[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of pop culture. Today’s theme is animated films. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com.]
The first movie I ever watched in a theater was the animated films, Bednobs and Broomsticks (1971). Nothing I had seen in my four years on earth had prepared me for such a incredible display of imagination. I was instantly hooked on movies. In the 39 years since then I’ve wasted far too many hours sitting in theaters trying to recapture that magical experience. For all the regrets, though, I never lost that initial fascination with works of animation.
Unfortunately, like every other genre in cinema, most animation falls along the range of “unmemorable, but passably diverting” to “a colossal waste of time.” Of the 103 animated movies I’ve watched over the years (see full list below), there are only about 25-30 that I could recommend and only fifteen that I would consider essential.
The fifteen, listed in order of release, are:
1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
2. Pinocchio (1940)
3. Bambi (1942)
4. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
5.Peter Pan (1953)
6. Mary Poppins (1964)
7. The Jungle Book (1967)
8. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
9. The Lion King (1994)
10. Toy Story (1995)
11. Toy Story 2 (1999)
12. Monsters Inc. (2001)
13. Finding Nemo (2003)
14. The Incredibles (2004)
15. Cars (2006)
Honorable Mention: Wall-E (2008) / Up (2009)
Not surprisingly, all of the selections are from Disney and Pixar—the unrivaled masters of cinematic animation. But while they’ve produced the genre’s greatest works, there are a number of other studios that have steadily released animated films year-after-year. A few of them are even worth watching.
I don’t know the original source for the following list but they deserve credit for putting together a fairly comprehensive compilation of animated movies. The films marked with an X are the ones that I watched in their entirety while the ones with an “O” are ones that I started but never finished.
How many of these 240 movies have you seen?
CLASSIC DISNEY
——————————-
[X] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
[X] Fantasia (1940)
[X] Pinocchio (1940)
[X] Dumbo (1941)
[X] Bambi (1942)
[ X] Song of the South (1946)
[ X] Cinderella (1950)
[ X] Alice in Wonderland (1951)
[ X] Peter Pan (1953)
[ X] Lady and the Tramp (1955)
[ X] Sleeping Beauty (1959)
[ X] 101 Dalmatians (1961)
[ X] Mary Poppins (1964)
DISNEY’S DARK AGE
——————————-
[X] The Sword In The Stone (1963)
[X] The Jungle Book (1967)
[X] The Aristocats (1970)
[X] Bednobs and Broomsticks [1971]
[X] Robin Hood (1973)
[X] The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
[X] Pete’s Dragon (1977)
[X] The Rescuers (1977)
[X] The Fox and the Hound (1981)
[X] The Black Cauldron (1985)
[X] The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
[X] Oliver and Company (1986)
THE DISNEY RENAISSANCE
——————————-
[X] Beauty and the Beast (1991)
[X] The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
[X] Aladdin (1992)
[X] The Lion King (1994)
[X] A Goofy Movie (1995)
[X] Hercules (1997)
[X] The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
[X] The Little Mermaid (1989)
[X] Mulan (1998)
[X] Pocahontas (1995)
[X] Tarzan (1999)
DISNEY’S MODERN AGE
——————————-
[ ] Dinosaur (2000)
[ ] Fantasia 2000 (2000)
[X] The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
[ ] Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
[X] Lilo & Stitch (2002)
[ ] Treasure Planet (2002)
[X ] Brother Bear (2003)
[ ] Home on the Range (2004)
[X] Chicken Little (2005)
[ ] Meet the Robinsons (2007)
[X] Bolt (2008)
[ ] The Princess and the Frog (2009)
PIAR
——————————-
[X] Toy Story (1995)
[X] A Bug’s Life (1998)
[X] Toy Story 2 (1999)
[X] Monsters Inc. (2001)
[X] Finding Nemo (2003)
[X] The Incredibles (2004)
[X] Cars (2006)
[X] Ratatouille (2007)
[X] Wall-E (2008)
[X] Up (2009)
DON BLUTH
——————————-
[X] The Secret of NIMH (1982)
[X] An American Tail (1986)
[X] The Land Before Time (1988)
[X] All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
