Visual FX blog: for all your visual effects news and reviews

Best animated movies of the decade

Animated movies have become popular since the occurrence of Cinderella. Dreamworks and Pixar, two leading studios, have released some of the best grossing movie of all-time. Many movies tend to hit across all audience, from young to old. Animated movies are blurring the line between reality and animation. Throughout the years animation has been getting better and better, and such movies are worthy to see. The following animated movies are, to some extent, considered as the best ones of the decade.

Shrek

Shrek, a 2001 American animated comedy film, is based on William Steig’s 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek. The film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was commercially successful and acclaimed as an animated film worthy of adult interest. The film is about Shrek, a green ogre who finds his life disrupted by the appearance of many fairytale beings and decides to leave the swamp to ask Farquaad for the return of his privacy.

Shrek stars Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as the beautiful Princess Fiona, and Eddie Murphy as a talkative donkey.

Chicken Run

Chicken Run, a stop-motion animation film, focuses on a band of chickens who seek a smooth-taking Rhode Island Red named Rocky. They hope to escape from their uncertain death when the farm owner made his a decision to move from selling eggs to selling chicken pies.

Chicken Run was set in Yorkshire, England in 1959.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille, a computer-animated film, follows rat Remy’s dream of becoming a chef and his trial to achieve his goal by forming an alliance with a garbage boy. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Remy lives in the attic of a French country home with his brother Emile.

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is about the overly protective clownfish Marlin and a regal tang Dory. Along the way, Marlin learns to take risks and realizes his son’s capacity of taking care of himself.

Finding Nemo won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Wall-E

Wall-E, a 2008 computer-animated science fiction film, is about a robot named Wall-E who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for Best Sound Mixing at 81st Academy Awards.

Wall-E was directed by Andrew Stanton and produced by Pixar Animation Studios.

The Incredibles

The Incredibles directed by Brad Bird centers on the Parr family. Each member of the family has superpowers. The film begins as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl marry each other.

Each member of the family has superpowers.

Kungfu Panda

Kung Fu Panda stars the voice of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, and Jackie Chan. The movie is about a lazy slacker panda named Po. Po takes part in the world of Kung Fu and studies alongside Furious Five, his legendary idols.

A lazy, irreverent slacker panda Po

Spirited Away

Spirit Away, a 2001 Japanese animated film, was directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The film is about a sullen ten-year-old girl. She is moving to a new town with her family and her adventures in a world of monsters and spirits.

Spirited Away won the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival.

Related links:

Best Animated Disney Movies

Best Animated Movies of 2009

Best Horror Movies

Latest Trends In Animation Industry
Animation industry is undoubtedly one the fastest and prospering industries in the world. There have been lots if developments and advancements in the animation technology. With the increase of satellite channels and Internet, the animation industry is also booming rapidly. A large number of animation courses have been introduced in the market and animation institutes are also at large in every city and town of India.

Earlier animation movies and shows were aimed at children and were made in a moderate budget. The use of modern and advanced technology was limited. Animation industry was not quite a profit-making business and job opportunities were also lesser and unwelcoming.

However, in the last couple of years, animation industry has made a phenomenal progress. Today animated movies are made with the latest technology and special effects. An entire team of animators looks after it and a big sum of money is spent on the production of the movies. These movies are not just limited to children only but even mature audience, youngsters and family also enjoy such an entertainment. The best example for the latest animated movie is Avatar, which is made on a very high budget and equipped with the latest technologies and software of animation and multimedia.

Animation industry has come a long way from traditional 2 Dimensional images to the 3 Dimensional. 3D animation software is one of the most advanced and latest trends in animation industry. It is appreciated world-wide. All the latest animated movies are made with this technology only. The 3D version brings life to the animated characters and connects them directly with the audience. People of all ages enjoy the experience of 3D version and this was also proved by the unusual success of Avatar not just in the USA but overseas. India has also produced 3D version movies like hanuman or Bal Ganesh. These movies have also earned a huge appreciation from the Indian masses and are still popular among kids. The success of animated movies in India has encouraged the development of some new advanced animation software.

Today animation industry is not just restricted to movies but animators could find employment in other areas like TV soaps, News-papers, Magazines, advertisement agencies, websites, video games firms etc. Video game industry uses 3D technology and it is has one of the most thriving market in India and today game industry is thrice the size of Hollywood Industry. Therefore, people with a thorough knowledge of 3D animation technology can make a promising career in this domain. Animators working in a prestigious animated movie project earn a good sum of money. They need to work in a team with other animators.

Due to the constant developments and technologies in the animation industry, a number of courses have been introduced in the animation. Some of the important ones are mentioned below;

- Visual Principles and Syntactics
- Animation Scripting and Technique
- Photo Communication
- BA (Hons.) Design Ecologies
- Special Effects
- Computers for Animation
- Animation Enginerring
- 3D Studio Max Complete
- Z- brush
- Combustion
- System Management

There is no doubt the animation industry is prospering fast so is the career in this profession. You could choose a career in Graphic Designing or computer designing. They both promise a bright and flourishing future.