Fact 7

7 BEST ANIMATED MOVIES OF 2013

Brave

Where better to start a lowdown of quality animated fare than with Pixar’s 

latest assault on your inner child? Brave promises to be somewhat of a break 

from tradition for the studio, who have taken a break from 

anthropomorphising 

household appliances to produce a mythological epic set in the Scottish 

highlands. Notable also for its centring on a female protagonist, Brave looks 

set to prove a  return to form for a studio hopefully aiming to atone for the 

mediocrity of Cars 2.

A Monster in Paris

With echoes of Phantom of the Opera, A Monster in Paris is a French 3D animation from Bibo Bergeron, who co-directed DreamWorks’ Shark Tale and worked as a storyboard artist on such films as Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper and Flushed Away. Set (obviously) in Paris, the film charts 

the burgeoning relationship between an esteemed cabaret singer and mutant

 flea, against the backdrop of the Seine flood of 1910.

The Lorax

I know exactly what you’re thinking: A DR. SEUSS ADAPTATION? WITHOUT JIM CARREY? But don’t write Danny DeVito’s The Lorax off just yet. 

With voice-work from Zac Efron, Ed Helms and Betty White, the film still 

looks set to be a lot of fun. Replete with the usual stylistics and quirky visuals, not to mention the trademark bonkers characterisation,The Lorax might yet give Horton Hears A Who a run for his precious speck.

Hotel Transylvania

Forget for a moment that Adam Sandler is set to voice the film’s lead character – after all, following Jack and Jill everything the actor does is going to seem infinitely better – and it is almost possible to imagine Hotel Transylvania being quite good. Set in a Dracula-run holiday resort for all of the world’s monsters, 

Hotel Transylvania sees the Count struggle desperately to keep his teenage 

daughter from falling in love with a young mortal when he arrives 

unexpectedly. Throw in Kevin James and Miley Cyrus and there is no way on 

earth that this can be as bad as it sounds.

ParaNorman

From the makers of Coraline. Now there’s 

a sentence you don’t hear nearly enough. I’ll leave you to debate whether or 

not stop motion really counts as animation (if you conclude that it isn’t, then 

you might want to skip the next two entries) as it is too late for me, I have 

already fallen in love with LAIKA’s upcoming ParaNorman. Starring the likes 

of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck, John 

Goodman, Bernard Hill, Anna Kendrick and Leslie Mann, ParaNorman follows a 

young boy who, when his town is overrun by the undead, discovers he is the 

only one who can save it.

Frankenweenie

What’s this? What’s this? A remake we’re 

actually excited about? Tim Burton flexes his stop motion muscles once more 

after Corpse Bride with his remake of 1984′s Frankenweenie, a short film co-

written by Burton which both parodied and homaged Mary 

Shelley’s Frankenstein. Originally set for release last year, Frankenweenie was 

initially pushed back for a March, 2012 release before trading places with 

another Disney project, John Carter.

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists

It’s no secret that we here at Best for 

Film love nothing more than a bit of Aardman animation. While Arthur 

Christmas more than provided our occasional need for warm fuzzies, however, 

there was nevertheless something missing from the studio’s last gift to 

cinemagoers: thumb prints. That’s all set to change with The Pirates! In An 

Adventure With Scientists, a film which marks Aardman’s return to stop motion 

animation. Featuring voice-work from Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Jeremy 

Piven, Imelda Staunton and David Tennant, this looks bloody plunderful 

indeed.