What's been the better decade for animated films: the 00's or the 10's?

[wonderfly]

So, speaking overall, what's been the better decade for animated films? The 2000's or the 2010's?

I'm primarily talking about animated films released in theaters, but I'm open to "direct to DVD" animated films being included in the discussion (the Scooby Doo films, the DC Animated films, the Disney sequel films, the Tinkerbell films, etc). But theatrical releases first and foremost. I'm also open to anime films being included in the discussion, as long as it had a Western release in theaters.

Yes, the 2010's are not over yet, but....close enough, as I want to get some impressions now - though let me know if you think your opinion might change in the next year and a half, when the decade wraps up. Or are you set in stone: "No, it's for certain, the 2000s (or the 2010's) is the better decade."

Just trying to gauge public opinion.

 

[Action!]

2010 IMO is better. There are some very good animated films.

 

[Frank98]

Good thread.

Personally, I think these two decades are pretty close overall in terms of quality: some years are better than others, but I wouldn't say there's such a huge gap.

If I had to decide, though, I think the 2000s were better overall: mostly because it was the last decade where we've had a relevant amount of 2D movies in mainstream animation: CG was starting to rise up and it often didn't look very good (remember Shrek? And not even Pixar was always excellent), on top of many movies not being very good in general. Today, 2D movies are mostly indipendent or foreign productions, but at least CG animation improved visually (or, better yet, the artists understood how to use it properly..).

 

[SourSweetGone]

Film is harder to judge than TV for me cause like a rollarcoaster it changes from year to year. Some years you get alot of great animated films, some years you get average, mediocre or garbage ones. But I'd say the 2010's have been slightly more enjoyable then the 00's film wise out of the options.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I’m going with 2010’s. Disney got their act together, Dreamworks churned out less mindless sequels, and Illumination is alright for mindless entertainment. The only studio that I would say had a better run in the 2000’s was Pixar, but even they aren’t horrible by any means.

 

[VHSTrader234]

Easily the early 2000's dropping off somewhere around 2007

 

[wonderfly]

I’m going with 2010’s. Disney got their act together, Dreamworks churned out less mindless sequels, and Illumination is alright for mindless entertainment. The only studio that I would say had a better run in the 2000’s was Pixar, but even they aren’t horrible by any means.

Right, that pretty much sums up my thoughts. Disney, Dreamworks, Illumination, Sony Animation (2007's "Open Season" and 2009's "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", the Hotel Transylvania series and the upcoming "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"), Blue Sky Studios (the Ice Age films and the "Rio" films, the 2015 Peanuts movie), and Warner Bros. Animation (The Lego movies and the upcoming "Smallfoot") arguably each got better in the 2010's.

Pixar is the only one that arguably got worse, with the 2010's.

But I love the films from the 2000's. I love the original "Shrek" films even if Dreamworks got better in the 2010's. And I'm just wondering if Pixar's huge hits from the 2000's are enough to carry that entire decade over the 2010's...

 

[Red Arrow]

The 2000's. I am just not much of a CGI fan. I liked several Pixar movies as well as Inside Out, but yeah... I just miss 2D animation.

All my favorite movies seem to come from the 2000s: Secret of Kells, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Spirit, The Emperor's New Groove
Yet I saw all of them (besides Spirit) for the first time in the 2010s.

A harder question would be television animation. Then I really can't choose any decade. I like the 90s, 00s and 10s just as much.

 

[Mostezli]

It feels like Disney/Pixar got worse overall in the 2010s the moment they realized how they can creatively exploit those earlier juggernauts like Tangled & Wreck-It-Ralph. We're getting a sequel ripping off the rip-off (Emoji Movie). Not to dismiss the good movies they've put out since, but the "experimental era" was experimental.
WB is another one that's trying to follow the trend of having a longstanding franchise, LEGO, whilst doing some cute not as good side projects.

Other studios, though, even with this unusual recent dry spell, have actually been doing better.

Coraline and Corpse Bride were good, but Laika became a powerhouse after the later features. Dreamworks finally branched out of their sarcastic squinty phase of comedies with these action/drama-oriented franchises. Heck, even with Illumination gaining prominence in the '10s, they finally got around to features outside of Despicable Me with The Secret Life of Pets and "I can't actually believe they made this" - Sing.
Blue Sky or FOX in general did Peanuts, Epic, and The Book of Life.
Aardman blew the doors off earlier with the best animated Christmas movie ever made and The Pirates! Band of Misfits I would argue is as refreshing.
Sony is admittedly in a rough patch, but after mid 2010s, they've been on an uptick by finally fully animating The Smurfs and Spider-Man.
Plus, I had the pleasure to discover the likes of Triggerfish and nWave.

