The Grinch

2018, US, directed by Scott Mosier & Yarrow Cheney

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

2012, US, directed by Eric Darnell, Conrad Vernon, Tom McGrath

Hotel Transylvania

2012, US, directed by Genndy Tartakovsky

The Lion King

1994, US, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff

Coco

2017, US, directed by Lee Unkrich

Stunning animation -- especially on the big screen -- and a beguiling, often very funny storyline. One we've already watched several times with the kids.

The Emoji Movie

2017, US, directed by Tony Leondis

Seen at my child's school as part of a fundraiser.

Moana

2016, US, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker

Madagascar

2005, US, directed by Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell

The boys loved this, and while it’s certainly not painful I found it had little of the unforced charm of something like Zootopia, and certainly lacked the multi-layered, multi-generational aspect of the best recent animated films. In other words, a middle-of-the-road animated feature that underlines how challenging it is to really knock it out of the park.

Inside Out

2016, US, directed by Pete Docter (co-directed by Ronnie del Carmen)

Toy Story

1995, US, directed by John Lasseter

I hadn't seen this since its release, but it turned out to be a perfect Friday-night outing with the boys -- as charming and energetic as I remembered, and with the scary bits judged just right for the younger set. It's also brief -- I note that the running time creeps up with each of the subsequent installments.

Shaun the Sheep

2015, UK, directed by Richard Starzak & Mark Burton

As good as anything Aardman as produced, with their usual spectacular attention to detail -- on every level, from the physical world to the numerous jokes (some of them intended more for accompanying adults). The Aardman films sometimes occupy a world slightly out of time, and the stylisation here often reflects that -- the urban backdrops, the vehicles -- but in terms of electronic communication it's absolutely up-to-the-minute, creating an enjoyable off-kilter sense of time.

Zootopia

2016, US, directed by Byron Howard & Rich Moore

From this adult's perspective, Zootopia performs the key function of delivering good entertainment for kids while also providing more than a few components for the accompanying adult to enjoy -- perhaps never more so than in the scenes wherein the DMV employees are revealed to be... sloths. On my second viewing, I was much more aware of the various movie/TV homages/references -- it's hard to miss the extended, multi-part nod to The Godfather, but the nods to Breaking Bad, the slo-mo boxing of Raging Bull, and the numerous winks to other Disney properties all keep things lively for the older viewer.

Frozen

2013, US, directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee

The last remaining 4-year-old in America has now seen Frozen, and a lot of 2013/2014 Halloween costumes suddenly make much more sense.

Tangled

2010, US, directed by Nathan Greno & Byron Howard

Cars

2006, US, directed by John Lasseter

I've seen the beginning of this a half dozen times with my older son -- and heard the beginning another half dozen times while driving -- so it was mostly just a relief to find out where the story went. As with most Pixar films, I find the artistry extraordinary but the overall effect so calculated that it leaves me a little cold.

The Lorax

2012, US, directed by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda

I'm not sure there's much of the spirit of Dr. Seuss remaining -- the colour schemes and artwork don't owe much to the original book, as the end credits, which are more faithful, make clear -- except perhaps for a touch of general whimsy, particularly in the behaviour of the titular creature. His method of celestial locomotion is certainly arresting, and it's amusing that there's no attempt whatsoever to explain this unexpected skill. Viewed simply as a kid's movie, and using my sample size of one to measure success, this is pretty solid entertainment -- some good voice work, eye-popping chase scenes, and just enough darker material to keep it interesting without causing too much fright. As to the notion of giant movie companies trying to teach us lessons in responsibility, that's surely one of the distressing ironies of the corporatized world.

The Little Mermaid

1989, US, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker

I suspect that 2014 is the year when there will be a significant increase in children's fare in this space: Shay now has the attention span to watch shorter features, sometimes chopped in two, and on those evenings when everyone is a little frazzled, 45 minutes together on the couch is quite a welcome respite. We watch virtually everything with him rather than leaving him to his own devices so I figure I might as well choose something with a decent advance reputation: I'd never seen this Disney entry, which marked a revival in the company's animated fortunes, although it lacks the all-star vocal talent that's characteristic of 1990s output like Aladdin and Toy Story. Shay was quite alarmed at the sea witch scenes -- no great surprise, since they are spookily atmospheric and sometimes quite abstract, with a Miyazaki vibe as much as a Disney sensibility, particularly the artwork of the witch herself. 

Lady and the Tramp

1955, US, directed by Clyde Geronimi and Wilfred Jackson

On occasion, I'm able to direct Shay's attention away from the Nickelodeon DVDs toward the Disney movies, so I can get in a dose of nostalgia at the same time as we bond. Things went well for the first hour, with Shay thoroughly enjoying and generally understanding the storyline, as well as giggling at the supporting cast and singing along with the Siamese cats. Of course, he may have been unusually well primed to appreciate a storyline in which a treasured member of the household has to deal with a new arrival, given that his brother was born earlier the same week. You never quite know what will worry children, though, and he was very troubled by Tramp's incarceration. At his request, we stopped the film, discussed what was happening, and reassured him that all would be well. However, things got a lot more dramatic before they improved but he must have grasped the final outcome clearly enough since he requested the film again a week or two later.

Bambi

1942, US, directed by David Hand (supervising director)

I missed out on a great many of the classic Disney films when growing up -- they didn't play on TV, we didn't have a VCR, and trips to the cinema were intermittent when we lived in the countryside. Shay's arrival is looking like the perfect opportunity for us both to get our introductions to the classics. Where he was absorbed by the antics of Bambi and Thumper, especially in the early going, I was bowled over by the extraordinary artistry, especially of the backdrops. DVD seems the perfect way to appreciate these gorgeous paintings, filled with beautiful shadings and exquisite details. I was aware that the film featured a reputedly traumatic sequence, but Shay barely even noticed: it's not played up to any great degree, and is immediately followed by one of the film's most comical sections, where the various animals succumb to spring fever. By contrast, he found the fire sequence impressive though not, I think, overly frightening; he did ask for some clarification during the scene featuring a chase by slavering dogs, but never took his eyes off the screen, and giggled no end during the aforementioned spring fever sequence.

Rango

2011, US, directed by Gore Verbinski

As over-stuffed as they are, I very much enjoyed the three Verbinski-Depp entries in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, a trio of quite consciously fun films that, I think, treated fans with some degree of seriousness, expecting them to keep up with the multiple plotlines that sprawled outwards over the course of the films. This is a rather more personal project -- though water is again a central component, albeit for its scarcity rather than its abundance -- which gives a kind of retrospective glimpse into the ways in which Verbinski managed to preserve some of the same free-wheeling spirit in the confines of a $200 million blockbuster, with unexpected references colliding, and outsize characters quickly etched with a few key visual tropes. Without any context to anchor it, the ah-now-I-get-it opening is a little rocky -- Pirates waited until the middle of the third installment to throw in something truly wacky in the form of the multiple Jack Sparrows -- but once Rango is liberated to experience his story, Verbinski really his his rhythm, zipping along without becoming antic, and slowing down to savour a reference or a particular character, such as Ned Beatty's slippery mayor.