2006: Animated Films

There were 15 Animated features released in 2006. I caught 9 of them, and considered watching THE ANT BULLY, BARNYARD or OPEN SEASON just to make a list of 10. Then I came to my senses. Here’s my Top 5.

5. ICE AGE 2: THE MELTDOWN
Wildly popular (and the product of a prime release date), the film was a series of vaudeville gags connected to the thinnest of plots. The only scenes that really struck gold involved the undefeatable Scrat’s never ending quest for his acorn. But the rest amounted to a pleasant enough diversion.


4. HAPPY FEET
Advance buzz gave the feeling that this would be one of those magical family films like BABE. A MOULIN ROUGE style story involving singing, dancing penguins – and really, is there anything cuter – gave way to a heavy handed environmental message. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH had a lighter touch. There’s quite a bit of magic (and some beautiful shots), but the final act makes me like the film less the more I think about it.


3. MONSTER HOUSE
Another visual treat (which looked even better in 3D). The story was ingenious – the house IS the monster – and the tone reminded me of the children’s adventure films from the 80’s (GREMLINS and THE GOONIES comes to mind.) It’s a great film to watch at least once, but some of the cruelty did bother me.


2. OVER THE HEDGE
I really loved this movie when I saw it. It’s easily the funniest Animated Film of 2006, with Steve Carrell’s squirrel stealing the show. The final section delivers a lot of satisfying payoffs, but I hated the exterminator character and there are times when the animals act TOO human and the slapstick knob is set too high.


1. CARS
Out of anyone who makes a Top 10 list, I’m probably the biggest Pixar fan. TOY STORY, FINDING NEMO and THE INCREDIBLES were all in my Top 3 for their years. In many ways, CARS was a disappointment. The pacing was slack and the humor is often too childish. It never fully hits the Pixar groove until the final half-hour.

However, with repeat viewings I’ve gotten used to the pace, and like all great Pixar I have genuine affection for the characters. The film has definitely grown on me and while it’s not in my Top 3 this year, it is a worthy addition to the Pixar brand.


AND THE WORST ANIMATED FILM I SAW THIS YEAR…

THE WILD
Besides being a complete rip-off of MADAGASCAR (and I’m sure there’s a story on how THAT happened), THE WILD gets everything wrong. It’s loud, stupid, badly animated, breaks its own logic at every turn and uses tired pop hits (Coldplay’s “Clocks” in 2006?) to pad out the running time.

THE WILD was released by Walt Disney, and it’s even worse than CHICKEN LITTLE. In fact Disney buried the film with a small release and the final product bears signs of being abandoned during production. I saw it because Eddie Izzard voices a Koala Bear. The best thing about this film is the DVD Bonus where you see Eddie improvising some great bits.