Animated Family movies available on 4K Blu-ray, ranked by transfer quality.
dir. Henry Selick
S-Tier Laika 4K. The stop-motion film in 3D. Seeing the restoration in 3D was a highlight for collectors who caught it in theaters.
Laika · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Travis Knight
S-Tier Laika 4K. Shout Factory's steelbook release of the Laika stop-motion films has been well-received, and people who loved Coraline's 4K immediately asked for Kubo. The steelbooks have been as low as $18.63 USD each. The stop-motion detail is the kind of thing that rewards a 4K presentation, and this one scores a perfect 5.0 overall.
Laika
dir. Sam Fell, Chris Butler
S-Tier Laika 4K with a 4.5 score. Part of the Laika steelbook series from Shout Factory alongside Coraline, Boxtrolls, and Kubo. People want the remastered 3D on the 4K disc. The entire Laika collection is well-regarded on disc, and the stop-motion detail at this resolution is worth it.
dir. David Hand, Ben Sharpsteen
Disney's S-Tier 4K of its first animated feature. The transfer drew praise right away, with the hand-painted detail looking better than it probably ever has on home video. The steelbook design got a colder reception, but the disc inside is the same regardless of packaging.
Walt Disney Studios · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Hiromasa Yonebayashi
S-Tier Universal 4K. Studio Ghibli's When Marnie Was There. The initial steelbook run had a printing error with blank spines, and Shout Factory sent out replacement cases. The Ghibli steelbook collection keeps expanding, and people are waiting for the full roster to be covered. This is one of the quieter Ghibli titles but it has its fans.
Universal Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Robert Zemeckis
A-Tier 4K. Jim Carrey's motion-capture Dickens. The French BubbelPop release is the 4K to track down.
France BubbelPop · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Jill Culton
A group of misfits encounter a young Yeti named Everest, and they set off to reunite the magical creature with his family on the mountain of his namesake.
dir. Lee Unkrich
A-Tier Disney 4K. Pixar's Day of the Dead film. Best Buy had steelbooks at $10 USD.
dir. Ben Sharpsteen, Jack Kinney
Dumbo is a baby elephant born with over-sized ears and a supreme lack of confidence. But thanks to his even more diminutive buddy Timothy the Mouse, the pint-sized pachyderm learns to surmount all obstacles.
dir. Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck
Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf head far into the forest to learn the truth about an ancient mystery of their kingdom.
dir. Dean DeBlois
As Hiccup fulfills his dream of creating a peaceful dragon utopia, Toothless’ discovery of an untamed, elusive mate draws the Night Fury away. When danger mounts at home and Hiccup’s reign as village chief is tested, both dragon and rider must make impossible decisions to save their kind.
Kino Lorber · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Pete Docter
A-Tier Disney 4K. Pixar's emotions film. Inside Out 2 launched at $45 USD steelbook-only, and it became the poster child for Disney's aggressive 4K pricing. The original Inside Out 4K is still available at normal prices. The color-coded emotion worlds look really good in HDR, lots of saturated primary colors that benefit from the wider gamut.
dir. Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
A-Tier Universal 4K. DreamWorks animation at this resolution shows the hand-painted texture work more clearly. People have been waiting for 2 and 3 to follow, and KFP2 eventually dropped with little fanfare. Shows up on GRUV regularly.
dir. Jennifer Yuh Nelson
A-Tier Universal 4K. Kung Fu Panda 2 snuck out on 4K with barely any marketing. People missed it entirely. The DreamWorks 4K transfers have been inconsistent compared to what Pixar gets, and expectations are tempered accordingly.
dir. Mike Mitchell
Universal A-Tier 4K. Turbine included this in their 3D Series Wave 6 alongside F9 and Despicable Me 4. DreamWorks animation benefits from HDR for the fur and background detail.
