Your thoughts on the Pixar wannabes?

[Daikun]

Disney/Pixar and DreamWorks are at the top of their craft when it comes to CGI feature films. But what about those guys who want so desperately be like them? Sure, their animation is nowhere close to the quality that the main guys receive (hence leading to them often being overshadowed), but their storytelling skills can probably make up for their shortcomings.

So I'm curious to know what your thoughts are on those other guys. I've compiled a list of a few companies that I feel are notable (if you know of any more, feel free to respond with them) and the films they've released so far.

Sony Pictures Animation

Films: Open Season, Surf's Up, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, The Smurfs, Arthur Christmas, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Hotel Transylvania

Blue Sky Studios

Films: The Ice Age series, Robots, Horton Hears a Who, Rio

Illumination Entertainment

Films: Despicable Me, Hop, The Lorax

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Out of three listed, I'd say Sony shows the most promise. Sure, its had its duds (Open Season still sends chills down my spine), but unlike the other two, they've made what IMO are some exceptional films. Granted, Arthur Christmas and Pirates have Aardman going for them, but they made Cloudy all my themselves, so that's got to be worth something.

I tend to ignore Blue Sky, unless "Epic" turns out well.

And Despicable Me is overrated. Megamind did it better.

[Foggle]

The Lorax

[Avaitor]

I like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and the first 2 Ice Ages okay.

Otherwise, I don't really have much of an opinion on any of these studios. They exist... and that's about it.

[Kiddington]

Robots has easily got to be the most forgotten movie of the bunch, and that's a shame. It's actually not that bad.

The Lorax, Open Season, Surf's Up, The Smurfs, Rio, Hop, Ice Age's 3 and 4

Fixed

[Commode]

I don't care for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, I thought it was dumb.  I do like Rio, it was an alright movie.  I also don't know how many of you have seen Pirates yet, but it's pretty decent, but then again I also like Flushed Away.

And Despicable Me is really good, as is Megamind.

What about the Happy Feet movies?  I personally think they are dumb, but I know a couple of people that just love them.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Frodo is a dancing penguin. That's all that can be said.

[Avaitor]

What about the Happy Feet movies?  I personally think they are dumb, but I know a couple of people that just love them.

Never saw 'em.

Usually I stay away from the mainstream Hollywood studios outside of Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks when it comes to animated films. Most of their work just doesn't appeal to me.

[Daikun]

The Lorax, Open Season, Surf's Up, The Smurfs, Rio, Hop, Ice Age's 3 and 4

I actually kinda liked Surf's Up.

What about the Happy Feet movies?  I personally think they are dumb, but I know a couple of people that just love them.

I wasn't certain whether to include Animal Logic or not. They're more of a special effects company than a full-fledged animation studio. Feel free to include them if you want, I guess.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Happy Feet was just a meh penguin movie until they revealed an environmental aesop. Argh.

[Silverstar]

Eh, most animated features are just there for me. (I'm more into shorts and TV shows.) I usually don't pay them a lot of mind unless they feature a subject or a story that intrigues me.


Sony Pictures Animation

Films: Open Season, Surf's Up, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, The Smurfs, Arthur Christmas, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Hotel Transylvania

1. Only saw parts of it; didn't look like much. The DTV sequels looked worse.
2. Mediocre.
3. Haven't seen it.
4. Groan-worthy. And it's getting a sequel.
5. Didn't see it.
6. Pretty good. The humor was very British and dry, but I like British comedies, so I'm OK with that.
7. Still haven't seen it; I'm wary of anything with Adam Sandler in it, plus, I'm not a fan of the Dead Mother trope.


Blue Sky Studios

Films: The Ice Age series, Robots, Horton Hears a Who, Rio

1. Not a fan.
2. A little too illogical for my tastes, even by cartoon standards, but it looked really good.
3. Haven't seen it, but I saw the trailers and I think I know what to expect.
4. Meh. Nice animation and I liked how it focused on the humans as well as the animals, but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me.

Illumination Entertainment

Films: Despicable Me, Hop, The Lorax

1. I liked it. (I also liked Megamind.) Ironically, my least favorite parts were the resident cash cows, those annoying one-note Minions.
2. Didn't see it.
3. After reading and seeing how far this one deviated from the original book, I've intentionally avoided this one like the Plague.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Despicable Me was surprisingly good. The Lorax would have been good if it had anything to do with the original instead of made into DreamWorks-lite.

Happy Feet was just a meh penguin movie until they revealed an environmental aesop. Argh.

It literally felt like they were making it up as it went along. Nothing really gelled.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

What about the Happy Feet movies?  I personally think they are dumb, but I know a couple of people that just love them.

There's more than one of those? I honestly never knew that....

Honestly, I found that movie to be pretty damn forgettable, in that I don't remember a thing about it....even whether I disliked it or not. In a case like this, I was probably just pretty indifferent to it, though.

Now, in all honesty, I haven't really seen much of the non-Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks stuff, but I did see the first Ice Age about a decade ago and I liked it back then. I have no idea how it holds up now, though. I also saw Over the Hedge a few years ago, which was....harmless, I suppose. Yeah, that's another movie that I was honestly pretty indifferent to, hence I don't really have anything else to say about it.

[Avaitor]

What about the Happy Feet movies?  I personally think they are dumb, but I know a couple of people that just love them.

There's more than one of those? I honestly never knew that....

Yeah, a sequel came out two or three years ago. No one really cared.

I also saw Over the Hedge a few years ago, which was....harmless, I suppose. Yeah, that's another movie that I was honestly pretty indifferent to, hence I don't really have anything else to say about it.

Now that's actually Dreamworks.

[The Shadow Gentleman]

The Lorax, Open Season, Surf's Up, The Smurfs, Rio, Hop, Ice Age's 3 and 4

Fixed

I second this motion.

I guess I just fond Despicable Me very predictable and honestly not very funny. Its still better than I expected, but I just think Megamind was more interesting.

The Smurfs

getting a sequel.