Top 10 Worst CGI in Children's Movies

“Spy Kids 3D: Game Over” (2003)
In the early 2000’s, audiences were thrilled by the return of 3D to the big screen. Cheesy backgrounds and flawed characters? Who cared? We just got a pie in the face! These days that kind of trade off just won’t fly. In this third installment of the Spy Kids franchise, Juni fights his way through video game levels to save his sister. Sadly, the backgrounds are basic and uninspiring. The lighting on the characters is off, and the lack of details on the computer generated elements just looks flat. When you compare it to the superior use of CGI in the previous film, the movie becomes a poorly constructed 3D gimmick.

“Garfield: The Movie” (2004)
Garfield hates Mondays, and we feel the same about his CGI character in this film. Although the animation has a shiny-edged, pasted-in feeling, it does resemble the familiar comic cat. We might be able to ignore the flaws if they weren’t constantly being brought to our attention by comparison to the real thing. This film is full of creatures and the only one without real fur is the cranky tabby. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have Odie, the dog, resemble his comic counterpart as well? If they wanted a cat that looked exactly like the comic strip, why not just do the whole thing animated? Or even better, let CGI have a rest and use a real-life cranky ginger cat.

“Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie” (1995)
When this popular TV series made its first foray into film, fans were expecting something bigger and better than what they’d seen on the small screen. The movie did deliver mighty monsters, but they were definitely not an improvement. Most of the battles involve the teenage heroes and villains wearing chunky costumes and prosthetics. However, in the film’s climax the Power Rangers use their new Zords to fight the huge Ecto-Morphicons. Suddenly the screen is filled with CGI that doesn’t match its surroundings. It’s a switch that smacks the viewer harder than a kick from the Red Ranger. Even worse, the creatures are too shiny and lack depth or detail. When classic TV costumes look better than expensive innovations, you know you’ve made a misstep.

“Jumanji” (1995)
There’s nothing worse than watching your favorite childhood movies and discovering moments that used to amaze you, now make you cringe. When Alan Parrish is released from the Jumamji game, highly dangerous jungle flora and fauna follow. Most of these hazards were created using practical effects that interacted well with the actors and set. However, the monkey invaders were created with technology that, although ground-breaking in 1995, doesn’t impress modern viewers. Even though Industrial Light and Magic created new software to improve the animals’ facial expressions and fur, the lack of detail makes them seem less real than the animatronic crocodiles. Honestly, these monkeys still freak us out, but not the way the movie intended.

“The Polar Express” (2004)
You know that uneasy feeling you get when something looks almost human, but doesn’t quite get there? This beloved Christmas film has to continually fight that “uncanny valley” viewer reaction while simultaneously trying to create festive holiday cheer. The characters’ facial expressions were made with motion capture, but the 2004 technology wasn’t quite there yet. Whether it’s Tom Hanks’ many characters or hordes of Santa’s elves, our instinct is to flee rather than join in the fun. The phenomenon is especially disturbing in the children, whose rounded faces seem to move correctly, but lack a truly human light behind their eyes. The film has a creepy quality about it that gives us shivers that have nothing to do with the chilly weather.

“The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl” (2005)
This superhero adventure takes place in the dreamworld of a lonely ten year old boy. Since it is based on the fantasies of a child, we could forgive the over-bright, cartoony feel of the CGI backgrounds. However, the true disaster of this movie is the villain. As Mr. Electric, George Lopez’s face is pasted on to a poorly rendered robot. The distorted fish-lens frame is disturbing, and the amount of face showing at any given time is inconsistent. Even when he’s alone on screen, with no regular humans to compare to, it looks like an Instagram filter gone wrong. This malfunctioning CGI turns this dreamscape into a nightmare.

“Journey to the Center of the Earth” (2008)
If Brendan Fraser’s renewed popularity is inspiring you to explore his old films, you may want to journey away from this particular adventure. When a trio of explorers plummet into the center of the Earth, they have to travel through exotic locales and dangerous obstacles to find their way home. Unfortunately, much of the filming was done in front of a green screen and it shows. The CGI backgrounds and characters don't fit together to form one believable location. Often it’s so monochrome that the humans are difficult to find within the landscapes. Let’s face it, when you compare this movie’s dinosaur chase scene to the one made 15 years earlier for “Jurassic Park,” this CGI definitely appears prehistoric.

“Delgo” (2008)
This animated fantasy was a highly ambitious film that strove to create a dramatic story on an alien world. The scenery and backgrounds mostly succeed in that goal, but their details only emphasize the stiff movements and flat textures of the humanoid lizard characters. Created by an independent film company, it took ten years to complete and we can tell. Although released in 2008, the quality of character animation brings to mind “Antz,” Dreamworks Animation’s 1998 film. By 2008, audiences were expecting more from their CGI. After all, this was the same year they were treated to Pixar’s lovable WALL-E. When compared to the highly detailed, musical-loving robot, “Delgo”’s lizard fairies were just very forgettable.

“Scooby Doo: The Movie” (2002)
This cartoon-inspired, live-action film succeeded with its human casting, but failed with its CGI star. The animators attempted a realistic pooch that resembled the original cartoon, but sadly failed at both. We are left with a hybrid that is neither full of nostalgia or convincingly real. Compared to the highly saturated sets and costumes, Scooby Doo looks pale and washed out. The movement is too fluid to convince us that he’s in the same scene as the live actors. It gets even worse when the similarly created pup, Scrappy Doo, makes a monstrous transformation. His edges are too sharp and the surfaces lack texture. How this animation made the final cut is a total mystery.

“Foodfight!” (2012)
This ill-fated comedy was both made at the last minute and also incredibly late. Although slated for a 2003 release, the original animation was stolen during a 2002 break in. Some of the original footage can be seen in a teaser trailer, but the lack of backups meant the animators had to start over from scratch. The decision to use motion-capture to speed up the remake resulted in blank faces and unnatural movements. Characters in the same scenes are so wildly different in style and quality that they look like they were made for completely different films. Even by 2003 standards, this animation was disturbing, so by 2012 it didn’t have a fighting chance.