Animation 2013 and 2014 part 1: The Lego Movie, Free Birds, Pixels, The Good Dinosaur, Turbo, Frozen, Planes, Monster University, Despicable Me 2,The Smurfs 2, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Walking with Dinosaurs 3D, trailers, posters, and impressions

In honor of the prequel to one of the best Pixar movies ever, Monster's Inc., this weekend I've decided to post on the animated films for the rest of this year and 2014. I'v analyzed every major animated film starting with Monster's University and all the way to Minions in December of 2014. Each film article or entry will include first impressions, the story, Rotten Tomatoes meter predictions, the poster and trailer if they have one,and cast and crew identities. Let's get started:

I want to start with the best new candidate, The Lego Movie, coming off a well shot and produced trailer, I am now super excited for this film. The cast overall is amazing, come on Morgan Freeman! The story is a Fellowship of the Ring-esque action adventure about the journey to stop President Business voiced by Will Ferrell from gluing all of the Lego world together. The directors and writers are alumni's from such works as Robot Chicken, 21 Jump Street and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. So the humor may not go wrong. Even though the film releases some months away I predict the RT score will rest at 80%, I have huge hop because of both cast and crew and although I was skeptical of this movie when it was announced now I have full confidence it will do well. February 7, 2014, Here's the full teaser trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPnY2NjSjrg


Next, Free Birds. This weird time travel comedy caught my eye when reading a description on IMDB. The cast was not too amazing but carried names such as Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson. The crew is relatively unknown. The story is about two turkeys who travel in time to get turkeys off the Thanksgiving menu. This concept is crazy weird, and I'll end up probably checking it out at Red box. Shooting for an early November release it might be a holiday game changer, I think the meter will be at about 65%. I have less hope in this film because of the concept, but is all balanced by a confident release date and nice cast. November 1, 2013, Here's the trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoNonO_CYTo


Next a project that hasn't quite picked up off the ground but is almost there. Pixels an animated short produced in 2010, about video game characters in 8 bit attacking the world. The concept sounds interesting and I loved the short but it sounds like Wreck it Ralph. Little information is known on the project other then there is a screenwriter behind Adam Sandler's works, a director in Chris Columbus,and producer in Adam Sandler. I have okay hopes that it will do well because of the short and concept. I think the meter is going to rest at 70%. Release TBA, 2014, No trailer or poster has been release.

The first Pixar film on our list The Good Dinosaur. Pixar has been quite secretive on this project which has been in development since Wall E. The concept is what if an asteroid did not wipe out the dinosaurs and they learned to coexist with humans. No cast has been announced, but the film is close to being completed. The crew includes first time Pixar directors Bob Peterson and Peter Sohn , and  Peterson also penned the script. The producer of the Incredibles is also attached that is a good sign. Hopefully another Pixar classic is coming. Not another Cars 2. I often thought to myself as a kid the story they are currently taking on. This interests me largely. The RT meter like most Pixar classics is predicted to be 96%. May 30, 2014 Only a poster is available not a trailer:


In no particular order next is Turbo. With Dreamworks making more great movies, it seems like this is there golden age. Pixar may have peaked(Hopefully I'm wrong.) but this studio makes two to four films a year and still can surprise me. This film has a great cast of Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Maya Rudolph and Samuel L Jackson. David Soren, is the man from animation, he has written or directed a feature length script till now and is now ready to take it on. The story follows a snail who dreams of racing and after a freak accident he can. With a strong cast  and an excellent studio behind many classics my guess is that the film will land a 75% on RT. July 17, 2013, Here's the poster and the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-L5bzwdpVI


Another Disney princess film, described as tangled on ice, Frozen. With two instant classics under their belt will Disney produce a third. At this point the film has been filmed and is in the process of finishing animation. Based on the Hans Christian Anderson's, The Snow Queen, it follows a girl who must save her sister from the evil snow queen. The cast like most Disney films has a few good names in Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Alan Tudyk. The director, Chris Buck, has one previous major credit as co director to the movie Tarzan. With a great director and an excellent source material it may seem that Disney will go three for three with a RT score of 90%. November 27, 2013. Here's the teaser trailer and teaser poster:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WdC4DaYIeQ


A spin off of the horrible Cars 2. But by Disney. Not by Pixar. This movie was meant for direct to DVD release but instead got a release date. The cast and crew are both relatively less known. The story follows a crop duster plane who wants become high flying air racer. The concept sounds like it could be good and as much as I liked the first Cars I don't think a spin off interests me entirely. The graphics from the trailers are amazing. The RT meter will stay at 55-60%. August 9, 2013 Here's the trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch39vLdQi1g


The closest release is next with Monsters University. A prequel to the Pixar classic that shows how Mike and Sulley were rivals and then became friends. I will most likely see and review this next weekend. The cast is awesome filled with stars such as Nathan Fillion, Charlie Day, Aubrey Plaza,and many more. As for the returning cast there is Billy Crystal, John Ratzenburger(as in every Pixar film), John Goodman,and Steve Buscemi. The crew is relatively unknown never tackling a writing or directing job. I love the idea of another Monsters Inc. film but lets hope it's another classic. The RT meter is at 77%. June 21, 2013 Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBzPioph8CI


Next a sequel to Illumination wildly entertaining film Despicable Me. The minions are back and bigger then ever when Gru tries to become a good guy when approached by the good guy league. The cast is amazing with most of the returning cast mainly Steve Carrell, as well as some new faces with Kristen Wiig and Ken Jeong. The directors,Pierre Coffin,Chris Renaud, return for the second film and other animated projects in the future. I loved the first film but I'm not sure I'll like the sequel. I'll check it out because of the current RT score of 100%. July 3, 2013 Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwXbtZXjbVE


The next film is the lesser popular live action CGI film the Smurfs 2. I did not love The Smurfs movie, but it made a ton of money at the box office. I think the first film maintained a 22% on RT. This story follows evil smurfs vs. the good smurfs vs. Gargamel. The cast is still okay with Hank Azaria and Neil Patrick Harris. The crew is returning for the first film and other failures. This film I'm never going to see. The RT meter will be even less then the first at a dismal 10%. July 31, 2013 Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alfTPZT3nz0


An anticipated film that I never would have expected is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. I loved the first film and the writers and director have moved on to do great things. The story follows Flint,his father Tim, Sam, Brent, Manny, Steve, Officer Earl and many more characters going back to Swallow Falls to find the food has taken over. It has a Jurassic Park feel to it. The cast like the first features amazing comedians in Bill Hader, Anna Faris, and Andy Sandberg and as I've said the crew is behind many amazing films. So I'm checking this out for sure but I predict it won't be as fun or inventive as the original. The RT score will rest at 75-85%. September 27, 2013 Here's the hilarious trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9yeyHDy-mg


Finally finishing part 1 of my list is Walking with Dinosaurs 3D. This documentary is going to be in 3D and it's about dinosaurs. There is no cast but is produced, directed and written by people at BBC Earth. The film follows the life of different species of dinosaurs. I'm curious on the film because there's only actions not language. Plus who doesn't love dinosaurs. I might check this out at Red Box. I predict the RT score will be 67%. December 20, 2013 Here's the trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7lBKBxIwGM


Thank you for reading, Which films are you excited for? And come back for part 2 later. Follow me and Comment Below

The Film Scientist

PS Lots more articles are coming.