Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for his first animated movie essay of the year, and man, considering the current landscape of animated movies so far, I feel it is time we need to address one big elephant in the room, one that I felt is ruining the creative landscape of theatrical animation, not just in the mainstream markets but also the non-mainstream ones. That, for me, is the Americanisation of animated movies.
To explain it in the best way possible, think of a typical mainstream family-friendly animated movie most are familiar with, like a Despicable Me movie, or a Trolls movie, and translate something similar to an animated movie produced in foreign countries. One good example that I could think of is Tad the Lost Explorer, which has become a trilogy (for which I had covered the third movie on this blog)
In fact, once you go deep into the realm of non-mainstream animated movies, particularly the family-friendly non-mainstream and foreign CG animated movies I covered extensively, you would find that most of them do feel like a typical American-made mainstream animated movie that you would have seen countless of times, especially those meant for the domestic market and not for the awards season market. Yes, you will find the occasional decent family-friendly non-mainstream animated movie that are great enough for me to recommend (and trust me, I covered a good portion of those movies throughout my various adventures), but most of the time, it is the same old generic and safe schtick that I had seen probably too many times. Why is it so?
Well, to cut to the chase, it is because most of these movies are simply following the trends set by more successful mainstream animated movies in Hollywood, so of course, most of the non-mainstream animation studios decide to implement those trends and add them to their movies. However, most of the time, these trends simply do not work, and they end up worsening the movie. Worse still, some users of the animation community that watched it went on to criticise and slam those movies, and advised against watching foreign animated movies even though there is more to the foreign animation scene than those family-friendly foreign animated movies.
The question is, does it have to be this way?
In this essay, I will discuss a few issues on the Americanisation of the non-mainstream animated movie scene, and how some of the non-mainstream family-friendly animated movies avoided those Americanisation, or adapt the Americanisation elements properly, with a few great non-mainstream animated movies as examples.
So, with that said, let’s get to this Americanisation trend and how to get around those trends!
Issue 1: Same Old Writing, Same Old Results?
Probably the biggest issue with most family-orientated foreign CG animated movies has to be the writing quality, and that remains the biggest reason I dread seeing is the writing. This is because most of the time, despite different concepts across those animated movies, the story beats tend to be same old three-act structure, filled with the similar character archetypes (more on the characters later), the same animated movie cliches and the same old writing style that just make those movies boring.
In fact, the writing quality for most family-orientated non-mainstream animated movies is so similarly low, I would be able to predict where the story in this movie is going by the middle or even early in the movie, which killed the excitement for these movies. In fact, most of these movies are meant for the children audience in mind, so the writers in those movies kept it safe and just churn out the script based on what works in most family-orientated animated movies, without understanding how and why those elements work in other movies.
The typically poor-quality writing is why most in the animation community, even me, had a negative view of those family-orientated non-mainstream and especially family-orientated foreign CG animated movies. Most of these movies are specifically meant for the family audience who are less concerned with overall writing and animation quality of those movies, and just wanted to have a good time at the movies. Even then, this narrow mindset is a major issue, but more on that towards the end.
Thankfully, there are a few family-oriented animated movies that manage to have interesting concepts and writing, with some inspired ideas to boot that make them stand out compared to other similar animated movies. This is because the animation studios behind it not only utilise their concepts to their fullest potential, but they spend time treating the screenplay with respect instead of stooping low just to appease the children audience.
One particular family-orientated animated movie with great writing is Scarygirl, which I had reviewed last year. One of the best parts about the writing in Scarygirl is that compared to the writing in most family-orientated non-mainstream animated movies, Scarygirl is a breath of fresh air. Not only is the writing so well-developed by embracing its unconventional gothic feel and concept, but the level of unpredictability in the story, as well as the twist in this movie, takes this movie into an entirely different direction that prevents this movie from being too predictable and tiring real fast. It helps that the pacing is just right, and the characters are just well-developed.
All in all, Scarygirl encapsulates what was missing from the writing in most family-orientated non-mainstream animated movies: a movie that has a heart and x-factor when it comes to writing, by not just nailing the basics of storytelling, but also challengers the audience to trust this movie to tell is story and take leaps of faith to deliver a compelling story that does not feel condescending to the audience.
