The user Ry Senkari recently created a list where he ranked the top 100 animated films of all time and included write-ups. These are his rankings as of July 1, 2013.
Honorable Mention[]
125. Gay Purr-ee
124. The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea
123. Steamboy
122. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie
121. Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest
120. Recess: School's Out
119. The Return Of Jafar
118. Ice Age
117. Appleseed
116. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
115. The Sword and the Stone
114. Rio
113. The Aristocats
112. Fantasia 2000
111. Whisper Of The Heart
110. Wakko's Wish
109. The Rescuers Down Under
108. Batman: Under the Red Hood
107. Metropolis
106. Oliver and Company
105. Ponyo
104. Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island
103. Tokyo Godfathers
102. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
101. Meet the Robinsons
The List[]
#100: Pokemon: The Movie 2000 (aka Pocket Monsters The Movie: Revelation Lugia)
Year of Release: 1999 (original), 2000 (USA)
Director: Kunihiko Yuyama
The best of the Pokemon movies, Pokemon 2000 improved on its predecessor in pretty much every conceivable way, from the quality of the animation, to the epic battle in the endgame, to the music and the characters and pretty much everything else. I was very surprised to find out that critics hated it because it really is a quality film. In this film, the villain (Lawrence III in the American dub, Jirarudan in the original) attempts to capture the three legendary birds, which causes weather calamities all over the world. He's capturing them so that the mighty Lugia will emerge to quell the fighting and then he can capture Lugia as well. However, Lugia fails to stop the fighting and that's when Ash comes in, Ash has to gather the legendary treasures together (while avoiding getting killed by the birds and stormy weather) and use them (along with a special musical tune) to quell the birds' rage. The villain was rather cheesy but he WAS voiced by Chairman Kaga in the original, so that's to be expected. I also thought the character arc of Melody was quite nice, she starts out as this rather spoiled, ditzy girl but then turns out to be the key to saving everyone by playing that song at the end. The music, particularly the main theme (which got a great Donna Summer rendition in the American credits) was much more epic than the music in the previous film and we didn't have to deal with any of that cheesy "my brother" garbage from the first film. And we also got a Herman Cain meme out of it 11 years later, so it turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving. The fighting between the mystic birds was spectacular, much better than the final battle in the first movie. I know there's going to be some disagreement on the subject of "best Pokemon movie" (I've heard a lot of people really liked the third), but all the elements of this film really come together and ultimately we get the Pokemon adventure that the first film should have been.
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#99: Epic
Year of Release: 2013
Director: Chris Wedge
A very recent film but one that really impressed me, Epic was a lot more than the sum of its parts and transcends what one would expect from the typical "person gets forced into a natural world and has to help the local denizens" type of film that we've seen in the past. There were comparisons to Fern Gully but instead, Epic just turned out to be a very well animated and well paced film. There weren't any overbearing environmental messages, the decay creatures weren't caused by human intrusions into the forest but were just the natural forces of decay personified and turned into an army of wicked and horrific creatures. So yeah, the story itself was quite good even if this film still had plenty of cliches to go around. The voice acting, while loaded with a star-studded celebrity cast, was very nice, with Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Colin Farrell, and even Beyonce standing out and giving good performances. The animation was utterly beautiful, the natural environments looked colorful and vivid and it was definitely one of the best looking animated films of all time. There were a lot of little moments that worked quite well, like the little plant girl who eventually became the new queen, and any of the scenes with MK and her dad. The snails didn't take over the film like comedy relief characters have done in so many other animated films as of late. Epic's biggest triumph was definitely the quality of its animation, had the entire film been as good as it looked it would have gotten a much higher spot on this list, but the film still stands out as one of the best animated films of this young decade.
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#98: Cats Don't Dance
Year of Release: 1997
Director: Mark Dindal
"BIIIIIIIIIIG AAAAAAAND LOOOOOOOUD!" Released in the waning age of animated musicals, Cats Don't Dance was one of Warner Brothers' first forays into this field that had been so successful for Disney over the decade. The film follows a young cat named Danny from Kokomo, Indiana, who tries to make it big in Hollywood but finds out that the big city isn't what it seems and eventually runs afoul of the starlet Darla Dimple, best described as the spawn of Shirley Temple and Satan. Darla Dimple pretty much stole the show and credit to the casting department for putting a real little girl (in this case Ashley Peldon, though Lindsay Ridgeway was amazing as Darla's singing voice) in the role. Honestly, she could have been the top animated villain of that year if the year hadn't happened to be a banner year for great animated villain performances (more on that later). Danny and Sawyer's romance was pretty cliche, you expected them to get together, though their character interaction was still somewhat fun. The plot also attempted some social commentary, with the plight of the animal actors reflecting the plight of real minority actors in Hollywood at the time, which added a layer of complexity to the otherwise ordinary storyline. Cats Don't Dance was at its core a fun musical. Nothing too special but with a fantastic and memorable villain (and villain song), Cats Don't Dance secures its place as a true animated classic.
