5 Animated Films That Should Have Sequels

Animated sequels have long been in effect - some for good, some for bad. Here's the five that should
 get made.

We live in a world where sequels are an inevitability; if a film does quite well at the box office, it's general practice that it'll get a sequel, hence why we're at the stage where we hear chatter about 22 Jump Street, Independence Day sequels and more (you know Warner Bros. begged Christopher Nolan for an Inception sequel). More topically, we have animated sequels, prequels and spin-offs coming out the wahzoo: Monsters University, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Despicable Me 2 and the Cars spin-off Planes are all due this year alone, with films like How to Train Your Dragon 2, Hotel Transylvania 2, Rio 2 and Finding Dory in the pipeline for the next few years.

Things don't always pan out exactly as we'd like them to, though, and we end up with The Smurfs 2 and Shrek 4, while films like The Pirates! languish alone. As such, I've compiled a list. A list of the animated films that should have a follow up, but in which the studios just don't seem interested. And yes, The Incredibles 2 is unsurprisingly on there.

So, in no particular order...

3rd Annual A113Animation Awards Results

So, it's that time of year again, time to present our A113Animation Awards, honouring the best of animation in 2012! 2012 was undoubtedly a very strong year for animated films, it was the first year in recent memory where there was no clear cut winner; rather, a slew of very strong, very exciting and very diverse animated motion pictures. Nonetheless, winners had to be decided, so check out the results below - winners in bold - and a breakdown of what and why afterwards.

3rd Annual A113Animation Award Nominations

They've been delayed thanks to Disney's release schedule, but the time is upon us again, and I'm here today to announced the nominees for the 3rd annual A113Animation Awards! This year, we're introducing a few new awards; check out the categories, a few comments about what sort of criteria each category has where necessary, and the nominees who've managed to make the cut this year below.

Note, I haven't seen every single animated film of the year - the most notable omission is Tim Burton's Frankenweenie - and the awards are to be judged on what I have seen, as of today.

DreamWorks Woes: Mr. Peabody Pushed Back, Shadow Back in Development, Staff Cuts Coming

On the back of Rise of the Guardians under-performing (though it's still taken almost $300 million worldwide - hardly a failure), DreamWorks have a string of unpleasantness on the horizon, and none of today's developments are good news for animation fans.

40th Annual Annie Awards Winners: Disney Wins Big

Last night, ASIFA-Hollywood handed out this year's Annie Awards, honouring the best of animation for 2012; the evening was hosted by animation and film historian Leonard Maltin. The Annies are self-touted as animation's highest honour, and last night the highest honours went to Disney.

2013 Producers Guild Award Nominations Revealed (And New For Your Consideration Ads)

The Producers Guild of America have revealed the nominees for the 2013 Producers Guild Awards, honouring the best films of the past year. The nominees for the Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures are the five films that we've come to expect will be nominated (aside from the Golden Globes' odd inclusion of Hotel Transylvania, and exclusion of awards-favourite ParaNorman). It's sad to see that Aardman's fantastic The Pirates! is being nominated for so few awards, but the five films (and producers) nominated here are all deserving:

UPDATED: Christmas Recommendations: The Snowman and the Snowdog, The Art of ROTG and TV Listings

'Tis the season! As such, we here at A113Animation have a few TV recommendations and last-minute animation-related present ideas for you.

Some TV alerts for UK readers: On Christmas Eve at 8 PM, Channel 4 airs The Snowman and the Snowdog, the sequel to the absolute Christmas classic, The Snowman. The original aired 30 years ago this year and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. While creator Raymond Briggs didn't write this sequel, he did give it his blessing and it's animated and approached in the hand-drawn, soft style of the magical and iconic original.



Check out an interview from BBC Breakfast with some of the crew who worked on The Snowman and the Snowdog, complete with clips from it, over at the BBC website, and check out the promo for it embedded above. A113Animation's favourite actor is to narrate an audio e-book version of the story shortly afterwards as well.

More For Your Consideration Ads: DreamWorks Hammer Rise of the Guardians Promotion!

Awards, awards, awards. Yep, this is another one of those posts. Awards Daily has the latest batch of For Your Consideration ads, and DreamWorks have the majority of them for us; today we get a massive haul of Variety covers promoting the studio's latest, Rise of the Guardians, to Academy voters. Any other year, Guardians would be almost certain for a nomination, but 2012 has been a particularly strong year for animation, and with Frankenweenie all of a sudden emerging as a top contender, DreamWorks are promoting their film as hard as they can (with a strong, but lesser effort for Madagascar 3).