[X] An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
[X] Rock-a-Doodle (1991)
[ ] A Troll in Central Park (1994)
[X] Anastasia (1997)
[ ] The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
[ ] Thumbelina (1994)
[ ] Titan AE (2000)
CLAYMATION
——————————-
[ ] The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986)
[ ] The Puppetoon Movie (1987)
[O] The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
[O] James and the Giant Peach (1996)
[X] Chicken Run (2000)
[O] Corpse Bride (2005)
[X ] Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
[X] Coraline (2009)
CGI GLUT
——————————-
[X] Antz (1998)
[X] Shrek (2001)
[X] Shrek 2 (2004)
[ ] The Polar Express (2004)
[X] Madagascar (2005)
[ ] Happy Feet (2006)
[ ] Monster House (2006)
[O] Over the Hedge (2006)
[O] Beowulf (2007)
[X] Shrek The Third (2007)
[ ] Kung Fu Panda (2008)
[ ] Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
[ ] How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
[ ] Shrek Forever After (2010)
CARTOONS FOR GROWN-UPS
——————————-
[ ] Fritz the Cat (1972)
[ ] Street Fight (Coonskin) (1975)
[ ] American Pop (1981)
[X] Heavy Metal (1981)
[ ] Hey Good Lookin’ (1982)
[O] Cool World (1992)
[X] Beavis & Butthead Do America (1996)
[X] South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
[ ] Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)
[ ] Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
[ ] Waking Life (2001)
[ ] The Animatrix (2003)
[ ] Lady Death (2004)
[ ] Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005)
[ ] A Scanner Darkly (2006)
OTHER ANIMATED MOVIES
——————————-
[ ] Animal Farm (1954)
[X] Charlotte’s Web (1973)
[X] The Hobbit (1977)
[X ] Lord of the Rings (1978)
[ ] Ringing Bell (1978)
[ ] Animalympics (1980)
[ ] Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1982)
[ ] Rock & Rule (1983)
[ ] Care Bears: The Movie (1985)
[ ] He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985)
[ ] Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985)
[ ] Gobots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986)
[ ] My Little Pony: The Movie (1986)
[ ] Transformers: The Movie (1986)
[X] G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Bravestarr: The Movie (1988)
[ ] The Brave Little Toaster (1988)
[X] Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
[X] Fern Gully (1992)
[X ] Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992)
[X ] The Swan Princess (1994)
[X] Balto (1995)
[X] Space Jam (1996)
[X] Cats Don’t Dance (1997)
[X] The Prince of Egypt (1998)
[ ] Wizards (1977)
[ ] The Iron Giant (1999)
[ ] Quest For Camelot (1999)
[X] The Road to El Dorado (2000)
[X] Powerpuff Girls: The Movie (2002)
[ ] Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
[ ] Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon The Movie (2007)
[ ] Superman: Doomsday (2007)
[ ] Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
[ ] Wonder Woman (2009)
[ ] Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
[ ] Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
IMPORTS
——————————-
[ ] Arabian Knight
[ ] Back to Gaya
[ ] Yellow Submarine (1968)
[ ] Watership Down (1978)
[ ] The Last Unicorn (1982)
[ ] Light Years (1988)
[ ] When the Wind Blows (1988)
[ ] The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
[ ] Persepolis (2007)
[ ] Planet 51 (2009)
[ ] Waltz With Bashir (2008)
STUDIO GHIBLI/MIYAZAKI
——————————-
[ ] Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
[ ] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
[ ] Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
[ ] Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
[ ] Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
[ ] Only Yesterday (1991)
[ ] Porco Rosso (1992)
[O] My Neighbor Totoro (1993)
[ ] Pom Poko (Tanuki War) (1994)
[ ] Whisper of the Heart (1995)
[ ] My Neighbors The Yamadas (1999)
[ ] Princess Mononoke (1999)
[ ] The Cat Returns (2002)
[O] Spirited Away (2002)
[ ] Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
[ ] Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (2009)
[ ] Panda! Go Panda!
