Bumper crop of animated features

“TROLLS”

WE WERE at our favorite cineplex last week and, looking at the posters of coming movie attractions on the wall, it suddenly hit us: There are many new animated features being shown this film year!

To affirm that notion and “gut feel,” we did some research and came up with a list of animated feature-length movies that are likely to be screened before 2016 ends:

Coming soon are “Moana,” “Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Sing,” “Sausage Party,” “Trolls,” “The Wild Life” and “Storks.”

Capsule clips: “Trolls” is a grand-scale musical comedy centering around how the Trolls (creatures previously seen in films like “The Little Troll Prince” and “Trollhunter”) acquired their vibrant and colorful hair.

“Storks” is about a bird (Andy Samberg) who delivers packages for a big corporation—and lands in big trouble when he activates a machine which produces an adorable baby girl!

“Sausage Party” is a raunchy movie about a sausage’s quest to discover the truth about his existence. He and his friends embark on a perilous journey through a supermarket to get back to their proper aisles.

“Sing” is set in a world like ours, but entirely inhabited by animals. Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) is a koala bear who presides over a once-grand theater and will do anything to preserve it.

He gets his only chance to do that by producing the world’s greatest singing competition.

Five lead contestants emerge: A mouse (Seth MacFarlane), a timid teenage elephant (Tori Kelly), an overtaxed pig (Reese Witherspoon), a gangster gorilla (Taron Egerton), and a punk-rock porcupine (Scarlett Johansson). The film features more than 85 hit songs!

“Moana”: A once-mighty demigod (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) and a spirited teenager (Auli’i Cravalho) embark on an epic adventure across the ocean. Other featured voice actors include Phillipa Soo, Alan Tudyk and Nicole Scherzinger.

“KUBO and the Two Strings”

“Kubo and the Two Strings”: Young Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson) has a peaceful existence—until he accidentally summons a vengeful spirit from the past.

Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Matthew McConaughey) to unluck a secret legacy.

Other coming productions in 2017: “Smurfs: The Lost Village,” “Captain Underpants,” “Emojimovie: Express Yourself,” “Ninjago,” “My Little Pony: The Movie,” “Ferdinand,” “Sherlock Gnomes,” “Anubis,” “Coco,” “Larrikins,” “Peter Rabbit,” “Scooby-Doo,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Gigantic.”

Finally, there are more animated sequels in the works: “The Nut Job 2,” “Cass 3,” “Despicable Me 3,” “Wreck-It Ralph 2,” “How to Train Your Dragon 3,” “Toy Story 4,” “Hotel Transylvania 3,” “The Croods 2,” “SpongeBob SquarePants 3” and “The Incredibles 2”

Like any day—a huge lot of animated features coming up!