Introduction
What is up, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is here today to discuss on my thoughts on the 2024 Animated Movies so far as we look back into what we witnessed during the first half of the year, and boy, I have some thoughts on the 32 animated movies I covered that year so far.
So, for today, I will jot my overall thoughts of the animated movie landscape so far, discussing a couple of trends I noticed and giving an insight on the rest of the year, including a few of my most anticipated animated movies for the rest of the year, and some animated movies I am personally worried about, including a couple of potential stinkers to be prepared for.
So without further ado, let’s get started with my essay about the 2024 animated movies so far!
A Slow Burner
Unlike last year, where there were a good number of animated movies in January alone, especially two theatrical animated movies with Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be and Mummies, 2024 started out pretty slow, as I covered only three animated movies in January, of which none were released in theatres. In fact, we have to wait until March for my first theatrical animated movie, while we only get the first prominent animated movie at the start of February.
However, once the second quarter of the year begins, we started to get so many animated movies, whether in theatres or via other means such as online and various streaming services. This was especially so for the peak period of May to June, which would the start and during the June school holidays in Singapore, as we got a lot more animated movies to cover during that period.
It is not just the quantity of animated movies in that quarter that surprised; it is also the quality. Before the end of last year, when I was looking into the list of 2024 animated movies, given quite a number of potentially bad animated movies, I thought 2024 will be one of the least impressive years of theatrical animation, but now that I covered 31 animated movies, even with a handful of stinkers, we got a good number of fantastic animated movies to compensate the bad apples. More on my most and least favourite animated movies of the year so far later.
However, it is important to note that of the 32 animated movies, only 12 animated movies are movies released in 2024 based on Singapore theatrical release dates, with the rest coming from either streaming or through other online sources. That means that we have yet to see more animated movies from this year.
With that said, here are the statistics of the animated movies I covered in 2024 so far:
- Average score: 14.6/20
- Average rating: Hot
- Number of countries explored in animation this year: 28
- Most explored country in animation: United States (9)
- Number of mainstream animated movies: 7 out of 32 (22%)
The Sad State of Theatrical Animation
One major concern I have with the animation landscape, however, is the number of animated movies I watched in theatres, and it is pretty damn low. In fact, here are the following animated movies I covered in theatres:
Five animated movies, that’s it. I had watched only 5 animated movies in theatres. That pretty much sums up the sad state of theatrical animation, even in foreign countries.
I remember covering so many mainstream and non-mainstream animated movies when I started reviewing animated movies that every time the mainstream theatres here announced release dates for these movies, I rush in to watch those movies. Sadly, with various distribution issues from foreign distributors, as well as lack of faith from theatres to bring animated movies to theatres, especially non-mainstream animated movies, I am uncertain of when the theatrical animation landscape in Singapore will improve.
Still, the fact that we still got animated movies in theatres shows that there is still faith when it comes to animated movies coming to theatres, so I recommend those to give these animated movies a chance if they get a spot in your local theatres.
Unknown Countries and More Exciting Non-Mainstream Animation
As with my various animated movie adventures for the past two and a half years, it’s always exciting for me to cover new animated movies from all across the world, and so far, this is no exception.
From the 28 countries I had visited, I got to see new countries I had yet to explore when it comes to animation, from Latvia to Armenia and Hungary. In fact, 3 of the 32 animated movies from the list were submitted for the 2023 Academy Awards for Best International Film, and they are:
I had also covered what could be one of the most obscure animated movies I had ever reviewed with Goldbeak, being only viewed 21 times on Letterboxd at the time of writing, and only three Letterboxd reviews (of which one was mine). It is slightly more than last year’s Running Man: Revengers (13 views), and Goldbeak is one of my most pleasant surprises of the year as it turned out to be a way more competent foreign CG and bird-centric animated movie than I thought.
Speaking of, the non-mainstream animation scene is bustling with a wide range of animated movies to offer, and honestly, I am not seeing the non-mainstream animated movies slowing down anytime soon.
My Most Anticipated Animated Movies for the Rest of 2024
Now that we had talked about the past, it is time to talk about the future, as we look ahead into some of my most anticipated animated movies for the rest of the year. From what I am seeing, here are a few animated movies I am most looking forward to in the second half of the year:
- The Wild Robot: Of all the remaining mainstream animated movies, this new Chris Sanders movie might be one of my most anticipated of the year. In fact, this is the last DreamWorks movie to be produced in-house, so let’s hope DreamWorks go out with a bang.
