Epic
We have already seen some terrific animation movies hit the big screen this year with the likes of Wreck It Ralph and The Croods winning over critics and audiences - not to mention raking it in at the box office.
And that animation success looks set to continue this week with the release of Epic, the latest movie from Blue Sky and it is just one of a string of great movies in this genre heading our way throughout the rest of the year.
Monsters University - released 12th July
No movie year is complete without the release of a Pixar movie and this summer marks the return of Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan in Monsters University.
It was back in 2001 when we were introduced to these characters for the very first time and a sequel has been a long time coming.
This time around it is Dan Scanlon who is in the director’s chair as he helms only his second feature length animation movie.
Billy Crystal and John Goodman lend their voices to the character of Mike and Sulley and are joined on the cast list by Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi, John Krasinski and Nathan Fillion.
Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are an inseparable pair, but that wasn’t always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn't stand each other.
Monsters University unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends
It may have taken over ten years for the sequel to Monsters Inc but Monsters University look set to be a huge hit this summer.
Monsters UniversityFrom Up On Poppy Hill - 2nd August.
If you are looking for a bit of alternative animation this year then look no further than From Up On Poppy Hill, the latest movie from Studio Ghibli.
Studio Ghibli have brought us some magnificent films over the years including Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away and director Goro Miyazaki looks set to deliver another gem this summer.
Of all the animation movies to hit the big screen this year From Up On Poppy Hill is the one that I am most excited about as Studio Ghibli make such exquisite films that are so different to the CGI driven animated stuff we are use to seeing.
This is the first directorial outing for Goro since Tales from Earthsea and From Up On Poppy Hill is the first Studio Ghibli film since the fab Arietty.
Set in Yokohama in 1963, this lovingly hand-drawn film centres on Umi (voiced by Sarah Bolger) and Shun (voiced by Anton Yelchin) and the budding romance that develops as they join forces to save their high school’s ramshackle clubhouse from demolition.
From Up On Poppy HillCloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 - released 25th October.
Another movie getting a sequel this year is Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs as the second film will be dropping this autumn.
Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn are in the director’s chair this time around and the story follows on from the end of the 2009 film.
Bill Hader will once again voice the central character of Flint Lockwood while Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris, Andy Samberg and James Caan are all also on board.
Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he's forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids.
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2Turbo - released 18th October.
It has already been a terrific year for Dreamworks Animation having had huge box office success with The Croods - the film is one of the biggest grossing movies of the year so far.
This autumn will see the studio return with their next project Turbo - which is based on an original idea by director David Soren.
The movie will mark the feature length directorial debut for Soren after working on a couple of short projects in recent years.
Once again another great voice cast has been assembled as Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Richard Jenkins and Michelle Rodriguez are all on board.
Turbo is a high-velocity 3D comedy about an underdog snail who kicks into overdrive when he miraculously attains the power of super-speed.
But after making fast friends with a crew of streetwise, tricked-out es-car-goes, Turbo learns that no one succeeds on their own.
So he puts his heart and shell on the line to help his pals achieve their dreams, before Turbo-charging his own impossible dream: winning the Indy 500.
TurboFrozen - released 6th December.
It has also already been a good year for Disney after the success of Wreck It Ralph - which was nominated for an Oscar - and they will follow that up with Frozen.
The film will see Disney return to their musical roots and is loosely based on the story The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen.
Kristen Bell has lent her voice to the central character of Anna while Josh Gad and Idina Menzel are also on board.
Chris Buck, who directed Tarzan, and Jennifer Lee, who wrote Wreck It Ralph are in the director's chair for the movie while Lee has had a hand in penning the script.
In “Frozen,” Anna (voice of Kristen Bell), a fearless optimist, teams up with extreme mountain man Kristoff and his sidekick reindeer Sven in an epic journey, encountering mystical trolls, a funny snowman named Olaf, Everest-like extremes and magic at every turn in a race to find Anna’s sister Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel), the Snow Queen, and save their kingdom from eternal winter.
Disney has always made great musical movies and the Frozen sees the studio return to what it does best.
FrozenEpic - released 22nd May
Blue Sky is no strangers to animation after bringing the likes of Ice Age and Rio to the big screen but with their new film they have adapted William Joyce’s children’s book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.
The film sees Chris Wedge in the director’s chair for Epic and he has been behind Ice Age and Robots in recent years while a terrific voice cast has been assembled as Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Christoph Waltz and Colin Farrell are all on board.
Epic tells the story of a battle raging all around us between the forces of good, who protect nature, and the forces of evil, who wish to see it destroyed.
When a teen age girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and unique characters to save their world... and ours.
Tagged in Frozen Studio Ghibli Monsters University