CGI

Throw in another observation here: essentially, spectacle films have been taken over by computer animation, the digitalized monster son of traditional animation. That's all special effects really are, nowadays, highly realistic computer animation. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Spiderman, even Troy...computer animation holds sway over all.

That's why the animation in Shrek and Finding Nemo seem so unimpressive: because they did better work with the hobbit movies.