Introduction
Happy New Year, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for a small, but important pre-adventure checking for the 2024 animated movies! Considering that the first animated movie of 2024 that has been confirmed, DreamWorks’ Orion and the Dark, will only be out in February, perhaps it is time to look into some of the animated movies coming out or slated to come out this year.
However, since most of the media would be focusing more on the big mainstream animated movies and I enjoy more of my non-mainstream stuff, for today, we will be looking at a selection of non-mainstream and foreign CG animated movies I have some genuine interest in. Some are releasing this year, while others have been already released last year but carried forward to this year due to differences in release dates.
So with that said, let us get into some of the 2024 non-mainstream animated movies I am looking forward to, in no particular order!
Chicken for Linda!
- Directors: Sebastien Laudenback and Chiara Malta
- Animation Studios: Dolce Vita Films and Miyu Productions
- Country of Origin: France, Italy
Chicken for Linda is a funny and heart-warming tale about a mother’s desire to cook up a chicken dish for her daughter that she loved, but there are a few problems: not only she does not know how to cook, but she had to cook up that dish in the middle of a strike.
Ah France, you never fail to amaze me with your brilliant animated movies. From the directors and studios behind The Girl Without Hands, Chicken for Linda won the Annecy Cristal at the 2023 Annecy International Film Festival, and it is such a shame that due to a lack of international distribution, it is very difficult to get hold of the movie, having being shown around for various festivals.
If there is one thing I am interested in, it is the animation style. It is beautifully abstract and chaotic, and has some genuine heart in the styling, which is great for those who are tired about the similar generic style of animation in most mainstream animated movies. Let’s hope I get a chance to sample that chicken dish in 2024!
Robot Dreams
- Director: Pablo Berger
- Animation Studios: Arcadia Motion Pictures and Lokiz Films
- Country of Origin: Spain
Set in the 1980s, Robot Dreams is a silent movie based on Sara Varon’s graphic novel of the same name about the misfortunes of Dog and his new Robot companion as they went on their daily lives together in New York City.
Robot Dreams is the type of animated movie I wish more animation studios should consider to create: silent animated movies that focus more on a “show, don’t tell” approach with fluid animation and a great score to boot. This is a movie that promises big things and from the various trailers, this looks set to deliver.
However, it is not just the movie’s concept that I am excited about, but also how this movie was created. You see, Robot Dreams was supposed to be produced by the legendary Irish-based studio Cartoon Saloon, but COVID-19 put a stop to that. What did director Pablo Berger do instead? He sets up his own pop-up studio in Madrid (warning: this article is from Cartoon Brew who has been known for posting biased articles, so thread with caution) and invited animators from all over Europe to work with him on the movie, in the middle of the pandemic. That honestly took guts to work through the pandemic, and it shows in the final product.
In fact, Berger’s approach and the fact that he and his team produced this on only US$6 million is so inspiring that it could bring in a new wave of indie animation, and if this movie succeeds (which it already has judging by the nominations it is getting for Best Animated Feature), it would be one of the most exciting animated movies of 2024 for me. With that said, I am looking forward to this potential masterpiece!
The Imaginary
- Director: Yoshiyuki Momose
- Animation studio: Studio Ponoc
- Country of Origin: Japan
On the topic of up and coming animation studios, Japan’s Studio Ponoc could be argued as one of the most exciting animation studios in Japan, and in their third outing, this time they are producing a movie where an imaginary friend must return to his creator before he is forgotten or captured by an evil man who can see imaginary friends, as what the IMDb synopsis indicates.
Having just released in Japan a few weeks ago to positive reviews, The Imaginary looks set to another banger from this studio. It has a very interesting premise, and the animation looks stellar, which is to be said about the recent Japanese animated movies. Plus, this looks set to be an emotional movie that has the potential to move me thanks to the story, which makes this movie more exciting than ever.
All I can say is, bring it on, Studio Ponoc!
The Inseparables
- Director: Jeremie Degruson
- Animation Studio: nWave Studios
- Country of Origin: Belgium
Directed by long-time nWave veteran Jeremie Degruson, written by Cal Brunker and Bob Barlen (the writers behind the two Paw Patrol movies, of which I reviewed the sequel on this Blog, as well as a trio of bad animated movies not worth mentioning on this post) based on screenplay by Joel Cohen, one of the writers behind the first Toy Story movie, a puppet not willing to be stuck acting as a joke paired up with a stuffed toy on an adventure across Central Park and New York City.
I know, I now considered myself a fanboy of this Belgium studio and I had covered this studio on this blog and on Letterboxd more than any other foreign CG animation studio (such as with my special review of A Turtle’s Tale last year), but the truth is that they are one of the very few successful foreign CG animation studios out there, as well as being popular among the European animation community. In addition, having the studio teaming up with the Brunker-Barlen duo who contributed to Son of Bigfoot and its sequel, Bigfoot Family, to nWave means they have a level of familiarity that would boost the confidence for both parties.
Also, even though it does not have a release date for most of the Asia region yet (it has been released in parts of Europe by the end of 2023), I had already seen some of the behind-the-scene content (though this could spoil certain parts of the movie, so I highly recommend you hold off until you see the movie for yourself) and it looks set to be another visually striking movie from nWave. Coming off arguably their best movie with 2022’s Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness (which also included a follow-up essay about the potential reasons behind its success), is nWave about to go on a hot streak? We will find out soon enough!
