MOVIES/ANIMATION – Top Ten CG Animated Movies

Today I’m writing about the best computer generated animated movies that have come out in recent years.

This type of animated film is relatively new, but it’s really taken animated storytelling and managed to broaden it greatly. Especially in the eyes of mainstream audiences.

You’d think this list would be dominated only by Pixar  and Dreamworks films. Well, you’d almost be right, but I decided to clump some of the Pixar and Dreamworks CG films into series.  This frees up the list to allow other great CG films to get put on the list.

So let’s get started.

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10. The Adventures of Tin Tin

There have been many directors who have attempted to make motion capture movies that look right. Beowulf, Polar Express, A Christmas Carol, all have gone into the “uncanny valley” territory, that happens when the you rely too heavily on the computer  to do all the work.

This has made these movies, not only ugly, but not worth watching.

Along came Tin Tin.  A motion capture  CG movie done right.

Tin Tin does away with the attempt of making it’s characters super realistic.  Also, when watching Tin Tin, it becomes obvious that the animators enhanced and touched up the motion capture until it looked just right.

I’m pretty sure they added and took away from the performances to make it all work.  THIS is how motion capture is done well. When motion capture and animators work together in harmony to make something animate look right.

On top of that, the movie was directed by none other than Steven Spielberg.  The movie comes across like an adventure movie in the same vain as his best Indiana Jones movies. It’s so much fun.

More animated movies should be in this genre.  I’m looking forward to the sequel.

9.  Rango

Rango was a unexpected surprise.  A great western told with animals.

The unique look and feel of this movie was fascinating.  It was odd, quirky, and fun.

Watching Rango, I wasn’t expecting much of anything, but it was a great surprise. Fun story, interesting characters, a unique genre.  It really blew me away.

It became one of my favorite CG movies. A must watch for anyone who’s a fan of CG animated movies and westerns.

8.  Surf’s Up

I have to admit, I’m a little bias about this one.  I went to Sony animation studio to visit a friend when this movie was in  development.  I had lunch with the concept artists and  I was blown away by the concept art for this movie.

This movie is totally fun and completely underrated. Mostly because it has been overshadowed another movie with singing and dancing penguins, whose name we will not mention.

Surf’s Up is nothing like that other movie.

So much of the dialogue is improvised by the actors.  It’s funny, and that art direction is beautiful. The character designs are fantastic, the animation acting it awesome.

Also the water effects are pretty spectacular.

This movie is great.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

7.  The LEGO Movie

Oh boy, this movie rocks.  One of the funniest CG animated movies ever.

It also doesn’t actually look like a typical CG movie.  It actually looks like the movie was animated using Legos

It’s a surprisingly deeper movie than it seems at first.

It was written and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the guys who brought us Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  A movie that also belongs on this list (only if it was on this list Tin Tin would be knocked off  so  I’m mentioning it here.)

This movie is super  awesome.  It’s about Legos and  who doesn’t love Legos?

Watch it!

6.  Tangled

I had to put at least one Disney movie in this list.  Tangled made my list for a few reasons. It’s a typical Disney formula princes movie that actually works well.

The art direction is beautiful.  I love the colors.

I like the character designs of the protagonists a lot.

And it’s the last Disney movie Glen Keane worked on before he left Disney.

If you were to watch a CG Disney movie, this is the one I’d recommend.  Yes, I like it more than Frozen.

5.  The Croods

I absolutely didn’t expect this movie to be as good as it is.  It’s really good.

I laughed, I cried. One of Dreamworks’ best movies and it was overshadowed by Frozen, which came out the same year.

If you haven’t seen this movie, you’re doing yourself a  great disservice.

I highly recommend watching The Croods. It’s awesome!

4.  Toy Story (Series)

I’m totally cheating here.  I’m clumping all the Toy Story movies into the number 4 spot.  Otherwise they would take up most of this list.

What can I say about these movies? They’re kinda brilliant. They heralded the CG animation movement.

They’re deep, funny, engaging, moving…just about everything that makes Pixar movies great.

3.  Kung Fu Panda (Series)

Again, I’m clumping all the movies together here for the same reason I clumped the Toy Story movies.

I love Kung Fu, and I love animated action movies.  These movies combine the things I love and makes them work really well in an action comedy environment.

These movies where a great idea, well executed.

Great action, great story, great designs, fantastic animated acting.  You can’t go wrong.

2.  How to Train Your Dragon (Series)

Continuing with my clumping series together.  This series is made for me.  It’s a lot more action oriented than most animated movies out there.

Along with Kung Fu Panda, these movies really cater to my preferences in movies.

They’re also really cool.

You gotta watch them. I mean, who doesn’t love dragons?

1.  The Incredibles

It’s tough for a CG movie to beat this movie for me.  It has superheroes in it, great look, a great setting, fantastic characters,  amazing action,  and exciting and moving story, and it’s so relateable.

The acting is amazing, it’s funny…it’s got a great director…I mean, it’s just so good.

It’s absolutely the best CG movie made so far. It’s a tough movie to beat.

What are Your Thoughts?

Did I miss your favorite?  Have you seen all these movies? Do you think I’m missing anything?

Comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.