Blue Sky Studios was an animation studio that was formed in 1987 by Chris Wedge and initially primarily focused on creating CGI rendering and graphics for television commercials. It wasn’t until 2002 that it made its feature-length debut with the now iconic Ice Age movie franchise. As a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox, per BBC, all Blue Sky's movies now belong to Walt Disney after the acquisition, and, as a result, have all subsequently been made available to a whole new audience all over again on Disney+.
Unfortunately, in February 2021, Disney announced that Blue Sky would be shut down in April 2021, citing the economic impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns on its business operations. Blue Sky impressively forged their way into a market dominated at the time by Disney/Pixar animated movies, and left an indelible mark on the industry, notching up a total of 13 animated feature films under its belt. We take a look back and rank the eight greatest animated movies from Blue Sky Studios.
8 Epic
There was nothing wrong with Epic per se. It had a seriously impressive voice cast including Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Christoph Waltz, Jason Sudeikis, Chris O’Dowd, Beyonce and even Pitbull. It received generally positive reviews from critics all round and performed pretty well at the box-office. Unfortunately, though, it just wasn’t particularly memorable. In a world in which FernGully and Arthur and the Invisibles exist, an animated movie about a human who shrinks and finds themselves in a mystical woodland kingdom doesn’t seem all that original or exciting a prospect. Not a bad movie by any means, it just lacks the creative flair to set it aside from the many other movies of its ilk.
7 Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, which follows a rag tag gang of prehistoric animals as they bond over their differences and learn to work together to survive their harsh environment, proves that bigger is not always better. Admittedly, thanks to the success of the original Ice Age, a larger budget was allocated for the sequel, which allowed for a noticeable step-up in animation quality, and the increase in profit return was certainly noticeable. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an increase in the quality of the story and script. Critical opinion was mixed, and it was widely agreed that, while it was an enjoyable and sometimes humorous 90-minute romp for children, it lacked the heart and intelligence of the original and was the beginning of the franchise’s decline into mediocrity.
6 Spies in Disguise
Featuring voice performances from Hollywood powerhouses Will Smith and Tom Holland, and a healthy $100 million dollar budget, Spies in Disguise looked poised to set the box office alight, but despite generally positive reviews from critics, it unfortunately failed to make much of a mark. The plot follows a secret agent who is transformed into a pigeon by a young scientist; the two must then work together to stop an evil terrorist, and then return the agent to his human form. It was fun and had a great soundtrack, but similarly to Epic, it didn’t quite hit the mark. Lacking in any real stand out, memorable laughs, it was fun for a one-time watch, but is likely to slip into obscurity as the years pass.
5 The Peanuts Movie
There is always going to be a degree of pressure when tasked with bringing characters as iconic as Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock to the big screen, but to be fair Blue Sky Studios knocked it out of the park with this one. Using a beautiful style of animation that subtly infused the 2D aesthetics of the comic and original cartoons with modern 3D CGI, The Peanuts Movie manages to capture all the wit and imagination that made Peanuts so beloved. Admittedly, at under 90 minutes, the movie isn’t overly ambitious and doesn’t try anything new, but most weren’t anticipating anything new — just a healthy dose of thoroughly entertaining nostalgia, which it delivered in heaps.
4 Rio
Rio is a colorful, tropical blast of sheer entertainment. It follows domesticated macaw Blu, voiced in a typically awkward fashion by Jesse Eisenberg, as he finds himself in the wilds of Rio de Janeiro. Here, he finds adventure, danger, and love as he learns to strive outside his comfort zone and reunite with his owners. The colors, music, and frenetic tone of the movie perfectly capture the beauty and vibrance of Brazallian culture, while the action and adventure combined with humor and plenty of heart make for a genuinely entertaining family movie that rarely lulls in energy.
3 Horton Hears a Who
The works of iconic children’s writer Dr Seuss were in a kind of state of limbo following Universal Pictures’ abysmal attempt at adapting The Cat in the Hat to the big screen with Mike Myers playing the eponymous Cat. The success of the How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey before it showed there was a market for the beloved author’s material in Hollywood. It would just take the courage of Blue Sky Studios to take on the next project and give it the creative treatment it deserves. Opting to make it an animated feature instead of going down the live-action route the previous two Dr Seuss movies did, Horton Hears a Who is visually stunning, looking like it jumped straight off the pages of the book and into the 21st Century. All the whimsical magic and humor from the books is present, with humor appealing to the little ones and a few jokes for mom and dad in there too. It was also an extremely welcome surprise to have Jim Carrey back in the voice cast (this time voicing Horton). To this day, it is still by far the most critically successful Dr Seuss movie adaptation, and for good reason.
2 Robots
Robots is one of the most underrated animated movies of all time. It’s fun, funny, clever, emotional, and poignant. Robots centers around Rodney Copperbottom, a young robot from a small town who dreams of becoming an inventor. When his parents need money, Rodney moves to Robot City to try and sell an invention to his hero, Bigweld. However, instead of finding Bigweld when Rodney arrives in Robot City, he finds Phineas T. Ratchet, who is attempting to take all the poor robots who need parts off the streets for good as part of a nefarious money-making plan. It is a great movie about friendship and economic disparities. The film shows how different economic classes are punished for being unable to afford the next big thing in technology, whether that be a new phone or new parts. Beautifully animated and featuring a stellar voice cast including Ewan McGregor, James Earl Jones, Stanley Tucci, Amanda Bynes, Mel Brooks, and Halle Berry, it’s Robin Williams who really stands out here as the hilarious and thought-provoking robot companion Fender.
1 Ice Age
Ice Age has to be number one, really. With Disney / Pixar and DreamWorks holding a virtual monopoly on animated movies at the time, it took a woolly mammoth, a saber tooth tiger, a sloth, and an obsessive neurotic squirrel to shake things up in the industry. Entering the market with a bang, Blue Sky Studio’s debut feature Ice Age was a smash hit with critics and audiences alike. The film was particularly praised for its endearing characters and the voice actors that brought them to life: Ray Romano, Dennis Leary, and John Leguizamo. The story, which follows the rag tag group of animal outcasts as they attempt to reunite a human infant with its family, is full of heart and adventure. The movie spawned countless sequels, spin-offs, TV shows, and video games, and is one of the most financially successful franchises of all time, but nothing has yet to recapture the magic of the original.