That's largely true, judging by its animated late set on Tuesday.
So what can the studio do to make sure its upcoming slate stands up to its animated forebears?
The company, riding high with its 11 Oscar nominations for "Hugo" and the handful for "War Horse," is also running a TV campaign for "Rango," its animated nominee.
Snapchat acquired Looksery and its animated selfie lenses for a reported $150 million.
Snapchat bought augmented reality filter startup Looksery for a rumored $150 million last year to create its animated selfie lenses.
Several months after The Care Bears Movie, Walt Disney Pictures released its animated feature The Black Cauldron.
The studio took a $57-million 57-million last year for its animated feature "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" and a $13.5-million charge on its summer movie "Turbo".
First, it began remaking its animated classics as live-action features; then, in 2009, Disney bought Marvel, for four billion dollars.
The movie came from a studio not known for its animated films, Universal, and it was the first film from tiny Illumination Entertainment production company.
The print-edition "Morris Lessmore" is a stylishly paced, vividly illustrated parable for young readers, yet it somehow lacks the dreamy creativity of its animated precursors.
Picking Cotton, with its animated and unsettling themes, evokes the complex and ever-changing interactions among people, animals, and the environment that can lead to the emergence or resurgence of human infectious diseases.