Issue 2: Where Are The (Good) Jokes?
Another issue I had regarding most Americanised family-friendly foreign animated movies has to be the comedy, or to put to perspective, the “lack” of it. While this correlates with the writing quality, one thing that made my eyes roll when it comes to the comedy was how low-brow and forced the comedy is.
In most, but thankfully not all of these movies, most of the jokes provided the movie tend to be the juvenile stuff that made kids laugh and the young adult and adult audience groan or cringe, whether it is crass jokes, the potty humour, fart jokes or the bad puns. Again, these jokes exist to specifically make the kids laugh, but the immaturity in the jokes also lowers the quality of the script because this is an easy way for the writers to do jokes, rather than spending time to think about coming up with clever punchlines and build-ups to the joke.
Honestly, the more I think about how bad the “comedy” in most family-friendly foreign animated movies, the more I am surprised whenever a few such animated movies have surprisingly great jokes that are not only hilarious, but are also clever indeed. Comedy does not have to be restricted to just the familiar juvenile humour, but instead can be of various types. Whether it is clever punchlines, action comedy with great build-up and side-splitting character interactions, a few non-mainstream family-friendly animated movies can prove it is possible to have well-written jokes that the audience of all ages can enjoy.
One of the best examples of this was Mortadelo and Filemon: Mission Implausible, a 2014 animated movie based on the well-beloved Spanish comic series that takes advantage of its spy spoof vibes and ran with it. In fact, the best part of this movie is how unhinged the writers were when writing the jokes in this movie, because I was laughing with joy throughout this movie’s runtime. The absurdist comedy and gags are perfect for this type of movie, the characters are funny and memorable and the action comedy in this movie had fantastic build-up and comedic punches.
In fact, the fact that this is animated by Ilion Animation Studios (now Skydance Animation Madrid), the same animation studio behind Planet 51, Wonder Park, Luck and the upcoming Spellbound is honestly surprising because Mission Implausible is such a completely different and way more exciting compared to the rest of the studio’s catalogue, mostly thanks to its clever comedic style.
Issue 3: Insufficient Supply of Great Characters
The third issue regarding this Americanisation is that the characters in most of the Americanised family-friendly foreign animated movies felt more like caricatures of typical animated movie characters, and less of actual animated movie characters that you would fall in love with. If the writing as I mentioned is not great, most of the time, it usually translates to poorly written characters that are not worth mentioning, simple as that.
One issue I highlighted on the characters is that same old cliches for certain types of characters happen repeatedly. You have the hero, the female sick-kick, the comedic sick-kick, the hero’s family, the villain and so, so many other types of characters that I am often exhausted of. Worse still, if those characters are poorly developed or felt very annoying, then the audience will be more put off by how much the characters pretty much suck, and again, the over-reliance on the same old character tropes inspired by the mainstream animated movies resulted in lack of memorable characters.
However, by just changing up how the writers develop those characters during the movie, the quality of the non-mainstream family-orientated animated movie improves significantly, especially when those characters grow out of their traits and become different and more exciting. Even if the characters would possess similar tropes, the writers can still add personality and flair to these characters to stand out among the crowd.
One fantastic example has to be The Amazing Maurice, a Sky Cinema original animated movie from 2023 that genuinely surprised me into how much the characters carry the movie. This is especially for the hero cat, Maurice, who is not only a self-aware and clever cat that learn to team up and rely on his mice team throughout the movie, but his arc and interactions with the various characters in the movie helped to carry the movie forward. This was also helped by the various mice of his mice team, all having distinct personalities that complement Maurice’s skill-set, as he carried out various plans during the movie, as well as the clever dialogue from these characters that enhance their personalities.
I will admit that The Amazing Maurice has its set of flaws, but still, the fact that this movie has such a memorable cast of characters that bring this weird concept forward is why I think of them in a positive light every time someone ask me about The Amazing Maurice.
