Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Coyote vs. Acme:
Dog Man
Dog Man is quick, goofy, and genuinely entertaining—a rare kids movie that doesn’t insult its audience’s intelligence. For viewers expecting a hollow, IP-driven cash grab, this ends up being a pleasant surprise. It’s a mid-tier animated film that punches a little above its weight, and for families looking for something fast, funny, and a little off-kilter, it more than delivers.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Fantastic Mr. Fox is more than just one of the best Wes Anderson movies or one of the best animated movies—it’s one of the best movies, period. A singular work of creativity and charm that continues to inspire, entertain, and resonate.
Minions & Monsters
A mile a minute just like its two predecessors, Illumination’s latest Minions spin-off, Minions & Monsters, has two things separating it from everything we’ve seen in this corner of the Despicable Me universe thus far: a handful of new monsters, and an almost overwhelming love for film history.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse continues what the first film did so well – feel like something you’ve never seen before. An intense thrill ride that explores carving your own path and not staying constrained to the expectations set before you.
The Wild Robot
The overall package of The Wild Robot is ultimately quite honorable and noteworthy. The animated genre offers just a few great movies a year, and The Wild Robot falls into that category. It’s probably the frontrunner for Best Animated Picture at the Academy Awards, and I’d add that we’ve had much worse winners should this take home the prize. It’s sweet and effortlessly likeable, even if you can see the mechanisms of it working behind the scenes.
Elio
Conceived by Adrian Molina and then handed off to Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian, Elio bears the fingerprints of multiple creative voices. You can feel the push and pull in its structure. Elio (voiced with wide-eyed sincerity by Yonas Kibreab) is accidentally identified as the leader of Earth and whisked to the Communiverse, a galactic council where rival species debate, posture, and search for common ground. Back home, a clone holds his place while his guardian, Aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña), an Air Force major who shelved astronaut dreams to raise her nephew, tries to keep life steady. The movie toggles among coming-of-age comedy, interstellar diplomacy satire, and family melodrama, which gives Elio scope, but also leaves it feeling overstuffed and under-shaped.
Arco
There’s a mature sense of urgency to Arco that I really admire, and it’s something animated movies rarely attempt outside of the best work from studios and filmmakers who treat animation as a serious storytelling medium. For every thoughtful Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli film, and for every Pixar or Laika swing that actually trusts kids to sit with complicated feelings, there are a dozen franchise sequels and spinoffs built strictly to keep attention spans occupied for 90 minutes. Arco can still deliver the breezy, accessible adventure beats, but first-time feature director Ugo Bienvenu is clearly aiming for something heavier underneath.
Hoppers
Hoppers feels like coked-out Pixar. A zany great time, an original story with the perfect amount of heft and weight, loaded with more jokes and gonzo energy than the studio has mustered in years. One moment in particular (spoiler: the squishing of a certain insect) had my significant other audibly gasp in the theater, which has to be a first for the studio, or close to it. Hopefully, Pixar is finding a couple of new voices to bank on going forward, because Hoppers is genuinely refreshing to see.
Flow
Flow attempts to push the boundaries of visual storytelling in the animated genre, and in many ways, it succeeds. Created entirely using Blender rendering software, typically reserved for 3D video game sprites, the film builds a nearly 90-minute animated feature filled with an abundance of visual ideas and thematic density. It’s a technical marvel that redefines the potential of its medium through its innovative use of technology.
Robot Dreams
Suitable for children while also extremely relatable for adults, Robot Dreams is one of the most uncomplicatedly pleasant experiences I’ve had with a movie in 2024. It’s nice to relive an animation style that once was the norm, while also seeing it adapted in prescient and timely ways. Robot Dreams, while small scale and innocent, feels like the much needed break from convention.
READ MORE: Movies Like Hoppers, Movies Like Minions & Monsters
