2022 is already stacked up with fun-filled animated flicks, as there are still so many delayed movies yet to hit movie theatres. Be it action blockbusters, superhero movies, or quirky indie fare, there are quite a few awesome ones to look forward to this year. Whether you love fun hand-drawn cartoons or films with groundbreaking animation, this year awaits several incredible sounding and looking animated movies that both kids and adults will enjoy.
Check out 12 of the promising animated releases that we hope to see in theaters or on the streaming sites soon.
1) Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
Release date: 14 January
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is anticipated to be the first animated movie of 2022. It has come as a surprise since the film’s main theme revolves around Halloween. However, with each consecutive movie in the series, the makers have gotten further away from the traditional monsters and vampires narrative.
The third movie in the series saw the gang go on a summer vacation, and in this fourth installment, they are not even monsters. Van Helsing’s mysterious new invention transforms Drac and his pals into humans, and Johnny into a monster. With their new mismatched bodies, Drac and the pack must find a way to switch themselves back before their transformations become permanent. But, they are still the same hilarious characters and voiced by some of the most entertaining comedy actors working today.
The film is directed by Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon and some of the cast members include Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kathryn Hahn, Jim Gaffigan, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade, and Fran Drescher. The film will be released exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
2) The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild
Release date: 28 January
Although Disney has shut down its Blue Sky Studios, it still has the studio’s IP, including the most lucrative of all: the Ice Age franchise. Fans surely expect the company to come up with interesting animated features for a good while, starting with this Disney+ film. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild centers on the Simon Pegg-voiced weasel Buck, who first appeared in the franchise’s third film, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The animation was outsourced to Vancouver’s Bardel Entertainment (Rick & Morty).
Watch Buck, Crash, and Eddy as they try to keep the “Lost World” from being overtaken by dinosaurs. The hilarious escapades of everyone’s favourite prehistoric mammals are back to entertain all of us.
3) Luck
Release date: 18 February
The first feature release from young studio Skydance Animation is about a very unlucky girl who discovers the world of good and bad luck. Luck will be the first animated feature in a while to bear the imprimatur of John Lasseter, who moved to Skydance after leaving Pixar/Disney amid allegations of sexual harassment. The release date is tentative. Apple acquired the film in February and is yet to confirm that it is sticking to it.
The upcoming animated fantasy comedy film is directed by Peggy Holmes and written by Kiel Murray. It stars Jane Fonda and Whoopi Goldberg in the lead.
4) Turning Red
Release date: 11 March
Turning Red is the first of two Pixar movies set for release in 2022, and fans of the studio are over the moon, as Pixar so rarely releases more than one movie a year. The movie has a typically unique and quirky Pixar premise, as it follows a 13-year-old girl who turns into a giant red panda if she gets too excited.
The movie’s premise might sound a bit silly, but it will undoubtedly be a wonderful coming-of-age flick full of lessons that even adults can learn from. Thankfully, unlike the last two Pixar movies, Turning Red will get a theatrical release instead of going straight to Disney+, and it’ll be the first theatrically released Pixar film in two years.
5) Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Release date: 8 April
Though Sonic the Hedgehog had an unstable marketing campaign, as fans ridiculed Sonic’s design, the character was hugely overhauled and the 2020 movie became a shocking success. It was only a matter of time until a sequel was thrown into production and it impressively arrived just two years later.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is not entirely animated, but it seems like a lot more of the runtime will be based in the otherworldly locations seen in the video game, and there are more animated characters involved too. The film will introduce Tails and Knuckles, two fan-favourite characters from the games, and Dr. Robotnik fully formed as Eggman, the iconic villain of the series.
The sequel to the popular 2018 blockbuster finds the popular Sega hero in a new adventure directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington.
6) The Bad Guys
Release date: 22 April
Directed by Pierre Perifel, this CG-animated adaptation of Aaron Blabey’s book centers on several reformed yet misunderstood villains (Mr. Wolf, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark and Ms. Tarantula) who decide to live their lives as forces of good. The story follows these five crooks as they take on their most challenging job yet. The film is DreamWorks’ first of the two 2022 releases and is another refugee from the Covid release chaos of 2021. The promising animated feature wants to do for heist movies what Shrek did for fairytales.
