PIXAR

Top 10 animated movies to see in 2012

As we enter Oscar season it is easy to forget that, while cinema of course has a responsibility to impress and inform, it is ultimately at its best when making you laugh out loud at an anthropomorphised something-or-other in a screen shared by adults and children alike. When it’s a bit more animated, if you will. As such, here is a list of the ten most exciting animated movies heading to a cinema near you this year.

New image from Pixar’s Brave

Mmmm, velvety soft.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Brad Bird’s take on the Mission: Impossible series is a daft, big bucks action fest that falls victim to a cheesy script, a little too much fun-poking and one hell of a dreadful ending. But its breathtaking action sequences and likeable performances ultimately make it a rather entertaining watch. And it’s always fun to see Tom Cruise running about.

Magic to Win

One winning performance and a couple of charming moments aside, Magic to Win is a derivative, slightly dull fantasy for a young audience. Dripping with familiar tropes and overbearing, syrupy music, Wilson Yip’s film is one you can afford to miss at the cinema.

Do we need to re-think kids films? A (sort of) defence of Eric Bolling

Last week an utterly baffling argument concerning the political leanings of The Muppets exploded onto the screens of bored internet surfers everywhere. Fox executive Eric Bolling cried foul play against the fluffy activists’ poisonous left-wing leanings, suggesting that apparently anti-capitalist puppets couldn’t help but influence the minds of our most impressionable generation.The world responded with derision, and rightly so. But no matter the catalyst, it’s a question worth asking – what message are our kids getting from our current cinematic output?