The bold Rise of the Guardians (directed by Peter Ramsey) ads tout some of the film's accolades (including its recent Annie nominations) and tote the simple-but-effective line: "Believe in the best animated film of the year". Check 'em out after the jump break.

Guest Review: Rise of the Guardians

By Damien.

Who Am I?

A Weird Rise of the Guardians Guest Review.

Maybe I'm a visionary genius. Or maybe I'm the biggest idiot on Earth... Just look at one of my comments on this very blog, talking about Rise of the Guardians a few months ago :

"I'm somewhat excited for this film, but I think it's not gonna be a huge hit internationally, with the differences in popular cultures.

Basically, in France :

- Santa Claus : Okay, "le Père Noël" is pretty much the same thing. Exactly even.

- Easter Bunny : Replaced by Bells. Yes. Bells bring the eggs.

- Tooth Fairy : Replaced by a small mouse : "la petite souris".

- Jack Frost : Who is this ???"

70th Golden Globes Nominations Revealed

Yep, awards season is definitely upon us. A few days ago we posted a round-up of a collection of critics' choices for Best Animated Film of the year, but, today, we move closer to the "big" awards of the year; first on the agenda, the Golden Globes.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association have announced the picks for the 70th Annual Golden Globes - the nominees that is, the actual Globes will take place on 13th January, 2013. Leading the pack is Spielberg's Lincoln with 7 nominations, with Django Unchained and Argo clocking in at 5 each. In terms of animation though, they're... well, they're somewhat odd choices.

The nominees for the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature film are:

• Brave - Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Pictures
• Frankenweenie - Walt Disney Pictures
• Hotel Transylvania - Sony Pictures Animation; Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures
• Rise of the Guardians - DreamWorks Animation SKG; Paramount Pictures
• Wreck-It Ralph - Walt Disney Animation Studios; Walt Disney Pictures

Firstly, that's three nominations for Disney-owned animated films, meaning the Mouse House stand a 60% chance of taking home the coveted award. Noteworthy, though, is that Hotel Transylvania is nominated, and ParaNorman is not. I liked Hotel T, it was fun, but ParaNorman is clearly the better film (and an awards favourite for that matter). It's too bad to see that Aardman's The Pirates! isn't get much love either, as it's definitely one of the year's finest animated films.

Check out this interesting article from Cartoon Brew, making the case as to why Tim Burton's Frankenweenie will probably win. Congrats to everyone nominated, and commiserations to Laika, Aardman and everyone who didn't quite make the cut - there's always the Oscars!

Rise of the Guardians Review - A Magical Film Worth Believing In

*This review is largely spoiler free, but read cautiously if you haven’t seen the film yet*

Fan, critic or somewhere inbetween, there is no arguing that DreamWorks have been on the up in the past few years. Having previously output beloved films like Shrek, DreamWorks became more defined for their asinine comedy, evident in films like Shark Tale and Over the Hedge. Since 2008 though, it's been an entirely different story. Kung Fu Panda was fantastic, as was its sequel; Monsters vs. Aliens, Megamind and Puss in Boots were lots of fun, and the studio reached a plateau with 2010's near flawless How to Train Your Dragon - the film that showed that world that DreamWorks could compete with Pixar on pretty much every level. While their latest, Rise of the Guardians, never quite reaches the incandescent brilliance of Dragon, it does rival the masterful storytelling, impeccable visual style and surprising heart of the Kung Fu Panda films.

Awards Bits: 40th Annual Annie Nominations, and New For Your Consideration Ads

Awards season is soon to be upon us, as such, ASIFA-Hollywood have unveiled the nominations for the 40th Annual Annie Awards. After the Pixar shut-out a couple of years ago, it seems things are back to normal this year, with Pixar/Pixarians getting a total of 10 nominations this year. That said, this year seems to be a very evenly distributed year, with DreamWorks getting a colossal 26 nominations (bear in mind they did release two features and a few TV specials this year).

Watch: Roundtable Discussion with Animation Directors

The L.A. Times have posted an absolutely enthralling roundtable discussion with five animated film directors, in anticipation of the very tight Best Animated Feature competition at awards season this year. Hosted by L.A. Times reporter Rebecca Keegan, the roundtable includes Mark Andrew (Brave), Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians), Chris Butler (ParaNorman), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) and Genndy Tartakovsky (Hotel Transylvania).

It's not all too equal a discussion, Rich Moore and Mark Andrews tend to dominate it, and it would've been nice to see Brenda Chapman and Peter Lord in the mix, but it really is brilliant! The start's your general stuff: talk about your film, your studio, your team, etc..., but it really takes off in the last fifteen minutes or so, when the conversation turns towards animation as a medium, the problem with American animation, and the directors' shared interests in seeing more 2D animated films, more adult animated films, and the versatility of animation as a medium.

