Released or distributed by
Dreamworks Animation

How to Train Your Dragon

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Dreamworks Animation has always labored in the considerable shadow of Pixar. With the exception of the original Shrek, their output has had its merits but they have never matched the relentless consistency of Disney’s seemingly unstoppable CG animation house. I don’t know if they have turned that corner, but with How to Train Your Dragon, they have finally produced a film that belongs in the same league as The Incredibles and WALL-E. Continue reading

Shrek the Third

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At least Disney has the sense to release its animated sequels direct to video, because no one wants to fork over ten bucks for one viewing of a craven attempt to cash in on our children’s affection for these characters. Dreamworks, of course, doesn’t have the luxury of a vast tradition of animated features. They have one tent-pole animated franchise, the Shrek movies, so they obviously feel forced to milk the property for everything they can until another they produce another hit.

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Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit

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After the recent glut of CGI animated films, it’s rather refreshing that none of this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Animated Feature are computer generated. Two of them, in fact, use the relatively ancient technology of stop motion while the third is a traditional animated film from Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki. I don’t know if there’s any cosmic significance to the fact that both of the stop motion nominees feature the vocal talents of Helena Bonham Carter, but let’s pretend that there is.

Wallace and Gromit‘s first feature length film is probably the odds-on favorite to win the Oscar, which would make it the animated duo’s third Oscar, having previously taken two for Best Animated Short. Director Nick Park‘s uniquely British and whimsical sense of humor filled the increased length easily.

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