 

[wonderfly]

Coraline and Corpse Bride were good, but Laika became a powerhouse after the later features.

I read that and I was like "Oh yeah, we haven't seen those 'Nightmare before Christmas' type movies in the 2010's, have we?"

But then I researched Laika, and then remembered "ParaNorman" (2012), and "Frankenweenie" (2012) and "The BoxTrolls" (2014) and the recent "Kubo and the Two Strings" (2016).

But I don't know, Coraline and Corpse Bride (the 2000's) probably trump ParaNorman and Frankenweenie (the 2010's). But maybe that's nostalgia talking.

It feels like Disney/Pixar got worse overall in the 2010s the moment they realized how they can creatively exploit those earlier juggernauts like Tangled & Wreck-It-Ralph.

The 2010's Disney still tops the Disney of the 2000's. I'll take "Zootopia" over "Chicken Little" any day of the week.

 

[VHSTrader234]

I love the original "Shrek" films even if Dreamworks

Oh I love the original Shrek films too. But did you know that Shrek is basically what killed Dreamworks? If you look at the great early animation works from dreamworks such as The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado you see that they wanted to make good quality animation and great story telling. Not quick cash grabs that at a glance look like the Pixar movies coming out around the same time. Antz = Bugs Life, Shark tale = finding nemo, Madascar = that CG disney movie nobody remembers, etc.

The story of Shrek for those who don't know is a development hell story. All the animators who messed up at The Prince of Egypt or any other big budget project were sent to work in a stinky warehouse. They called it "Getting Shreked" I'm not joking. It was a punishment. Shrek was made with the lowest budget you could imagine. When the screened the movie the first time they thought everyone would hate it. Well because it made them so much money with so little investment and work they decided this was their future. Goodbye good quality animation from Dreamwork. That's what killed Dreamworks 2D department.

 

[wonderfly]

Oh I love the original Shrek films too. But did you know that Shrek is basically what killed Dreamworks? If you look at the great early animation works from dreamworks such as The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado you see that they wanted to make good quality animation and great story telling.

Don't forget that "Sinbad" Dreamworks movie from 2003, and "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" from 2002. Both of which were commercial failures.

Not quick cash grabs that at a glance look like the Pixar movies coming out around the same time. Antz = Bugs Life, Shark tale = finding nemo, Madascar = that CG disney movie nobody remembers, etc.

The story of Shrek for those who don't know is a development hell story. All the animators who messed up at The Prince of Egypt or any other big budget project were sent to work in a stinky warehouse. They called it "Getting Shreked" I'm not joking. It was a punishment. Shrek was made with the lowest budget you could imagine. When the screened the movie the first time they thought everyone would hate it. Well because it made them so much money with so little investment and work they decided this was their future. Goodbye good quality animation from Dreamwork. That's what killed Dreamworks 2D department.

Interesting take. The rise of Pixar is to blame for the decline at Dreamworks (and Disney) in the early 00's. Not Shrek. When Dreamworks was doing "Prince of Egypt" and "Road to El Dorado", they were trying to mimic the Disney Renaissance of the 90's. Which, by that point, the Disney Renaissance was coming to an end (1999's Tarzan being the final one). No matter how much I love "Prince of Egypt", it was a flawed thing to try and copy.

"Shrek", and all the dumb slapstick stuff of the 2000's (Madagascar, Flushed Away, Shark Tale, Bee Movie) allowed Dreamworks to survive, until they could find their feet and start producing their own awesome stuff (starting with "Kung-Fu Panda" in 2008, and then a string of hits with "Monsters vs. Aliens", "How to Train Your Dragon", "Rise of the Guardians", "Turbo", "The Croods", etc).

2010's Dreamworks is better than 2000's Dreamworks. In my opinion.

 

[VHSTrader234]

"Sinbad" Dreamworks movie from 2003

I've never seen that.

I didn't like spirit as a kid I thought it was boring but I re-watched it a few months ago and really loved it.

BTW, here's my source on getting "Shreked"
https://nypost.com/2010/05/16/ugly-green-montrous/

"Shrek", and all the dumb slapstick stuff of the 2000's (Madagascar, Flushed Away, Shark Tale, Bee Movie) allowed Dreamworks to survive,

I'm not sure if it helped them survive. It's more like the took advantage of their audience and eventually their audience got wise to them and that's why they are struggling now. It's all my speculation though it's hard to pinpoint what kills a company like dreamworks

 

[Red Arrow]

Don't forget that "Sinbad" Dreamworks movie from 2003, and "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" from 2002. Both of which were commercial failures.