The voice cast includes Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Alex Borstein and Zazie Beetz. The production company for The Bad Guys is DreamWorks and the U.S. distributor is Universal.
7) DC League Of Super-Pets
Release date: 20 May
Many superhero movies are set to release in 2022, especially in the DC Extended Universe. And even outside of the DCEU, there are tons of DC movie releases, such as The Batman and HBO Max spin-off series. But one film that DC fans are eagerly waiting for is the DC League of Super-Pets.
Dwayne Johnson will be inducted into the DCEU next year in Black Adam, but before that, he’ll actually be in another DC movie, which is the upcoming animated film. The movie is all about DC superheroes’ pets, and with Johnson and Kevin Hart in the lead roles, it’ll no doubt be a hilarious and fresh take on The Secret Life of Pets.
The film is written and directed by Jared Stern and co-directed by Sam Levine. The amazing voice cast includes Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna and Keanu Reeves.
8) The Bob’s Burgers Movie
Release date: 27 May
The Bob’s Burgers Movie is not just a feature-length animation of the beloved TV show, not it’s a full-fledged musical too! The film will undoubtedly be full of the show’s unique humour and pop culture references. Disney inherited the movie from Fox, and by this quirk of fate, it will become the House of Mouse’s first hand-drawn feature since 2011’s Winnie the Pooh.
As there have been dozens of movies delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Bob’s Burgers Movie is the one that has suffered the most. The animated film has been delayed by nearly two years. It was first scheduled for release in June 2020, then pushed back again by a year to April 2021, and now finally to May 2022.
9) Lightyear
Release date: 17 June
When it comes to animated movies, there isn’t any other film that has been more theorized over than Lightyear. Whether it’s about the actual fictional character that the Toy Story toy is based on or it’s a reboot of the cartoon Star Command, there’s a lot of speculation surrounding the Pixar movie.
Adults are just as excited about the movie as children, if not more, since there’s no age bracket more obsessed with the character than millennials. And on top of that, based on the trailer, it’s looking like Pixar will outdo itself once again, as the animation looks spectacular and the spacecrafts look almost photorealistic.
Lightyear isn’t a sequel but a spin-off; an origin story about the astronaut who inspired the Buzz figure of Toy Story fame. Finding Dory co-director MacLane is in the director’s chair.
10) Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
Release date: 23 September
DreamWorks Animations might not have the reputation that other animation studios like Pixar and Studio Ghibli do, but the crown jewel in the studio’s vast library of franchises is Shrek. And before the in-development Shrek reboot gets released, the second spin-off, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, will come out in September 2022.
The first movie might not have reached the heights of Shrek and Shrek 2, but Puss is one of the most entertaining characters in the series, which is saying a lot. There is seemingly no end to pun jokes about kittens and pirates that DreamWorks can conjure up, and it’ll be exciting to return to the satirical fairy tale world for the first time in 11 years.
Antonio Banderas returns to voice the swashbuckling moggie, who learns at the outset that he has only one of his nine lives left.
11) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)
Release date: 7 October
It seems like the world will never get enough of Spider-Man. Within a year of the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is quickly becoming one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, Across the Spider-Verse will be released theatrically.
Spider-Verse might turn out to be better than No Way Home, whether it’s because of the way it tackles the idea of multiverses or because of its groundbreaking animation. And the 2022 move will explore multiverses even further. But what makes the upcoming film even more exciting is that an official part of the movie’s title is “Part One,” meaning the threequel is either well into production or even already completed.
The movie has an all-new directorial team: Kemp Powers (co-director and co-writer, Soul), Justin Thompson (production designer, original Spider-Verse), and Joaquim Dos Santos (director, Avatar: The Last Airbender).
12) Mario
Release date: 21 December
Very little is known about Mario, as the official trailer has not been released yet, but it’s shaping up to be an exciting project. The upcoming Illumination movie will be entirely animated, which is surely a load off fans’ minds who saw the first Mario movie.
The movie will undoubtedly be better than 1993’s Super Mario Bros. which is notorious for being the beginning of a never ending string of terrible video game adaptations. However, there’s still some cause for concern. The movie has a polarizing cast, as the titular character will be voiced by Chris Pratt, who has announced that he won’t be putting on an Italian accent.
Other cast members include Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, and Keegan-Michael Key as squeaky fungus Toad.
~ Hope you enjoyed the list!