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#97: Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
Year of Release: 2009
Directors: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
A silly and surprisingly touching animated film, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs took a lot of people (including me) by surprise when it was released back in 2009. Based on a children's book, the film expanded and transformed the world of the book and in this case it worked. Basically, Flint is an inventor who's become a pariah in the town due to all his failed inventions, but when he invents a machine that causes it to rain food, he instantly becomes a hero and his town becomes famous worldwide....but as to be expected with these types of things, there's a hitch in the device and only Flint can fix it before it destroys the town (and the world). One of the characters that really stood out for me was Sam Sparks, the weather girl reporter played by Anna Faris who turned out to be a massive weather nerd. Of particular note was the adorable scene where Flint makes a jello scrunchie for her and tells her she looks really beautiful when she's wearing it, it was a very funny and sweet scene and it was really adorable that he ended up having a thing for nerdy-looking girls, it helps that Sam really is cute when she's wearing the scrunchie. We also got a really nice performance out of James Caan as Flint's father, he had two stand-out scenes, one involving technology that's absolutely hilarious if you have a parent who's no good with computers, and then there's that scene at the end where Flint's dad tells him how much he really loves him. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs succeeds because of its great characters and the relationships between them.
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#96: Titan A.E.
Year of Release: 2000
Directors: Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
The swan song for Don Bluth and for Fox Animation (at lleast until the Simpsons movie), Titan A.E. was a sci-fi animated film taking place after the destruction of Earth by energy beings known as the Drej. Its plot revolves around the protagonists' search for the Titan, a ship that can be used to create a new world for humans to call home. A lot of the controversy surrounding this film revolved around its marketing problems, people didn't know whether it was intended for kids or for adults and it ultimately bombed at the box office, ruining Don Bluth's career and signaling one of the first death rattles for 2-D animated movies in general. That said, the film was ultimately ahead of its time. The animation was quite good and better in a lot of ways than Treasure Planet while on significantly less of a budget. The cast of characters was quite lovable as well, Cale and Akima were fairly cliche but Korso (voiced excellently by Bill Pullman) turned out to be quite complex and had some great moments, particularly his heroic sacrifice. The voice acting in general was great, it was one of the first big celebrity casts but, as in Anastasia a few years before, the celebrities performed quite well. It's a shame that sci-fi animated films don't tend to do well at the box office because they're usually really good. I guess they're another casualty of the Animation Age Ghetto.
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#95: Charlotte's Web
Year of Release: 1973
Directors: Charles A. Nichols and Iwao Takamoto
Based on the classic children's novel by E.B. White, this Hanna-Barbara film was a movie musical in the vein of the old Disney musicals, with some pretty big names at the time making appearances in the voice cast. Standing out, Debbie Reynolds as Charlotte gave an amazing performance and Paul Lynde as Templeton wasn't far behind, at times stealing the show. There were some VERY memorable songs in this film, the songs in fact are what I remember most. Charlotte's song, "Mother Earth and Father Time", turns heartrendingly poignant as it's the song she's singing when she dies. Templeton's song at the fair as he gathers up and eats lots and lots AND lots of abandoned food was a treat as well. The film was easily the best adaptation of E.B. White's book, beating the pants off of the live-action film from 2006. I know he hated it because of all the music, but the music really was the best thing about this movie and it really was fitting for the film, which captured the crucial parts of the book in a way that made the movie both touching and fun. At a time when Disney was entering its Bronze Age, it was nice to have films like Charlotte's Web to pick up the slack. The animation itself was far from perfect (barely a step up in quality from Hanna Barbara's televised fare) but the voice acting, songs, and dialogue more than made up for it and the film itself is a more than worthy adaptation of a fantastic novel.
