Animation DVD & Blu-rays 2014 List

An imaginative animated tale for the pre-school/kindergarten set, The Hero of Color City chronicles the adventures of a diverse band of crayons that come alive in a little boys room when he drifts off to sleep. Yellow (voiced by Christina Ricci), a timid and fearful crayon, inadvertently awakens two unfinished drawings that threaten to take over Color City, and must set off on an adventure that leads her to discover inner strength and courage she never knew she had.

More than two decades after catapulting to stardom with The Princess Bride, an aging actress (Robin Wright, playing a version of herself) decides to take her final job: preserving her digital likeness for a future Hollywood. Through a deal brokered by her loyal, longtime agent (Harvey Keitel) and the head of Miramount Studios (Danny Huston), her alias will be controlled by the studio, and will star in any film they want with no restrictions. In return, she receives healthy compensation so she can care for her ailing son, and her digitized character will stay forever young. Twenty years later, under the creative vision of the studio’s head animator (Jon Hamm), Wright’s digital double rises to immortal stardom.

Planes: Fire & Rescue features a quirky crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from a raging wildfire. When world famous air racer Dusty (voice of Cook) learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of wildfire air attack. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his courageous air attack team, including spirited super scooper Lil’ Dipper (voice of Bowen), heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, ex-military transport Cabbie and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers. Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire, and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero.

The first movie took us into a war between fire-breathing dragons and Vikings, but when a boy named Hiccup impossibly befriended a dragon named Toothless, their friendship changed their world forever. Dragons 2, the second film of this fantastic epic trilogy continues the story about a man named Hiccup and a dragon named Toothless, and flies into theaters in summer of 2014.

In The Wind Rises, Jiro dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni. Nearsighted from a young age and unable to be a pilot, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927 and becomes one of the world’s most innovative and accomplished airplane designers. The film chronicles much of his life, depicting key historical events, including the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, the tuberculosis epidemic and Japan’s plunge into war. Jiro meets and falls in love with Nahoko, and grows and cherishes his friendship with his colleague Honjo. Writer and director Hayao Miyazaki pays tribute to engineer Jiro Horikoshi and author Tatsuo Hori in this epic tale of love, perseverance, and the challenges of living and making choices in a turbulent world.

Mr. Peabody (voiced by Ty Burrell) is a business titan, inventor, scientist, Nobel Laureate, gourmand, two-time Olympic medalist, and genius… who also happens to be a dog. Using his most ingenious invention, the WABAC machine, Mr. Peabody and his adopted boy Sherman (Max Charles) hurtle back in time to experience world-changing events first-hand and interact with some of the greatest characters of all time. But when Sherman breaks the rules of time travel, our two heroes find themselves in a race to repair history and save the future, while Mr. Peabody may face his biggest challenge yet – being a parent.

The plot begins as Dorothy returns to Kansas to find it devastated by the tornado that sent her to Oz. Before she can react to the destruction of her home, she is transported back to Oz, where her three friends (Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man) have disappeared. She meets a charming man made of marshmallows who can’t quite think for himself, a tiny china doll princess whose bossiness is a cover for her fragility, and a tugboat with as many personalities as he has pieces. Dorothy must help this group band together against the Jester, a wicked new villain who believes that all of Oz should be under his control. How will Dorothy and her new companions work together in a seemingly disastrous time to restore Oz to the place we all know and love?

RIO 2 finds Jewel (Anne Hathaway), Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and their three kids leaving their domesticated life in that magical city for a journey to the Amazon. They encounter a menagerie of characters who are born to be wild.

Deep below snowy, cobblestone streets, tucked away in networks of winding subterranean tunnels, lives a civilization of hardworking mice, terrified of the bears who live above ground. Unlike her fellow mice, Celestine is an artist and a dreamer – and when she nearly ends up as breakfast for ursine troubadour Ernest, the two form an unlikely bond. But it isn’t long before their friendship is put on trial by their respective bear-fearing and mice-eating communities. Fresh from standing ovations at Cannes and Toronto Ernest & Celestine joyfully leaps across genres and influences to capture the kinetic, limitless possibilities of animated storytelling. Like a gorgeous watercolor painting brought to life, a constantly shifting pastel color palette bursts and drips across the screen, while wonderful storytelling and brilliant comic timing draw up influences as varied as Buster Keaton, Bugs Bunny and the outlaw romanticism of Bonnie and Clyde. Bringing it all together is the on-screen chemistry between the two lead characters – a flowing, tender and playful rapport that will put a smile on your face and make your heart glow.

