It has been a genuinely stellar 12 months for animation. Four animated titles made it into the top 10 of 2013, with Despicable Me 2, the third highest grossing animation of all time in the UK, comfortably out on top. It may have come out in December but Frozen is still packing them in at the cinemas and is now worldwide, the biggest animated film of all time, having grossed a huge $1.1bn. The LEGO Movie received huge critical acclaim and is the biggest film of the year so far in the UK, with £32m and a sequel is already in the works. Smaller titles have made maximum impact too, with Mr.Peabody and Sherman breaking out from their 1960s roots to wow families during February. This all bodes well for the summer with its mix of bona fide blockbusters, big screen debuts for old favourites and the return of recent successes.
July is the start of the summer holidays so this is usually when the biggest animated titles vie for the key release dates. Last year, Despicable Me 2 came out on the last weekend of June and Monsters University followed it a couple of weekends later. This year the biggest animated title and a contender for biggest film of the year is How To Train Your Dragon 2.
The first is one of the most enduring animated films of recent times and four years after release still holds a place on the IMDB Top 250 (currently number 157). The sequel is set five years after the first and humans and dragons are co-habiting successfully on the island of Berk. Hiccup and Toothless are exploring the surrounding lands and discover a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider. The pair find themselves at the centre of a battle to protect the peace in another rousing adventure. I’m happy to report that I’ve been lucky enough to see the first hour of the film and anyone who is a fan of the terrific first film will not be disappointed.
A week later and the Transformers return for a fourth outing in Transformers: Age of Extinction. It’s a rare franchise that has actually got bigger with each film and this time they’ve replaced Shia LaBeouf with Mark Wahlberg, which is a decent swap in anybody’s book. This one also features the Dinobots, which if, like me, you grew up with the toys, is kind of a big deal. There’s no reason to think that this won’t continue the series’ trend and be the biggest Transformers film yet.
The summer holidays start in late July, so there’s a raft of family friendly films released over the following few weeks. There’s a big screen debut for Britain’s Got Talent winning dog, Pudsey in the imaginatively titled, Pudsey: The Movie.
The House of Magic is a charming looking animation about a cat called Thunder who accidentally stumbles into the strangest house imaginable. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has found another role where being ridiculously muscular is a benefit in Hercules and expect more snazzy dance moves in the fifth Step Up film, Step Up: All In.
The Nut Job has a strong comedy voice cast, including Will Arnett, Liam Neeson and Brendan Fraser and after it was a hit in the US in January, a sequel is already in the works. Marvel release their second title of the year in early August with Guardians of the Galaxy and it’s set to be their most interesting film for a while, with Chris Pratt playing a space pilot called Star-Lord and Bradley Cooper voicing a raccoon called Rocket.
The director of The Unbeatables, Juan Jose Campanella, won an Oscar in 2010 for his stunning live-action drama The Secret In Their Eyes but he’s turned his hand to animation with this tale of a boy who sets off on an adventure with the players of his beloved foosball team. If the reports from its London Film Festival premiere in October are anything to go by, Campanella is on to another winner. Finally, Planes was a big hit last summer and fans will be happy to hear a sequel is coming this summer. Planes 2 sees Dusty Crophopper join a fire and rescue team after his racing career is curtailed. Like the Cars series, Planes offers plenty of merchandising opportunities for Disney.
As always, summer is a hugely exciting time for families and fans of big budget spectacle. Family films in the last 12 months have set a huge benchmark but there every reason to think that the appetite for great films will continue.