[ ] Tales from Earthsea
[ ] Horus, Prince of the Sun
SATOSHI KON
——————————-
[ ] Perfect Blue (1999)
[ ] Millennium Actress (2001)
[ ] Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
[ ] Paprika (2006)
SHINKAI MAKOTO
——————————-
[ ] She and Her Cat (1999)
[ ] Voices of a Distant Star (2001)
[ ] The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)
[ ] 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
OTHER ANIME FILMS
——————————-
[ ] Galay Epress 999 (1979)
[ ] Arcadia of My Youth (U.S. Title – Vengeance of the Space Pirate) (1982)
[ ] Space Adventure Cobra (1982)
[ ] The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
[ ] Unico and the Island of Magic (1983)
[ ] Lensman (1984)
[ ] Macross: Do You Remember Love (U.S. Title – Clash of the Bionoids) (1984)
[ ] The Dagger of Kamui (U.S. Title – Revenge of the Ninja Warrior) (1985)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D (1985)
[ ] Fist of the North Star (1986)
[ ] Neo-Tokyo (1986)
[ ] Project A-ko (1986)
[ ] Dirty Pair: Project Eden (1987)
[ ] Urotsukidoji: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Robot Carnival (1987)
[ ] Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force (1987)
[X] Akira (1989)
[ ] Patlabor the Movie (1989)
[ ] Silent Möbius (1991)
[ ] Ninja Scroll (1993)
[ ] Ghost in the Shell (1996)
[ ] End of Evangelion (1997)
[ ] Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (1998)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (2000)
[ ] Metropolis (2001)
[ ] Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2003)
[ ] Appleseed (2004)
[ ] Steamboy (2004)
[ ] Robotech: The Shadow Chronicle (2006)
[ ] The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
[ ] Appleseed: E Machina (2007)
[ ] Sword of the Stranger (2007)
[ ] Origin: Spirits Of The Past
ADDENDUM
——————————-
[ ] The Chipmunk Adventure (1987)
[ ] Feli the Cat: The Movie (1988)
[ ] We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (1993)
[X] The Rugrats Movie (1998)
[X] Pokemon: The First Movie (1999)
[ ] Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)
[X] Ice Age (2002)
[ ] Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
[X] Shark Tale (2004)
[ ] The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)
[X] Hoodwinked (2005)
[ ] Valiant (2005)
[ ] The Ant Bully (2006)
[ ] Flushed Away (2006)
[ ] Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
[X] Open Season (2006)
[ ] Bee Movie (2007)
[X] The Simpsons Movie (2007)
[ ] Happily N’Ever After (2007)
[X] Horton Hears a Who (2008)
[ ] Space Chimps (2008)
[X] Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
[ ] The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
[ ] 9 (2009)
[X] Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
[ ] Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
[X] Robots
(Link (Via: Siris)
June 11th, 2010 | 9:14 am
I am not sure which films I’d kick off your list, but I think “The Prince of Egypt” belongs on there, and surely “Winnie the Pooh” as well–such an understated but quietly powerful film.
By the way, where does the Lord of the Rings trilogy fit here? If you count the battle scenes, aren’t the majority of the characters animated?
June 11th, 2010 | 9:16 am
And what is “Babe”? What counts as animation?
June 11th, 2010 | 9:30 am
While I think they’re both great, I think its a stretch to call Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks animated.
But if you’re going to, how can you lay off The Incredible Mr. Limpet?
June 11th, 2010 | 9:32 am
Joe,
How can you not include Sleeping Beauty in the essential list? That film was the last Disney production to use hand-inked cels and it is the only Disney film that went “big” visually -attempting to paint a kind of medieval portrait woven into the background of the animation-. It is also one of the more “dark” Disney films which, as time has progressed, have gotten less and less cosmically intense (and far too light-hearted). Still further, the central message of Sleeping Beauty -that we are only awakened to our true selves (in Aurora’s case as the lost Princess, the “dawn” of a new age of hope in the Kingdom) by the “touch” of love- is timeless and of much contemporary relevance to phenomenological discussions of selfhood.
June 11th, 2010 | 9:33 am
I think The Incredibles is way overrated. The Lion King definitely deserves a spot on the list. And I can’t wait for Cars 2.
June 11th, 2010 | 9:41 am
You’ve never even finished Nightmare Before Christmas?
I think that movie is genius. The way that underneith the silliness and the holloween horribleness it’s really just a great love story? And the songs?
Of your Top 15 I’d say it’s definitely better than Monsters, Inc. or Toy Story 2. I also feel like calling Mary Poppins “animated” is a bit of a stretch. That’s like saying Kill Bill Vol. 1 was an animated film. Animated sequences does not an animated film make.
June 11th, 2010 | 9:43 am
I think I would ditch Monsters Inc (Pixar’s most forgettable film by far) and Peter Pan (just not that enjoyable) and replace them with Winnie the Pooh (as craig said, understated and powerful) and Robin Hood (easily the most flat out enjoyable romp Disney has ever made). Otherwise, I think you’ve made an impressively good list.
