Most people think of Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, and Illumination when it comes to the best animation companies. In recent years, Sony Pictures Animation has begun to make its mark. Its most recent release, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, came out this month to wide acclaim and massive box office.
Sony distinguishes their projects with fluid movement, bright colors, and expressive faces. Their plots and characters tend to be on the average side, relatively speaking, but a few films have certainly shaken that trend.
10 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' (2012)
IMDb Score: 6.7/10
A pirate captain named Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) hopes that this year will finally be the one he wins the Pirate of the Year award. After a string of bad luck, he raids the ship of naturalist Charles Darwin (David Tennant), who informs the Captain that his parrot, Polly, is an extinct Dodo. He convinces Captain to present Polly in London, though the crew has misgivings of getting caught by Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton).
Related: 10 Good-But-Not-Great Animated Movies From the 21st Century, RankedThough the plot is a little predictable, the film makes up for it in the details. The characters are all charming and play off one another brilliantly thanks to talented voice actors. Its animation is also a nice blend of Aardman Animations iconic stop-motion with fluid CGI for some more intense sequences.
9 'Surf's Up' (2007)
IMDb Score: 6.7/10
Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) is a rockhopper penguin who longs to be a professional surfer after receiving a shell necklace from famous surfer Big Z. He gets his chance when a talent scout comes looking for contestants to partake in the Big Z Memorial surfing contest on Pen-Gu Island. Cody befriends one of the other contestants, a rooster named Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), and develops a rivalry with the arrogant champion, Tank (Diedrich Bader).
Related: Why 'Surf’s Up' Deserves to Catch a Second Wave of AppreciationSurf's Up's story is a standard sports film, but it gains points for presentation and character. Everyone has a strong identity and their interactions result in plenty of laughs and memorable exchanges. On the technical side, the film is structured like a documentary and even used motion-capture cameras to give the impression that the whole thing was filmed with a hand-held camera.
8 'Vivo' (2021)
IMDb Score: 6.7/10
Vivo (Lin-Manuel Miranda) is a music-loving kinkajou who plays daily in Havana with his owner, Andrés Hernández (Juan de Marcos González). One day, Andrés receives a letter from his old friend, Marta (Gloria Estefan), inviting him to her final concert, which gives Andrés a chance to finally confess his love for Marta through a song he wrote for her. Unfortunately, he dies in his sleep, so Vivo vows to deliver Andres' song.
Vivo has a solid message about not waiting too long to share your feelings with loved ones. Its plot and characters aren't the most original, but the vibrant animation makes up for that shortcoming. Miranda's songs are catchy enough, but none of them match his previous works.
7 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' (2009)
IMDb Score: 6.9/10
The people of Swallow Falls have been forced to eat sardines for years, which has lowered the mood of the entire town. Eccentric scientist Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) hopes to solve the problem by inventing a machine that can turn water into food. After a rocky start, the machine activates in the stratosphere and begins raining different foods every day.
Sony's unique animation style is perfect for this film. The slapstick is fast-paced and on-point and the food looks gorgeous and otherworldly. The story is also quite solid, with a good emotional core about Flint and his estranged technophobic father, Tim (James Caan) reconnecting and finding common ground.
6 'Hotel Transylvania' (2012)
IMDb Score: 7.0/10
After the death of his wife, Dracula (Adam Sandler) created a secret hotel for monsters to keep them and his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), safe from humans. On her 118th birthday, all of Dracula's friends come to the hotel to celebrate. Unfortunately, one of Dracula's plans to discourage Mavis from exploring the world attracted a human hiker named Johnny (Andy Samberg), whose presence could spread mass panic.
Related: Genndy Tartakovsky's Movies and TV Shows Ranked, from 'Primal' to 'Clone Wars' and MoreThis film is the directorial film debut of Genndy Tartakovsky, who created classic cartoons like Dexter's Laboratory, and Samurai Jack. He brings his unique style to this film, especially in the comedic timing and facial expressions. This results in some of Sony's best physical comedy and spawned a franchise.
5 'Arthur Christmas' (2011)
IMDb Score: 7.1/10
Despite the wishes of his eldest son, Steve (High Laurie), the current Santa Claus, Malcolm (Jim Broadbent) postpones his retirement for another year. After wrapping up Christmas Eve, it's discovered that a single bicycle got misplaced, but Steve considers it an acceptable loss. Malcolm's second son, Arthur (James McAvoy), thinks otherwise, and teams up with an elf named Bryony (Ashley Jensen) and his grandfather (Bill Nighy) to deliver it before morning.
Arthur Christmas is a wonderful Christmas film and another success from Aardman Animations. It has a number of interesting themes, such as the importance of balancing old and new techniques, and how symbols like Santa Claus transcend any one person. Arthur is a fantastic protagonist thanks to his infectious optimism and how he embodies the heart and soul of a child's excitement.
4 'Wish Dragon' (2021)
IMDb Score: 7.2/10
Din (Jimmy Wong) is a young man who wants to reunite with his childhood friend, Li Na (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). One day, a mysterious man claiming to be a god (Ronny Chieng) gives him a teapot. Inside is Long (John Cho), a wish dragon who cannot enter the afterlife until he grants ten masters three wishes, of which Din is his last.
Wish Dragon's story is not going to win any awards, but it makes up for it through Din and Long's relationship. It's a classic case of cynicism vs optimism, with both sides learning new ways to perceive the word from the other. Long's character development in particular is very strong and leads to a very heartwarming finale.
3 'The Mitchells vs the Machines' (2021)
IMDb Score: 7.6/10
Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) is excited to head off to film school and get away from her family, especially her technophobic and nature-loving father, Rick (Danny McBride). To bond with his daughter one last time, Rick takes the family on a cross-country road trip to drop Katie off. During the journey, a smartphone named PAL (Olivia Colman) leads a robot uprising to get back at humanity for deeming it obsolete.
This film has strong themes of generational divide and on-the-nose commentary about the dangers of letting technology run our lives. Wisely, it doesn't take a side and instead shows the value of combining the old and the new in order to get the best results possible. The animation is some of Sony's best: it presents its 3D models with techniques reminiscent of 2D animation and occasionally includes some hand-drawn segments to show Katie's inner thoughts.
2 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' (2018)
IMDb Score: 8.4/10
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) was an average boy living in New York City until a series of unlikely events happened. First, he was bitten by a radioactive spider, and then he witnessed Spider-Man (Chris Pine) die trying to stop Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber) from building a collider that can access alternate worlds. As Miles tries to master his powers, he meets other Spider-Men from across the multiverse and teams up with them to stop Fisk.
Related: Why Spider-Man Works Best In AnimationThere are many reasons why this film is ranked among the best Spider-Man movie. It balances multiple versions of the web-head with respect and gives both Miles and another version of Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) strong character arcs. Its animation is some of the most stylized in recent cinema, with its effects being felt in movies like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
1 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' (2023)
IMDb Score: 9.1/10
In their respective universes, Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) are having issues living up to their parent's expectations. Miles encounters a new villain named The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) who was created following Miles' battle with Fisk. After failing to capture him, Miles and Gwen are both picked up by Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac) and brought into a society of Spider-Men who protect the multiverse.
Though it doesn't always reach the same heights as its predecessor, this film is still a great watch for fans of superhero films and Spider-Man. There are plenty of references for long-time fans of the character, including video game and television iterations. It also has plenty of heart, perhaps especially with Gwen's story and her relationship with her father.
Next: Are Kids' Movies Getting Too Long?
