Animation has proven itself to be one of the most timeless and long-lasting art forms in the world of feature-length animation, with some of the most iconic and well-regarded stories of all time coming from animated films. The 2010s as a decade were no exception, and were home to several massively successful and powerful animated stories, from massive studio films likeSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseto smaller-scale indie films likeMy Life as a Zucchini.
However, for every massively successful and groundbreaking animated film to be released during the decade, there was also a slew of animated films that failed to meet the mark. Whether they had rushed or troubled productions, non-existent budgets, or faced great deals of corporate meddling, there are many reasons as to how and why an animated film can be released in such a dour and poor state. However, it is important to be able to look at the worst that the decade had to offer for animated films so that a greater appreciation can be fostered for the films that do knock it out of the park.
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.88/5
The fourth installment of the hybrid animation/live-action series,Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chipsees the titular chipmunk brothers as they race to New York City to stop Dave from proposing to his new girlfriend. They are accompanied by their would-be stepbrother Miles, a human who wants nothing to do with the chipmunks, as they work together to make sure they can stay far away from each other for good.
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The cinematicAlvin and the Chipmunksfranchise as a whole has always been a middling to below-average franchise in the eyes of audiences, yetThe Road Chipwent above and beyond in terms of low quality. It features much more baseless product placement compared to previous films, and by the time the film came out (the same weekend asThe Force Awakens), the novelty of CGI talking animals had long left the building.
9’Monster Family' (2017)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.86/5
Monster Familyfollows the story of the Wishbone family, who are initially a standard ordinary family simply having an incredibly rough day before their day gets even worse when a witch transforms them into monsters. In order to turn back into their original selves, the family teams up with the world-famous monster Dracula in order to take down the witch and return to their normal lives.
From the get-go, it’s clear thatMonster Familyis attempting to cash in on the same child-friendly monster shtick that theHotel Transylvaniafilms had found runaway success with earlier in the decade. However,Monster Familyfails to capture anywhere near the level of imagination and creative prowess on display found in theHotel Transylvaniafilms, as it’s much more focused on cheap toilet humor. Having the direct comparison toHotel Transylvaniaespecially left a sour taste in the Letterboxd community’s mouth after watchingMonster Family.
8’Arctic Dogs' (2019)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.83/5
Arctic Dogsfollows the story of Swifty, an Arctic fox with big dreams of becoming a top delivery dog for the Arctic, a dream that he hopes to build up to while working at his local mailroom. However, he soon gets a chance to prove himself when he and his friends have to come together and save the day from the evil Otto Von Walrus, who plans to accelerate global warming to melt the Arctic Circle.
Despite its massive all-star voice cast,Arctic Dogsfails to do anything more than the bare minimum of what constitutes a children’s animated film in the late 2010s. It features all the generic tropes and trends that have defined the decade and fails to do even the littlest bit of originality or experimentation with its premise. The most memorable aspect of the film doesn’t even come from the film itself, but the strange way that the film was used as an attempt to jumpstart the music career ofJeremy Renner.
7’Pets United' (2019)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.79/5
Pets Unitedfollows the story of Roger, a Robin Hood-esque stray dog, and Belle, an elegant and spoiled house cat, as they are forced to team up when a robot uprising takes over their home city. In order to survive the robot uprising, they have to put aside their differences and team up with all the animals in the city in order to save all the captured humans.
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Despite its initially interesting premise of a robot uprising, the truth of the matter is that Pets United has no shame in what its true intentions are, a blatant copy of Illumination’sThe Secret Life of Pets. The originalSecret Life of Petswas already just an average animated movie, so removing that film of its greatest strengths, massively decreasing the animation budget, and adding on a confusing robot uprising plot only creates a complete mess of a film with no real focus in mind.
6’Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania' (2017)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.68/5
The sequel to 2007’sSurf’s Up,Surf’s Up 2: WaveManiacontinues the story of all-star surfers Cody, Chicken Joe, and Lani as they get a chance to surf with the legendary surfing team, The Hang Five. They soon find themselves surfing across the globe as a part of a surfing competition, where their surfing skills, as well as their friendships, are put to the ultimate test.