Also, Wall-e was better than Cars, but I’m not willing to go to the mat for it in that fight. Cars is a mediocre genre film while Wall-e a fairly stunning exploration of what it means to be human.
June 11th, 2010 | 9:57 am
“Hoppity Goes to Town” (also know as “Bugville”) is a Dave Fleischer classic from 1941 with great artwork, some nice music and a pretty good story.
June 11th, 2010 | 10:08 am
Waking Life is eight kinds of awesome.
June 11th, 2010 | 10:12 am
Craig Payne By the way, where does the Lord of the Rings trilogy fit here? If you count the battle scenes, aren’t the majority of the characters animated?
But in LOTR, the CGI sequences were intended to look realistic, rather than animated. Almost all action movies now include some CGI composed scenes, but their purpose is to blend in with rest of the movie.
And what is “Babe”? What counts as animation?
I love “Babe” but it falls in the category of animatronix movies, more similar to puppetry than animation.
Jim While I think they’re both great, I think its a stretch to call Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks animated.
It’s true that they’re not fully animated. But the animated sequences are essential to those films.
But if you’re going to, how can you lay off The Incredible Mr. Limpet?
I had forgotten about that one. There are so many that I saw on “The Wonderful World of Disney” that I’m never sure which ones were released in theaters.
How can you not include Sleeping Beauty in the essential list?
Um, because I’m a guy. ; )
You’re right, though. I should have probably replaced “Mary Poppins” with “Sleeping Beauty.”
Andrew I think The Incredibles is way overrated.
I watched it again recently and realized there was much I had missed on the first viewing. I think its more a film for parents than for kids. The family dynamics and the struggles to achieve excellence in a world that demands mediocrity are what will make it a classic.
Andrew You’ve never even finished Nightmare Before Christmas?
I’ll have to give it another chance. My teenage daughter loves it.
Of your Top 15 I’d say it’s definitely better than Monsters, Inc. or Toy Story 2.
What?! Toy Story 2 is the Godfather 2 of animated films—the best sequel ever made. And Monsters, Inc. is one that will stand the test of time. For people who have forgotten how scary the world of a child can be, it’s easy to dismiss. But its really a great film with a great theme that deserves more respect than it often gets.
Also, Wall-e was better than Cars, but I’m not willing to go to the mat for it in that fight.
The first 20 minutes (the silent period) of Wall-E were beautiful. The rest of the film was solid, but mostly forgettable. And I’m not sure how much kids would really appreciate it. It’s good, maybe even great, but will it stand the test of time?
Cars, on the other hand, is a very American film. Car culture is so ingrained in our country’s DNA that its surprising no one had made an animated film about them before Pixar came along. It’s also a very conservative film about the importance of localism and community. You don’t find many movies like that anymore.
June 11th, 2010 | 10:41 am
You started to watch Spirited Away but didn’t finish?? You, sir, a disqualified from this conversation.
June 11th, 2010 | 11:10 am
Up is a big omission from the list. Easily a top-five.
June 11th, 2010 | 11:34 am
I like the list, although I’d take off The Jungle Book, which has a few memorable scenes, but is mediocre as a whole.
But how is Robin Hood not on the list? It is definitely in my top 5 (and my children’s too). It has all the characteristics of a great story (love, adventure, friendship), and understands politics as well as any of the one’s you listed.
I might even rank it #1.
June 11th, 2010 | 11:51 am
Joe,
I’ll have to go give Car’s a re-watch (I admit to only having seen it on a plane with one functioning ear bud), but my memory of it is that it was full of cheap emotional sequences and obvious “pleaser” moments without much depth. Wall-e though — I honestly don’t know how you can wonder if it will stand the test of time. Has another movie –animated or not — so carefully (and humorously) explored the ways that modernity and stuff separate us from our humanity? Or the ways that Wall-e was basically just following honestly his own need for happiness, and, in the end, that was enough to bring out the humanity in everyone else? I liked the first half, aesthetically, but it was the second half that blew me away. But here I am going to the mat.
And you haven’t addressed my real beef (and Pat’s — Pat, you’re a hero): where is Robin Hood? Admittedly not as moving or deep as some other films, the spirit of adventure that permeates it makes it one of the best (and my favorite). And the ways that it shows that a person doing good (and persecuted for it) can do so with a light heart is a great lesson for kids to learn. Oo-de-lolly, I say.
