Animation Movies of 2011

by Helen Earnshaw | 10 February 2011

If you are a big animation movies fan then 2010 was a vintage year as we were treated to Despicable Me, How To Train Your Dragon, Shrek Forever After and, how could we forget, Toy Story 3.

And animation continues to be big business at the box office with Gnomeo and Juliet and Yogi Bear both being released this week.

So to celebrate the release of those movies we take a look at what else is being released this year and whether we can look forward to as good a year as last year.

Tangled

Disney have already set the bar pretty high so early in 2011 with the release of their fiftieth animation movie Tangled.

Now I must admit that I am a little partial to a Disney and after the success of The Princess and the Frog I had high hopes.

And I was not disappointed as Tangled, which is based on the story of Rapuzel, did not disappoint.

It had a little bit of everything, looks great, some fab musical numbers as well as being laugh out loud funny.

So it's fair to say that the rest of the movies in this genre have a hell of a lot to live up to over the next twelve months.

Rango - 4th March

Johnny Depp has shown already that he has a bit of a talent for lending his voice to animated characters - I hope you have all seen the excellent The Corpse Bride - and he is back with Rango.

The movie sees him reunite with his Pirates of the Caribbean filmmaker Gore Verbinski - in what is his first animated feature.

Depp plays Rango, a pet chameleon with a lively imagination. Stranded in the Old West town of Dirt, he finds a population of desert critters who don't take kindly to strangers - especially strangers who want to protect law-abiding citizens.

Rio - 8th April

In 2011 the team that brought us Ice Age bring us an new adventure with Rio - which, as you might expect, brings together an all star voice cast.

Yes it seems that every acting star wants to be in animation as Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg and Rodrigo Santoro are just three of the names on the voice list.

Set in the magnificent city of Rio de Janeiro and the lush rainforest of Brazil, the comedy-adventure centres on Blu, a rare macaw who thinks he is the last of his kind.

When Blu discovers there's another he leaves the comforts of his cage in small town Minnesota and heads to Rio.

But it's far from love at first sight between the domesticated and flight-challenged Blu and the fiercely independent, high-flying female, Jewel.

Unexpectedly thrown together, they embark on an adventure of a lifetime, where they learn about friendship, love, courage, and being open to life's many wonders.

Kung Fu Panda 2 - 17th June

Kung Fu Panda grossed in excess of $631 million when it was released back in 2008 - a sequel was always inevitable.

And 2011 sees it hit the big screen as Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan and Seth Rogen are all back with Gary Oldman and Jean-Claude Van Damme new characters in the movie.

Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five - Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey.

But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu.

It is up to Po and The Furious Five to journey across China to face this threat and vanquish it. But how can Po stop a weapon that can stop kung fu?

He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

Cars 2 - 22nd July

Now I have to admit that Cars is perhaps not my favourite Pixar movie - in truth I hated it and cannot for the life of me think why they have made a sequel.

But they have and the movie is set to hit the big screen this summer as Owen Wilson returns to voice the character of Lightning McQueen.

Star racecar Lightning McQueen and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in "Cars 2" when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world's fastest car.

But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage.

Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 26th October.

Tinin, a childhood fave of many, looks set to be one of the most exciting releases of the year with Steven Spielberg directing, Peter Jackson on producing duties and a script from Edgar Wright.

The motion capture 3D movie, which is set to be the animation event of 2011, had brought together a great cast with Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg and Daniel Craig all on board.

Tintin and his friends discover directions to a sunken ship commanded by Capt. Haddock's ancestor and go off on a treasure hunt.

If you are a fan of this genre then 2011 looks set to be another exciting year in the world of animation... can't wait!!