Most people think of Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks and Illumination when it comes to the best animation companies. In recent years, Sony Pictures Animation has begun to make its mark. His last release Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Versereleased this month to widespread acclaim and huge box office success.

Sony distinguishes its designs with fluid motion, vibrant colors and expressive faces. Their plots and characters tend to be average, relatively speaking, but a few movies have definitely shaken that trend.

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10 “Pirates! Loser Band (2012)

a group of bearded pirates on a ship

IMDb rating: 6.7/10

A pirate captain named Pirate Captain (Hugh grant) hopes that this year he will finally receive the “Pirate of the Year” award. After a string of mishaps, he raids the naturalist’s ship. Charles Darwin (David Tennant), who informs the captain that his parrot, Polly, is an extinct dodo. He convinces the captain to introduce Polly to London, even though the crew is wary of being caught. Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton).

Although the plot is a bit predictable, the movie makes up for it with details. All the characters are adorable and play off each other brilliantly thanks to the talented voice actors. Its animation is also a nice mix of Aardman Animations’ iconic stop-motion animation with smooth CGI for some of the more tense sequences.

9 “Surf” (2007)

Cody Maverick and Chicken Joe in Surf's Up
Image via Sony

IMDb score: 6.7/10

Cody Maverick (English)Shia LaBeoufis a rockhopper penguin who dreams of becoming a professional surfer after receiving a shell necklace from celebrity surfer Big Z. He gets his chance when a talent scout arrives looking for contestants to compete in the Big Z Memorial surf competition on Pan Island. Gu. Cody befriends one of the other members, a rooster named Chicken Joe (John Heder), and develops a rivalry with the arrogant champion Tank (Diedrich Bader).

Surf’s Up the story is a standard sports film, but it gets points for its delivery and character. Each has a strong personality and their interactions result in lots of laughs and memorable exchanges. On the technical side, the film is structured like a documentary, and motion capture cameras were even used to make it look like it was all shot with a handheld camera.

8 ‘Vivo’ (2021)

vivo-trailer-lin-manuel-miranda-social features
Image via Netflix

IMDb rating: 6.7/10

Vivo (Lin-Manuel Miranda) is a music-loving kinkajou who plays daily in Havana with his owner Andrés Hernandez (Juan de Marcos Gonzalez). One day Andres receives a letter from his old friend Martha (Gloria Estefan), inviting him to his last concert, which gives Andres the chance to finally confess his love for Marta through a song he wrote for her. Unfortunately, he dies in his sleep, so Vivo vows to perform Andres’ song.

vivo has a solid message about not having to wait too long to share your feelings with loved ones. The plot and characters are not the most original, but the bright animation compensates for this shortcoming. Miranda’s songs are catchy enough, but none of them match his previous work.

7 “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” (2009)

IMDb score: 6.9/10

The inhabitants of Swallow Falls were forced to eat sardines for years, which spoiled the mood of the entire city. Eccentric scientist Flint LockwoodBill Hader) hopes to solve the problem by inventing a machine that can turn water into food. After a rocky start, the machine activates in the stratosphere and starts pouring different products every day.

Sony’s unique animation style is perfect for this film. The farce is fast-paced and to the point, and the food looks great and otherworldly. The story is also pretty solid, with a good emotional core about Flint and his aloof technophobic father Tim (James Caan) reconnect and find a common language.

6 ‘Hotel Transylvania’ (2012)

IMDb score: 7.0/10

After the death of Dracula’s wife (Adam Sandler) created a secret hotel for the monsters to keep them and his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) is safe from people. On her 118th birthday, all of Dracula’s friends come to the hotel to celebrate. Unfortunately, one of Dracula’s plans to dissuade Mavis from exploring the world involved a human traveler named Johnny (Andy Samberg), whose presence can sow mass panic.

This film is a directorial debut Gendy Tartakovsky, who created classic cartoons such as Dexter’s Lab And Samurai Jack. He brings his unique style to this film, especially in the comedic rhythm and facial expressions. This led to some of Sony’s best physical comedies and spawned a franchise.