The originalSurf’s Upis one of the mostunderrated animated films of the 2000s, employing a highly unique sports mockumentary style combined with a stellar animation style that still holds up to this day.Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania, however, strips away just about everything that made the original film great, leaving behind only a cheap commercial for the WWE superstars of the era. While it was standard practice for the era for WWE stars to voice themselves in straight-to-DVD animated movies, this film’s sequel status makes it an insult compared to the amazing original.
5’Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back' (2010)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.67/5
The Straight to DVD sequel to 2008’sSpace Chimps,Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Backsees rookie chimp Comet finally going on his first space expedition to the Planet Malgor for research. However, the mission soon becomes in jeopardy when the alien villain Zartog is freed from his prison and begins taking over Mission Control back on Earth. Comet must now find a way back to earth and team up with the rest of the space chimps in order to save the day from Zartog’s reign.
The originalSpace Chimpswas already one of theworst films of 2008, and the sequel simply does just about everything in its power to somehow be even worse. Its shift to straight-to-DVD came with a massive decrease in budget, which is blatantly apparent when viewing the massively decreased animation quality from the already so-so original film. The film also feels like a basic recycle of the plot of the original film, rarely doing enough to justify its own existence.
4’Woody Woodpecker' (2017)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.57/5
Woody Woodpeckerfollows the story of the titular classic cartoon character as he creates mischief and chaos for a big city lawyer and his family when they plan to build a massive new home in his woods. While Woody soon finds himself making friends with the lawyer’s son, the ongoing feud with the lawyer only continues to ramp up more and more, without an end to the conflict in sight.
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They don’t get worse than this.
The originalWoody Woodpeckercharacter was a symbolic character of his era, akin to that of a Bugs Bunny, he was defined by his hijinks and aggressively annoying the bad guys in his cartoons. While Woody definitely finds his way to be annoying to other characters, he’s so brash and in your face that the character manages to be just as annoying to the audience as well. The film also achieves the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel when it comes to family movie comedy, resorting to toilet humor and poop jokes, despite having a literal comedy cartoon icon at its disposal.
3’Norm of the North' (2016)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.37/5
Norm of the Northfollows the titular polar bear Norm, voiced byRob Schneider, as he embarks on a journey to New York to spread the word about the melting polar ice caps at his home. However, Norm soon gets wrapped up in a strange new life as a performing corporate mascot, not realizing that the company that he’s working for is the one responsible for the destruction of his home.
Norm of the Northhas easily become an icon for the cheap and generic animated movie style of the 2010s, from its over-reliance on cute animal sidekicks to its half-baked celebrity voice performances. Even with the film’s good intentions with its save the environment message, the message rings hollow when considering the overly convoluted plot and overabundance of cheap toilet humor.
2’Foodfight!' (2012)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.29/5
Foodfight!takes place in a strange supermarket where all the branding mascots come to life after the store closes, forming their own tight-knit community and friendships with one another. When the mysterious and evil Brand X is brought into the store, it becomes up to Dex Dogtective, voiced byCharlie Sheen, to put a stop to their evil plan and save the day before the entire supermarket is overtaken by Brand X.
Foodfight is the type of one-in-a-lifetime perfect storm of a terrible animated movie that comes around once in a generation. From its cast consisting of entirely past-their-prime B-list celebrities to the abhorrent animation style that feels more in line with the early 90s than the early 2010s. The film is a bonafide disaster from just about every possible angle, to the point where it’sso bad that it wraps back around and becomes a hilariousunexplainable blast to watch unfold.
1’The Emoji Movie' (2017)
Letterboxd Average Rating: 1.18/5
The Emoji Moviefollows the story of Gene, a meh emoji who lives in the bustling city of Textopolis, a city hidden inside a cell phone whose residents consist of all the emojis that can be used. When Gene messes up at his job, he sets off on a quest with some other rejected emoji in order to become a normal emoji so that he can make his parents proud.
The Emoji Movie, ever since the announcement that it was being developed, became less of an actual movie and more of a joke; the comical and unbelievable culmination of corporate misunderstanding of the youth and the digital era. Nobody asked for an emoji movie, and nobody wanted an emoji movie, yet the movie still exists, and is filled with the most generic, by-the-numbers animated movie beats that the 2010s could provide. When the movie finally released, it soon became the go-to punching bag and scapegoat for all the worst trends in animation for the decade, which makes it all the more ironic that Sony Pictures Animation would releaseSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseonly one year later.
