10 best animated movies and series of 2021

In recent years, Disney has invested in new types of narratives for its female protagonists, as we saw in frozen 2 and moana🇧🇷 Following this new path, Raya and the Last Dragon delivers an exciting action-packed adventure that exudes oriental culture and representation.

The plot uses an old feud between nations that could destroy the world to talk about trust in a frank and direct way. The only thing that can save the world is finding long-lost artifacts, and on that journey, Raya ends up meeting the most charismatic supporting cast we’ve had this year. A milestone in animation that opened the year in style!

Insect’s life is one of Disney-Pixar’s most underrated films. Its impact was such that it formed a generation of young social critics in a way that no other cartoon has been able to replicate… until now! Comes up Paw Patrol – The Moviea feature film that should not be underestimated: it is here to encourage critical thinking in children of the next generation!

In addition to introducing a light discussion about mental health for kids, the film makes explicit the risks of greed and the climate disaster that can arise when unprepared politicians take power. Who could imagine, right? The film turned out to be a critical and public success, conquering 74% approval from the press on Rotten Tomatoes and surprising 97% of the audience🇧🇷

After hamilton became a worldwide hit when it was televised on the disney+the genius Lin-Manuel Miranda decided to give studio musicals a try and wrote the songs for Charm, Pixar’s latest film. And so came the Disney animation with more of a Broadway musical feel.

In the plot, Mirabel needs to find a way to help her family preserve their superpowers. To achieve her goal, she participates in a series of stunning musical numbers exploring her relatives’ emotional problems in a very immersive and didactic way. This is the company’s first film to explore South American culture, and it’s heartwarming to see a Latino family finally represented on screen.

How to explain Luca if not like the collective outbreak of a generation of displaced people who have never seen themselves represented in Disney animations? And when I say displaced, I mean LGBTQ+ people of all ages, of course. After all, this is a real tight hug in the form of animation to all LGBTQ+ who had to face a painful and lonely childhood for being different.

The innocent adventure of Luca and albert in the surface world moved by showing how all the suffering of being different can be sweeter to face when we have someone who truly understands us and protects us by our side, sharing our journey. Above all it is a story about companionship. The duo faces prejudice, bullies, problems in their strong friendship… All of this in the beautiful setting of a small town on the coast of Italy.

even if the disney has dominated this ranking, the best animated film of the year comes from sony animations — more precisely from the studio that brought the world Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse🇧🇷 Full of personality and genius animation techniques, The Mitchell Family and the Machine Revolution shows that the future of the industry will be much bolder than we imagined.

The story accompanies a misfit family that will need to work together to survive a technological apocalypse, but this is not the true message in the film: in the end, it is an essay on the evolution of communication and generational differences. Young people are increasingly inserted in instantaneous digital media, such as TikTok and Twitter, and cinema has always struggled to keep up with this advance. But The Mitchell Family shows that when we don’t try to fight evolution, it is possible to create true masterpieces.

In terms of quality and originality, Maya and the Warriors Three absolutely deserves the top spot. However, it must be recognized that it did not have as much impact on the Brazilian public as the other animated series on this list. Distributed by Netflix, this cartoon with Pixar-level animation represents a mythological epic that explores Latin American legends from a fantastic perspective, almost like Disney’s Percy Jackson or Hercules. Truly revolutionary for a people culturally colonized from all directions!

Charismatic characters, exciting villains, a well-structured story and incredible action sequences put maya among the best of the year. This is an unmissable event, divided into 3 acts, which did not receive the publicity it deserved. So if you haven’t watched it yet, head over to Netflix to binge watch!

Invincible may have initially surprised by its brutality, but it didn’t come close to the impact of last season’s castlevaniaone of the best game adaptations made by Netflix.

Everything that had been promised by previous seasons ends up resurfacing in a very cohesive way in the final battle against the legacy of Dracula and the vampire armies. Fights are very well executed, the fate of the characters is extremely satisfying and the plot is full of twists – a full plate for anyone who is a fan of the bloody vampire classics.

This year we had the arrival in Brazil of a new streaming service: the HBO Maxbringing with it the animated catalog of cartoon Network🇧🇷 But even more interesting were the original designs that also emerged, as is the case with the final seasons of Infinity Train🇧🇷

In the plot, teenagers find themselves trapped in a multidimensional train where each car is a pocket universe and the only way to escape is to solve their deepest emotional problems. Basically a super esoteric therapy session. For those who enjoy a good mystery or a beautiful drama, the third season was a great narrative masterpiece, diving deep into the sci-fi nuances of the train and the consequences of refusing to evolve as a person.

If you let me know at the beginning of the year that I would be praising the new He-Man animation, I would most likely end up laughing in your face. But Masters of the Universe: Saving Eternia proved that it is possible to tell a good story in a universe steeped in nostalgia if the producers are willing to take the narrative in new directions.

This continuation managed to reframe a lot of things in the hero’s universe, without disregarding his entire legacy and bringing a previously non-existent depth to a franchise that emerged to be just advertising for action figures. In just a few episodes, the series manages to establish very interesting discussions, without sacrificing incredible action scenes and spectacular character development. Another undoubted success of the Powerhouse Animationfrom Castlevania.

“Oh, the misery! Everybody wants to be my enemy!”

Another pleasant surprise is the animated series based on the universe of league of legends🇧🇷 arcane🇧🇷 Combining all the best from this list, Arcane is the pinnacle of animated storytelling! Bringing a spectacular script with a stupendous art direction, Arcane doesn’t lose anything for the best live-action series produced by Netflix.

The story marked by betrayals and a lot of drama manages to rival the best seasons of game of Thrones without ever running away from its origin and without forgetting its originality. Arcane has no shame that it’s a cartoon. On the contrary, he knows what the advantages of his medium are and uses it intelligently to enhance his most dramatic moments, which are received as a huge punch. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and binge watch Arcane before the year is out. You will thank me!