It’s A Summer of Animation in All Shapes and Forms 

If you like hand-drawn style animation, consider the Oscar-nominated likes of Affairs of the Art, the short from Joanna Quinn and Les Mills that is the product of years of labour. You can enjoy a classic illustrator’s work in Quentin Blake's Clown, or a more recent literary hit in The Boy, the Mole, the Fox & the Horse. There’s the true-life story of a bear who went to war in A Bear Named Wojtek, or the extraordinary oil-painted animation of Loving Vincent, a film made in the same medium that Vincent Van Gogh drew. 

Nowadays, of course, not everything that looks hand-drawn is done entirely without computers. Hits like Puffin Rock and its feature spin-off, Puffin Rock and the New Friends, have a little help, as does the similarly lo-fi looking Peter and The Wolf. Maybe it’s something about adaptations of books, because Kensuke’s Kingdom, based on the beloved Michael Morpurgo novel, also goes for a hand-drawn look. Slightly older-skewing comic-book adaptations like Dead End: Paranormal Park, the shapeshifting Nimona, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and Hilda (and its follow-up, Hilda and the Mountain King) have tried to maintain the 2D style of their source material even when they have gone to the screen, with enormously impressive results. Similarly, some of the adaptations of Julia Donaldson books, like Tabby McTat and Zog and the Flying Doctors, have used CG to create what looks like a stop-motion version of her characters. 

For films that thoroughly run the gamut of animation styles, you could do worse than look at animated documentaries. Flee, which was nominated for three Oscars (Animated, Documentary and Foreign Language Film), is largely traditional 2D animation but has live footage and nightmarish, almost sketched animation mixed in. Then A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman tells the story of the prematurely deceased comic genius in wildly differing styles. With 14 animation studios involved and choices ranging from Monty Python-style animated collage to 3D CGI animation, it’s a dizzying visual experience. 

Of course, we can’t talk about animation styles without discussing one of the oldest of all, stop-motion, and we can’t discuss that without mentioning Bristol’s Aardman. Their (mostly) plasticene heroes have gone on tiny, perfect adventures for over 30 years now. Their most famous sons can be seen in Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death and Vengeance Most Fowl; but the spin-off Shaun the Sheep Movie and Farmaggedon are worth another watch, especially before the third Shaun adventure, The Beast of Mossy Bottom, comes out later this year. But have a look too at Early Man, a prehistoric football caper that’s ideal with the World Cup on, and the delightful The Pirates! Band of Misfits, if you’d like your children interested in science. Very small kids should also check out The Very Small Creatures, an outrageously charming spin-off from one of the studio’s oldest hits, Morph. 

Of course, Aardman have worked in CGI animation too, with features like Flushed Away and TV shows like Lloyd of the Flies. And as you’d expect, there are loads of other CG options too. You know Sherlock Holmes, but take a look at Sherlock Gnomes, or have another look at a stage hit in Riverdance: The Animated Adventure.  

Elsewhere, there are lots of fun animal capers, like 10 Lives, about a very lucky cat; HitPig, about a pig bounty hunter (of course!); The Garfield Movie (self-explanatory); and Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, about furry martial artists. Andy Serkis has recently joined the filmmakers working with animals in adapting George Orwell’s Animal Farm, with an all-star cast to boot. There are animated superheroes in StarDog and TurboCat, which does see your pets gain extraordinary powers.  

Superheroes also feature in Supa Team 4, an Afrofuturistic adventure – and if you like that, try Disney’s similarly themed Iwájú. Older kids will enjoy the fantasy of Wolf King; for younger ones, try The Smeds and The Smoos, another Julia Donaldson adaptation but this time feature-length. 

We haven’t even mentioned the perennial kids’ TV favourites like Bluey, Cocomelon, Thomas & Friends, The Adventures of Paddington, Mr Bean: The Animated Series or Yo Gabba GabbaLand!. There’s the cute half-fairy, half-vampire Isadora Moon and the chaotic beasts of Bad Dinosaurs; there are short form favourites (with a message!) like Shane the Chef – very different from Shaun the Sheep – and the musical adventures of Bea’s Block. 

Finally, don’t forget that some “live action” films actually feature a huge animated element. The likes of Paddington depend, of course, on an animated protagonist, and the animated characters outnumber the humans in recent hit The Sheep Detectives, with an all-star voice cast (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Patrick Stewart) and human cast (Emma Thompson, Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Galitzine). 

So animation is everywhere onscreen, even where you don’t expect it. Use the hot, lazy summer months to find a spot of shade and enjoy a spot of the animator’s art, exploring the full range of styles on offer.