Transformations have long been fertile ground for animated features, with a wide array of variations. Snow White featured an evil queen (Lucille La Verne) who turned into an old hag. Beauty and the Beast had servants who transformed into teapots and serving bowls. Pinocchio showed how a wooden puppet turns into a real boy. Then there are the numerous films where human characters turn into animals, which is where Turning Red, the latest film from Pixar, slides in. In the movie, young Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang) turns into a big, red panda when she gets excited. Critics have embraced Turning Red, extolling its themes on adolescence and body positivity through an Asian-Canadian point of view. But where does it sit among other animated films where humans turn into animals? Let's find out!
11. Brother Bear 2
Brother Bear 2 was released directly to home video in 2006, along with classics like Bambi II and The Fox and The Hound 2. It's an unwarranted sequel that doesn't even stand out amongst the other unwarranted sequels released to home video around the same time. Long story short, Kenai (Patrick Dempsey) is still a bear and still hanging out with Koda (Jeremy Suarez). Kenai's childhood friend Nita (Mandy Moore) is to be married, doesn't get married, finds Kenai, and becomes a bear herself at the end. At least it had Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis as a couple of moose.
10. Brother Bear
Enraged at the bear that killed his brother, Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) hunts it down and kills it, only to be turned into a bear himself. Unable to become human again until he rights his wrongs, Kenai meets up with Koda (Suarez), a young cub whose mother is missing. Or, maybe not missing so much as killed by Kenai. Realizing his error and having taken Koda under his wing, Kenai passes up the chance to become human again and remains a bear. It's a toss-up, really, as to which of the two films is worse, but at least Brother Bear had a theatrical release, and the reunion of Thomas and Moranis, which started in this film and has them riffing on their classic Bob and Doug McKenzie characters from SCTV, was brilliant.
9. Spies In Disguise
Lance Sterling (Will Smith), self-proclaimed world's most awesome spy, is inadvertently changed into a pigeon by a biodynamic concealment device created by young scientist Walter Beckett (Tom Holland), Set up as a traitor by the villainous Killian (Ben Mendelsohn), Sterling and Beckett must track down the cybernetically-enhanced terrorist before he can send drones to kill Sterling's fellow agents. The film is decent enough, with lots of humor and action sequences, but suffers by being one of the many, many animated releases in 2019. It was unfortunately unable to stand out from the pack.
8. Brave
Scottish princess Merida (Kelly MacDonald), unwilling to choose a suitor, decides that she's going to be in control of her own life from now on. This puts her at odds with her mother Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), who insists she stick with tradition. Merida storms off and comes across a witch (Julie Walters), who grants her wish to change her mother. But it's not the kind of change Merida intended, and -- surprise! -- mom is now a bear. Merida must repair their bond before it's too late to bring the queen back. A good, but not great, Disney/Pixar film that introduces Merida into the Disney pantheon of princesses. But when compared to other Pixar releases, Brave pales in comparison.
7. The Princess and The Frog
Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) of Maldonia arrives in New Orleans, seeking a rich Southern belle to marry. He and his valet run into voodoo witch doctor Dr. Facilier (Keith David), who turns Naveen into a frog as part of a plot to get the fortune of the La Bouff family. Naveen hops into Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), a young lady with a dream to open her own restaurant, and, believing her to be a princess, he asks for a kiss in order to turn him back. Clearly not a princess, Tiana is turned into a frog as well, and the two must stop Dr. Facilier and figure out how to become human again. The Princess and The Frog was a very welcome return to hand-drawn animation after years of computer features and also blazed trails by featuring the first Black Disney princess. Unfortunately, it's not a particularly memorable film, and it's musical numbers lack the earworm qualities of Frozen or Encanto.
6. Pinocchio
Puppet wants to become a real boy, does stuff, gets eaten by a whale, becomes real boy. Everyone knows the story. Yet there is one part of the film that is truly frightening: Pleasure Island. Those two words alone are enough to send shivers down the spine of anyone who has seen the Disney classic. To jar your memory, the Coachman (Stuart Buchanan) welcomes disobedient boys to Pleasure Island, a place with carnival rides, cigars, billiards, graffiti and liquor. It isn't long before -- warning! 80-plus-year-old spoiler incoming! -- the boys pay the piper and turn into donkeys, sold into slave labor by the Coachman. Thankfully, Pinocchio (Dick Jones) succeeds in escaping. It's a jarring scene in an otherwise gentle film yet doesn't impact Pinocchio's status as a classic.
