20 Animated Features Submitted for 2014 Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced yesterday afternoon that 20 animated features have been submitted for Oscar consideration in the 2014 animated feature category.

Japanese People Can’t Let Go of ‘Frozen’

Every time you want to stop writing about “Frozen,” it breaks another record. This weekend, the Disney smash hit remained in first place at the Japanese box office for an incomprehensible eleventh weekend in a row.

‘Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return’ Has Record-Breaking Bad Debut

If you didn’t hear about last weekend’s opening of “Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return,” don’t worry because no one else in America did either. Opening in 2,575 theaters, the film eked out $3.7 million, which is the worst opening ever for an animated feature in saturated release (over 2,500 theaters). The previous animation record holder in this dubious category was the 2011 Weinstein Company release “Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil,” which grossed $4.1M from 2,505 theaters.

‘Muppets’ Stumble in the US, ‘Rio 2’ Is #1 in Russia

No new animated movies debuted in the United States this weekend, although Disney’s family-oriented “Muppets Most Wanted” opened. The film opened in second place with a disappointing $16.5 million (estimated), far below the $29.2M opening of the franchise reboot “The Muppets” in 2011. That earlier film plummeted at the box office, too, after its opening, suggesting that the Muppets franchise isn’t as relevant to kids today as it was with earlier generations.

2014 Animated Feature Preview

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.