So 2016 is almost finished and it is time to look forward to a new year and new slate of animated films. I must be honest with you guys – I don’t see much to be excited about, but hopefully this means there will be lots of pleasant surprises.
Ocean Waves
January 12, 2017 nationwide
Originally a TV movie from Studio Ghibli, Ocean Waves is finally getting a US full release. It’s a story about high school kids, which is kind of unique for Ghibli. I’m sold!
Bunyan and Babe
January 12, 2017 on Google Play
This looks really rough, with Paul Bunyan coming to the modern world to save the forest from a greedy land owner. Sigh…the voice cast looks pretty good though, with John Goodman, Kelsey Grammar, and more.
Monster Trucks
January 13, 2017
Paramount has already taken a $115 million write-down on the film due to its expected poor returns, which is never a good sign. It’s an original design, but the trailers have been terrible. Monster Trucks looks more Sharknado than feature film.
Surf’s Up 2
January 17, 2017
This sequel to the charming original film makes me very sad.
My Life as a Zucchini
Early 2017 wide release (2016 film for Oscars)
It looks like this stop motion Swiss film will be nominated for best animated film, and I can’t wait to see it! It’s evidently the beautiful story of a grieving orphan and how he deals with his new orphanage.
The Lego Batman Movie
February 10, 2017
The trailers have been hilarious, so this is one mainstream animated film I’m actually looking forward to in 2017.
Rock Dog
February 24, 2017
The trailer looked extremely generic, but I hope it will be charming.
The Boss Baby
March 3, 2017
I’m not going to parse words – I think this looks like a complete disaster. Baby Geniuses for animation, but who knows? DreamWorks could stun me and make the movie more like The Rugrats Movie… but don’t count on it.
Beauty and the Beast
March 17, 2017
Beauty and the Beast is not technically an animated film, but it does have a lot of animated characters and I figured readers will be very interested in it. I have hated most of the visual designs and choices I’ve seen, but who knows? It could be good. I will feel better once I actually hear if this cast can sing.
Spark
April 14, 2017
This film will probably have cheap rendering, but hopefully there will be some charm in the story of the teenage monkey on a space journey.
Smurfs: The Lost Village
April 7, 2017
I hated the last two Smurfs movies, so I am not very excited for this one. The color design and animation do look pretty good and at least there are no humans, so it could be good. Anything is possible.
The Nut Job 2
May 19, 2017
Let’s hope they learned from the junk pile of the original (a girl can dream right?). I have no real interest in this film.
Captain Underpants
June 2, 2017
Evidently fans of the books are very excited for this film. I’ve never read the books so I am not excited, but hopefully DreamWorks will make something good.
Cars 3
June 16, 2017
I think the Cars movies are well suited for little kids, but this one has a much darker teaser trailer. I think it is part of a dream or flashback sequence, but hopefully Pixar will make Cars 3 the best of the Cars movies.
Despicable Me 3
June 30, 2017
I’m glad to be getting Gru and the girls back after the disaster of Minions. It’s interesting that in the trailer there were very few of the yellow guys. Just be funny. That’s all I ask.
Blazing Samurai
August 4, 2017
This keeps getting pushed back, because I believe the production company filled for bankruptcy. Don’t know much else.
The Emoji Movie
August 8, 2017
Where do I begin? How about the character’s strange looking legs or the fact a character in a major animated film is named Poop Daddy. Also Jailbreak is a total copy of Wyldstyle from Lego Movie. Even if by some miracle The Emoji Movie turns out good it still represents the worst trends in Hollywood right now.
Lego Ninjago Movie
September 22, 2017
I was moderately looking forward to this until the short before Storks, which I thought was super lame.
My Little Pony: The Movie
October 6, 2017
I love the TV series, especially seasons 1-3, so I am hopeful for this film. I hope the writing is good and it looks pretty. It’s nice to see a 2D animated film from a major studio.
Coco
November 22, 2017
I am very intrigued on this new Pixar film. I love that it celebrates Dia de los Muertos and that it has a latino cast. The musical elements sounds intriguing, so sign me up! This is definitely my most anticipated animated film of 2017.
The Star
December 8, 2017
I don’t know much about The Star except it is a nativity story, which could be good around Christmas. I’m intrigued.
Ferdinand
December 22, 2017
We don’t know much about Ferdinand except that it is about a shy little bull who is picked for the bull fights in Madrid. It could be good. We will see.
The Breadwinner
Unknown 2017 date
Done by the team who made Song of the Sea and The Secret of the Kells, this is about an Afghani girl who must dress as a boy so she can support her family. Yes, please!
Loving Vincent
Unknown 2017 date
Each of the 65,000 frames of this film are oil paintings on canvas! I am a huge van Gogh fan, so I have been intrigued by this project for some time. It sounds fascinating!
