A lonely boy and a sparky bot team up for in a tender film that dials up the charm but swerves the big-tech questionsScreenwriters Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith have programmed this watchable if very derivative animated movie about a lonely, bullied ki…
Even Mice Belong in Heaven review – stop-motion voyage to animal afterlife
While it’s unusually candid about death, this Czech kids’ animation resorts to tedious quests and life lessons in lieu of a plotMovies aimed at very small children tend to be a bit squeamish about death. So this afterlife-for-kids animation gets points…
Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon review – a magical tale with a sense of adventure
Despite its frantic antics, this family animation from Peru is told from the welcome perspective of indigenous charactersHere is a family animation from Peru that spins a magical tale in the Amazon with a cast of mythological creatures from rainforest …
‘I wouldn’t take my kids to this’: Star Wars’ Phil Tippett on his hellish animation Mad God
The leading visual effects designer, whose credits include Star Wars and Jurassic Park, has spent three decades directing his gruesome animated fableYou definitely know Phil Tippett’s work even if you don’t know his name. The 3D chess game in Star Wars…
Extinct review – doughnut-shaped critters are an evolutionary dead end
It’s hard to imagine who will enjoy this convoluted animated tale of furry creatures called ‘flummels’Even if you can get over the inherent weirdness of furry little doughnut-shaped creatures with holes in their middles, there’s a lot to puzzle over wi…
Delights of an Undirected Mind review – a hypersexualised hypnotic acid trip
Lisson Gallery, LondonCarnal claymation characters share exhibition space with lush silk paintings, shocking sculpture and a vast tapestry in which you are an exploding goatDelights of an Undirected Mind is a group show promisingly centring around drea…
Moonbound review – a mish-mash of folkloric hijinks as kids take trip to the moon
This German-Austrian animation aimed at younger children borrows from vaguely familiar sourcesBased on a well-known German book for children from 1915, this derivative but adequate animated feature fuses together an assortment of vaguely familiar chara…
Mission: Galaxy review – kids’ eco space odyssey lacks energy
While its goals are noble, uninspiring animation fails to ignite this sci-fi questMission: Galaxy opens on Planet Kepler, once a vibrant and fecund home for its inhabitants. A solemn voiceover recalls the tragic day when Earthers trespassed on this bea…