10 Worst Animated Movies Of The 2010s
Walt Disney would be rolling in his head in his ice cube if he knew these existed...
It’s no understatement that some of the best films of the last few years have been animated. No genre encourages corner cutting like animation considering, as the adage goes, you get nothing for free. Yet films like Inside Out, The Lego Movie and Frozen show that when studios put their all into their project, they can stand the test of time, standing with some of the greatest films in history.
These films are the opposite to that sentiment, with countless corners cut to such an extent you end up looking at an oval. And with CG animation becoming increasingly easier to produce, they’re easy projects to push out in a short amount of time to capitalize on parents who want an easy day out with their kids with no effort. As such, when there’s a lull in the release schedule, you see these films to fill the gap.
For this article, we’re looking at the worst features to be released in cinemas between 2010 and 2019, based on box office performance, critical reception and how quickly they disappeared from public consciousness (or remained long enough to become ironic and memeable).
Honourable mentions to the countless direct-to-DVD ripoffs. Yes they're awful, but no-one in their right mind would ever pay to see them on the silver screen.
10. Playmobil: The Movie (2019)
What made the LEGO Movie such a great movie (to the point that people were up in arms that it wasn’t even nominated for Best Animated feature) was the fact the directors were focused on crafting a funny, emotional feature above all else, with a great message of everyone is special and is capable of whatever they put their mind to. And what’s more, the word “LEGO” isn’t used once.
Playmobil takes the approach of “if we make a movie out of it, people will buy our inferior products”. Therefore, we got a lazy film attempting to capitalize on the former’s success, not even been slightly subtle with its product placement’s literally being set in a Playmobil museum exhibit.
Another thing going against the film is the lack of any of the actual toys featured looking nothing like the product they’re based on, and some toys simply looking like animated character with the odd break in the limbs to look like a Playmobil figure. There’s little to no consistency in the world, as well as some jarring voice-acting, especially from Daniel Radcliffe who’s supposed to be this suave spy but you just hear the guy who played Harry Potter attempting to be cool. And failing.