Please stop thinking animated films are just for kids.
Yes, they are a perfect way to entertain, amuse and inform children and thank goodness for them during school holidays, long car trips and inordinate waits anywhere.
But these gems of cinema also beautifully entertain adults too, and not just the parents forced to tag along with their kids; all kinds of people love animated movies with the stories entrancing all ages and all types.
2025 looks to be a bumper year for the artform and it’ll be exciting to see these four films during the year, and hopefully lots more besides …
(courtesy IMP Awards)
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“What if the thing you were searching for… found you first?” Eleven-year-old dreamer Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) is artistic, creative, and an avid indoorsman who finds it hard to fit in. Meanwhile, Mom Olga, who runs a top-secret military project, is working to decode a strange alien signal from outer space. But it’s Elio who makes contact, gets beamed into space and is subsequently mistaken for an intergalactic Ambassador for Earth in this original animated adventure. Pixar’s Elio is co-directed by three animation filmmakers: Adrian Molina (co-director on Pixar’s Coco), Madeline Sharafian (director of the Burrow Sparkshort), and Domee Shi (director of Turning Red and Bao short). Screenplay credits have not been finalized yet. Produced by Mary Alice Drumm. Made by Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, CA. (courtesy First Showing)
Elio releases 13 June 2025 in U.S. and 19 June 2025 in Australia.
(courtesy IMP Awards)
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Everyone’s favorite felons are back, and this time, they’ve got company. In the new action-packed chapter from DreamWorks Animation’s acclaimed comedy smash about a crackerjack crew of animal outlaws, our now-reformed Bad Guys are trying (very, very hard) to be good, but instead find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes, globe-trotting heist, masterminded by a new team of criminals they never saw coming: The Bad Girls. The Bad Guys 2 is once again directed by animation filmmaker Pierre Perifel, making his second feature after the first film and lots of work as an animator at DreamWorks previously. Co-directed by JP Sans, who was head of character animation on the first film. Adapted from the Scholastic book series by Aaron Blabey. Produced by Damon Ross. Made by DreamWorks Animation at DWA Glendale, and also by Jellyfish Pictures. Featuring music composed by Daniel Pemberton. (courtesy First Showing)
The Bad Guys 2 premieres 1 August 2025 in U.S. and 18 September 2024.
(courtesy IMP Awards)
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David Harbour, famous for his role in Stranger Things, leads this fun animated horror-comedy where a meteorite crashes into a zoo, releasing a virus that turns animals into slobbering mutants. The survival of the zoo and all the living creatures inside it depends upon the joint efforts of a wolf and a mountain lion who need to work together to stop the zombie-like virus. Night of the Zoopocalypse, also known as Une nuit au Zoo (A Night at the Zoo) in French, is co-directed by animation filmmakers Ricardo Curtis (Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade, Young Love) and Rodrigo Perez-Castro (director of Koati). The screenplay is written by Steven Hoban and James Kee. Produced by Yohann Comte, Steven Hoban, Joe Iacono, Wes Lui, Mark Smith. (courtesy First Showing)
Following its premiere at the 2024, Sitges Film Festival, Night of the Zoopocalypse will open 7 March 2025; Australian release date TBA.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
(courtesy IMP Awards)
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Aardman’s 4-time Academy Award-winning director Nick Park & Emmy-nominated Merlin Crossingham return with a brand new epic adventure: Vengeance Most Fowl. In this next Wallace & Gromit installment from Aardman, Gromit’s concern that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his own inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a “smart” gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own. When it emerges that a vengeful figure from the past might be masterminding things, it falls to Gromit to battle sinister forces and save his master… or Wallace may never be able to invent again! Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is co-directed by animation filmmakers Nick Park (director of Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Early Man previously) & Merlin Crossingham (Morph series, Wallace & Gromit: The Big Fix Up video game). The screenplay is written by Mark Burton; from a story by Nick Park & Mark Burton. Produced by Richard Beek. Made by Aardman in Bristol, UK. (courtesy First Showing)
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl premieres on Netflix on 3 January 2025.