Nobody is ever going to get close to catching Disney when it comes to the quality of animated output being put out by one of Hollywood’s major studios or streaming services, and that’s a fact. The Mouse House has Pixar and Walt Disney Animation churning out movies that receive regular critical acclaim, and that’s without mentioning the impending Marvel Animation Studios or a new production house being launched specifically for streaming exclusives.
Of course, Netflix are well within their rights to give it a try, and the platform arguably boasts the best animated release of the year so far after shelling out a small fortune to acquire The Mitchells vs. the Machines from Sony. Hoping lightning strikes twice, the company also picked up Vivo from Sony in April of this year, as part of the masterplan to debut at least six high profile feature length animations on an annual basis.
Looking at the most-watched list, it’s already paying off in spades, with Vivo having rocketed to the top spot despite only premiering on Friday. The Croods director Kirk DeMicco calls the shots on the whimsical family adventure about a kinkajou obsessed with music who sets out on a journey to deliver a love song to an old friend of his, with Lin-Manuel Miranda voicing the title character having pitched the original idea to DreamWorks back in 2010.
Zoe Saldana, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Rooker, Gloria Estefan and The Office‘s Leslie David Baker also provide their vocal talents, and don’t bet against Vivo spending a number of days in the top spot looking at how The Mitchells vs. the Machines performed, as well as a solid Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%.