Animation is often one of the most overlooked genres in modern cinema. While animated movies aimed at more mature audiences have proven they can perform well at the box office, those that are created with a more family-friendly angle are usually routinely forgotten by the wider community of film fans. Many of the best animated movies secure a lasting legacy within the genre, but for each of these, there are several more that have become relatively obscure. While not every animated movie is destined to become a cinematic classic or secure a cult following, many impressive movies within the genre have become unfairly overlooked.
It’s no secret that animated movies often attract the voice talents of major Hollywood stars. However, the genre has seen many great animated movie casts that are positively packed with huge-name actors which have somehow been almost totally forgotten. In each of the following cases, despite boasting the voices of some true A-list stars, the movies have become sadly obscure titles within the genre, with many fans forgetting or not ever realizing at all just how impressive their respective casts really are.
As well as technically being a Disney Animated movie, 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet is one of a long list of kids’ movies to adapt the work of William Shakespeare to appeal to a younger audience. With a story lifted from Romeo and Juliet but with, as the title implies, garden gnomes as the main characters, Gnomeo & Juliet‘s admittedly silly core premise is perhaps the biggest reason its excellent cast has been forgotten. In addition to starring James McAvoy and Emily Blunt as the titular star-crossed gnome lovers, the movie features Michael Caine, Jason Statham, Maggie Smith, Ozzy Osbourne, Dolly Parton, Hulk Hogan, and Patrick Stewart in supporting roles. It’s a veritable who’s who of celebrity cameos and celebrated British actors, lending its bizarre gnome-focused spin on Shakespeare’s classic story an added touch of credibility. However, many struggled to even get past the basic premise to watch the movie, meaning they never actually realized it’s so incredibly stacked with acting talent.
Across the long history of the genre, there have been many cool sci-fi movie robots. 2005 saw the release of Robots, an entire movie made up of automaton characters with colorfully unique designs. Made by the creators of Ice Age, the movie follows an idealistic young inventor who uncovers a sinister corporate plot. It stars Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams, and Halle Berry, but also features the voices of Mel Brooks, Greg Kinnear, Stanley Tucci, Amanda Bynes, Jennifer Coolidge, and Paul Giamatti. Despite an interesting premise, eye-catching design, and a stellar cast, Robots has been pretty widely forgotten. While Ewan McGregor and Robin Williams are often remembered as its leads, its wider cast is often overlooked despite featuring some huge Hollywood stars. Considering Robots received positive reviews and was a financial success, its status as a relatively obscure kids’ movie from the 2000s is incredibly sad, especially when you stop to think about just how impressive its cast really is.
There were many fantasy movies in the 2000s, and not all of them get the love they deserve. 2008’s The Tale of Despereaux was loosely based on Kate DiCamillo’s novel of the same name, and follows an uncharacteristically brave mouse who sets out to rescue the kingdom’s princess. It stars Matthew Broderick as the titular mouse hero, but also features Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, William H. Macy, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, Christopher Lloyd, and Frank Langella, and is narrated by Sigourney Weaver. Despite this remarkably assembled cast of celebrated actors, very few people have even heard of The Tale of Despereaux, let alone are aware of its impressive cast. Sadly, the reason behind this obscurity is fairly obvious: the movie earned only mixed reviews from critics and was considered a box office disappointment. Even so, it seems a bizarre twist of fate that a movie with such an incredibly strong cast could be so widely forgotten, but that’s exactly what happened to The Tale of Despereaux.
When it comes to tragically forgotten sci-fi movies, Titan A.E. stands out as perhaps the most underrated animated movie in the genre’s history. The 2000 film tells the story of a young man in the 31st century named Cale Tucker, who is tasked with protecting the large eponymous spaceship and effectively saving humanity from a villainous alien race intent on destroying them. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics and being a box office flop, it has since cemented itself as a cult classic and is regularly criminally overlooked by wider audiences. It stars Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, and Drew Barrymore, but also features the voices of Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo, Ron Perlman, and John Leguizamo. While its cast is a little smaller than those of the other movies on this list, Titan A.E. is a perfect marriage of voice talent and an incredible story, and it’s hard to understand why more people haven’t seen it. If ever there was an animated movie that needs to be more widely remembered on all fronts, it’s Titan A.E., not just for its cast but for its overall quality.
The Ant Bully is a movie that many kids of the ’90s and ’00s will be peripherally aware of, and some may have even seen it. A late addition to the wave of movies that followed insect characters and humanized bugs for a whole generation of kids, The Ant Bully tells the story of a young boy who terrorizes a colony of ants, only to be shrunk to their size and forced to work alongside them. The animated movie bombed at the box office and subsequently passed into relative obscurity as a result. Regardless of its quality or success, the film boasts a staggeringly stacked cast of stars. Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Regina King, Bruce Campbell, Paul Giamatti, Lily Tomlin, Cheri Oteri, Tyler James Williams, and Ricardo Montalbán all feature, meaning that practically every voice in the entire movie belongs to a big-name star. Unfortunately, this remarkable array of talent didn’t help the movie become a success, which in turn is the main reason that more people don’t realize how many famous actors are featured in its cast.
