This week on Now Conspiring with Jon and Maria, we debate the best animated movie of the past year. From How to Train Your Dragon 2 to the recent release of Big Hero 6, which film do you think deserves top praise?
Also on the show, we finally discuss whether or not Interstellar is actually worth watching, along with an impromptu overview of the surprise hit, Whiplash. And stick around for some awesome discussion over the future of Toy Story 4.
Introducing for the second week in a row, guest Sara Peery! Hope you enjoy the show.
What’s your favorite animated movie of 2014?
I did not watch Big Hero 6 yet (where I live will only come 25 December), but so far, I think it’s Boxtrolls was the best.
Boxtrolls is definitely up there for me, as well. Though I have to say I didn’t enjoy it more than I did Coraline or Paranorman.
Loved ‘Dragon 2.’ But my money is on ‘Boxtrolls’. Loved the crap out of that flick
I loved mr Peabody and Sherman
Oh and Whiplash is awesome too
Hooray Sara’s back 😀
Loving the show guys.
I appreciate your enthusiasm about me being on the show. Thanks, James!
I had a lot of the same thoughts on Interstellar. It would have been lightyears better if they had just stopped talking for a minute.
Awesome episode Jon and Maria! I was wondering why you guys didn’t list all of the movies in the running but then I realized it was such an easy decision 🙂
The Lego Movie!
For me, honestly, HTTYD 2 will go down as one of the most overrated films of 2014. Don’t people realize that it does exactly what typical sequels do–that is, just do everything bigger? The only things that truly worked for me in that film were the flying sequences (of course) but also the family reunion sequence (really emotional stuff). Because those things were genuine and fresh. Everything else missed the marks that the first film hit so effectively, especially the cookie-cutter, underwritten villain whose final showdown was so anticlimactic that my jaw dropped in outrage. Not to mention the surprisingly-heavy preachiness of the whole humans and dragons should get along together message. I do appreciate giving some spotlight to the supporting characters, but the payoffs weren’t really interesting in the end.
What many amateur and professional critics praised was absurdly different from what I saw on the big screen. In retrospect, I’m not surprised at all that the film didn’t resonate fully with audiences.
If it wins the Oscar, I will be extremely furious. BIG HERO 6 deserves it far more and I haven’t even brought up THE LEGO MOVIE–the closest thing to a year-defining animated film we have for 2014. Hell, I’d support those films, plus The Book Of Life, The Boxtrolls, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, and Song of the Sea, before supporting HTTYD 2.
I usually stay away from judgements like “this is overrated.” Because all you’re really saying is, “I don’t like something that a lot of people like too much.”
Sure, it does what typical sequels do, but it does it extremely well, which typical sequels don’t do. It’s unfair to criticize a film for being good at being what it is.
I agree with you a bit on the simplicity of the villain, and how it took forever for him to show up. But I would argue that plenty of the film (including some of the great emotional moments you mentioned) make up for it. And you also have to remember that the positioning of the villain was smart in and of itself (he’s an inversion of the hero), even if they didn’t have time to fully flesh the villain out.
I don’t see at all what you’re complaining about in terms of “preachiness.” If anything, the film condemned the trope that the protagonist always knows best, which is shown when Hiccup figures out that he was dead wrong about being ane omnipotent peacemaker. That alone is the reason I hold HTTYD2 in such high regard, because that’s damn risky for a kid movie.
So yeah, the movie didn’t work for you. That’s fine, there are plenty of movies I don’t see the intense appeal of either. Just remember that there is definitely a reason why so many folks love a certain film—it’s not just a fluke. Sometimes it’s just the luck.
And I can understand The Lego Movie being favored as “best movie” by a lot of people as well. It’s a great film, though I personally don’t consider it to be the best of 2014. Of course, that’s just me.
I liked Big Hero 6. The graphics were amazing, it was funny, and I liked the plot. I’ll admit I cried at the end…it’s kinda inevitable, considering how we grew to love Baymax over the course of the movie. When it won the Oscar, I became ecstatic. I might as well have been given $100. THAT’S how much I liked it.
My Favorite Animated Movie Is Mr.Peabody And Sherman