June 11th, 2010 | 11:59 am
Boy, do I feel stupid – The Jungle Book isn’t even on your top list. My too-quick scrolling up and down (and reading) seems to have gotten the better of me.
And typo’s too ;)
But I still love Robin Hood.
June 11th, 2010 | 12:01 pm
I pull out three from the anime list that should be on the best list. Nothing American matches the first one. The second is about the movies and maybe why they are made and why we like them. The third is as good a coming of age story as any in mainstream cinema.
[ ] Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
[ ] Millennium Actress (2001)
[ ] Whisper of the Heart (1995)
I’ve seen 121 of the 240. And thanks for the list! I’ll be using it the next time I log onto Netflix.
June 11th, 2010 | 12:08 pm
I need to add, given the American belief that cartoons are for kids, do _not_ watch “Grave of the Fireflies” with young children.
June 11th, 2010 | 12:13 pm
Bill mentioned Fleischer’s “Hoppity Goes to Town” which is great, but before that was “Gulliver’s Travels”, which introduced Gabby and had some great singing by Lanie Ross and Jessica Dragonette, including the classic “Faithful, Forever”
June 11th, 2010 | 12:20 pm
I love the way that the Disney artists made something beautiful out of the look of Xerography in 101 Dalmations, etc. Even the Aristocats is lovely to look at at times, bland though the film is.
The films of the Disney Renaissance haven’t the artistic depth of the earlier films. The older artists had wider backgrounds in art. They weren’t cradle animation enthusiasts, but art and painting enthusiasts. That makes a big difference in the quality of the drawing and color harmonies, etc.
The new digital animation is amazing, but more like puppetry than drawings come to life. I love it, but sometimes get tired of the overdone dynamics of the images–things shoved in my face. Whatever happened to quiet charm? I love that about the Classic Disney–the slow pace for the sake of wonder. It’s what makes Bambi great.
June 11th, 2010 | 12:22 pm
” How can you not include Sleeping Beauty in the essential list? Um, because I’m a guy. ; ) ”
Have you watched it? More Beowulf than Snow White, with the best villain ever.
I’d combine the Toy Story entries, loose Cars and Monsters, and add Alladin. Can’t agree more about Incredibles, which is as much a unified conceptual bulls eye as TS.
Lion King is mawkish with weak songs, but at least you did not include the wildly over-rated UP.
June 11th, 2010 | 12:25 pm
Why just Disney and Pixar. What about Wallace & Gromit:
http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/ – clever dialogue, great stories and excellent voice-overs. If Americans, don’t know W&G you are missing out!
June 11th, 2010 | 12:25 pm
And whatever Rudolph the R-n R is, it belongs on some such list.
June 11th, 2010 | 12:28 pm
The Triplets of Belleville is wonderful!
Pom Poko is a little odd with the raccoons and their “prominent testicles.” Disney backed/distributed this film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pom_Poko
June 11th, 2010 | 12:30 pm
Well speaking as a quasi expert in these matters, I have three children under 11 and have seen many of these movies dozens of times.
Snow White might have been something in it’s day but it is hardly watchable today.
Bambi memorable for manipulating emotions but not much of a story.
Pinocchio is the best of the classic Disney movies then maybe Dumbo and Jungle Book.
Iron Giant should have been in that top ten list.
The Miracle Maker, the best movie about Jesus ever made, is nowhere on this page.
My top list: Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Incredibles, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Mulan, Up, Shrek, Iron Giant
Honorable mentions for my kids favorites: Goofy Movie, Lilo and Stich, Little Mermaid, and (Also not mentioned on the list.) The Barbie Movies
My overall favorite: The Miracle Maker
June 11th, 2010 | 12:45 pm
I have a slightly different perspective, since I watch animated movies principally for the entertainment of my soon-to-be-three-year-old son. I confess I’ve come to enjoy many of them more than I expected, but there is a difference between enjoying something as a child (or sympatetically with a child) and enjoying something as a world-weary adult. One interesting thing about animated movies is how few of them are really designed for children or evince a childlike spirit. “Bambi” is one of the very few I have seen that are truly children’s movies. The vast majority, howsoever well done on a technical level, are for adults, not in the sense that they are obscene, but in the sense that they are steeped in knowledge of the world. They are complicated, urbane, ironic, detached, in short everything a child is not. I propose a new list of best animated movies for children.