Check it out!

Via Cartoon Brew.

Rise of the Guardians in US Cinemas Today - What Are the Critics Saying?

It's been quite a ride: anticipation running high, speculation that this could be the greatest DreamWorks film yet, some mixed reviews, some more positive ones, trepidation; and now US fans can find out for themselves how good DreamWorks' Rise of the Guardians - playing now in the US - actually is!

So It Has Begun: First Round of For Your Consideration Ads

Yes, it is that time of year again. It has its detractors, but I happen to think Awards season is pretty exciting! So, in a bid to get their films nominates for as many awards (well, mainly Oscars) as possible, studios have begun rolling out For Your Consideration ads - and we've got some cool animation ones so far.

Check Out Some New Rise of the Guardians Clips

The holidays are almost upon as, and DreamWorks rolls out its seasonal offering next week, the Peter Ramsey directed Rise of the Guardians. The film, based on William Joyce's Guardians of Childhood book series, sees childhood icons Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and Jack Frost join together to fight the malevolent Boogeyman, Pitch.



So, DreamWorks are in full promotion mode and have released three new clips from the film, and an interesting behind the scenes peek at the many looks of the film (above). Check out the clips after the jump break.

A113Animation Competition - Now Closed!

It's been an exciting ride but the 2nd A113Animation Competition has come to a close. With over 40 entries from all over the world, it soon became obvious that people really wanted to win The Art of Rise of the Guardians. So, my heartfelt commiserations to all those who didn't win, especially to those - like @LuxoCharaDesign and @mubblegum - who expressed such a keen enthusiasm for it; there's always next time! If you were thinking of buying it anyway, I'd recommend doing so - it's fantastic.

That said, there could only be one winner, and that winner - chosen at random - is Twitter user @MoonieBalloonie! Moonie also entered via email, but it was her Twitter entry that won her this free copy of Titan Books' companion book of DreamWorks' latest feature (out 21st Nov. (US), 30th Nov. (UK)). I've sent her an email, and so long as she replies with her address, then we have our winner!

Again, sorry if you were unsuccessful, but thanks for visiting A113Animation, and we hope to be able to maybe give you a prize in the future.

21 Animated Features Submitted for Oscar Consideration

Apologies for the mini-hiatus, guys, I've been in London watching Monsters, Inc. 3D (review up later)! But, it's back to business as usual, with this exciting news from Friday: the list of the 21 animated feature films that have been submitted to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for consideration for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature have been revealed.

Included among the running are likely favourites Brave, Wreck-It Ralph and ParaNorman. Check out the full list, with studios (where known), after the jump break - with links to trailers and reviews where appropriate:

DreamWorks Release Spate of New Rise of the Guardians Featurettes

On the back of the release of the fantastic accompanying 'Art of' book, DreamWorks are hard at work promoting their latest animated feature film, Rise of the Guardians. Today, they bring us some fantastic new featurettes for the film, introducing us to each of the film's iconic characters; as well as one with words from the team behind them.



The featurette for Rise of the Guardians' reimagining of Santa Claus, North, voiced in the film by Alec Baldwin, is embedded above. Alas, DreamWorks have inexplicably disabled embedding for the remaining featurettes, so check them out at the links below!

• "Meet the Tooth Fairy"
• "Meet Sandman"
• "Meet Bunnymund"
• "Meet Jack Frost"
• "Making Dreamsand"

Sandy in particular looks like a whole bunch of fun, and the all-star voice cast lends the film a lot of character. As for the animation, it looks every bit as gorgeous as the concept art The Art of Rise of the Guardians shows off!

The Guardians - described in the "Making Dreamsand" featurette by director Peter Ramsey as "the original superheroes" - arrive in cinemas on 21st November (US) and 30th November (UK), and I can't wait!

The Art of Rise of the Guardians Review - Making the Children of the World Believe... in Great Art Books!

DreamWorks are definitely in their golden age right now. The studio once derided as a cheap Pixar-wannabe has output hit after hit in recent years, with two of their latest films (How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda 2) holding their own against Pixar's offerings each year; with the latter actually besting the Toy Story studio! With their latest film though, Rise of the Guardians, - based on the Guardians of Childhood book series by William Joyce (The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore) - DreamWorks look set to reach new heights in terms of sophistication, scale and visual splendour. So, I've been greatly anticipating the film, and - because of the previously mentioned visual splendour - the accompanying 'Art of' book!