Are animated films underrated?

[EBHughsThe1st]

I feel like the best kinds of films are animated.
In 2009, all of my favorite films were the animated ones. Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Coraline, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, etc.
So why is it that none of them received the amount of praise that Avatar did? They both had excellent animation and narrative wise, all of the above were much stronger?

I guess this is kind of turning into opinionated ranting, so, do you think animated films are somewhat underrated?

 

[Marter]

A little bit, but I feel that at least the first 3 you mentioned did get quite a bit of praise. Not as much as Avatar, but really, what did?

 

[EBHughsThe1st]

A little bit, but I feel that at least the first 3 you mentioned did get quite a bit of praise. Not as much as Avatar, but really, what did?

The Hurt Locker and District 9.

 

[Marter]

A little bit, but I feel that at least the first 3 you mentioned did get quite a bit of praise. Not as much as Avatar, but really, what did?

The Hurt Locker and District 9.

If all we are doing is talking critically, Up actually did better than Avatar, while the others didn't do poorly either.

I'll just go by metacritic here.

Avatar: 84

Up: 88
Fantastic Mr. Fox: 83
Coraline: 80
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: 66

I think they did just fine.

 

[Enemy Of The State]

And if someone ever again says animated films are for kids, get them to watch Grave Of The Fireflies.

I never thought they could show burned bodies in animation... I was wrong...

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Well, I enjoyed Avatar.

To be honest though, who cares what critics think? You enjoyed them didn't you? Good enough.

And if someone ever again says animated films are for kids, get them to watch Grave Of The Fireflies.

Or this little number [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NowAndThenHereAndThere]

or maybe a touching story about an man, his wife and their slow death from radiaton poison? [http://delcat.insanejournal.com/46801.html]

 

[Azure Sky]

And if someone ever again says animated films are for kids, get them to watch Grave Of The Fireflies.

I never thought they could show burned bodies in animation... I was wrong...

Agreed, but I think it was one of the weaker animations from Studio Ghibli, I much preferred Nausicaa and Laputa.

 

[Sweetlew]

I think we could all agree that animation is designed for both child and adult audiences, and it varies from film to film as much as live-action films.

 

[khaimera]

They are. The mainstream still views them on an unequal level in terms of entertainment, just like video games.

 

[ImprovizoR]

Avatar had a trillion dollar marketing that's why. And most people are basically stupid and they only care about stuff they see advertised on TV and internet a lot.

 

[CK76]

I think people have held a deep view in the west that animation equals trivial or childish in nature.

Lasseter (Pixar guy) mentioned that it was a massive hurdle to get past the fact that it was data people were seeing and make them believe it was "real".

Toy Story 3 is the best film I've seen in 2010, and it happened to be animated.

 

[Jorias]

Although i am not as versed in Motion picture or film literature as someone like Movie Bob, but i tend to agree with people that say animation in films are underrated...I tend to love the intricate plots layed out in the Japanese Anime (i dont know if i said that right?) film catagories. I have only really watched the big ones like Neon-Genesis Evangelion? and Akira

 

[WorkerMurphey]

People make assumptions and categorize things, it happens with tv, music, movies, games, books - whatever. An effective critic will see past those sorts of first glance assessments and judge a work on its own merits. In that sense, no, I don't think animation is underrated, so long as you pay attention to the ratings from intelligent or thoughtful critics.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

One of the best fusions of a Saturday cartoon with adult crime story elements ever produced.
Cyberpunk is badass.

Even though it's over and done with, the DC Animated Universe was instrumental is pushing the boundries of western animation in terms of storyline and action.

God I want those shows back.