200% Wolf
- Director: Alexs Stadermann
- Animation Studio: Flying Bark Productions
- Country of Origin: Australia
200% Wolf is the sequel to 2020’s 100% Wolf and while there is no synopsis of this movie yet, it is worth noting that Flying Bark Productions, the same studio that brought us Glitch Techs, Rise of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which has a movie that I covered in 2022) and Lego: Monkie Kid, has returned to work on the sequel.
First off, I have to admit that something exciting is going on with the Australian animation scene, as all of a sudden, they started producing really decent animated series and movies that deliver on the quality, especially with last year’s Scarygirl. I know, some did not like the first movie, but I found it to be rather decent.
Anyway, it would be interesting to see what Flying Bark has in store for 200% Wolf, so stay tuned!
Dragonkeeper
- Directors: Salvador Simo and Li Jianping
- Animation Studios: China Film Animation and Guardian De Dragones A.I.E.
- Country of Origin: China, Spain
Dragonkeeper, about an unlikely friendship between a slave girl and a dragon, is one of my most anticipated foreign CG animated movies of 2023, only for it to be delayed to this year with it slated for an April 2024 release in Spain.
Why am I excited about this? Mostly because of one of the directors involved, Salvador Simo. Simo is responsible for directing Brunel in the Labyrinth of Turtles, one of the most visually unique animated movies from a country as passionate about animation as Spain. I know, one movie is not a good indicator to assess a movie director’s performance, but considering the Brunel is a movie I really wanted to watch someday despite its limited presence, Dragonkeeper is worth a shot.
Plus, I had seen previews of this movie at Cartoon Movie 2023, and it looks fantastic. Sure, we do not know the full synopsis of this movie yet, but hopefully, once the trailer is out, then we will know whether this is worth seeing in theatres. Until then, I am hopeful that this will be the movie that breaks Viva Kids’ streak of distributing mediocre to outright bad animated movies to theatres in the United States.
Diplodocus
- Director: Wojtek Wawszczyk
- Animation Studios: Human and PFX (with the Polish Film Institute)
- Country of Origin: Poland, Czechia (Czech Republic)
Diplodocus centres around a little diplodocus who one day disappeared from his land and found himself within the pages of a comic book artist. To save his loved ones, the diplodocus and his friends must overcome their own doubts and insecurities, while also inspiring the artist to believe in himself and his creations once again.
When I heard the premise for this movie, I immediately stopped what I was doing and read through the Animation Magazine article talking about it. Considering the overall lower than average quality of writing in most foreign CG animated movies, the concept alone is interesting and that there are many ways this story could go.
Plus, this movie promises a hybrid twist as there would be an element of live action sequences in this movie which also sold me. It also has to be a coincidence that another Polish animated movie that is in development, Iggy the Eagle, is also doing a mixture of 2D animation, 3D animation and live action sequences in the movie, meaning that Poland might be doing a couple of hybrid animated movies, which is very rare in Europe.
In addition, director Wojtek Wawszczyk has his own website where he outlines the development of this movie, which is a great way to see through the full animation process of a typical animated movie from concept to execution.
All in all, this movie has massive potential, and I am looking forward to seeing Diplodocus when I get the chance!
The Brothers Gruff Go to Splash World / Spermaggedon
- Directors: Will Ashurst and William John Ashurst (The Brothers Gruff Go to Splash World) / Rasmus A. Sivertsen and Tommy Wirkola (Spermaggedon)
- Animation Studio: Qvisten Animation
- Country of Origin: Norway
To end this list, we have two animated movies from the same studio, but both movies are far apart in terms of their concept.
The first movie (which has already been released in Norway) is a twist on the classic fairytale Three Billy Goats Gruff, only this time, the Billy Goats Gruff go on an adventure to the water amusement park Splash World rather than the meadow like in the original. The second movie, on the other hand, is an “interesting” musical about, wait for it… sex. It has two interchangeable stories, but both centres around sex. I will leave it there because otherwise, if I go into the details, this article will not be safe for work.
If you ask me to describe one word to describe the Nordic animation scene, “bonkers” would be the most appropriate word. While they had released conventional animated movies in the past such as Titina which I covered and loved last year, the Nordic countries (specifically Denmark, Sweden and Norway) are famous for working on animated movies with some of the most insane concepts you could ever think of, and I was able to cover one such movie, Monty and the Street Party, last year.
However, Norway’s Qvisten Animation has been doing animation since the early 2000s, and had worked on several movies, including Two Buddies and a Badger (which my friend Bruno Vega enjoyed, especially with the sequel). In fact, “weird” is Qvisten’s middle name as they loved to work on weird concepts for their animated movies. The weirder the story, the better. With that said, The Brothers Gruff Go to Splash World is already turning heads upon its release in Norway recently, mostly due to the soundtrack which has gone viral, while Spermaggedon has an “interesting” concept that could either be great or bad, especially once we get a first look at that movie.
So yeah, you would never know what this studio has to offer, and I am curious to check out both movies, but more so The Brothers Gruff Go to Splash World. If anything, that movie’s concept sold me more than a musical movie about sex, for obvious reasons.
Conclusion
These movies are just a sample of what is to come for non-mainstream and foreign CG animated movies because it is almost guaranteed that there will be some surprise releases of other animated movies that you would not expect to come out, so of course, this is a rather non-exhaustive list.
Still, the wide variety of the non-mainstream animated movies goes to show that despite a lot of difficulties in 2023, a lot of animation studios from across the world can thrive under these circumstances, which is an encouraging sign.
That is all from me. Tune in next week where we will count down the worst to best animated movies of 2023 start with my least favourite animated movies of 2023. I will see you on the next adventure, and until then, k thanks bye!
