After watching this, I’m not sure how this ended up winning an academy award. It’s well done and definitely has its moments but there are also a lot of cliches and obvious plot turns that just don’t seem to justify it being held up as the best animated film of the year.
That being said, it’s fun and absolutely a crowd pleaser. There are some good ideas here, interesting characterizations, and a heavy dose of obvious but still useful themes. The animation looks great and maybe that’s all the academy was judging it on. Disney is upping its game with each release, easily surpassing DreamWorks quality by now and getting closer to something Pixar might offer. It’s not there yet but it’s on its way and that’s a good thing. If you haven’t seen it, you’ll have fun with this one.