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#94: Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Year of Release: 2005
Directors: Nick Park and Steve Box
Wallace and Gromit's first feature film made a lot of waves when it hit the theaters back in 2005, making nearly $200 million and winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Its critical and commercial success were well-deserved, this was quite a delightful film. The plot revolves around the two main characters, Wallace and his dog Gromit, as they attempt to run a successful pest control business and prevent rabbits from invading the town's vegetable gardens. The pair attempt to use a mind control machine on the rabbits in order to control them better but end up creating a special rabbit named Hutch who might well be the Were-Rabbit, the beast chomping the town's vegetables and threatening its upcoming competition. In a somewhat hilarious twist, the Were-Rabbit turns out to be WALLACE himself and Gromit has to somehow stop him. The film features plenty of the visual humor that's become the hallmark of the Wallace and Gromit franchise, with lots of absurdity and charm. The film doesn't try to ramp things up beyond what would typically be seen in a Wallace and Gromit short, instead taking what we already loved about the characters and just giving us more of it. As for the characters unique to the film, Ralph Fiennes' Victor is a memorable villain and Helena Bonham Carter is quite charming as Lady Tottington, though it's Wallace and Gromit who truly shine. The partnership between Dreamworks and Aardman has produced some real gems and it's truly fortunate that Wallace and Gromit were able to get a feature film as a result, because this was probably the best animated feature of 2005.
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#93: The Castle of Cagliostro (aka Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro)
Year of Release: 1979 (original), 1991 (USA)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki's first appearance on this list (hint: it won't be his last), The Castle of Cagliostro was actually the SECOND Lupin III film (what is it about second installments of anime feature film series being so good?), and one of his greatest adventures. The film revolves around the master thief Lupin III (of course) and his band of thieves stealing a bunch of counterfeit money and attempting to track down the source of the bills. Ultimately, they get caught up in a massive adventure where Lupin has to rescue the beautiful princess Clarisse from a wicked count. This was at its core an incredibly fun movie that pretty much contained everything that makes Lupin III so great. Humor, both character and situation based, high adventure, thrills, spills, chases, and just incredible fun, it's to Lupin III what Curse of the Were-Rabbit was to Wallace and Gromit (which is why they're both so close together). American audiences were likely introduced to this movie from footage that appeared in the laserdisc arcade game Cliff Hanger (when I saw it on Starcade it looked more awesome than Dragon's Lair) and you'd have to have no heart to not want to see more after viewing that footage. The climactic scene in which Lupin has a showdown with the count atop a clock tower was incredibly dramatic and exciting, and one of the more visually beautiful scenes to appear in an animated film as well.
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#92: Bolt
Year of Release: 2008
Directors: Chris Williams and Byron Howard
Bolt might get some hate, but it's really unwarranted as I felt that this film was the beginning of Disney's animated film recovery in the late 2000s. The film is about a dog named Bolt who stars as a superhero dog who rescues a girl named Penny. However, the dog truly believes he has actual superpowers and when he believes Penny is in real danger, he escapes his confinement and sets out on a cross-country journey to save her. Along the way he recruits a cat named Mittens (whom he believes to be in league with Penny's kidnappers) and a hamster named Rhino who happens to be one of Bolt's biggest fans. The three have a number of adventures together as they make their way to try and rescue Penny. The dynamic between all three main animal characters is at the core of this film, and the chemistry between Bolt and Mittens (not THAT kind of chemistry, shippers) provides some of the best moments of the film. Susie Essman's excellent line delivery as the sardonic cat provides some hilarious one liners, while Rhino has some fantastic moments as well. The film was very touching at its core, especially after Bolt finds out he's not really heroic and comes to believe that Penny doesn't care about him, and it's Mittens who has to convince him that Penny truly does love him. The film's climax, while admittedly having relatively low stakes compared to some of the classic Disney films, is still extremely dramatic as you've really come to care about these characters over the course of the film. Even Miley Cyrus' performance as Penny was decent enough. While not a truly great film, Bolt is one of those movies that gets a lot more hate than it deserves, but it's definitely among the better of the post-Home on the Range Disney fare and a film that proves that the Mouse House still has it.
