Have animated films seemed a little stale lately? Is there something about them that’s … repetitive? Animator Jacob Kafka noticed a lot have something in common: the use of first-person narrative, in which the main character addresses the movie audience, telling the story from his or her perspective. He made a video to prove his point:

Uploaded January 2, 2014.

The video throws a spotlight upon:

101 Dalmatians (1961)
The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
Ratatouille (2007)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Megamind (2010)
Tangled (2010)
Brave (2012)
Wreck-it Ralph (2012)
The Croods (2013)

Animation historian Amid Amidi comments upon the trend at Cartoon Brew, here.