‘Best Movies of the Decade’ podcast: Animated Films

In this film publicity image released by Disney, Barbie, voiced by Jodi Benson, left, and Ken, voiced by Michael Keaton, are shown in a scene from, “Toy Story 3.” (AP Photo/Disney Pixar) ORG XMIT: NYET122 | AP

There was a time when we’d see only a handful of big studio animated theatrical releases in a given year. By the 21st century, the genre had become so popular the Academy added a separate category for Best Animated Feature—and in the 2010s, there’s been at least one animated film in the overall Top 10 box office performers.

This is a celebration of the best animated films of the best decade ever for this genre.

“Toy Story 3”

Recognitions at the 2011 Academy Awards

• Best Animated Feature, Winner
• Best Picture, Nominated
• Best Adapted Screenplay, Nominated
• Best Sound Editing, Nominated

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

Roeper’s review – December 2018

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is the best “Spider-Man” movie yet, the best animated film of the year — and one of the best 2018 films of any kind, period.

Bursting with comic-book vibrant colors, peppered with clever visual touches and crackling good inside jokes, and featuring pitch-perfect voice performances, “Into the Spider-Verse” is a brilliant, exuberant, soaring and original adventure.

Miles Morales (left, voice of Shameik Moore), the new guy in the Spider-Man suit, encounters Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) and Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) in an alternate universe in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”

Recognitions at the 2019 Academy Awards

• Best Animated Feature, Winner

“The LEGO Movie”

Recognitions at the 2015 Academy Awards

• Best Original Song, Nominated

“Inside Out”

Roeper’s review — June 2015

Directed with great flair and pitch-perfect timing, brimming with sparkling visuals, filled with first-rate voice performances, thrilling adventures and unforgettable moments, “Inside-Out” is an instant classic.

Someday the children of the children who will love this film, will love this film.

Recognitions at the 2016 Academy Awards

• Best Animated Feature, Winner
• Best Original Screenplay, Nominated

“The Jungle Book”

Roeper’s review — April 2016

Every drop of rain, every cracking tree branch, every swaying tree and (most impressively) every jungle creature in the film looks amazingly real — and yet this entire movie was filmed in a studio in downtown Los Angeles. That’s a jaw-dropper right there.

The only character in “The Jungle Book” who is NOT a creation of special-effects movie magic is the boy-cub Mowgli, who is played by Neel Sethi, an actual human child who is not the most subtle of young actors but does a pretty fair job of “interacting” with co-stars that exist only in CGI form and via voice-overs from a roster of big-name stars.

Mowgli (Neel Sethi, left) and the panther Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley) in “The Jungle Book.”

Recognitions at the 2017 Academy Awards

• Best Visual Effects, Winner