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#91: The Triplets of Belleville
Year of Release: 2003
Director: Sylvain Chomet
This Oscar nominated French film from 2003 is one of the stranger movies on my list, but it proved the versatility of animation, particularly the old-school 2-D type of animation, as a storytelling medium. The film features a woman named Madame Souza, whose grandson Champion is a professional cyclist. When he's kidnapped by gangsters and taken to the city of Belleville, Souza has to team up with a group of elderly singers (the titular triplets) to rescue him. The film used music and visuals in a very unique way, its musical style an homage to the big band swinging of the first half of the 20th Century. This is one of those films you can't just tune out and listen to while sitting and doing something else, you really have to watch close for all the visual gags, which animated movies and shows don't do all that much anymore. It's one of those films you have to watch more than once to get everything. While telling a very emotional story at its core, the film was DEFINITELY a comedy at heart with some of its scenes laugh-out-loud hilarious (the dog Bruno is one of the best animated dogs maybe ever). Again, this was a film that showed why animation is still important by telling its story in such a way that a live-action film couldn't have done. You can't really do the story of a grandmother searching for her kidnapped grandson as a comedy in live-action unless you make it an out-and-out farce. There were some farcical moments in Belleville to be sure, but the medium of animation allowed the film to be charming while also being dramatic and emotional and the result was a beautiful homage to classical animation with some of the best of the medium's modern achievements mixed in.
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#90: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Year of Release: 1984 (original), 2005 (USA)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
One of Hayao Miyazaki's first masterpieces, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a post-apocalyptic film that revolves around the character of Nausicaa, a brave young woman who lives in a jungle and attempts to find a cure for the polluted, dessicated planet. The film has inspired many, many fictional works, some of them (like Disney's Atlantis) can be considered direct homages while other films (possibly Fern Gully and even James Cameron's Avatar) have taken some measure of inspiration. Either way, this film is one of the most influential animated movies of all time and there's a good reason why. The animation is vivid and beautiful, an early Studio Ghibli hallmark (though the studio didn't actually exist at the time, this film is considered a direct precursor). Nausicaa herself is a fantastic character with one of the best character arcs of all the Miyazaki characters, she's a pacifist at heart but an absolutely fierce warrior when provoked. Nausicaa isn't the best of Miyazaki's works (I felt that Nausicaa herself was the only really well-developed character in the film), but the wonderful animation and the fact that this film inspired so many more down the road make it an easy choice for this list.
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#89: Transformers: The Movie
Year of Release: 1986
Directors: Nelson Shin and Margaret Nichols
Forget Michael Bay's trilogy, this was the first and best appearance of Optimus Prime and friends on the big screen. The film's action revolves around the intrusion of the evil and enormous Unicron on the Transformers' home world of Cybertron, while Megatron converts into the powerful Decepticon known as Galvatron. This movie is of course known for the death of Optimus Prime, which made many a kid cry in the movie theater. This movie was before my time, so I never experienced such a thing but the way the death was presented in the movie was shocking and would definitely stir the emotions of any long time Transformers fan. The film is known for featuring Orson Welles' last acting performance as the voice of Unicron and in typical Orson Welles fashion he did a fantastic job, a hell of a way to go out. We also had Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron in another inspired performance. Hell, the whole cast was star-studded. The fights in this film were absolutely epic, beyond anything that appeared in any of the live action Transformers movies. The movie is jam-packed with some of the best action sequences in an animated movie. And then of course there's that finale, one of the greatest scenes in movie history, where Hot Rod transforms into Rodimus Prime. They couldn't have picked a better song for that scene. This was another one of those "what you see is what you get films", it stumbles when there's not much action on screen but the action itself is thrilling enough to make this a true animated classic.
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#88: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Year of Release: 1977
Directors: John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman
This delightful film is technically one of Disney's "package films" in the tradition of Disney's World War II-era films such as Fun and Fancy Free. However, the featurettes work together as a wonderful package and this film is essentially the pinnacle of Disney's Winnie the Pooh material. You get some of the best of Pooh Bear's adventures (Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day is particularly good, with Winnie and friends searching for a new home for Owl after the wind knocks his old house down) with added animated material to tie them all together into a cohesive film. This film was released during what was considered to be the nadir of Disney animation, the period between the death of Walt Disney and the beginning of the Disney Renaissance, but the era still produced some good films and this was one of the best, utilizing one of Disney's most beloved characters to help carry the company through a rough patch. It's a film that's particularly fun to watch on re-viewings, as Winnie the Pooh's adventures never get old and they're simultaneously funny and adorable.
