List of animated films considered the worst

The animated films listed below have been cited by a variety of notable critics in varying media sources as being among the worst films ever made. Examples of such sources include Metacritic, Roger Ebert's list of most-hated films, Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, and Rotten Tomatoes.

1960s

Alakazam the Great (1960)

Alakazam the Great (西遊記 Saiyu-ki, lit. "Journey to the West") is a 1960 Japanese anime film, based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West, and was one of the earliest anime films to be released in the United States. Osamu Tezuka was named as a director of the film by Toei Company. However, Tezuka later stated that the only time he was in the studio was to pose for publicity photos. It was included in The Fifty Worst Films of All Time, and is the only animated film featured in the book.

1980s

Felix the Cat: The Movie (1988)

Felix the Cat: The Movie is a 1988 Hungarian-American animated fantasy film directed by Tibor Hernádi and based on the cartoon and comic strip character of the same name. It was made in Europe during 1986 and 1987, but was not officially released in the United States until 1991 on VHS.

It was widely panned by critics and audiences upon its release. The staff of Halliwell's Film Guide called it a "laboured attempt to update the classic cartoon figure". Philip Strick of MFB commented that it was "more likely to bury the ingratiating Felix beyond revival than to stimulate fresh legions of fans". In his 2005 book Television Cartoon Shows, Hal Erickson noted that it "managed to salvage whatever marginal charm the 1960 series has had by dressing it up with first class animation and character design".

1990s

A Troll in Central Park (1994)

A Troll in Central Park (released in some countries as Stanley's Magic Garden) is a 1994 American animated musical fantasy-comedy film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. It was released on October 7, 1994, by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment. The film grossed $71,368 at the North American box office. A Troll in Central Park holds an approval rating of 17% based on six reviews from Rotten Tomatoes. TV Guide gave the movie two out of five stars and felt that the film's appeal was very age-limited, calling it "Pastel-pretty and cloyingly sweet," and that "A Troll in Central Park is strictly for the youngest members of the moviegoing audience." The A.V. Club wrote that A Troll in Central Park is "widely considered to be [Don Bluth's] worst film."

In the July 2001 issue of his magazine ToonTalk, Don Bluth said that "the development of a story is like the development of a child in a womb; it takes time and it must be done right and building A Troll in Central Park, taught us this lesson, the hard way."

2000s

Titanic: The Legend Goes On (2000)

The American version of Titanic: The Legend Goes On (Italian: Titanic, mille e una storia or Titanic: La leggenda continua), a 2000 Italian animated feature film about the sinking of the RMS Titanic, written and directed by Camillo Teti. Linda Maria Koldau, author of The Titanic on Film: Myth versus Truth, described this version as being "a failed Disney imitation that excels in bad taste." In 2011, Total Film named it the 40th worst children's movie ever made, describing the film as being "widely considered one of the worst animated films ever made." Total Film later named Titanic: The Legend Goes On as the worst film ever made, after it topped a list of the 66 worst films ever in 2012. Screen Rant included it on a list of the twelve worst animated films of all time and it topped a cheatsheet.com list of the top ten worst animated films ever, with author Will Roberts commenting that "[any] list of the worst animated films of all time begins with ... Titanic: The Legend Goes On".

Doogal (2006)

The Magic Roundabout is a French-British movie. Its American version, Doogal, was critically panned: on Rotten Tomatoes it received an aggregate score of 8% based on 49 reviews (4 "fresh" and 45 "rotten"), with the consensus: "Overloaded with pop culture references, but lacking in compelling characters and plot, Doogal is too simple-minded even for the kiddies"; the website ranked it the 82nd worst reviewed movie of the 2000s. It has a score of 23 out of 100 ("generally unfavorable") on Metacritic, and an F rating from Entertainment Weekly writing that "very young children should be angry... where is it written that 4-year-olds don't deserve a good story, decent characters, and a modicum of coherence?". It was placed #5 on Ebert & Roeper's Worst of 2006. Michael Phillip of the Chicago Tribune described the film as "Eighty-five minutes you'll never get back." Randy Miller of DVD Talk says that: "Doogal is, after all, one of the worst excuses for a children's film during this or any year---and if you're really looking for an in-depth analysis of why it's so awful, you don't have to look hard. Filled to the brim with pop culture references and other such gags that'll be even less funny a few years from now, it's like Shrek without the occasional bit of charm and surprise". Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "The key frame animation, based on three-dimensional models, is rudimentary, with none of the characters proving visually arresting." Ned Martel of The New York Times wrote "In Doogal setting the world right again involves a badly paced quest for three diamonds, assorted jokes that don't land, and a daringly incoherent climactic confrontation".

Delgo (2008)

Delgo is a 2008 American computer-animated adventure romantic comedy fantasy film directed by Marc F. Adler and Jason Maurer, written by Scott Biear, Patrick J. Cowan, Carl Dream and Jennifer A. Jones. It stars Freddie Prinze, Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Anne Bancroft, Chris Kattan, Louis Gossett Jr., Val Kilmer and Malcolm McDowell with narration by Sally Kellerman. It was distributed by Freestyle Releasing with music by Geoff Zanelli and produced by Electric Eye Entertainment Corporation and Fathom Studios, a division of Macquarium Intelligent Communications, which began development of the project in 1999.

