Hand-drawn feature animation from Brazil is gaining momentum on the international festival circuit. Last month the Brazilian feature “The Boy and the World” (“O menino e o mundo”) won the top feature prize at Annecy.
2014 is shaping up to be one of the strongest years for quirky and original animated features. True, there’s the usual spate of sequels—”Rio 2,” “How to Train Your Dragon 2” and “Planes: Fire and Rescue”—but looking beyond those films, there are some genuinely fresh ideas on the horizon, most notably Laika’s “The Boxtrolls,” Reel FX’s “Book of Life,” and Cartoon Saloon’s “Song of the Sea.”
From mainstream releases to independent foreign productions, we’ve got a guide to the animated feature releases that you can look forward to in 2014.