Country of Origin: The Netherlands, Luxembourg
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 23 October 2024 (in The Netherlands)
Trailer
The Review
I got to say, I was not expecting to cover another Viva Kids distributed animated movie, especially there is a bigger Viva Kids distributed animated movie than this, but after seeing it, I am very shocked by how good Viva Kids is at picking decent family-friendly foreign CG animated movies to showcase, whether to theatres or on VOD services, which I got to see via Tubi (for those outside of United States, Tubi is a free streaming service). After Night of the Zoopocalypse, I am shocked to say Viva Kids picked up another great animated movie for their standards.
Let’s get the elephant out of the way: Benjamin Bat has a simplistic and one-dimensional plot that might put some viewers off, but beneath its simplicity lies an animated movie full of charm and quality. The characters are cute and lovable, and even I do not mind the English dub despite my hatred towards most low-quality English dubs of foreign animated movies. The pacing is just right and the romance felt so natural and vital to the movie’s success.
I also love the animation in this movie. Stylised CG animation is slightly tricky to pull off, especially for most family-friendly foreign CG animated movies, but here, the animation style is well-executed. The character and background designs and animation are very cute and detailed enough to hide its supposedly lower budget, and its simple style reminds me of Katak: The Brave Beluga from last year. Both movies have simplistic plots and cute animation styles, and are distributed by Viva Kids for the VOD services. Honestly, I enjoyed both of them almost equally, and that’s why I enjoyed the animation in Benjamin Bat.
The soundtrack and musical numbers are way better than it has the right to be for a family-friendly foreign CG animated movie, and as to how much I enjoyed it… I love it! While family-friendly foreign CG animated movies used to be kiddie distractions that pander to its audience, the more recent movies from that sub-genre shifted to a more mature approach, telling great stories and having good quality animation. Seriously, for all the faults and complains I have about those movies in general, the fact that there are more family-friendly foreign CG animated movies that I genuinely enjoyed this year speaks volumes about the global animation industry. Finally, those movies are moving away from the sins of the past and are so much better than what they are used to, with Benjamin Bat being the most recent example.
In conclusion, for a family-friendly foreign CG animated movie distributed by Viva Kids, Benjamin Bat is easily one of my most favourite Viva Kids animated movies because it is much higher quality than most movies in the same category. Between this, Jumbo, Into the Wonderwoods, The Lost Tiger, Ejen Ali: The Movie 2 and Night of the Zoopocalypse, we are finally seeing more great quality family-friendly foreign CG animated movies that are way better than they have the right to be, so yeah, more of these, please!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Fixed
Key Information
- Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
- Animation Studios: Sony Pictures Animation (with Renegade Animation)
- Country of Origin: United States
- Rating: R21
- Release date: 13 August 2025 (on Netflix)
Trailer
The Review
For a long time covering animated movies, I had been craving for more animated movies aimed at adults and the adult-minded as the global animation industry has been dominated by animated movies made for families and the general audience in mind. We already got one top-tier adult-oriented animated movie with Spermageddon, and I am happy to report that Fixed is another good option!
First off, before I begin, even though this was another Sony Pictures Animation movie, it’s important not to compare Fixed with K-Pop Demon Hunters. Both movies are made for different purposes and for different audiences, and both serve their purpose well. If you don’t like raunchy humour and obscene animation, stay away from Fixed, but if you love these dirty stuff, you will enjoy Fixed.
Let’s get one thing right: the writing in Fixed, while exciting, felt under-baked when talking about the flow of this movie and some of the character development, which do not feel developed enough for me to care about some of the substance. However, it made up with its dirty and black humour about a dog spending his last day before getting neutered, and the journey to get there is way more exciting and hilarious than the destination. It also helped that some characters lent their charm to this movie, especially with Bull (Adam Devine), the main character. His personality blends into this movie’s brilliance.
The same thing goes for the animation, which is as gritty and raunchy as the writing. Hand-drawn animation has long been associated with beautiful and picturesque backgrounds and characters, and animation sequences that came straight out of a painting; here in Fixed, there is none of that, as the ugliness of the animation style fits perfectly into the dirtiness of the writing. The elements felt very dynamic, and some animation sequences really shone, especially with one particular scene at the end (though you need to see the movie to find out!).
Considering Tyler Bates (the composer of the John Wick movies) composed the soundtrack, it makes sense for the soundtrack to be brilliantly bombastic and thrilling, and indeed, while this was out of Bates’ comfort zone, the Fixed soundtrack also fits well into the story and the animation, making it felt like you are with the same bender as the characters. As for my level of enjoyment, while I prefer more quiet and beautiful animation, I also liked the opposite where it felt bombastic but not too overbearing, and here Fixed succeeds in doing so. While over-simulating, I was laughing throughout the entire movie with how bizarrely amazing this movie was, which was the main purpose of Fixed.
