Rom-coms and action. Everybody associates them with Netflix, and they've proved to be the foundation of their movie line-up. There are generous helpings of sci-fi and horror as well, but when it comes to critical acclaim, the streamer has made a name for itself in a separate genre. Animation.
They've become a regular among Oscar nominees for Best Animated Feature, giving Disney a run for their money, and as recently as 2023, had a pair of films competing against each other on the shortlist. One was a computer-animated fantasy, The Sea Beast (2022), which received an impressive 94% rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
Made with families in mind, the movie more than lived up to the "animation isn’t just for kids" mantra, with its environmental messages and extraordinarily detailed visuals, as well as some literary references. The brainchild of Chris Williams, director/writer of Disney’s Oscar-winning Big Hero 6 (2014), it ventured back in time to what looked like the 1800s, a massive change of setting after his previously futuristic vision where the main character was a personal healthcare robot.
It’s the epic tale of Maisie (voiced by Zaris-Angel Hator), whose parents were killed in a sea beast attack and, after escaping from an orphanage, stows away in the good ship Inevitable. Captain Crow (the voice of Jared Harris), first mate Jacob (voiced by Karl Urban), and the crew are pursuing a monster known as the Red Bluster but when Maisie and Jacob are separated from the ship, the girl becomes friends with the giant creature, complicating matters no end.
The monster itself is a startling shade of red and draws on favourites like Moby Dick and Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon and its ocean habitat is truly spectacular. The animation really comes into its own in creating some stirring action sequences, while still holding on to its anti-hunting theme. What makes the film’s animation truly stand out is the human characters, which are even better drawn.
A feast for the eyes, working on a number of levels and appealing to audiences of all ages, it’s often overshadowed by the other contender that year for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. That film? Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which was the winner.
There's an impressive line-up of talent voicing the characters, including Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Jim Carter and Doon Makichan, as well The Boys’ Urban and the distinctively rasping tones of Jared Harris. He's due back on our screens when the long-awaited third season of Foundation lands on Apple TV Plus on July 11.
His pivotal role, that of famed mathematician and psychologist Hari Seldon, is just the latest highly praised performance from the actor who, after coming to the fore in Mad Men, cemented his star status in Chernobyl (2019) as Valery Legasov, the true-life scientist who headed the team responding to the 1986 disaster. The role that everybody associates with him resulted in a BAFTA, as well as a slew of nominations.
It’s two years since Foundation, based on the novels by Isaac Asimov, first arrived on our screens. The epic saga of the fall of an empire spanning 25 million worlds, it focuses on Seldon (Harris) and his theory of “psychohistory” which can predict the empire's fall.
The new season starts 152 years after the shocking events of season two and the latest teaser promises nothing short of all-out war. Alongside Harris, Lee Pace returns as the formidable Brother Day — but with a very different look — and Lou Llobell is back as mathematician Gaal Dornick. New faces include Cherry Jones and Oscar winner Troy Kotsur (CODA) as Preem Palver, leader of a planet full of psychics.
While the third season promises to be full of action and intrigue that fans expect, there’s good news about the future of the show as a whole. After production of the new season wrapped last year, its original showrunner, David S Goyer, decided to leave, but he’s being replaced by Fear The Walking Dead writer, Ian Goldberg, and work on the script for season four is currently underway. Looks like there’s a whole lot more to come from Foundation — and July isn’t as far away as it sounds!
Season three of Foundation arrives on Apple TV Plus on 11 July in the US and UK. Seasons one and two of Foundation are currently available on Apple TV Plus in the US and UK.
The Sea Beast is on Netflix in the US and UK.
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