Several studios have tried to horn in on Disney’s virtual
monopoly on feature animation, usually by trying to do things that Disney does
not do. DreamWorks has created more grown-up oriented fare in the Shrek series and the little remembered Antz while Blue Sky Studios, best known
for its Ice Age series, has tried to
build its reputation around lovable animal characters. With Rio they’ve tried to branch out a little
bit by including several prominent human characters in the story and by giving
the film a rollicking musical score by John Powell (who also provided the
wonderful score for How to Train Your
Dragon) and some big musical numbers featuring singing characters and
animated dance sequences.