June 11th, 2010 | 12:51 pm
Thank you, T.B. Root. You expressed much of what I was thinking better than I was able to. Bambi does indeed stand out, and few animated movies have even tried to do what it did. I’m sure there are some, but I don’t know of them.
June 11th, 2010 | 1:22 pm
Joe,
I’m with Eli on this one — I can’t believe you didn’t make it through “Spirited Away” (on the other hand, I do think “Princess Mononoke” is too long). Miyazaki is a genius and there is no question that “Spirited Away” would be in my top ten. “Ponyo” might also make the cut, although I just saw it so I’d need to see it again to gauge my reaction over time (although on first viewing it I was blown away — just a visual delight).
I couldn’t agree with you more about “Monsters Inc.” — I’ve probably seen it 10 times with my girls and I laugh every single time.
I would put the “SpongeBob” movie on the top ten just because we are huge “SpongeBob” fans at my house and the movie was everything a fan of the show would want (all your favorite characters plus new ones, a great musical number, guest cameo by David Hasselhoff, etc.)
I think “Kung Fu Panda” was a lot of fun, although it is probably not good enough to make the top 15.
Finally, “9″ was visually amazing, although the plot was a little thin (and it is not really for little kids). I’d recommend it for something different in the post-apocolypse genre.
June 11th, 2010 | 1:22 pm
Chris,
Disney bought, at least, the American distribution rights on the entire Studio Ghibli stable.
Greg,
Thanks for remembering “The Miracle Maker”.
Joe,
Add “The Miracle Maker” to your claymation list. It was made in Russia.
Paul,
Try “My Neighbor Totoro” for your son. I bet he understands it better than you do.
June 11th, 2010 | 1:30 pm
The lack of any Studio Ghibli film on the top ten confuses and infuriates me. For sheer quality per film only Pixar is their equal. If that.
That said, Grave of the Fireflies is the only animated film to make me cry (Up nearly did). That film is relentless. In Japan it was a double feature with My Neighbor Totoro to keep viewers from running to the store and buying a razor.
And Spirited Away is the best hand drawn animated film ever.
June 11th, 2010 | 1:32 pm
Joe,
Another one you missed: “Gauche the Cellist” (1982) for the Other Anime list.
And the original “RTRNR” (1944) is short form (< 10 minutes), so does it belong on this list?
June 11th, 2010 | 1:37 pm
Wow. I’m with Eli. A Top 15 list not dominated by Miyazaki is no list at all. Pixar and Disney have done excellent work, but Chihiro’s train ride out to Zeniba’s house (in “Spirited Away”) is one of the most beautiful scenes ever put on film, animated or not.
For Paul Shonk, who’s looking to share an entertainment experience with a young son, I would highly recommend “Totoro.” Pure joy, no urbanity in sight.
June 11th, 2010 | 1:49 pm
When I was 6 or so I was absolutely absorbed by Totoro. A movie with no semblance of plot, that somehow managed to ignore every childrens animated cliché. Just two girls who come across forest spirits and have the sort of mini-adventures you’d expect kids that age to make up. No villains, no stupid parents who get in the kids way, no pop culture references to wink at the grown ups.
I had forgotten so much about the film when I went back to it, but the one scene firmly planted in my mind is waiting at the bus stop in the rain, and the Catbus shows up.
June 11th, 2010 | 2:52 pm
Even though it’s a compilation, The Bugs Bunny/ Road Runner Movie (1979) and other Warner Brothers cartoons were released theatrically but are not even on the list. Some of the greatest of the Warner Brothers collection including Duck Amuck, Bully for Bugs, and What’s Opera Doc are bridged here by Bugs, the Hollywood star at home. It’s climaxed by a 20 min compilation within the compilation of Road Runner movies. For sheer side splitting hilarity I think it beats anything else listed. One of the most depressing recent things I’ve read lately is that a lot of kids have no idea how funny these cartoons are.
June 11th, 2010 | 3:07 pm
What about Tale of Despereaux?
June 11th, 2010 | 3:48 pm
I have three boys under five, so animated fare is about all I see when it comes to movies.
Top 3 Pixar Films:
1. The Incredibles
2. Up
3. Monsters Inc.
Ratatouille and Wall-E get honorable mention.
Finding Nemo and Cars are both overrated.
Best non-Pixar films of late:
1. Bee Movie
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox (adult humor, but our kids love it)
3. Madagascar
Jungle Book is a classic and our boys love the music.
