Dec 24, 2013

Preview of 2014 animation features

From mainstream releases to independent foreign productions, we've got a guide to the animated feature releases that you can look forward to in 2014.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (1/10/14) Released in 2012 in Japan, in this third chapter in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, the adventure continues for pilots Asuka and Mari after they are ambushed while recovering Evangelion Unit-01 from outer space.

Director: Hideaki Anno Production Company: Studio Khara Distributor: Funimation Technique: Hand-drawn Voice Cast: Spike Spencer, Jerry Jewell, Tiffany GrantJapanese Website

The Nut Job (1/17/14) A mischievous squirrel named Surly plans a nut-store heist with his rat friend, Buddy.

Director: Peter Lepeniotis Production Company: Toonbox Entertainment Distributor: Open Road Films Technique: CG Voice Cast: Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Gabriel Iglesias, Liam NeesonOfficial Facebook Page

The Lego Movie (2/7/14) Ordinary LEGO figure is mistaken as “The Special” and goes on an adventure to save his LEGO mini-world.

Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller Production Company: Animal Logic Distributor: Warner Brothers Technique: CG Voice Cast: Chris Pratt, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman,Official Website

The Wind Rises (2/21/14) A fictionalized biography of fighter jet designer, Jiro Horikoshi, Hayao Miyazaki's final film was a big hit in Japan last year and aims to repeat that success in the United States.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki Production Company: Studio Ghibli Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures Technique: Hand-drawn Voice Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, John KrasinkiJapanese Website

Mr. Peabody & Sherman (3/7/14) Mr. Peabody & Sherman use their time traveling WABAC machine to keep the space-time continuum from being irreparably destroyed.

Director: Rob Minkoff Production Company: Dreamworks Distributor: Fox Technique: CG Voice Cast: Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter, Stephen ColbertOffical Website

Rio 2 (4/11/14) Blu and his family leave Rio de Janeiro for a journey to the Amazon rainforest where they encounter a menagerie of wild characters.

Director: Carlos Saldanha Production Company: Blue Sky Distributor: Fox Technique: CG Voice Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, will.i.am, Jamie FoxxOfficial Website

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (5/9/14) Dorothy returns to the Emerald City when The Jester threatens the world of Oz.

Director: Daniel St. Pierre, Will Finn Production Company: Summertime Entertainment Distributor: Clarius Entertainment Technique: CG Voice Cast: Lea Michele, Martin Short, Dan AykroydOfficial Website

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (6/13/14) Taking place five years after the first film, Hiccup and his friends find themselves in the center of a larger conflict between humans and dragons.

Director: Dean DeBlois Production Company: Dreamworks Distributor: Fox Technique: CG Voice Cast: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig FergusonOfficial Website

Planes: Fire and Rescue (7/18/14) Air racer Dusty must shift gears and join a quirky crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting a historic national park.

Director: Roberts Gannaway Production Company: DisneyToon Studios Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures Technique: CG Voice Cast: Dane Cook, Julie BowenOfficial Website

The Boxtrolls (9/26/14) An orphaned boy has to save his adopted family, a group of underground cave-dwelling trash collectors, from an exterminator.

Director: Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi Production Company: Laika Distributor: Focus Technique: Stop Motion Voice Cast: Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg, Elle Fanning, Toni ColletteOfficial Website

Book of Life (10/17/14) A young man named Manolo embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds, where he must face his greatest fears.

Director: Jorge Gutierrez Production Company: Reel FX Distributor: Fox Technique: CG Voice Cast: Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana, Diego Luna, Christina Applegate

Big Hero 6 (11/7/14) A brilliant robotics prodigy joins forces with a reluctant team of first time crime fighters in the fictional city of San Fransokyo.

Director: Don Hall Production Company: Walt Disney Animation Studios Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures Technique: CGOfficial film website

Home (11/26/14) An overly enthusiastic alien race are determined to take over Earth and relocate the human race to their planet – convinced they're helping them.