Issue 4: Can We Spice Up the Animation Style, Please?
The fourth issue worth discussing has to be the animation style the studios use in the movies, and I am seeing a pattern that is worth noting. The pattern? 3D computer-generated animation in almost every single family-friendly non-mainstream animated movie. Ever.
Honestly, the one frustrating thing about most of the family-friendly non-mainstream animated movies is that most animated movies are animated using the same type of animation style, and that is the 3D computer-generated animation style. In fact, counting the number of non-3D CG animated movies is easier than counting the number of 3D CG animated movies. Worse still, either the overall animation quality, whether it is the character and background designs, character movements, rendering and other animation aspects, looks boring, or the animation is executed poorly, resulting in a lower quality of animation that is not deserving of being seen in theatres.
In fact, this has become a plague that, for better or worse, most of the animation community shunned those 3D CG family-friendly non-mainstream animated movies because most of them are just simply not good enough to compete with other mainstream animated movies with more resources, personnel and more creative animation for this medium. However, does it need to remain that way?
One way to avoid this boring and overused animation style in many family-friendly non-mainstream animated movies is to just change to a different animation style. In fact, there are many of these movies that use a different style, whether it is 2D hand-drawn animation (like most Cartoon Saloon animated movies such as Wolfwalkers and Puffin Rock and the New Friends) and stop-motion animation (Even Mice Belong in Heaven) found more success and prominence compared to the same old family-friendly non-mainstream animated movies that heavily rely on 3D CG animation.
Another way is to make the animation style feel different, even when using 3D CG animation. While most family-friendly animated movies that utilise 3D CG tend to be boring, it is still possible to stand out by having a unique animation style that makes it different from similar looking animated movies. Most of the modern non-mainstream animated movies from China are worth remembering because even though they use 3D CG animation, the animators embrace a different philosophy and concept to make their animation pop.
While technically an animated movie for a general audience and not specifically for the family audience, the combination of two vastly different CG animation styles in Deep Sea makes it one of the most visually stunning animated movies of the 2020s so far thanks to an expertly crafted combination of photorealistic character animation with traditional watercolour backgrounds that makes the movie feel like a painting (although Loving Vincent And The Peasants both use oil paintings to rotoscope their animation sequences to great use).
Therefore, by switching up the animation style, non-mainstream animated movies, even the family-friendly ones, can find success among the animation community as long as the animators can execute the animation style properly. In fact, given the number of animated movies showcasing at Cartoon Movie 2024, an annual animated movie pitching festival, that use a style that is not 3D CG animation is higher compared to previous years, it is promising to see up-and-coming animation styles that embrace a different animation style to produce their animated movies and this will bode well for the non-mainstream animated movies of the future.
Issue 5: Not All Soundtracks Need to be Generic Pop-Heavy
The fifth issue surrounding the Americanisation of most non-mainstream animated movies has to be the music score and soundtrack of these movies. While most moviegoers would not notice much about the other minor elements in these movies, one minor element of any animated movie that plays an important role is the score and soundtrack.
You could argue that unless it is a musical, then the soundtrack usually plays a minor role, but that may not be exactly the case. In fact, a boring or unbearable musical score and soundtrack can ruin an animated movie experience, and vice versa. Chances are, the existence of most bad non-mainstream animated movie soundtracks goes to a lack of care when composing or selecting the songs to add to the soundtrack.
One complaint I had when it comes to most family-orientated non-mainstream animated movies was the abundance, or sometimes over-abundance, of generic pop songs popularised by the Shrek series. Honestly, I will say Shrek can be a bad influence on some animated movies due to straight up copying of what makes the Shrek series, mainly the first two movies. Most non-mainstream animated movies catering to he family audience are filled with the same old pop-heavy soundtrack and similar-sounding music scores that serves no purpose other than to distract from the probable bad writing and animation in most of these movies.
In fact, there is more to music than pop tracks. What about beautiful ballads that invoke a feeling in most Chinese animated movies, even the less desirable ones like in Big Fish and Begonia? What about classic 80s beats that remind viewers of that era, such as in Robot Dreams? What about even traditional folk music such as in Mavka: The Forest Song?
