8 Awesome Animated Movies That Adults Can Enjoy This January
There's a thousand reasons to bundle up and stay inside right now: It's cold, there's a pandemic on, there are no major holidays coming up, and you might even have a few days off work before the New Year.
There are also a ton of animated movies out that you've probably been sleeping on - and whether you're an adult or not, everyone knows the days after Christmas are for enjoying your new gifts and generally acting like a kid again.
What better way to feel like a kid than with an animated movie? They don't even have to be animated movies FOR kids - although some of those are incredibly good and worth watching, there are actually also a lot of adult animated films out there you've probably been missing out on.
So heat up some hot cocoa, light the fire, cozy up under a blanket, and take yourself back to the good old days with one of these new animated films.
Encanto (Disney+)
With music written by Lin Manuel-Miranda (and a song about family baggage and the roles we play that's already gone viral on Tiktok for its relatability), Disney's Encanto is already garnering Oscar buzz - and it just dropped on Disney+ on Christmas Eve.
Encanto is the story of the Madrigals, a family whose special house grants each of them magical powers - each of them except Mirabel. However, when something goes wrong and their powers disappear, only Mirabel can save them, their family, and their home.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Parts 1 and 2 (HBO Max)
If you just can't wait for Mat Reeves' The Batman starring Robert Pattinson to come out this spring, consider giving this animated one with a critical consensus of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes a shot. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was an animated movie that was released on Netflix following the success of The Dark Knight in theaters.
Starring Peter Weller as Batman, this film and its sequel follow the comics closely in setting up the legendary rift between Batman and Superman, and featured both the Joker AND Two-Face, two fan favorite villains.
Luca (Disney+)
Luca is just a good, cute, wholesome Pixar film to curl up and watch when you're feeling like getting cozy with a sweet story about a couple of Italian sea monsters who just want to fit in.
Luca is about a young sea monster boy named - you guessed it - Luca - and his new friend Alberto, who venture onto the land disguised as humans to explore and have fun. By making new friends and forming bonds of their own, they help those in the human village accept not only the two of them, but their entire species. It's a sweet movie about the power of friendship, and about what it really means to be different.
The Wticher: Nightmare of The Wolf (Netflix)
Don't watch this one with kids around: If you've already sped through the new season of The Witcher on Netflix and you're craving more, this animated version might be a fun switch-up from the gritty realism of the live-action series.
This one isn't about Geralt and Ciri (though Geralt does appear in it, we won't tell you when or how); It's about Vesemir, an older Wticher than Geralt, and actually, according to The Nerdist, if you love the series you should ABSOLUTELY watch this anime flick.
"Netflix's new prequel anime film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf tries to do so much it shouldn't work. ... Somehow the film does all of those things while still telling a coherent, well-paced, entertaining, and moving story. One that is certainly a must-watch for fans of the show."
Howl's Moving Castle (HBO Max)
If you don't have much of an attention span for longer movies, consider this short film instead. Only seven minutes long, Cops and Robbers takes a multisensory look at the feelings that come with growing up Black in America. Through the power of animation and spoken word poetry, the speaker takes viewers through his life, beginning with his childhood, and takes them on the twisted journey that he is, unfortunately, still on as the film ends.
If your New Year's Resolution is to become more of an activist or get more informed about socio-political issues, this short film is a great place to start.
America: The Motion Picture (Netflix)
This movie was the first ever full-length animated Netflix feature. It also got terrible reviews on Rotten Tomatoes - seriously, just terrible. Alan Adams of the Maine Edge called it "an idiotic curio of a very specific time in American culture."
"It is loud and broad and willfully stupid even as it hints at some deeper meaning that simply isn't there."
So why are we telling you to watch it? Well, he finished the review:
"It's dumb as hell... and I, much as I hate to admit it, had a hell of a time."
There is, of course, also the all-star voice cast to consider, including Channing Tatum (of The Lost City) as George Washington, Jason Mantzoukas (of Big Mouth) as Samuel Adams, Olivia Munn (of Violet, and also, of just having a baby with John Mulaney) as John Adams, and Andy Samberg (of the Intense Glo-Up) as Benedict Arnold, to name a few.
So basically, if you want to listen to some of your favorite comedians pretend to be the founders of the US in an 80s Saturday-morning-cartoon, ultimate-showdown-of-ultimate-destiny style reenactment of the Revolutionary War while cracking really bad jokes...here you go.
