Animated Summer Movies To Look Out For!

In need of some fresh, animated movies to watch on the big screen? Well, mark your calendars for these seven animated films coming to theaters this summer!  

IF – May 17

John Krasinski has stepped away from the horror genre with his A Quiet Place films, in favor of the hybrid live action, animation film, IF. Starring Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming, the film follows Bea, who after going through a hard time begins seeing imaginary friends, or IFs, who were left behind after their real-life friends grew up. Opposite to Bea is Reynolds’ the Man Upstairs, who is the only other person to interact with the IFs and who attempts to pair the so-called, “imaginary beings” with new kids!

Krasinski’s pivot from directing horror features, to creating a film centered around the imagination of children, came to him after discovering the imaginations from his own children!

As seen in the teaser trailer, each IF is vastly different in appearance, as they correlate to the imaginations of children who conjured them up in the first place. One IF that will certainly bring smiles to kid’s faces, is the enormous purple being named Blue, voiced by Krasinki’s co-star on The Office, Steve Carell!

In addition to Carell’s big purple IF, Matt Damon, Jon Stewart, Maya Rudolph, Sam Rockwell, Richard Jenkins and Awkwafina are also set to bring their imaginary selves to life!

IF is slated to hit theaters on May 17, 2024.

The Garfield Movie – May 24

Bust out the lasagna, there’s a new Garfield movie hitting theaters this summer! Coming nearly 20 years after the 2004 release of Garfield: The Movie, The Garfield Movie will introduce a new generation of children to the lazy, Monday-hating, lasagna-eating, orange cat! Unlike the original live action film with Bill Murray as the titular feline menace, this one is fully animated!

The Garfield Movie hits theaters May 24, 2024.

Robot Dreams – May 31st

Nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, Robot Dreams is a 2023 Spanish-French animated tragicomedy film written and directed by Pablo Berger. Based on the 2007 comicbook of the same name by American writer Sara Varon, the film follows the adventures of Dog and Robot in 1987 New York City.

The film’s plot follows Dog, who lives alone in Manhattan and in need of a friend–which leads him to build a robot. Once built, the now sentient robot and dog become the best of friends and the two grow inseparable.

Robot Dreams is set to open theatrically on May 31st.

Inside Out 2 – Theaters, June 14

The highly anticipated sequel to Pixar’s beloved Inside Out is right around the corner! Fans have long awaited a reunion with their favorite on-screen emotions and discover which other new emotions Pixar has in store for them in the sequel!

Disney and Pixar confirmed four new characters in their initial trailer for the sequel, consisting of Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke; Ennui, voiced by French actress Adèle Exarchopoulos, Embarrassment, voiced by Paul Walter Hauser and Envy, voiced by The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri.

Amy Poehler as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, and Lewis Black as Anger will return to their roles from the first movie, with the exception of Tony Hale replacing Bill Hader as Fear and Liza Lapura filling in for the role of Disgust, originally voiced by Mindy Kaling.

Inside Out 2 arrives in theaters June 14th.

Despicable Me 4 – July 3, 2024

The fourth installment in the Despicable Me franchise arrives this summer and fans couldn’t be more excited to reunite with Gru and his devious minions! Coming seven years after Despicable Me 3, this latest adventure with our favorite criminal mastermind follows the welcoming of the newest member to his family, Gru Jr! I don’t know about you, but Gru becoming a father was not on our bingo card for his next big-screen outing!

Despicable Me 4 comes to theaters July 3, 2024.

Transformers One – September 13

After the popularization of 2007’s Transformers rebranded the 1980s science fiction franchise, the standard live-action films, based on Hasbro’s toy line, has led to seven films being made–with Transformers: Rise of The Beasts marking a new franchise low in box office revenue.

Transformers One, the first animated film for the series since 1986’s Transformers: The Movie, will be the next theatrical experience for fans to enjoy! Serving as a prequel to the franchise, the film will explore the story of Optimus Prime and Megatron in their early, robotic years and will be centered around the war on their home planet, Cybertron.

The animated film is stacked with a cast of Hollywood A-listers, including Chris Hemsworth as Optimus Prime, Scarlett Johansson as Elita, Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion, Bryan Tyree Henry as Megatron and Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee.

Transformers One opens in theaters September 13!

The Wild Robot – September 20, 2024

Following the trailer reveal for Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot, fans were introduced to Roz, an intelligent robot shipwrecked and stranded on an uninhabited island. The two minute trailer shows Roz befriending the island’s animals and enduring the brutal environment that scraps him apart at every turn.

Though it is unknown who will play Roz, Pedro Pascal, Lupita Nyong’o, Catherine O’Hara and Mark Hamill have all been announced as part of the cast in the animated film.

The Wild Robot comes to theaters September 20, 2024.