In fact, a great soundtrack can sometimes turn an otherwise ok or mediocre animated movie, to one that is pretty decent. Rock Dog is a good example as, say what you want about the mediocre writing or the rather ok animation, but the rock-based soundtrack is pretty great, not to mention the good utilisation of Foo Fighters’ “Learn to Fly” and Radiohead’s “No Surprises”. In fact, these two songs are only outmatched by Adam Friedman’s “Glorious” which is a surprisingly good pop-rock song, all things considered.
Overall, I feel animation studios need to be more daring when it comes to composing the music score and soundtracks, and given that more recent non-mainstream animated movies are embracing other non-pop music genres and having more memorable music scores, this is very promising indeed.
Issue 6: Stop Treating Animated Movies as an Intelligence Test!
The sixth and final issue I had on the Americanisation of non-mainstream animated movies is a cumulation of most, if not all, the above issues I had mentioned before, and that is how some non-mainstream animated movies, especially the family-orientated ones, are stooping low to create animated movies with only the children audience in mind. Oh boy, I do not like this issue at all.
In the recent years, I had seen opinions from the animation community emphasizing that animation is not just for kids, but for everyone. This is because most animated movies catered to the young audience, particularly the non-mainstream ones, are not adequate enough quality wise because of how much the uninspired writing, bad jokes, poor animation quality and overall lack of care towards the movie’s audience.
There is also a rising trend of the demographics of animated movies, as we are seeing more teenagers, young adults and adults watching animated movies more than children. These folks, myself included, are more concerned about animation quality as well as having a good time watching those movies, while also providing substance and food for thought that would impact the older crowd too.
Therefore, animation studios can no longer afford to stoop low by providing mindless animated garbage that only serves to distract the young audience while frustrating the animation community who are also passionate about animated movies. Instead, what they should do is to stand out by trying to be different and go past the typical norms of a typical family-friendly animated movie, whether it is by changing up the various elements of an animated movie, while also pursuing an identity that fits the studio’s storytelling and animation style better.
Thankfully, we are seeing the rise of non-mainstream animated movies that cater to a more mature audience that are creative, thought-provoking and unique looking that are worth seeing more than the non-mainstream animated movies that feel very Americanised and offer almost nothing to the table. You can see the number of more mature-feeling animated movies showcasing at various festivals such as Annecy, Animation is Film and Cartoon Movie for proof.
While technically not a non-mainstream animated movie catering to the family crowd and instead for a general audience, Robot Dreams, a Spanish animated movie about a dog and his new robot companion in the 1980s, might be a simple-sounding animated movie, but it was clear that the writers and animators behind the movie produced this movie with utmost care. This movie’s writing is both pleasant and unpredictable, the comedy and jokes (even as a non-vocal animated movie) has great build-up and energy, the characters are well-developed and believable, the hand-drawn animation style is excellent, and the soundtrack invoke nostalgic feelings of the 1980s.
In fact, rather than explaining this movie further, I highly recommend you find a way to check out this movie for yourself. This is one of the best non-mainstream animated movies of the year so far and is worth checking out more than the Americanised non-mainstream animated movies that felt aimless.
Conclusion
As you can see, it seems the tides of non-mainstream animated movies are changing for the better. We are seeing more creative non-mainstream animated movies that are going far beyond the typical family-orientated fare by embracing new animation techniques and storytelling style, taking creative risks and above all, creating something moviegoers of all ages can appreciate and enjoy.
Yes, there will still be the Americanised non-mainstream animated movies because you still need those types of movies meant for the family audience, which I honestly do not mind. However, as the animation landscape grows, we need much more innovative and mind-blowing animated movies from across the world that tell different stories the animation crew, writers and directors believe in. That would make the animation industry more exciting for a new generation of passionate animators who wanted to do animation their own way, as well as animation fans craving for something different.
Moral of the story: Be less like Mummies, and be more like Ernest and Celestine.
Thank you so much for reading this essay. I hope you are down for more animated movies, because there are more coming our way. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