Director: Tim Johnson Production Company: Dreamworks Animation Distributor: 20 Century Fox Technique: CG Voice Cast: Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Rhianna, Jim Parsons

The Canterville Ghost (12/25/14) Set in rural England at the end of the nineteenth century, Sir Simon de Canterville has been haunting the Canterville Chase for hundreds of years but everything changes when an American family – the Otises from Boston – buys Canterville Chase and moves in. Canterville nemesis is a lowly gardener who is revealed to be Death himself.

Director: Kim Burdon Production Company: D'Arblay Films and Arc Productions Distributor: unknown Technique: CG Voice Cast: Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie

The Congress (release date unannounced) An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.

Director: Ari Folman Distributor: Drafthouse Films Technique: Live Action/Hand-drawn Voice Cast: Robin Wright, Paul Giamatti, Jon HammOfficial Website

Foreign Films

Tarzan 3D (1/24/14) (UK) Tarzan and Jane Porter must face an army sent by the CEO of Greystoke Energies, the very man who took over the company after Tarzan's parents death.

Director: Reinhard Klooss Production Company: Constantin Films Distributor: Filmförderunganstalt Technique: CG Voice Cast: Kellan Lutz, Spencer Locke, Anton Zetterhorn, Jaime Ray NewmanGerman Website

Minuscule – La vallée des fourmis perdues (1/29/14) (France)(Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants) Two rival gangs of ants fight over a box of sugar leftover from a picnic.

Director: Thomas Szabo, Hélène Giraud Production Company: Futurikon Films Distributor: Le Pacte Technique: CGOfficial Facebook Page

Der 7bte Zwerg (1/30/14) (Germany)(The 7th Dwarf) The 7th dwarf Bubi travels into the future with his dwarf companions to stop a curse caused by an evil ice queen.

Director: Boris Aljinovic, Harald Siepermann Production Company: Zipfelmützen Films, Erfttal Films Distributor: Universal Pictures Germany Technique: CG Voice Cast: Norbert Heisterkamp, Otto Waalkes, Nina HagenGerman Website

Jack et la Mécanique du cœur (2/5/14) (France)(Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart) Born on the coldest day in history, Jack lives with a clockwork heart that he must never touch, or use for anger or love.

Director: Mathias Malzieu, Stéphane Berla Production Company: Duran Duboi Distributor: EuropaCorp Technique: CG Voice Cast: Mathias Malzieu, Olivia Ruiz, Jean RochefortOfficial Facebook Page

Tanta Hilda! (2/12/2014) (France)(Aunt Hilda!) Disaster looms for Aunt Hilda's plant museum when industrialists develop a new chemical called “Attilem”.

Director: Jacques-Rémy Girerd and Benoît Chieux Production Company: Folimage Distributor: SND Technique: Hand-drawn Voice Cast: Sabine Azéma, Josiane Balasko, François MorelFilm Website

Giovanni's Island (2/22/2014) (Japan) In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast… and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history.

Director: Mizuho Nishikubo Production Company: Production I.G. Distributor: Warner Entertainment Japan Technique: Hand-drawnFilm Website (Japanese)

Asterix: le Domaine des Dieux (11/26/14) (France)(Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods) Asterix and Obelix take on Julius Caesar after he attempts to seduce a village of Gauls off of their land by building a luxurious suburb nearby.

Director: Alexandre Astier, Louis Clichy Production Company: MacGuff Ligne Distributor: SND Sant-Ouen Films Technique: CG Voice Cast: Roger Carel, Guillaume Briat, Alexandre Astier

Song of the Sea (Ireland) The story of the last Seal Child's journey home.

Director: Tomm Moore Production Company: Cartoon Saloon Technique: Hand-drawn Voice Cast: David Rawle, Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula FlanaganOfficial Facebook Page

Malá z Rybárny (Czech Republic)(Little from the Fish Shop) The daughter of a fish shop owner meets a handsome, confident young man.

Director: Jan Balej Distributor: Miracle Film Technique: Puppet/DigitalOfficial Website