Despite winning the Best Feature award at Anima Mundi, it was widely panned by critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that only 12% of critics gave positive reviews based on 43 reviews, with an average score of 3.6/10, with the site's consensus stating that "Delgo features a blend of plot elements from earlier (and superior) fantasy films, with weaker animation and dull characters." Metacritic, based on a normalized rating from 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film an average score of 27/100, indicating "generally unfavorable", based on 10 reviews panning the film for its fantasy clichés among other failings. Leonard Maltin's bestselling publication "TV Movies" gives the film a BOMB rating, calling it "a complete misfire." Critics from Newsday and Campus Circle gave the film acclaim, citing a unique look and it was widely accepted by parents for its positive influences. Universally, Academy Award-winner Anne Bancroft was commended for her performance as the antagonist in what became her final film role. Tom Keogh of The Seattle Times praised Bancroft's "excellent voice work" and noted the film was a "busy but decent animated fable that feels like a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings spin-off". Aside from the death of Bancroft, the film had several other setbacks which delayed its release. MGM was originally expected to release the picture but an executive restructuring altered these plans. In addition, Kevin Foster, the president of Fathom Studios' parent company Macquarium, died of heart failure during production, causing attention to be drawn away from the film for almost a year.

2010s

Sir Billi (2012)

Sir Billi is a 2012 Scottish computer animated adventure comedy feature film. It was made by husband and wife Sascha Hartmann and Tessa Hartmann. Directed by Sascha Hartmann, the film stars the voices of Sean Connery, Alan Cumming, Patrick Doyle and Kieron Elliott.

The negative reaction to the film was widely reported in the British press. Variety called it "woefully anaemic", criticising its "simplistic story and non-sequitur style". They pointed out a few in-jokes referencing Connery's past role as James Bond, such as title sequence featuring a Shirley Bassey song that pastiches Bond themes.

The Scotsman called it "mirthless" and "rudimentary". Slash Film criticised it as an "ignominious" end to Connery's career, even compared to his previous film, the critically reviled The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Flayrah called the CG "the ugliest that I have ever seen". Journalist Lisa Summers was also harshly critical of both the CGI and the story. F Bomb Movie Review felt it badly failed to connect with today's children.

Despite the film's negative reception, AM FM Magazine claimed it was well received on its premiere in Sonoma.

Foodfight! (2012)

Foodfight! is a 2012 American computer animated adventure comedy film produced by Threshold Entertainment and directed by Larry Kasanoff. Rebecca Hawkes of The Daily Telegraph described Foodfight! as "the worst animated children's film ever made". The A.V. Club stated that "...the grotesque ugliness of the animation alone would be a deal-breaker even if the film weren't also glaringly inappropriate in its sexuality, nightmare-inducing in its animation, and filled with Nazi overtones and iconography even more egregiously unfit for children than the script's wall-to-wall gauntlet of crude double entendres and weird intimations of inter-species sex". The A.V. Club additionally stated that "Foodfight! doesn't just represent one of the entertainment world's most appalling lapses of taste, restraint, and judgment in recent memory; it's one of those fall-of-civilization moments". A New York Times article condemned the film, saying: "The animation appears unfinished ... And the plot ... is impenetrable and even offensive." The article also reported that Foodfight! has been "seized upon by Internet purveyors of bad cinema". Indiewire called it "one of the worst animated movies ever made". Screen Rant included Foodfight! on its list of the top twelve worst animated movies ever made, and Mental Floss and Digital Trends placed it in their respective top ten worst film lists. Hollywood News called it "by far the crappiest piece of crap I have ever had the misfortune to watch". Tim Brayton of Antagony & Ecstasy described it as "the absolute ugliest animated feature that has ever been released by something resembling an actual animation studio". Brayton concluded by stating: "This is, in all sincerity, one of the very worst movies I have ever seen".

Norm of the North (2016)

An American computer-animated comedy film directed by Trevor Wall and starring the voices of Rob Schneider, Heather Graham, Ken Jeong, and Bill Nighy, Norm of the North was reported to have a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 35 reviews, although it currently stands at a rating of 9% based on 64 reviews. The film has a rating of 21 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The film received negative reviews from The A. V. Club, Empire, The Los Angeles Times, The Observer, The New York Times, The Seattle Times, The Washington Post, and Variety. Cartoon Brew, Metro, and /Film all noted Norm of the North's scathing reviews, with Olivia Waring of Metro predicting that the film "may even go down in bad movie history with The Room and Gigli".

The Emoji Movie (2017)

Critics panned The Emoji Movie, calling it "unfunny and a waste of time", and comparing it unfavorably to The Lego Movie, Inside Out, and Wreck-It Ralph. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 7% based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 2.4/10. The site's critical consensus displays a no symbol ("🚫") in place of text. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 12 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a D, writing: "Make no mistake, The Emoji Movie is very, very, very bad (we're talking about a hyperactive piece of corporate propaganda in which Spotify saves the world and Sir Patrick Stewart voices a living turd), but real life is just too hard to compete with right now". Alonso Duralde of TheWrap was also critical of the film, calling it "a soul-crushing disaster because it lacks humor, wit, ideas, visual style, compelling performances, a point of view or any other distinguishing characteristic that would make it anything but a complete waste of your time".

Glen Kenny of The New York Times described the film as "nakedly idiotic", stating that the film plays off a Hollywood idea that the "panderingly, trendily idiotic can be made to seem less so". Owen Gleiberman of Variety lambasted the film as "hectic situational overkill" and "lazy" while viciously criticizing the film, writing: "There have been worse ideas, but in this case the execution isn't good enough to bring the notion of an emoji movie to funky, surprising life." Writing in The Guardian, Charles Bramesco called the film "insidious evil" and wrote that it was a little more than an exercise in advertising smartphone downloads to children.

References

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