If you had told me back in 2016 that Sony Pictures Animation would be producing animated movies on par, if not better than Disney, I would have thought you were joking. Alas, the last few years have proven me wrong. Very wrong.

Sony’s recent animated movie, The Mitchells vs The Machines is pure fun. The story of a father who wants to reconnect with his daughter isn’t new but Sony somehow managed to reinvent it. The animation is wacky and the colors of vibrant. The relationships, especially between siblings Katie and Aaron, are so pure and sweet. All the jokes were corny and even cringy sometimes but I still laughed at them. I didn’t realize why I was enjoying a movie full of tropes and cliches I’ve seen a hundred times but then it hit me: this movie was made for fun, not for profit.

Almost the new animated films the have been produced in the last couple years have been made by Disney. And within those films, there’s always a message. It could either be a message about racism and classism, or a message about acceptance. They’re all messages that make the movie deep. Or so Disney thinks.

With the exception of Soul and Coco, the themes and messages of modern Disney movies feel forced and insincere. Frozen 2 especially felt as if it was trying to commentate on modern issues, and failed at doing so completely. Disney’s modern movies are made from a point of capitalism. They’re made to sell toys and win awards. There’s a lack of love that previous Disney animated movies had.

2018’s Into the Spiderverse took the world by storming, establishing Sony as a studio that’s serious about animation. The Mitchells vs The Machines is made with passion. The director, Michael Rianda, had so much fun making this movie, and it shows. This movie is unapologetically simple in its message but the way in which it’s conveyed is better than anything better than Disney could ever try to achieve.