Cinemas have been closed for well over two months now but hang tight, cinephiles, the big screen will once again bring enjoyment to us soon! Cinemas worldwide are gradually reopening as the threat of COVID-19 subsides and it won’t be long before our local cinemas follow suit.
In the meantime, let’s turn our attention to the world of animation and find out which animated films will be releasing in cinemas this year.
“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on The Run”
At the moment, “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on The Run” is set to be the first animated film from Hollywood to be released once cinemas resume operations. It’s currently scheduled to open either in late July or early August. Featuring characters from the popular “SpongeBob SquarePants” cartoon series, this third instalment of the “SpongeBob” movie franchise sees the titular yellow sponge and his best friend, Patrick the coral-pink starfish, on a mission to rescue SpongeBob’s pet snail, Gary, who has been *gasps* snail-napped!
“Doraemon: Nobita’s New Dinosaur”
“Doraemon: Nobita’s New Dinosaur”, which serves as the sequel to “Doraemon: Nobita`s Dinosaur” (both the 1980 original version and the 2006 remake), is made in celebration of the popular “Doraemon” franchise’s 50th anniversary. Local cinemas have yet to slot this in their release schedule but over in Japan, the anime film is slated to open this August, after the pandemic delayed its original March 2020 release. Though bearing similarities with the first movie, in terms of Nobita finding a dinosaur egg and taking care of the baby dino that hatches from it (this movie has two baby dinosaurs!), this sequel will feature a completely different story.
“Connected”
Previously called “The Mitchells vs. The Machines”, this animated sci-fi comedy now goes by the shorter title, “Connected”. It’s one of the highly anticipated animated films of this year as it bears the magic touches of producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the duo behind box office hits like the Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, “The Lego Movie” and “21 Jump Street”. Set to open this October, the movie revolves around the Mitchells, whose family road trip is interrupted by a global tech uprising as electronic devices decide that it is time to take over from the humans.
“Soul”
Jamie Foxx leads this animated film as Joe Gardner, a music teacher who finds himself stuck in soul form after an accident causes it to be separated from his body. He must now work with souls in training at The Great Before, where each soul is developed and perfected before being sent off to Earth to live inside a person, in order to find a way to return to his own body before it’s too late. This movie might be reminiscent of “Inside Out”, since it is helmed and written by Pete Doctor, who also directed the award-winning 2015 film. Follow the spiritual journey of “Soul” in cinemas this November.
“The Croods 2”
This sequel to 2013’s “The Croods” almost didn’t happen despite the first movie being an Oscar and Golden Globe best film nominee. Production on it was cancelled in 2016 by DreamWorks, following its acquisition by Universal. However, a year later, the project was back on, set for a September 2020 theatrical release. Fast forward to this year, its release has now been pushed to December 2020. Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone and Peter Dinklage are among the stars who lend their voices to “The Croods 2”, which continues the adventures of a pre-historic family called the Croods.