Overall, Fixed, just like Spermageddon, is not a movie made for everyone, but moviegoers that prefer the bizarre and the raunchy will have fun with this movie. Fixed is a clear passion project from the legendary creator of Samurai Jack and Primal, and after seeing Fixed, I can sense his passion given this is his first proper animated movie as the sole director with no guardrails installed. More of these and fewer generic nothing burgers, please!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Mononoke the Movie: The Ashes of Rage
Key Information
- Director: Kenji Nakamura
- Animation Studios: EOTA and Crew-cell
- Country of Origin: Japan
- Rating: M18
- Release date: 14 August 2025 (on Netflix)
Trailer
The Review
If I were to be honest, I was so excited to cover another Mononoke movie, after being impressed with the first movie, and my overall impression with The Ashes of Rage exceeds my high expectations.
Compared to The Phantom in the Rain, which can be confusing at times, The Ashes of Rage has a more cohesive and comprehensive story that while equally complex, covers its bases by the end of this movie. You can feel the tension with the characters and their conflicts and interactions throughout the movie, thus making such an engaging story that keeps you guessing until the end, even if the formula is similar to the story in The Phantom in the Rain. Additionally, the higher stakes and faster pacing resulted in one of the best writing of any animated movie this year as this movie does not slow down at all. This might be a detriment to some animated movies, but for a Mononoke movie where everything is flowing together, it makes sense.
Similarly, the experimental animation style carried forward from the first movie is more polished than in the first one. It’s already impressive that the animators manage to integrate traditional Japanese paintings into this one-of-a-kind animation style, but it is still mind-blowing that the animators made this animation style even harder. Everything about the movie’s animation is unique, but even if I saw the first one and fell in love with the animation already, the animation in this sequel is much more polished and well-defined, which makes for an eye-popping experience.
The score is as equally great as the first movie, and as for my level of enjoyment, I was as equally pumped as the first movie, and needless to say, this is yet another fantastic Netflix animated movie, which is impressive given we already have three fantastic Netflix animated movies so far this year. I got to say, the fact that I already added the third Mononoke movie into my watchlist after I covered The Ashes of Rage is all you need to know about how much I love this movie.
In conclusion, Mononoke the Movie: The Ashes of Rage is why I am still subscribed to Netflix despite all the issues I have with Netflix in general. It might be a great streaming service compared to before, but it does not matter when they continuously pick up many great animated movies, and The Ashes of Rage is yet another fantastic example. I cannot wait to see the third Mononoke movie!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Norbert
Key Information
- Director: Jose Corral Llorente
- Animation Studio: Aqui y Alli Films, Capitan Arana
- Country of Origin: Spain
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 17 January 2025 (in Spain)
Trailer
The Review
I got to be honest, I was not expecting much from a Spanish animated movie that came out of nowhere, but while there are many issues I had with this movie, I was pleasantly surprised at a good number of elements.
Let’s get my less favourable opinions about Norbert for a moment, and strap in. While I love its concept and messaging about consumerism and embracing your wild and indie side (which is very relevant given the closure of a cinema that I fell in love for 4 years in The Projector), unfortunately the messaging does not feel developed enough for me to be interested at the movie. This is due to its inconsistent pacing, which felt all over the place, particularly in the third act, where it bored me out. Additionally, the lack of a music score in the third act just left a sour taste as I felt it resulted in a lack of punch and impact it sorely needed. The worst thing, however, is that the story felt too juvenile for the adults, but also too bleak and boring for its children audience, resulting in Norbert suffering from a huge identity crisis.
With that said, while the execution is not that great, the story concept is still fantastic. The messaging is very important, and it explores important topics that are very relevant, especially to those that embrace a lot of artistic personality. As someone who had explored various animated movies for many years, Norbert felt like a well-needed reminder that while the creative spaces might be gone someday, it is important to cherish the spirit of these spaces. It also helped that the animation is quite creative and experimental. Utilising a cubism-style of animation is very rare, and its usage of contrasting environments and colours resulted in it being a creative art-piece that I had a good time with, despite many issues I have.
Overall, while Norbert is not for me, I appreciate it for being not another generic family-friendly foreign CG nothing-burger despite its technical faults. At least Norbert pursues an identity that it wants to shape, not mould itself to a set template, and that was why I still like Norbert for a few reasons, especially with its animation. Hopefully, we get more of these because the more animation studios stray away from stooping very low to appease its kids audience, the better.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Grand Prix of Europe
Key Information
- Director: Waldemar Fast
- Animation Studios: MACK Animation (with Timeless Films)
- Country of Origin: Germany, United Kingdom
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 4 September 2025 (in Singapore)
Trailer
The Review
If you recall, there was another furry racing animated movie that I covered two years ago in Rally Road Racers that I did not like so much that I called it my least favourite animated movie of 2023? Yeah, Grand Prix of Europe clears that hurdle very, very easily.