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#87: Waltz With Bashir
Year of Release: 2008
Director: Ari Folman
A powerful documentary about the 1982 Lebanon War, the film used animation as a medium to retell the brutal and yet touching story of Folman's time in the IDF during the war. Its unique animation style merged a comic-book like styling with traditional animation to provide realistic-looking people and images while combining them with the exaggerated, fantastical imagery that animation makes possible, allowing the viewer to get a glimpse into Folman's mentality during this incredibly brutal conflict. This was one of the first Israeli animated features to be released in nearly half a century, and it's clear that the country's tumultuous circumstances have influenced the style of its art. The fact that Folman used the medium of animation to tell his story is indicative of his desire for this documentary to stand out among the many, many other war documentaries that have been released, the medium allowing Folman to choose which images to make vivid and bring to the viewer's attention. It's not the best documentary or the best animated film, but the combination of the two media is something more directors should try.
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#86: The Secret World Of Arrietty (aka The Borrower Arrietty)
Year of Release: 2010 (original), 2012 (USA)
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Based on Mary Norton's novel The Borrowers, this film tells the story of Arrietty, a tiny person who is one of many such creatures who intrude into people's homes and "borrow" various items. Arrietty encounters a boy named Sho (Shawn in the English dub), who befriends her and eventually comes to assist her in her missions. One is of course reminded of the 1990s live-action Borrowers film when first hearing of this movie, but Arrietty is ultimately a vastly different and vastly superior film, focusing on the struggle of Arrietty to save her people and of the strength that both Sho and Arrietty give to one another (Sho has a heart condition and needs an operation, which is not likely to succeed, it's Arrietty who gives him the strength to endure it and pull through.) The English voice cast is excellent, with Bridgit Mendler and David Henrie both great as the voices of Arrietty and Sho respectively. The film revolves around two axes: the relationship between Arrietty and her family and the relationship between Arrietty and Sho. There's more than just heart to this film though, the animation is whimsical and beautiful (as to be expected from a Ghibli film) and it's quite exciting as well, you really get attached to Arrietty and her fellow Borrowers and there are a lot of tense moments throughout.
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#85: The Polar Express
Year of Release: 2004
Director: Robert Zemeckis
The first of Robert Zemeckis' big budget mo-cap based CGI films, The Polar Express was based on the classic children's book, bringing the story of the train that takes good children to the North Pole to meet Santa to life in beautiful fashion. The film was controversial among some animation buffs, who believed the ultra-realistic CGI created characters that fell too deep into the Uncanny Valley to be visually appealing. It's a matter of personal taste, of course, but I felt that for the most part the characters looked quite nice and there were indeed times when the advanced animation made some of the incredible visuals seem real. The train was beautifully animated as it chugged through the snowy expanses toward the North Pole, and the characters themselves were quite endearing. The friendship between the main children was extremely heartwarming, particularly the scenes when the girl lost her ticket and the boy had to get it back for her. Tom Hanks was fantastic in this film as all the voices that he did, showing that once again he's just as good at voice acting as he is at live-action acting and the complaints of too many celebrity voice actors don't apply to him. He's the star of the film and he absolutely excels in every part he plays. He even did the motion capture for the main boy character (though Daryl Sabara did the voice and was quite good at it). The sound of the train chugging through the landscape was awe-inspiring and the film's soundtrack, headlined by Josh Groban's excellent song "Believe", tied everything together. The Polar Express does the book justice and most of the complaints hold very little water. All-around, it's a magical film.
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#84: Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost
Year of Release: 1999
Director: Jim Stenstrum
The second DTV Scooby-Doo feature following the late 1990s series resurrection, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is the film I consider to be the best DTV Scooby movie ever. Yes, better than Zombie Island, which I also consider to be a great movie. What made Witch's Ghost the superior film in my opinion was that it was more like a classic Scooby-Doo mystery, rather than Zombie Island which included paranormal elements from quite early in the film. In Witch's Ghost, Scooby and the gang have to uncover the mysterious hauntings in a New England tourist town. Ultimately, it's the townspeople themselves who have been conducting the hauntings to drum up tourist dollars. Of course, that's when the movie gets truly paranormal, when the Witch's Ghost herself is unleashed by Ben Ravenscroft who turns out to be descended from the witch. The film combines the best of the old Scooby Doo mysteries with the paranormal elements of the newer series, giving us one of Scooby's best adventures to date. The film introduced the Hex Girls, a goth-themed rock band who had some killer musical numbers in the movie (Jennifer Hale as Thorn was inspired casting) and had some great character interaction between Freddy and Daphne, with some nice Shaggy and Scooby comedy as well. Tim Curry appeared as Ben Ravenscroft and performed fantastically as he usually does (and even better once he reveals himself as a villainous warlock) The movie is just fun all over and something no Scooby Doo fan should miss. It's always nice to see a legendary animated character get a movie worthy of their legacy.