June 11th, 2010 | 5:05 pm
I always enjoyed “Plague Dogs” but it didn’t make any of the above lists.
June 11th, 2010 | 7:21 pm
Monsters Inc. is a great movie! I cry at the ending every single time I watch it.
I have a problem with Wall-e: every time I watch it I come up with another silly thing in the imagined world. So the people who could make a self-sustaining space ship couldn’t clean up the planet or keep it from filling up with garbage? So a self-sustaining space ship jettisons garbage? How could it? It would have to recycle everything. So a Twinkie could last for 700 years? Too silly! However, Wall-e is a far more human character than most characters in non-animated movies; he’s worth watching.
June 11th, 2010 | 8:54 pm
1. Hot tip: Pixar and much of Disney, unrivaled? Laughable.
2. You haven’t seen most of the best animation in the world if your checklist is the measure. Studio 4C, Kratky Film, nothing?
3. The real art is in animated shorts, not features. Your opinion’s basically worthless if you don’t know Yurii Norshtein from Aleksandr Petrov, for instance.
Cripes, Joe. Learn before you pontificate!
June 11th, 2010 | 9:10 pm
OK, I’m a little older than y’all. But, after being totally immersed in reading Kipling as a preteen and teenager, I remember my reaction in seeing the Jungle book as rock’n'roll bears. Crap and nonsense!! I haven’t changed: you spent all that time watching that stuff? What in the world for? Do you read?
June 11th, 2010 | 9:23 pm
Good list, very fun to read (the comments too). How about a post in the future on animation intended for television? (I would hope the Flintstones rank high on that list)
June 11th, 2010 | 10:19 pm
I, too, lament the absence of Studio Ghibli on your list. Miyazaki is closer to being the Walt Disney of our age than anyone else alive. Although he’d certainly be the first to tell you that he’s walking in the Master’s footsteps.
I’m with you on Monster’s Inc–a movie with a lot of heart that also pays tribute to the classic slapstick cartoons of the 40s and 50s. Cars, on the other hand, didn’t do much for me. For some reason, unlike talking animals, I just can’t take talking cars seriously.
June 11th, 2010 | 10:48 pm
I have to confess a special fondness for “The Emperor’s New Groove.”
“Beware the Groove!”
June 12th, 2010 | 12:05 am
“The real art is in animated shorts, not features. Your opinion’s basically worthless if you don’t know Yurii Norshtein from Aleksandr Petrov, for instance.”
Anybody who thinks in terms of “real art” (most likely a definition limited to visual ingenuity) will understandably think that “real art” is only in those shorts that do not have the length to actually tell a story.
Unfortunately, their opinion on animated “films” is next to worthless. It’s like trying to use some unintelligible hipster bible to judge what makes good movies.
Such people tend to forget that, while visual in nature, animated films are still a story-telling medium. Clever visuals may make for nice visual art, but the lack of a story makes them lousy films.
June 12th, 2010 | 3:06 am
I second (third, fourth, etc) comments re: Miyazaki topping the list. I’ve watched My Neighbor Totoro with my 5 kids (ages 10 and under) 100+ times by now and it still never gets old.
We also liked Emperor’s New Groove and Hercules, even though Herc was pretty standard Disney cliche. (the animated series was great, though)
dunno if this counts, but our current favorite animated show are our seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender. My whole family enjoys every viewing.
June 12th, 2010 | 5:00 am
“Anybody who thinks in terms of “real art” (most likely a definition limited to visual ingenuity) will understandably think that “real art” is only in those shorts that do not have the length to actually tell a story.”
Er, I’m not sure that’s even true, much less able to be assumed. Petrov’s The Cow is 10 times the movie that Toy Story is, Raoul Servais (of Harpy, for example) combines bitterness and sweetness far better than Bakshi, and The Great Piggy Bank Robbery has detail that a similarly-funded feature couldn’t sustain. All of those create narratives, as most animated shorts do.
June 12th, 2010 | 5:05 am
Oh, and in some countries, feature or television animation is uniformly commercialized. Japan, though the home of Ghibli, 4C, and Madhouse, is 1 of them. When these commercial animators get a chance to make shorts, however…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XpvlrOcEcM
Basically, features-only people skip the best stuff.
June 12th, 2010 | 2:17 pm
From now on, this thread is limited to features only.
There!
