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You are currently viewing In Blaziker’s Opinion – Blaziker’s Mid-Year Animated Movies Report (2025)

In Blaziker’s Opinion – Blaziker’s Mid-Year Animated Movies Report (2025)

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Introduction

What is up, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is here today to discuss on my thoughts on the 2025 Animated Movies so far as we look back into what we witnessed during the first half of the year. Well, compared to last year where I saw 32 animated movies by the end of June, I did… the same number this year, and I have some opinions about the state of this year’s animated movies so far.

So, for today, I will jot my overall thoughts of the first half of 2025, discussing a couple of trends I noticed and giving an insight on the rest of the year just like in last year’s edition, 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.

Without further ado, let’s get started with my essay about the 2025 animated movies so far!

A Slow Burner (But a Different Kind)

A strong start with a new Wallace and Gromit movie!

The start of 2025 is very different compared to 2024, where almost immediately, I covered 3 animated movies within the first week of the year. Granted, I watched one technically on New Years’ Eve, which was SuperKlaus, but I published my Letterboxd reaction of it on New Years’ Day, so it counts as a 2025 animated movie. Then, the animated movies started rolling in, and apart from a handful of exceptions, I was not too impressed with the animated movies that came out in January and February. Yes, most of them are not major animated movies, but the fact that there is a lack of standouts was concerning.

And then… March happened, and oh boy, that was when things kick into high gear! March was an exhilarating ride with three very good animated movies with Ne Zha 2, The Day the Earth Blew Up and Dog Man, then the following month was also where I covered the true peak of animation with Spermageddon. May slowed down a bit, but still has two great animated movies in the form of My Grandfather’s Demons and Lost in Starlight, while June was blessed with K-Pop Demon Hunters and Elio.

Now, here are the statistics of the animated movies I covered in 2025 so far:

  • Average score: 14.8/20
  • Average rating: Hot
  • Number of countries explored in animation this year: 26
  • Number of mainstream animated movies: 6 out of 32 (19%)

More Theatrical Animated Movies!

I flew to Bangkok to watch Spermageddon!

Last year, I only covered 5 animated movies in theatres by the end of the first half, but this year, probably because of the major success of both the big and small animated movies, I was able to cover 10 animated movies into theatres. They are, in order:

It is undeniable that the box office success of last year’s animated movies from top-tier big animated movies, such as The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2, and also the smaller independent animated movies such as Flow and Look Back shows that yes, animated movies still have a place in movie theatres today, and can be successful. As such, it feels encouraging to see much more animated movies in theatres, and not just the mainstream ones.

In fact, what is even more impressive is that already, Ne Zha 2 took over Inside Out 2 as the highest grossing animated movie of all time, and deservingly so. If this bodes well for the future of animated movies showing in theatres, I can’t wait to see more of them!

Less Fat, More Quality

A special mention to The Lost Tiger for touching my heart

Having covered a whopping 84 animated movies last year, one of my resolutions is to focus on quality, rather than quantity. This is because a good number of the animated movies I covered last year are clearly disposable and made with a lot less passion, commitment and dedication to the animation medium. In addition, I got to experience a lot of great animated movies from new countries and up and coming animators and directors who seem to know what they are doing.

As such, I have to be stricter in what animated movies I cover and had decided that going forward, I will be trimming the fat by not covering the clearly disposable animated movies that were corporately made and/or not interesting enough for me (with a handful of exceptions). By focusing more on the top-quality animated movies, I can showcase the animated movies the viewers need to see and that yes, animation is indeed a fantastic art form.

In a sense, while I covered the same number of animated movies at this point as last year, there are only a couple of animated movies that I despise of, and even some that I did not rate highly are clearly decently produced and not made out of sheer obligation from the shareholders. I will continue to use the same philosophy going forward and bring in more animated movies I wanted to share, instead of animated movies that made me suffer and I wanted to hate about it, which is the wrong mentality.

After all, if it’s clear that the animated movies are not worth discussing due to how bad they were, why should I cover those movies? They only serve to waste me and everyone’s time.

My Most Anticipated Animated Movies for the Rest of 2025

Expect more from this villain in the Chickenhare sequel

With the first half of 2025 being over, it’s time we look ahead at some of the other animated movies I am looking forward to for the second half:

  • I Am What I Am 2: The sequel to one of the most underrated animated movies of the 2020s, this sequel continues where the first one left off as the trio began a new journey in Shanghai with more challenges surviving in a new city as well as a new sport in martial arts fighting. Easily one of my most anticipated sequels of 2025, can’t wait!
  • The Bad Guys 2: Another sequel to a 2022 animated movie, The Bad Guys team up with Diane to stop The Bad Girls from executing their riskiest heist ever done. I love the first movie and I cannot wait to cover more adventures from them!
  • Fixed: The new Genndy Tartakovsky movie about a dog who is about to be neutered is going to be something very special. Given its great reception during its Annecy premiere, I can’t wait to cover this movie on Netflix when it drops in in August!
  • Mononoke the Movie Chapter 2: The Ashes of Rage: Part of the Mononoke movie trilogy, I absolutely love the risky and experimental animation approach and given it is releasing on the same week as Fixed, I can’t wait to cover another peak animated movie there!
  • Zootopia 2: Easily my most anticipated animated movie of 2025, the movie continues the adventures of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde as they went undercover to protect a sacred book that contains the entire origins of Zootopia, along with a mysterious snake who may be the key to this book. Bring it on!
  • Scarlet: Another animated movie by Mamoru Hosoda, do I need to say more?
  • Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog: The first movie is a comfort movie of mine, and I often use it as a way to remind myself of who I am capable of, and given its positive response from its Annecy debut, I am very excited to cover the next Chickenhare movie!

My Most and Least Favourite Animated Movies of 2025 (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:

Likewise, here are my 5 least favourite animated movies of the year so far:

Conclusion

I am loving this first half of 2025 as I covered more exciting animated movies from around the world, and even with my current condition, I am just blessed to be living in a period where global animation is thriving.

Speaking of exciting, it is time we get to our first animated movie rundown of the 2nd half of 2025, and we got more exciting adventures coming our way. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!

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