Disney and Pixar have undoubtedly been at the forefront of delivering some of the most beloved films of the modern age of cinema. Since Frozen has taken the world by storm, Disney has distributed animated female-led stories that not only personify different cultures, but redefine the image of “Disney Princess.” Meanwhile, Pixar has dominated by continually delivering groundbreaking animations, refreshing original stories, and modern sequels to some of their animated classics. However, Disney and Pixar are no longer in a league of their own as new forces in animation have entered the fray and created some of the most beloved animated franchises of all time.
The animated film space has grown tremendously over the past decade, bringing new stories that bring the whole family together for fun animated adventures and expand the visual potential of animation. Some blended unexpected genres with family storylines and others introduced characters that captured the hearts of viewers to become massive hits.
‘How to train your dragon’
Alongside Disney and Pixar, DreamWorks has played a pivotal role in animation creating some of the most notable modern animation franchises, including How to train your dragon.
the How to train your dragon was one of the most positively received anime series in recent memory, as fans and critics loved watching the adventures of Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and Toothless (vocal effects of Randy Thomas) through three excellent films. It’s a series that’s perfectly balanced between an emotional tale of friendship and a fun cinematic adventure that features eye-catching animation.
“Trolls”
DreamWorks also delivered an incredibly delightful modern animated musical adventure across the Trolls film series, based on the Good Luck Trolls toys.
DreamWorks has transformed the nightmarish-looking troll dolls into adorably designed characters that exist in a vibrant world of color and imagination through their dazzling animation and treatment of popular songs. Trolls captured the hearts of fans through its music and following, Trolls: around the world, showed even more visual and musical ambition for the franchise.
‘Hotel Transylvania’
With four films to his credit, including the recently released Transformanie on Prime Video, the Hotel Transylvania The series has been one of Sony Animation’s best franchises.
The series gave the classic creatures of the horror genre a charming and lively makeover and assembled a great voice cast, mostly led by Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez as father/daughter duo Dracula and Mavis, respectively. Hotel TransylvaniaThe stories always have a great mix of lively hilarity and heartwarming stories perfect for the whole family.
“The Croods”
DreamWorks introduced an instantly adorable prehistoric family in 2013 with The Croods and has found much success and adoration ever since.
The fun family dynamics of the titular Croods, the heartwarming budding romance between Eep (Emma Stone) and Guy (Ryan Reynolds), and the hilarious line delivery that can only be delivered by Nicholas Cage did both The Croods and its 2020 sequel, A new eraa total blast and the kind of series that instantly warms the heart.
‘To sing’
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Illumination has been at the forefront of creating original animated franchises and found an instant crowd favorite with the To sing movies.
To sing is essentially an animated jukebox musical that combines great character designs with top-notch actors singing incredibly popular songs. From when To singThe first trailer for , there was a crowd favorite written all over it and the series was one of Illumination’s biggest hits with last year’s sequel featuring impressive and ambitious atmospheric animation.
“The Addams Family”
Horror’s First Family got an animated treatment in 2019 by MGM and quickly became a major hit that instantly sparked development of a sequel.
Both animated films have created an excellent resurgence for The Addams Family and provided a great family option for Halloween. They’re funny, full of amusing horror references befitting any fan of the genre, and featured Wednesday, perfectly voiced by Chloe Grace Moretzto be a dark-minded MVP.
‘Kung Fu Panda’
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kung fu panda is easily one of DreamWork’s most beloved franchises, consistently delivering laughs and heartfelt stories centered around the lovable Po (Jack Black).
Not only has the series garnered critical and audience acclaim across all three entries, it’s also the third highest-grossing DreamWorks franchise – only behind Shrek and Madagascar. Fans are still hoping there might be a fourth movie in the works just to see more adventures with Po.
‘The LEGO Movie(s)’
Thinking about the effect Phil Lord and Chris Miller have had on animated films, it all goes back to The Lego Movie.
The Lego Movie is truly the unsung hero of animated films with how everyone rallied around the outcry of the two films being completely ignored by the Oscars and the iconic song “Everything is Awesome” being equally unrecognized. It’s a series that not only sparked two big movies, but also had a great spinoff with ninjago and Batman.
‘Despicable Me’
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Illumination captured magic in a bottle with their breakout franchise, Despicable Meand continued their success through multiple spinoffs and sequels.
Despicable Me has been the archetype of Illumination in creating their stories, and it’s no secret. Gru’s (Steve Carell) story of growing his family and overcoming his frosty bad ways warmed people’s hearts, and Minions was such a hit that it got its spinoff at the box office and has another one on the way.
‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’
Although there may only be one entry at the moment, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse set the stage for Sony to have a solid animation franchise.
The first film featured Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and a multiverse of spider-heroes and there are at least two sequels on the way, along with rumored spinoffs, that will continue to flesh out Miles’ story. With how beloved Spider-Man has become, the Spider-Verse movies have immense potential to be widely regarded as one of the best animated franchises of all time.
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