With summer officially behind us, and autumn starting to set in, it’s time to look at the last few animated films of the year. Put away thoughts of monsters, minions and racing snails, make way for foodimals, turkeys and snowmen!
Here’s The Rotoscopers’ guide to the final few animated films of 2013:
1. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2
Studio: Sony Pictures Animation
Release: September 27, 2013
The original movie was clever, visually dazzling, and had us in splits with its humor. Hoping to recapture the box office magic of the first, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 arrives in theaters this September.
Picking up just where the last film left off, Cloudy 2 sees master inventor Flint Lockwood working under his idol Chester V in The Live Corp Company. Flint returns to his town of Swallow Falls, only to realize that his food machine is still running, but this time around is creating mutant food animals- foodimals- such as tacodiles, shrimpanzees, and apple pie-thons. Flint and the gang must stop the machine from running amok before it takes over the entire planet!
Cloudy 2 promises more gags, vivid animation and a creative story. The question is, will audiences still have an appetite for the sequel, or will it be sourly received? Prepare to get served September 27.
2. FREE BIRDS
Studio: Reel FX, Relativity Media
Release: November 1, 2013
The movie formerly titled Turkeys and later notoriously renamed Free Birds will hit screens in early November.
The Thanksgiving-themed buddy comedy tells the tale of two turkeys, one a laid-back pardoned turkey named Reggie (voiced by Owen Wilson) and the other, an uptight leader of the “Turkeys Liberation Front” named Jake (voiced by Woody Harrelson). The two team up and travel back in time to try and get turkey off the holiday menu for good.
Free Birds is Reel FX and Relativity Media’s first big ticket foray into animation. But do people actually want a movie about wisecracking turkeys? Or will it be an unexpected hit? Time will tell!
3. GET A HORSE!
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Release: November 27, 2013 (with Frozen)
Get A Horse! deserves special mention on this list, simply because it’s Mickey Mouse’s first return to the big screen in decades. The new short, attached to this Thanksgiving’s mega-release Frozen, features Walt Disney himself voicing Mickey. The retro-looking cartoon hearkens back to the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons, which Walt Disney himself produced. The style, colors and designs all have a distinct 1920s touch, but some are saying that looks can be deceiving…
Get A Horse! features Mickey, Minnie and their friends Clarabelle and Horace as they enjoy a wagon ride- until Peg-Leg Pete shows up and tries to run them off the road.
The short has already received critical acclaim and a lot of press coverage, and rumors are flying that we’ll be seeing Mickey and the gang in an all new avatar. Is it an all-new short? Or something dug up from the Disney Vault? Could this be using the new Paperman technology blending hand-drawn and CGI models? We’ll have to wait and see!
4. FROZEN
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Release: November 27, 2013
The big one. Possibly the most hyped, most eagerly anticipated animated film of the year is also the very last one. Frozen is the 53rd Disney Animated Classic, a fairytale and, yes, a musical.
Partly inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s classic story, The Snow Queen, Frozen tells the story of two royal sisters, Anna and Elsa. The elder sister Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) has a secret–she has the power to control ice and snow. It’s a beautiful gift, but also very dangerous. When Elsa accidentally lets her powers out, she ends up freezing the entire kingdom. Terrified of what the people think, Elsa flees to the mountains, where she rechristens herself as The Snow Queen and lives in exile. Her younger sister Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) teams up with a mountain man named Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff), his lovable reindeer Sven and a lopsided snowman named Olaf (voice of Josh Gad) and together they try to find Elsa. Facing magic, wintery extremes and mysterious trolls, Anna and the gang must find Elsa and put a stop to the eternal winter…before it’s too late!
We’ve already said a lot (and by a lot I mean a LOT) about Frozen. The excitement in the animation community for this movie is already at a fever pitch. With the promise of beautiful new animation, new Disney music and memorable characters and story, Frozen is the animated event of the year.
