Sony Pictures Animation Kids Movies

Sony Pictures Animation has emerged as a growing force in animation. Their film projects are mostly outsourced from other animation studios and visual effects vendors, and released under the SPA label. While not yet on the same levels as Disney and DreamWorks, the animation house is crawling its way after its confidence on their first Oscar win and their box-office streak.

Seeing their lineup, the studio has released a variety of animated films and live-action CGI hybrid flicks, each with its own uniqueness. For that, here are the best animated films from Sony Pictures Animation, ranked by Rotten Tomatoes.

10 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation - 61%

Hotel Transylania 3: Summer Vacation brings back Dracula (Adam Sandler), his family, and his gang going on a vacation cruise. He suddenly falls in love with ship's captain Ericka (Kathryn Hahn). However, Dracula's daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) learns a dark secret about Ericka.

The Hotel Transylvania movies have their same manic energy and over-the-top slapstick. Director Genndy Tartakovsky implements his animation style to CGI form. The animated results are hit-and-miss. Yet, it delivers on the laughs, most especially from Jim Gaffigan as Dracula's rival Abraham Van Helsing. While offering nothing new, Summer Vacation is morbidly delightful.

9 Peter Rabbit - 64%

Speaking of morbidly delightful, Sony's Peter Rabbit gives its first impression with a poorly received trailer that dishonors the legacy of Beatrix Potter's beloved creation. But getting past the bad marketing, Peter Rabbit is a riotously fun sit that is filled with cartoon gags and a likable cast.

Despite its childish humor, Peter Rabbit is faithful to the source material by centering on his mischievous antics on stealing vegetables from a nearby vegetable garden. James Corden as the titular rabbit is fun in enough doses. But most of the laughs come from Domhnall Gleeson as the frantic caretaker Thomas McGregor.

8 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - 71%

Thanks to the success of the first movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs got a sequel with Flint and the gang returning to stop another food-related Armageddon. The voice cast returns for the second installment, with Will Forte portraying a different character in Flint's idol Chester V and Terry Crews substituting for Mr. T as Officer Earl.

While it hits the same beats as the first film sporadically (and the food puns did not help),Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is elevated by colorful animation and creative creature design. And it has a bright message for all.

7 The Angry Birds Movie 2 - 73%

It is kind of surprising that there was an Angry Birds movie that is this good. Like Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2, The Angry Birds Movie 2 follows similar elements as its predecessor. Only this time, the birds and the pigs have to team up over a bigger threat that utilizes ice technology to conquer all.

Pretty much everyone from the cast returns, like Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, and others. And while the film's biggest strength, its videogame-based carnage, is up there, the new cast are the bright spots, with Rachel Bloom and Leslie Jones standing out.

6 Goosebumps - 77%

It took this long to get a Goosebumps film to the screen. And genuinely, it is worth the wait. This film took the creative force behind 2010's "great" Gulliver's Travels and utilized their strengths to make this film a thousand times more watchable than that film.

Jack Black stars as the reclusive author R. L. Stine, the author of the series, who has to come back from action after Zach (Dylan Minnette) and his daughter Hannah (Odeya Rush) inadvertently unleash one of his stories to life. The film is a fun throwback to horror-themed adventure films that will delight Goosebumps fans.

5 Surf's Up - 79%

Surf's Up was released at the time when penguin mania was at its peak with March of the Penguins and Happy Feet. Even with those properties dominating the screen, this underrated animated gem has its unique voice. The interesting aspect of its framing device being a documentary aimed to highlight the underdog story of rockhopper penguin Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) and his journey to win a renowned surfing contest.

Despite being its second full animated effort, Sony Pictures Animation demonstrated its flair for strong animation with its surfing sequences and the mockumentary cinematography.

Do not take this on face value.

4 The Pirates! Band of Misfits - 86%

As its first (and, so far, only) stop-motion animated film, The Pirates! Band of Misfits is a fun and outrageous swashbuckling adventure, brought by Aardman Animation. As per with their previous efforts on Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit, this film is strengthened by its ingenious clay-mation. That kind of Aardman charm works to this film's advantage on setting up visual gags, vibrant scenery, and pirate shenanigans.

The cavalcade of cast and characters are at their best, with Hugh Grant breaking type as the Pirate Captain, David Tennant as a vain Charles Darwin, and Imelda Staunton as the villainous queen

3 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - 86%

Based on the popular children's book by Judi and Ron Barrett, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the film that propelled Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to become an unstoppable filmmaking force. The duo simply take the book's premise of a town that has a weather system of food raining down and makes it into a basic underdog story of a scientist proving himself to his town and his dad.

Lord and Miller aimed to make this film as a spoof of disaster movies. On delivery, they conveyed that outrageous vision on its vibrant animation, visual humor, and empathetic characters.

2 Arthur Christmas - 92%

Arthur Christmas is an overlooked Christmas masterpiece that deserves to be seen every Christmas season. For their second computer-animated effort, Aardman implemented the same mechanics from Flushed Away and used their plasticine aesthetics for the character design (to mixed results). But that does not deter from its gorgeous animation (especially on its Christmas Eve delivery sequence) and its emotional core that drives a unique message for the season.

The Santa Claus lore is depicted as being a legacy title. And the characters help drive that point, livened by a strong cast that includes James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, and Bill Nighy.

1 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - 97%

Sony Pictures Animation is at their topmost form when they became innovative in their animation while keeping a well-grounded and entertaining story. This comes from their crowning achievement, and their first Oscar-winning film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Looking at this film like a Marvel movie is easy to come by, but Spider-Verse forged its own identity making it one of the best superhero films so far.

Spider-Verse brings the origin story of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) to life as a teenager finding his new identity as Spider-Man, with the help of other Spider-Men and Women from different multiverses. The animation brings its comic-book aesthetics with a fusion of 2D movement over 3D figures. The result is a living-and-breathing comic book experience that breaks ground.

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About The Author

Paolo Alfar (226 Articles Published)

Paolo Alfar is a freelance writer, based in Manila, Philippines. His passion for films is accidental when he designed a movie theater during his childhood. From there, his fondness for movies grew. And the Leo DiCaprio epic "Blood Diamond" somehow kicked off that passion. Follow him on Letterboxd at Paolo_the_TPS.

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