My history with German animated movies had been mostly negative with only one German animated movie that I like, and that was Lissi and the Wild Emperor. The most embarrassing part about this? Lissi and the Wild Emperor was released in 2007, and the fact that the other modern German animated movies that were not good is why I often called Germany the black hole of the European animation industry. With Grand Prix of Europe, however, that now makes it two German animated movies that I enjoyed, because, surprisingly enough, I enjoyed it way more than I should.
You call tell this was a movie made for families in mind because of how simplistic and stupidly fun Grand Prix of Europe felt. While the story is very predictable and generic, what matters is the execution, and while I feel the character development is not as strong as what I would have hoped and I wished the movie focuses more on the racing (although that is a personal preference because I am a Formula 1 fan who loves more racing action), this is mindlessly entertaining, to the point where I was having more fun with it despite the lack of technical competence in the writing. The comedy, while juvenile, is charming, and there were some jokes and gags that fooled me good, the pacing is just right for this type of animated movie, and I love the character cast. While Ed and Edda were solid main characters (despite the gaslighting Edda caused to Ed through most of the first half of the movie), the supporting cast actually carried this movie very well, specifically the Swiss goat racer that shines with his positive energy in Bockli (DJ Bobo in both the English and original German dubs), the Alex Jacques-style parrot commentator Enzo (Rob Beckett) and of course, the mysterious raven rival in Nachtkrabb (Colin McFarlane), whose presence stole the show in whatever scene he was on. It also helped that the voice acting is very good, especially for German animated movie standards.
Speaking of German animated movie standards, Grand Prix of Europe is easily the best-looking German animated movie I had covered, which isn’t huge praise given most German animated movies do not have good-quality animation. In terms of the negatives, I do agree the mice characters do looked too much like koalas with mice tails (though I can understand if the animators intend to keep the same style as the original Europa-Park designs), and the styling is not as lively and interesting as other top-tier foreign CG animated movies from this year (especially Ne Zha 2), but for family-friendly foreign CG animated movies, the animation is substantial enough. I love the vibrancy in the different backgrounds as the Grand Prix head to new locations, the detailing and rendering is easily the best for German animated movie standards, and the racing sequences showcase great quality action animation sequences when needed. It may be the same bog-standard and generic animation style I am all too familiar with, but the execution of this style is great, especially considering how poor quality most German animated movies are.
In terms of the music score, considering this was a score composed by Volker Bertelmann, the same composer of movie scores that I love such as All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave, given this was his first score for an animated movie, I was worried that the genre shift might make him feel uncomfortable, but to my surprise, it is clear he put a lot of thought and effort into scoring for a movie he is not used to. He inputted well-needed tension in the more thrilling music tracks and soften it up at the less intense tracks, while also being of decent quality for what was needed in the movie score. However, I was more gravitated towards the marketing and promotion for this movie than the score in terms of the movie’s minor elements. This was a movie intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Europa-Park, and it seems the marketing team went all out with this movie’s marketing. I mean, this movie has loads of merchandise, a theme park ride within Europa-Park, a VR experience and even a video game. This movie does not need to go hard with its marketing, but it did and for that, it pretty much put the marketing campaigns for some big Hollywood animated movies to shame.
As for my level of enjoyment, I find this movie to be more of an entertaining mess that I had a ton of fun with than an actually entertaining animated movie that is of the highest quality. In a similar vein to Out of the Nest and HitPig, two guilty pleasure animated movies that I covered in theatres last year, Grand Prix of Europe was a lot more fun that is more than the sum of its parts. Maybe it was because this movie was tailor-made for a Eurovision loving, Formula 1 fanatic and furry animated movie fan like me that I vibe with this one.
Overall, for a German animated movie distributed by Viva Kids, this could have been an animated movie that I would despise, but Grand Prix of Europe was a stupidly fun animated movie that pretty much had it all. Decent comedy, great characters, decent animation quality, a great music score and marketing campaign and of course, a movie that did not take itself too seriously. I might not like German animated movies at all, but this clears the low bar set by those movies convincingly. If only the annoying bats from the two Monster Family movies did not appear as much in this movie (especially given it is from the same animation studio behind the Monster Family movies), I would have been more lenient and give it a higher score, but honestly, I think as far as German animated movies go, Grand Prix of Europe is an enjoyable rollercoaster ride as do the entire Europa-Park that this movie was based on.
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
Conclusion
Wow, that was a very exciting Rundown, isn’t it? I got to say, this end of summer Rundown was full of excitement, surprises and energy, and compared to the previous eight-movie Rundown earlier on this year, this is a Rundown that has it all quality wise.
Well, there are not many animated movies for now, so let us recharge and prepare for an autumn full of film festival animated movies and more adventures to come. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
