November Animation Preview

After an October that was packed wall-to-wall (or rather, weekend-to-weekend) with animated releases both big and small (so many, in fact, that I missed a couple good releases in my October preview -- my apologies to Kensuke's Kingdom and Scarygirl, both worth checking out!), November looks to keep up the pace. Let's take a look at some of the animated movies heading to the big screen, or coming home, in November.

In Theaters

The month starts of with Viva Pictures' Hitpig! on November 1. Based on Berekely Breathed's book Pete & Pickles, this looks like it might be Viva's biggest hit yet. I've definitely seen more advertising for it than most of their releases get. Part of it might be the source material. Part of it might be the starry voice cast, which includes Jason Sudeikis in the title role, along with Andy Serkis, Rainn Wilson, RuPaul, and Hannah Gadsby. The story involves Hitpig kidnapping and elephant for a wealthy client, but then ending up on a globe-trotting adventure with that elephant instead. It looks fun! I'm excited to check it out.

November 11 brings Dragon Ball DAIMA to theaters. This is akin to the recent Demon Slayer "movies" or Dan Da Dan: First Encounter, in that it's actually a few episodes of the show playing in theaters rather than an actual movie. I haven't ever gotten into Dragon Ball, and at this point, it seems like too tall a mountain to ever stop climbing, but I'm sure this will be warmly embraced by fans, especially as franchise creator Akira Toriyama passed away earlier this year.

On November 15, GKIDS unleashes the charming chaos of Ghost Cat Anzu in theaters. While I wasn't super keen on this one at Animation is Film, it's a pretty fascinating movie from a production standpoint. The wilm was shot in live-action first, then given a super-stylized rotoscope job. It's about a girl whose shifty dad leaves her in a small town for the summer, where she meets the eponymous ghost cat. He, naturally, brings some excitement and strangeness to her life. Considering how good the rest of GKIDS' releases are this year (The Colors Within, Chicken For Linda!, Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds, Mars Express, Look Back...seriously, kudos to them), this one is a bit of a let-down, but I'm sure some will like it more than I did.

(l t r, t t b: Hitpig!, Ghost Cat Anzu, Dragon Ball DAIMA, 
The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa's Sleigh, Flow, Moana 2)

One of my most anticipated movies of this awards season is Gints Zilbalodis's Flow, which comes to the big screen on November 22. I was a huge fan of his last movie, Away, which felt like video game in a good way. Flow is a wordless adventure about a cat who, in the wake of a giant flood, shares a boat with a cast of other animals, who have to learn to cooperate to survive. It's been popping up at festivals all year, including taking home some hardware at Annecy and Animation is Film. It's also Latvia's Oscar submission, a huge honor. While the film might find it tough to get nominated in that category, it's considered almost a lock for a slot in the Animated Feature category. It might even be competitive for a win. Time will tell.

A movie I want to mention that doesn't have a US release date yet, but I'll be reviewing soon, is The Magic Reindeer: Saving Santa's Sleigh (also known as Niko: Beyond the Northern Lights). It hits cinemas in the UK on November 22, and hopefully it'll find its way to these shores before the year's end. It's the third movie in the franchise about an adorable, plucky reindeer named Niko who wants to join Santa's team of sleigh-pullers. My review will be up on November 11, so check back then for my full thoughts, but just know it's a delightful movie that deserves to be added to your holiday movie rotation.

November 27 brings the release of what might end up being the biggest animated movie of the year: Disney's Moana 2. My excitement for this one is kind of muted, despite being a huge fan of the original. This was originally supposed to be a TV show, but got re-tooled because, I assume, Disney realized they were leaving a billion+ dollars on the table by doing so. The original Moana was the most-streamed movie of last year, so I get it. But it does make me wonder if this will have the impact of its predecessor. One of the marquee names involved in the original, Lin-Manuel Miranda, isn't involved here, but hopefully the songs are still catchy. I don't know if my heart can stand another subpar movie from Disney Animation.

At Home

On November 1, a charming little movie called A Greyhound of a Girl will be available to watch digitally. Based on Roddy Doyle's book, it's about a girl who dreams of becoming a great chef, and all the obstacles she faces on her quest. I watched it last year and found it to be simple and emotionally inert, but it's a pleasant watch and has some great actors providing voice-work for the Ireland-set tale, including Brendan Gleeson and Sharon Horgan.

The incredible Look Back starts streaming on Prime on November 7. It's one of my favorite animated movies of the year, thanks to its gorgeous animation and emotionally devastating story-telling. It's already entered the Top 250 list on Letterboxd. It's also less than an hour long, so you honestly have no excuse not to check it out once it starts streaming.

On November 18, the very good Watchmen Chapter I hits Max. A faithful adaptation of the legendary comic, the film brings the story to life with solid animation and a great cast. It drops just in time to get you ready for the release of Watchmen Chapter II, which will bring the story to a close on November 26.

(l t r, t t b: A Greyhound of a Girl, Look Back, Spellbound, Robot Dreams,
Watchmen Chapter II, Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain)

One of Netflix's biggest animated movies of the year, Spellbound, hits the streamer on November 22. Shrek co-director Vicky Jenson is at the helm of the movie from Skydance Animation. It was originally intended for Apple TV+, but after the disaster that was Luck, things got a little wobbly with their deal. This one looks like it'll be better than Luck, but I'm still not totally convinced it'll land. It's about a princess whose parents get transformed into monsters, and her quest to change them back. Music by Alan Menken. Voices including Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Tituss Burgess, Nathan Lane, and Jenifer Lewis. So all the pieces are in place for a hit. Fingers crossed!

A highlight from last year (or this year, since NEON waited forever for its proper theatrical release) is Pablo Berger's Robot Dreams, which finds its way to Hulu on November 26. If you haven't seen this movie, buy a few boxes of tissues and settle in for a beautiful, funny, and absolutely heartbreaking story of friendship and loss. I truly can't think about the ending without crying! I love it so much.

One of the movies I caught at Animation is Film, Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain, is supposed to be coming to Netflix in November as well, but there's no release date yet. It's a really trippy and seriously gorgeous movie that I'm excited to watch again, and hopefully understand better on a second go-round.

Festivals

We're through the main crush of festival season, but I do want to mention Spark Animation in Vancouver, which starts tonight and runs for the next few days. Among the line-up are a few movies I've reviewed here, like Sunburnt Unicorn and The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. They also have panels featuring some of the year's biggest animated movies, as well as some movies I'm chomping at the bit to see, like The Sloth Lane and Savages. One of the fest's biggest gets is the North American premiere of (S)KiDS, the punk musical featuring songs from Rare Americans that I review yesterday (spoiler alert: I loved it).