5 ‘Arthur Christmas’ (2011)

Arthur from Arthur Nativity holding children's letters to Santa Claus

IMDb score: 7.1/10

Despite the wishes of his eldest son Steve (High Laurie), the current Santa Claus, Malcolm (Jim Broadbent) postpones retirement for another year. After Christmas Eve concludes, one bike is found to be missing, but Steve considers this an acceptable loss. Malcolm’s second son, ArthurJames McAvoy), thinks differently and teams up with an elf named Brioni (Ashley Jensen) and his grandfather (Bill Nighy) to deliver it before morning.

Arthur Christmas a wonderful Christmas movie and another success from Aardman Animations. It has a number of interesting themes, such as the importance of balancing old and new methods and how symbols like Santa Claus are superior to any human being. Arthur is a fantastic protagonist thanks to his infectious optimism and the way he embodies the heart and soul of childhood excitement.

4 “Dragon of Desires” (2021)

Dean and Long from Wish Dragon

IMDb rating: 7.2/10

Dean (Jimmy Wong) is a young man who wants to reunite with his childhood friend Li Na (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). One day, a mysterious man claiming to be a god (Ronnie Chieng) gives him a teapot. Long insideJohn Cho), a wishing dragon who cannot enter the afterlife until he grants the three wishes of the ten masters, of which Ding is his last.

dragon wish The story won’t win any awards, but makes up for it with Dean and Long’s relationship. This is a classic case of cynicism and optimism, with both parties learning new ways to perceive the word from each other. In particular, Long’s character development is very strong and leads to a very touching ending.

3 “Mitchells vs. Machines” (2021)

Mitchells vs. Machines
Image via Netflix

IMDb score: 7.6/10

Katie Mitchell (ur.Abbi Jacobson) is excited to go to film school and run away from her family, especially her technophobic and nature-loving father, Rick (Danny McBride). To bond with his daughter one last time, Rick takes the family on a cross-country trip to give Katy a lift. While traveling, a smartphone named PAL (Olivia Colman) leads a robot uprising to take revenge on humanity for deeming it obsolete.

This film has strong generational themes and comments about the dangers of technology allowing us to control our lives. Sensibly, he doesn’t take sides, but instead shows the value of combining old and new to produce the best possible results. The animation is some of Sony’s best, presenting its 3D models with techniques reminiscent of 2D animation and sometimes including a few hand-drawn pieces to show Katie’s innermost thoughts.

2 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

The cast of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Image via Sony

IMDb score: 8.4/10

Miles Morales (ur.Shameik Moore) was an ordinary boy living in New York until a series of unlikely events took place. First he was bitten by a radioactive spider, and then he witnessed Spider-Man (Chris Pine) die trying to stop Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber) from creating a collider that can access alternate worlds. As Miles attempts to master his powers, he encounters other Spider-Men from across the multiverse and teams up with them to stop Fisk.

There are many reasons why this film is considered one of the best. Spiderman movie. It balances several versions of the web head with respect and gives both Miles and a different version of Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) strong character arcs. Its animation is one of the most stylized in modern cinema, and its effects are felt in films such as Puss in Boots: Last Wish.

1 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2023)

IMDb rating: 9.1/10

Shameik Moore as Miles Morales in front of the legion of Spider-Men in a poster for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Image via Sony Pictures

In their universes Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) do not live up to the expectations of their parents. Miles meets a new villain named Spot (Jason Schwartzman), which was created after Miles’ battle with Fisk. Failing to catch him, Miles and Gwen are picked up by Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) and brought into society the Spider-Men who protect the multiverse.

While it doesn’t always reach the same heights as its predecessor, this movie is still a great watch for fans of superhero and Spider-Man movies. There are many references to longtime fans of the character, including the video game and television versions. It also has a lot of heart, perhaps especially with Gwen’s history and her relationship with her father.