Why 2009 Was The Best Year Ever For Animated Movies (And Why It Won't Be Matched)

The 21st century's first decade had plenty of memorable motion pictures to offer audiences. However, for animation geeks, there's no year in the 2000s more important than 2009. This was the greatest year ever for animated motion pictures, as titles like "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Up," "A Town Called Panic," "The Princess and the Frog," "The Secret of Kells," and so many more debuted. Not only were these projects rich in artistic virtues, but they also epitomized the limitless variety of animated storytelling.

These productions ranged across an array of different styles, from goofy CG to stop-motion animation to rich hand-drawn imagery. No two films looked the same — not even projects told in the same animation style, like stop-motion animation (just try and say "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is indistinguishable from "Mary and Max"). Animated storytelling can look like anything, and 2009's eclectic collection of animated features excitedly reflected this. The year's animated cinema accomplishments are well worth exploring, as is the sad reality that seeing a year this bountiful again is a long shot.

Acknowledging these facets of reality includes mourning the present. However, it also means reveling in glorious art of the past. Let's take a journey into 2009, the greatest year ever for animated movies, and why recreating its magic is impossible in the modern world.

When ranking the very best Wes Anderson movies, "Fantastic Mr. Fox" has to be up there among his greatest features. But fusing this filmmaker with animated storytelling didn't just create an exceptional Wes Anderson motion picture. It also reflected how 2009 thrived because it saw so many new animated gems emerging from all-time great directors. "Nightmare Before Christmas" director Henry Selick, for example, helmed "Coraline." Pixar heavyweight Pete Docter was the director of "Up." Ron Clements and John Musker, the masterminds behind Disney Renaissance projects "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin," returned to 2D animated musicals with "The Princess and the Frog."

This year was so crammed with exceptional filmmakers helming animated titles that it even included Phil Lord and Chris Miller making their feature-length directing debut on "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." On the indie side of things, Adam Elliot made waves with "Mary and Max," and Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey came out with "The Secret of Kells." A perfect storm of circumstances ensured that these auteurs all dropped their animated productions during the final year of the 2000s.

With so many tremendous artists helming animated features in 2009, it's no wonder the year delivered so many of the best animated movies of all time. That's the kind of phenomenon that's impossible to duplicate any random year.

Fox Searchlight, the studio that released "Fantastic Mr. Fox," no longer exists. Once Disney officially completed its $71.3 billion acquisition of Fox, the label was considerably shrunk down and transformed into Searchlight Pictures. That sort of corporate consolidation has run rampant in Hollywood since 2009. It's ensured that creating a year of animated cinema as eclectic and exciting as 2009's is impossible. With fewer studios around to produce and take risks on movies, how can you have a yearly animated slate that includes everything from "Monsters vs. Aliens" to "9?"

Similarly keeping another 2009 from becoming a reality is Hollywood abandoning non-CG styles of animation. Disney Animation Studios fully left behind 2D animation after 2011's "Winnie the Pooh." Meanwhile, despite the artistic virtues of the most beautiful stop-motion films ever, studios aren't lining up to finance projects made in the stop-motion format that benefited "Coraline" so tremendously. Visual variety was a core element of 2009's animated cinema greatness. The modern dearth of 2D and stop-motion animated movies means that it'll be hard to reach those artistic heights again.

Combine that with all the creative challenges ingrained into corporate consolidation and nobody should hold their breath that another year as exciting for animated filmmaking as 2009 is around the corner. Thankfully, this year's array of classics will always exist to remind audiences of both an especially bountiful time for animated storytelling and the medium's endless artistic possibilities.