The original 3D computer animated story follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.

Chris Pratt stars as the voice of Emmet. Will Ferrell stars as the voice of his primary adversary, President Business, an erudite, anal-retentive CEO who has a hard time balancing world domination with micro-managing his own life; while Liam Neeson voices the president’s powerful henchman, known as Bad Cop, who will stop at nothing to catch Emmet.

Starring as Emmet’s fellow travelers are Morgan Freeman, as Vitruvius, an old mystic; Elizabeth Banks, as tough-as-nails Lucy, who mistakes Emmet for the savior of the world and guides him on his quest; Will Arnett, as the mysterious Batman, a LEGO minifigure with whom Lucy shares a history; Nick Offerman as a craggy, swaggering pirate obsessed with revenge on President Business; and Alison Brie as a sweet, loveable member of the team, with a powerful secret.

Surly, a curmudgeon, independent squirrel is banished from his park and forced to survive in the city. Lucky for him, he stumbles on the one thing that may be able to save his life, and the rest of park community, as they gear up for winter - Maury's Nut Store.

A prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, so Anna (voice of Kirsten Bell) must team up with Kristoff, a daring mountain man, on the grandest of journeys to find the Snow Queen (voice of Idina Menzel) and put an end to the icy spell. Encountering Everest-like extremes, mystical creatures and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom from destruction.

Recent discoveries and a breakthrough in technology will introduce new and unique dinosaurs that are more real than ever before and put moviegoers in the middle of a thrilling prehistoric adventure, where an underdog dinosaur triumphs against all odds to become a hero for the ages.

Reggie (voiced by Owen Wilson) was an ordinary turkey, until one Thanksgiving he was pardoned by the President. Unaware of the fate he’s escaped, Reggie is living large and enjoying the good life at Camp David. But when Reggie is kidnapped by Jake (voiced by Woody Harrelson), the rebel leader of a turkey uprising, he discovers a horrifying secret: Turkeys aren’t honored holiday guests- they’re tasty holiday meals! Jake and Reggie hijack a top secret time machine and travel back in time to 1621, to the first Thanksgiving to take themselves off the menu.

Rejected by his superstitious herd, a half-striped zebra embarks on a daring quest to earn his stripes but finds the courage and self-acceptance to save all the animals of the Great Karoo.

Reggie (voiced by Owen Wilson) was an ordinary turkey, until one Thanksgiving he was pardoned by the President. Unaware of the fate he’s escaped, Reggie is living large and enjoying the good life at Camp David. But when Reggie is kidnapped by Jake (voiced by Woody Harrelson), the rebel leader of a turkey uprising, he discovers a horrifying secret: Turkeys aren’t honored holiday guests- they’re tasty holiday meals! Jake and Reggie hijack a top secret time machine and travel back in time to 1621, to the first Thanksgiving to take themselves off the menu.

Cloudy 2 picks up where the first movie left off, with Flint Lockwood discovering that his evil machine which turns water into food "is still operating and now creating mutant food beasts. With the fate of humanity in his hands, Flint and his friends must embark on a dangerously delicious mission, battling hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, apple pie-thons, double bacon cheespiders and other food creatures to save the world… again.

The ice-cold Snow Queen wishes to turn the world into a frozen landscape, with no light, no joy, no happiness, and no free will. A young man, Kai, is rumored to be the son of a man who is the queen’s only remaining threat. He is abducted and held captive in the queen’s palace, and it’s up to his sister, Gerda, to rescue him. Gerda journeys across an icy land, facing difficult obstacles and meeting wonderful new friends that help her in her quest to set Kai free, defeat the Snow Queen, and save the world from eternal frost.