Universal Pictures · 4K Ultra HD
dir. Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
A-Tier Disney 4K. Disney animation from 2002. The animated original's 4K steelbook was a surprise find at Walmart, possibly a return. Not much dedicated collector discussion around the 4K disc.
dir. David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand
After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana journeys alongside Maui and a new crew to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced.
dir. Dan Scanlon
In a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there.
dir. Gore Verbinski
A-Tier Paramount 4K. Gore Verbinski's animated western. The 4K announcement was a big deal, and Paramount was praised for continuing to release catalog titles. The steelbook and slipcover look great. People want the live-action reference footage included as a bonus feature. One of Paramount's stronger catalog 4K years.
Paramount Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada
Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people.
Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.
dir. Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
An orphaned boy raised by underground creatures called Boxtrolls comes up from the sewers and out of his box to save his family and the town from the evil exterminator, Archibald Snatcher.
dir. Yarrow Cheney, Scott Mosier
The Grinch hatches a scheme to ruin Christmas when the residents of Whoville plan their annual holiday celebration.
dir. Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Warner put this out early in the 4K format's life, March 2016, and it's still A-Tier. The resolution bump over the Blu-ray is modest since the film was rendered at 2K, but the HDR is where it earns the rating. Colors pop in a way the standard Blu-ray never did.
Warner Bros. · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
Young lion prince Simba, eager to one day become king of the Pride Lands, grows up under the watchful eye of his father Mufasa; all the while his villainous uncle Scar conspires to take the throne for himself. Amid betrayal and tragedy, Simba must confront his past and find his rightful place in the Circle of Life.
dir. John Lasseter
Disney A-Tier 4K, available individually or in the 29-Pixar steelbook set. Best Buy cycles these through sales at $9.99-$14.99 USD a few times a year.
Disney A-Tier 4K. The Pixar steelbook collection has matching art across the trilogy and animation collectors are trying to complete the set. Best Buy sales are the usual entry point.
Disney A-Tier 4K. The Toy Story steelbooks look coordinated on a shelf, which is why people buy all three even though most only really want the first.
dir. Josh Cooley
Disney A-Tier 4K. Target had this at $10 USD during their 70% off Blu-rays sale last year, a price a lot of people felt was closer to fair.
dir. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
Disney's dropping the 1951 Alice in Wonderland on 4K in May. It's a standalone release, instead of a limited edition steelbook, which is not how Disney has historically handled their vault. Hand-drawn animation at 4K lets you actually see the brush strokes and ink lines that the Blu-ray just smoothed over. The restoration teaser already has the 4K community asking if Sleeping Beauty is next.
Walt Disney Studios · 4K Ultra HD
dir. Tyree Dillihay
Sony 4K announcement. The blu-ray.com comments are mostly about the packaging, where Sony couldn't use the actual studio logo and had to recreate the poster art for their own release. Standard BD included with the UHD, which Sony doesn't always do for animation.
dir. Daniel Chong
Scientists have discovered how to 'hop' human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals. Animal lover Mabel seizes an opportunity to use the technology, uncovering mysteries within the animal world beyond anything she could have imagined.
Disney · 4K Ultra HD
dir. Ishi Rudell
The story follows Sunset Shimmer, who (using her powers) finds out that her friends' memories of her have been mysteriously erased, resulting in them getting amnesia. Determined to set things straight, she'll need Princess Twilight's help from Equestria in order to find out the source of what caused her friends' memory loss.
Cult Epics · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Roger Allers, Jill Culton
Boog, a domesticated 900lb. Grizzly bear finds himself stranded in the woods 3 days before Open Season. Forced to rely on Elliot, a fast-talking mule deer, the two form an unlikely friendship and must quickly rally other forest animals if they are to form a rag-tag army against the hunters.
dir. Brad Bird
OOP steelbook, scalpers are charging a fortune, and the community is split between waiting for a 4K announcement and just paying up.
dir. Derek Drymon
Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate – on a seafaring adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.
Paramount Pictures · Steelbook
dir. Mamoru Hosoda
After her werewolf lover unexpectedly dies in an accident, a woman must find a way to raise the son and daughter that she had with him. However, their inheritance of their father's traits prove to be a challenge for her.
Shout! Factory · Limited Edition Steelbook
dir. Jared Bush, Byron Howard
Restocked at Walmart.com and gone again within 20 minutes, with people still sitting at 'order received' from weeks ago.
