YMMV / Animals United

• Anvilicious: This movie takes Green Aesop up to eleven. While most animated movies are subtle (or try to be subtle) about the overall theme, Animals United gleefully reminds the audience every five minutes that human beings are all assholes who only care about money, do nothing but kill animals, and will ultimately destroy the world. At first, the movie conveys this message brutally to show the viewers that humans are responsible for some of the problems in the world, but it gets to a point where the animals start to demonize human beings entirely, and the overall lesson isn't "We need to protect nature and stop polluting!" anymore. It's moreso "Human beings are assholes who ruin everything."
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Two musical moments with Billy just happen for no real reason.
  • "I don't need no cigarette!"
  • "Splish-splash, I was takin' a bath..."
• Designated Hero: Billy. He's a borderline Damsel Scrappy who does more harm than good (such as getting sidetracked by taking a shower, and accidentally getting Socrates captured by Hunter), whereas all the other animals seem to do most of the hard work. In fact, the only thing he does that's considered heroic is blow up the dam (which wouldn't have been accomplished if it hadn't been for Toto, Improbable Aiming Skills, and the lack of physics).
• Designated Villain: The Leopard. Everyone hates him and considers him to be the biggest threat in the film up until the human beings get involved. But the Leopard doesn't personally hate any of the characters; the only reason why he attacks them is because he's a predator, and that's what predators do. And considering that a rooster managed to make the Leopard run away from his prey just by insulting him, you have to wonder why the other animals feared him to begin with. In regards to the last thing however, the leopard may have also fled the scene because basically the all of the savanna’s megafauna was following closely behind, which would have obviously been more than a match for him.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: At the end of the movie, all the animals are transported to New York City, where they promptly roam the streets and "make the humans accountable for their actions." However, if humanity is as bad as the animals say it is, then the situation can only end three ways for them, all of which are bad.
  • The animals won't be able to adapt to the new environment due to the climate, the change in altitude, not having access to the right nutrients, the toxic fumes, etc., and most of them are gonna die or realize they made a horrible mistake and retreat to Africa and their other home countries. The fact that Sushi needed to find an ice truck just to cool herself down just proves that not all the animals are physically capable of staying in New York.
  • The humans, being humans, will mercilessly slaughter all the animals for money, food, for creating so much trouble in New York, or just because they feel like it. Those not slaughtered will probably be captured and put in zoos or taken to testing facilities, where they'll suffer a Fate Worse than Death.
  • The animals will realize that the humans are a major threat and that the buildings are harming the environment, so they'll promptly attack the humans and destroy any buildings that are a threat to them, like the dam was. Eventually, the humans and animals will go to war with each other (think the final scene from Rise of the Planet of the Apes where all the apes and police officers get into a fierce battle), and this will result in thousands of casualties from both sides, and more than likely will result in the animals losing the war.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: One 1989 issue from the British "Smash Hits" magazine had a short comic where Jason Donovan turned into a kangaroo. In this animated film, Jason Donovan actually voices a kangaroo named Toby.
• Just Here for the Voice Actors: With characters being voiced by Billie Piper, Andy Serkis, and many others, it's no surprise that viewers saw this movie just to hear them speak.
• One-Scene Wonder: Winston and Winifred. After their visually-amazing scene where they explain the horrors human beings have brought upon the world, they became the most well-known side characters in the film.
• Retroactive Recognition: While James Corden was known in his native England at the time, this movie came out before he became famous in America.
• Tear Jerker: Winston and Winifred's death. After they hold a conference about the animals' possible deadly future, Winifred tells Winston that she had a good life as she passes away in front of him. Winston is so heartbroken that he ends up dying shortly after. All the animals mourn their passing the following morning.
• The Scrappy:
  • Charles isn't very popular with most viewers due to his obnoxious, hammy behavior, his stereotypical French accent, and for stealing the spotlight from all the other side characters, some of whom ended up being a waste.
  • Maya, the bratty, Anvilicious Tomboy-looking teenager who constantly whines about how awful the businessmen are being to the animals, yet doesn't do much to help the animals at all.
  • Smiley doesn't appeal to many fans for two very big reasons: he's an Expy of Taz, and he farts a lot. Other than that, there's nothing special about him.
  • Hunter gets the most hate out of all the human beings for being an exaggerated example of modern-day hunters, poachers, etc., and for tormenting the animals for almost no reason. He's not even a good Big Bad; Hunter's just a Dirty Coward with a gun who hardly has any lines in the film.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: As divisive as the movie is, the animation is quite breathtaking, especially during Winifred and Winston's speech about the horrors of man, and during the end where humpback whales drop off all the animals in New York City. Even people who hate the movie have admitted that the CGI is amazing.