5. Turning Red
Mei Lee discovers that she can turn into a red panda when excited, something that happens to all females in her family when they come of age. Taking advantage of this newly found ability, Mei and her friends secretly raise money for concert tickets to 4*Town. When Mei's mother Ming (Sandra Oh) finds out that Mei has gone to the concert against her wishes (and turned her back on the ritual to seal her red panda in a talisman), Ming turns into a Godzilla-size red panda and grabs Mei. With the help of the whole family, though, they reconcile and all ends well, with Mei learning who she wants to be. Time will tell how Turning Red is perceived by the public, but what it has done in the short-term is touched on subjects that other Disney/Pixar films have not (or at least not as effectively). It has been hailed as a brave metaphor for puberty. The main characters are proudly Chinese. And it encourages young adolescents to embrace being unique. Directed by Domee Shi, Turning Red also just happens to be a funny, heartwarming film.
4. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Cheese-loving Wallace (Peter Sallis) and his wise, silent beagle Gromit run a humane pest-control business, Anti-Pesto, keeping pests like rabbits away from the vegetables being grown for Tottington Hall's giant vegetable-growing competition. After a mishap with two of his inventions, Wallace takes on the personality traits of a rabbit and, at the sight of the full moon, becomes the dreaded Were-Rabbit. The competition in ruins, and it's up to Gromit and his rabbit friend, Hutch, to save the day. Not everyone is a fan of British comedy, but if you are, then Curse of the Were-Rabbit is an absolute blast. Expanding on the popular Wallace and Gromit shorts, their first foray into film is funny, heartwarming, insane, and the first time that anyone has ever used Stinking Bishop cheese to break a curse.
3. Beauty and the Beast
The 1991 Disney classic, the first animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, is a visual masterpiece and a showcase for an astounding soundtrack. An arrogant prince (Robby Benson) is transformed into a beast by an enchantress, who warns him that he must learn to love another and be loved before his 21st birthday, or else remain a beast forever. Years later, the Beast imprisons Maurice (Rex Everhart) for trespassing on his property, prompting Maurice's daughter Belle (Paige O'Hara) to take her father's place. Beast isn't a single animal, but instead an amalgamation of a number of animals, including a bison, a bear, a gorilla, a lion, a wolf and a wild boar (so it counts). The magic of the film is how easy it is to believe in the growing romance of the Beast and Belle, and how it captures the heart of even the most cynical viewer.
2. Spirited Away
Spirited Away, from Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is the most critically-acclaimed film on this list. It has won multiple awards, including Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards. Ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino (Rumi Hiiyagi on the Japanese language track/Daveigh Chase on the English dub) and her family stop at an abandoned amusement park on the way to their new home. They cross a riverbed, where her parents find an empty restaurant filled with food and Chihiro meets a boy named Haku (Miyu Irino/Jason Marsden), who warns her to go back across the riverbed before sunset. However, her parents get transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba (Mari Natsuki/Suzanne Pleshette), so Chihiro must stay behind and figure out how to change her parents back and return to the human world. Stunning, imaginative, a turning point in the world of animation, an award winner multiple times over, and a mainstay in best-of movie lists, Spirited Away is less of a movie than a spirit-altering experience.
1. The Emperor's New Groove
By the very narrowest of margins, Disney's The Emperor's New Groove, perhaps divisively, comes out ahead of Spirited Away. Emperor Kuzco (David Spade) is transformed into a llama by the villainous ex-advisor Yzma (Eartha Kitt) and her henchman Kronk (Patrick Warburton). Kuzco escapes and needs the help of village leader Pacha (John Goodman) to turn back into a human. The Emperor's New Groovy is unlike any other animated feature from Disney ... but in a good way! Nothing really dark or sad happens, there are no musical numbers, and it is genuinely funny throughout its running time (especially during a sequence where Yzma and Kronk are trying to explain a plot hole that sees them arrive at Yzma's lab first despite being far behind our heroes). At times, Groove feels more closely related to Looney Tunes than Disney. It's accessible to adults and kids, and has gained a cult following since its release. Spade, his skills perfectly suited to the role, nails the self-centered Kuzco. Kitt gives Yzma an over-the-top, harmless villainy that is equal parts evil and foolish. Goodman grounds the insanity. And nobody plays a big, oafish character better than Warburton. When it comes to animated humans turning into animals, they don't get any groovier than this.