- The Day the Earth Blew Up: The first ever purely Looney Tunes animated movie to be released in theatres, this is thankfully not cancelled (unlike Coyote vs ACME) as it will be distributed by GFM Animation, the same distributor who helped in Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank in 2022. Yes, it’s funny that one of the studios behind Paws of Fury had more faith in Looney Tunes and animation in general than Warner Bros. Then again, given its positive critical reception at the Annecy Film Festival 2024, this only brings in further hype.
- Flow: Given it’s by the same director behind Away, one of my personal sleeper favourites, I am so excited to see what director Glints Zilbalodis has cooked up with his follow up!
- Ghost Cat Anzu: I am curious to check this out, especially since GKIDS has picked it up for the North American release. This is my type of animated movie to watch out for, and I’m all for it!
- The Sloth Lane: I am covering the Tales from Sanctuary City series, so naturally, I will have to cover the fifth movie in that series. Am I as excited about this compared to the other animated movies I mentioned? No, but compared to the other movies in the series, this might actually have a chance to win me over.
- Spermageddon: Considering The Brothers Gruff Go to Splash World, by the same studio behind Spermageddon, is one of my most favourite animated movies of the year so far, and that I had covered the Two Brothers and a Badger duo-logy with high praise, I am unironically so excited to see what Spermageddon has cooked up with perhaps the most insane-sounding animated movie of all time, especially given its popular reception at the Annecy Film Festival 2024, and that it has been picked up for release in Singapore.
The Danger Zone for the Rest of 2024
As with a few adventures, there are going to be some stormy seas ahead, especially for some of the animated movies I am not looking forward to, whether due to the concept, the poor critical reception or production issues, here are the following animated movies to prepare for the worst for:
- Giants of La Mancha: Having seen both the trailer and the Letterboxd reviews so far, this looks set to be yet another Americanised foreign CG animated movie that goes nowhere for me, not to mention this potentially having one of the worst scripts of the year. If all of these turned out to be true once I see it, then it shows some foreign studios have yet to read my essay on this problem…
- Johnny Puff: Secret Mission: If you had followed me for a long time whether on Letterboxd, on this blog or on social media, you would know I hate 2019’s Arctic Dogs with a burning passion, and this spin-off movie re-ignited my hatred for it. While I have something special to come for Arctic Dogs, let’s just say I am not looking forward to this…
- Una Aventura Gigante: I had been fortunate not to be exposed with the works of Eduardo Schuldt, but now, with his latest work getting distributed to theatres across the world, I had a feeling that the world will never be the same once they get exposed to “Ayy Sebastian” in this movie…
- Spellbound: Of all the mainstream animated movies, this is the one I am least looking forward to, mainly because this is a Skydance Animation movie, and we know that the person in charge of this studios is… a creep. Needless to say, Spellbound had the biggest potential to surprise, and hopefully, this would be a better attempt than Luck.
- Invisible Island: For the less than 10 people that have ever heard of this 2024 Chinese animated movie, which used a story from the Shan Hai Ji novel series just like with Goodbye Monster in 2022, brace yourselves. From the trailer that I saw and the various negative reviews from Chinese movie sites like Douban and Maoyan, I have a feeling it will triumph the above movies for my least favourite animated movie of 2024…
My Most and Least Favourite Animated Movies of 2024 (So Far)
Before we end the mid-year report, it’s time we look into my 5 most favourite animated movies of the year so far, and they are in order:
- Robot Dreams (20/20)
- The Missing (20/20)
- Inside Out 2 (20/20)
- Ultraman: Rising (20/20)
- The First Slam Dunk (20/20)
Likewise, here are my 5 least favourite animated movies of the year so far:
- Megamind vs the Doom Syndicate (2/20)
- Warrior King (4/20)
- Butterfly Tale (Updated rating: 5.5/20)
- The Tiger’s Apprentice (8/20)
- They Shot the Piano Player (9/20)
Conclusion
It’s honestly fascinating for me to cover 11 more animated movies at the halfway mark compared to last year, but it goes to show that despite notions about the “death” of theatrical animation, animation is thriving in general, and as long as we give the more exciting animated movies the spotlight they deserve, more people will be convinced to see proper animation in theatres or in other ways.
Speaking of exciting, it is time we get to our first animated movie of the 2nd half of 2024, and if you enjoy making friends with friends that only exist in your imagination, then this one might be what you need. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
