Animated

*Animated* is an 2021 computer animated Marcanese American biographical buddy cop/mystery romantic comedy film directed by Mike Rianda and produced by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller from a screenplay by Jeff Lowe. The film features Clayman, who hadn't appeared in a theatrical feature-length film for 25 years since *My Cartoon Self* (1996). The film tells the story of legendary animator Mark Andrews (Ryan Reynolds), who creates Clayman and sees him come to life; they and Lou (Dana Gaier) go on a road trip to an animation awards ceremony, and later save all cartoonkind from an evil mastermind who's plotting to take them down. The film is distributed by Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Viacom Animation Studios, and Anaya Animation; and was theatrically released and released on Anaya+ February 5, 2021 to generally favorable reviews and grossed $124 million over its $79 million budget

## Why It's Great

* Wonderful animation, especially that of New York City and Cartoon World.
* Decent voice acting.
* This film is so hillarious, as it has many great jokes like the Cartoon Inn scene and the "What A Wonderful World" scene.
* The film's action & car chase scenes are very well done.
* Likable characters: Mark is a great role model, Clayman is very amusing (and hillarious), Sir Clay Moriarty is a very entertaining and intimidating villain, Sally is a very nice character, Lou is adorable.
* The film has a highly brilliant and well-executed concept: Mark (the creator of Clayman) sees Clayman come to life, and Mark *himself* gets turned to a cartoon (well, in this case, Clayman's clone, but it still works). It also subverts the used "misunderstanding" plot at the ending.
* Like the *Marco* movies, the film does a great job at blending comedy, drama, action, and suspense altogether.
* Excellent plot that expands its concept with a road trip adventure and later a buddy cop/mystery situation.
* The film's themes of enjoying life to the fullest, learning from mistakes & succeding from failure, and being passionate are very well handled.
* The film's opening scene is hillarious, as it pokes fun at various films like *Steamboat Willie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit,* and *Toy Story* without making fun of them.
* Marvelous 50's-60's nostalgic soundtrack that fits the film's upbeat tone with feel-good songs like "Happy Together" by The Turtles, "Jazz" by The Blues, and, well, "I Feel Good" by James Brown.
* Nice cameos from Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Popeye, SpongeBob,Tom & Jerry and others at the Cartoon Inn.
* Great ending, despite it being a rip-off of *Marco 4*'s ending but with Mark & Sally.
* The film pays a huge homage to 1996's *My Cartoon Self* as well as Clayman's feature films and cartoon shows.
* It brought us Clayman back to the silver screen after 25 years of not seeing him at the movie theater.
* "GAAAAAAAAH!"

## Bad Qualities

* Although the film tries to avoid cliches, there are yet some cliches present in the film such as the "generic villain who uses tired phrases" cliche and the "underdog story" cliche.
* Mr. Good Ol' Cracker is somewhat unlikable.
* This film sometimes rips off *Fred & Ed: The Movie,* since both movies are based on cartoons, have the main characters go on a road trip, and they both take place in New York City.