Really? I never realized that. Spirit seems to be the only non-Disney movie that's really popular on Youtube. As in, hundreds and hundreds of videos in all kinds of languages are uploaded and removed and reuploaded etc.

I think Spirit got quite popular in Europe, with Bryan Adam's "Here I Am" in several hit parades.

I somewhat consider Spirit to be DreamWorks' last good movie, although, to be honest, I haven't seen that many. I think I didn't even realize their "dumb slapstick movies" were over before you mentioned it! (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is NOT like Shrek or Madagascar? Really?) I try to give most animated series a chance, but I don't do that with movies. I am just not a film guy. Movies last too long, so I will often pause them to see how many minutes are left ("damn it, I'm not even half!!"), but on the other hand, they are also too short for character growth or good plots. As a result, I will only try a movie when the trailer really makes me want to see it.

So maybe I'm just not the right person to answer your question

 

[VHSTrader234]

Movies last too long, so I will often pause them to see how many minutes are left ("damn it, I'm not even half!!"),

Yeah I feel that. The only good movie I've liked lately was ready player one. I highly recommend it.

damn it

I'm new, are the Cosby curse words allowed here? Also, is it not okay to call them Cosby curse words anymore?

 

[Mostezli]

The 2010's Disney still tops the Disney of the 2000's. I'll take "Zootopia" over "Chicken Little" any day of the week.

Zootopia's one of the better ones as much as it falls into that Wreck-It-Ralph or rather Pixar pension for throwing everything at the screen because of a theme-based world.
Disney/Pixar manages to feel smaller as far as creative talent.

All of their 2D films of the noughties, minus Home on the Range, right up to last 2D Disney princess, have more replay value.

 

[wonderfly]

I somewhat consider Spirit to be DreamWorks' last good movie, although, to be honest, I haven't seen that many. I think I didn't even realize their "dumb slapstick movies" were over before you mentioned it! (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is NOT like Shrek or Madagascar? Really?)

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is from Sony Animation studios, not Dreamworks. Or were you just comparing them because their both kinda "slapstick"? Shrek is a spoof on fairy tale movies, Madagascar is a spoof on animal movies (Lion King). "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is unique in it's concept, compared to those films.

So you think "Spirit" is Dreamwork's last good movie?

I divide Dreamworks up into 3 eras:

1998 (Antz/The Prince of Egypt) to 2002/2003 (Spirit/Sinbad). After that, they stopped trying to recreate the Disney Renaissance.

2004 (Shrek 2/ Shark Tale) to 2007 (Shrek the 3rd/Bee Movie). The era of "Madagascar", "Flushed Away" and "Over the Hedge" (and "Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit").

2008 (Kung-Fu Panda) to 2016 (Trolls). This is Dreamworks in their most creative period. I might be inclined to change the start date of this to 2010 (with "How to Train Your Dragon" being the true start of this era), because 2008/2009 also had the less than stellar "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" and "Monsters vs. Aliens"...but I really like the original "Kung-Fu Panda", and think it was the start of Dreamworks getting better.

I think we've entered a new era following Trolls, though it's a bit too early to gauge what Dreamworks has in store for us, over the next few years...

 

[Red Arrow]

Guess I don't know much about DreamWorks. I really liked Curse of the Were-Rabbit as an Aardman fan. I had no idea it was made together with DreamWorks.

Yeah I feel that. The only good movie I've liked lately was ready player one. I highly recommend it.



I'm new, are the Cosby curse words allowed here? Also, is it not okay to call them Cosby curse words anymore?

"The Breadwinner" is a recent animated movie that looks promising. It's about a girl whose father gets arrested by the Taliban.

My favorite movies of the 2010s are Inside Out, Shaun the Sheep: The Movie, Arrietty, The Tale of Princess Kaguya (although a bit long), Ernest & Celestine, Day of the Crows (weird but entertaining) and Song of the Sea.

Mostly non-American, so completely unlike my taste in animated series.

 

[VHSTrader234]

"Kung-Fu Panda", and think it was the start of Dreamworks getting better.

I really didn't like kung-fu panda but maybe I was being bias at the time because of all the awful cgi crap dreamworks made right before it.
I think we all want dreamworks to get better.

 

[LinusFan303]

I think 2010's over all have the better animated movies compared to the 2000's There are good animated movies from the 2000's , I think it was more a period of experimentation which allowed the 2010's to have a better idea of what they were doing. Late 2000's Disney was also seeming to get back on their feet in 2007 after kind of dry period. Pixar was consistent and made some good stuff . We had some hits and misses from Dreamworks. Blue Sky , I kind of wish had more potential they seemed to have tried but then get stuck with just doing more Ice Age as their comfort zone.