June 12th, 2010 | 2:23 pm
Speaking of shorts and features: Observe the subtlety of “Winnie the Pooh,” in which several short stories glide into one another in order to make up (eventually) a feature film.
One reason I have such fond memories of that film is that I watched it for the first time when we had our first child, a boy. He was three or four at the time. At the end, when Christopher had to “grow up” and go to school–I admit it, I was sobbing. My kid thought I’d flipped out.
Even now (my kids are now 15 and 12) I have to be careful about certain films. Besides, my kids now get embarrassed at emotional displays.
June 12th, 2010 | 10:25 pm
For those who are extolling the virtues of Robin Hood, are you aware it was clearly Disney’s attempt to retread The Jungle Book? It’s clearly a poor imitation. Watch them in succession.
One film missing from your list is Recess (School’s Out). Disney’s Saturday morning cartoon series Recess was notable for its voice actors that parents would recognize, primarily Robert Goulet as Mikey’s singing voice.
June 12th, 2010 | 11:40 pm
Dang! You open the lists to shorts and then what do you do with the hundreds of Japanese anime series? Craig’s right, features only.
And I’m sorry GhaleonQ has seen so few of what’s out there.
June 13th, 2010 | 11:39 am
Sorry, but anyone who hasn’t feasted on the scriptural typology of Dreamworks’
“Joseph King of Dreams”
OR
the grisaille depiction of innocence and evil in
“Grave of the Fireflies”
OR
the quirky multicultural exuberance of
“Kiki’s Delivery Service”
OR
in fails to include in the category of his favored Bedknobs combo art-form the Dantesque pits-n-purgatorio-n-paradiso
“What Dreams May Come”
(self-reported *blank* on all of them)
isn’t qualified to speak of FIRST THINGS in animation… at least one of them should top an informed (as in Bonaventure’s forms, google BVXI on the topic) reviewer’s list… ugh!
June 13th, 2010 | 11:45 am
and add me to the mea culpa re:
The Miracle Maker, (*a very good claymation) movie about Jesus
(* Qualification = it never really introduces the concept of his Bride the Church, so for me it falls in to the category of sentimental ‘Jesus is my boyfriend’ stuff suitable for juvenile catechism but not prime time!
June 13th, 2010 | 5:25 pm
I am surprised that the animation of the National Film Board of Canada has not made your list.
The NFBC has made animation shorts for most of its 70 year history, and pioneered many animation techniques. While some were seen in theatres as animation shorts, most of them were sold to public libraries and schools and screened in 16 mm.
These treasures, which include many, many Academy Award nominations, can be screened on-line at:
http://www.nfb.ca/playlist/nfb-oscar-nominations/
Note, many of these films are not for children.
June 14th, 2010 | 9:46 pm
Having thought about it for a few days, I think one weakness of the animated movie meme is that it has no Christmas category — because there are a number of classic animated films that are not on the list that fall into this category (The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and several claymation versions of Christmas songs).
June 15th, 2010 | 4:14 am
“Dang! You open the lists to shorts and then what do you do with the hundreds of Japanese anime series? Craig’s right, features only.”
Include them, of course. Asking for the best of animation and limiting choices to features is like asking for the best novel from the Arab world before 1800. Poetry was the dominant form there. Shorts are the dominant form of animation.
“And I’m sorry GhaleonQ has seen so few of what’s out there.”
Huh?
June 15th, 2010 | 7:20 am
My sisters an I grew up watching a video from our hometown library called Flight of Dragons. Really good voice acting and well done visuals. It’s a Rankin-Bass picture. Did anyone else grow up loving this one? From what I can tell, it doesn’t even have a cult following on the internet, but it should have.
June 20th, 2010 | 7:40 am
Just read this from Jeffrey Overstreet and Steven Greydanus over at the IMAGE blog
http://imagejournal.org/page/blog/revealing-the-secret-of-kells-part-1
and not being familiar with this newly released work, sought out this clip on YouTube
It’s use of angular flat ribbons for the serpent SO reminded me of two other animated treatments of the book Flatland I had completely overlooked and again didn’t make the cut to your lengthy selection: the original (IMHO more authentic to Abbot) treatment
and Flatland – The Movie
narrated by Martin Sheen
June 26th, 2010 | 11:50 pm
I’ve watched Treasure Planet so many times.
It never gets old.
I love it.
June 29th, 2010 | 10:23 pm
Before the live action movies, there were three LOTR animated films.
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