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#83: Pocahontas
Year of Release: 1995
Directors: Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg
Pocahontas was intended to be Disney's next big Oscar bait film after Beauty and the Beast. In fact, it was considered during production to be the A project while The Lion King was considered the B project. We all know how that went, of course, but Pocahontas still has lots of things going for it despite the controversy it's received over the years. The film is based on the legend of Pocahontas, the beautiful Native American girl who fell in love with the English settler John Smith and brought peace between their tribes. It's of course not what REALLY happened, Pocahontas in real life was a young girl and the real John Smith fabricated the romance story to impress his men, but even knowing the real Pocahontas story, the film itself presents a cohesive and fascinating story of its own. Yes, it's the whole Dances with Wolves/Fern Gully culture clash romance archetype we've seen so much before, but the characters, music, and animation in Pocahontas provide a far more compelling narrative than Fern Gully. The voice acting is superb (why didn't they include Mel Gibson's song in the film? He's a good singer) and some of the scenes are incredibly beautiful (like when Pocahontas first encounters John Smith). Then there's the "Savages" scene, featuring some of the most goosebump-inducing visuals you'll ever see in a Disney film. Looking past the flaws, Pocahontas itself is a good movie. It doesn't rank highly when compared to some of Disney's greats or even some of the other 90s films, but it's entertaining and heartwarming nonetheless. All Nostalgia Chick hate aside (and she's picked apart more than one film on this list), Pocahontas still captures a lot of that great Disney magic.
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#82: The Rescuers
Year of Release: 1977
Directors: Wolfgang Reitherman, John Lounsbery, and Art Stevens
Disney's other film release from 1977, The Rescuers was one of Disney's forgotten films in a lot of ways, but it was a fun adventure that definitely kept up the company's reputation for fun-filled animated adventures. Based on a series of books, The Rescuers revolves around a pair of mice, Bernard and Bianca, who are members of an organization known as the Rescue Aid Society, who protect and rescue people in need around the world. This time, it's a girl named Penny whom they must rescue from a greedy woman named Madame Medusa who seeks a lost diamond. The two mice get into many adventures on the way to rescue Penny, contending with Medusa and her pair of vicious crocodiles. The film is a straight-up adventure, there's not too much complexity to it, with the two big emotional stories being the growing romance between Bernard and Bianca and Penny's desire to have a real family. Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor perform the voices of the two mice and they do quite a good job, particularly Bob Newhart who's always funny in whatever he does. The film's best scene is likely when Penny and the two mice have to retrieve the diamond for Madame Medusa while the cave they're in slowly floods, you're pretty much on the edge of your seat which of course was the intended effect. There's not too much to The Rescuers, but what it does it does especially well.
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#81: Castle in the Sky (aka Laputa)
Year of Release: 1986 (original), 1989 (USA)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Based slightly on the floating land of Laputa from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Castle in the Sky soon carves out its own world of adventure and wonder. In the film, Laputa is the only remaining sky city with all the others having been destroyed by various calamities. The heroine, Sheeta, possesses a mysterious amulet. The film itself is visually very beautiful, the skyscapes making it one of the best looking of all of Miyazaki's films. It's more of a straight-up adventure than a lot of his later works, eschewing a lot of the quirkiness that made those films so memorable, instead focusing on its main cast and on some very nice action and battle sequences. For that reason, while it's not as profound and memorable as some of Miyazaki's other works, it's still an extremely fun watch. Pazu and Sheeta are some of the most likable of all the Miyazaki protagonists, and you really find yourself caring about their plight throughout the film.
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#80: The Black Cauldron
Year of Release: 1985
Directors: Ted Berman, Richard Rich
The Black Cauldron is perhaps the most obscure Disney feature film outside of the package films, it's easily confused for a Don Bluth movie and was notably the first Disney feature to get a PG rating. That said, it was an excellent fantasy film and it should get a lot more love than it currently does. Based on the Newbery award winning Prydain books, The Black Cauldron is the story of Taran, a young boy who dreams of becoming a great warrior and defeating the evil Horned King. Along the way, he befriends and eventually falls in love with the princess Eilonwy and must discover his own inner strength in order to save the realm and the princess. Sounds like the plot of an old-school JRPG, doesn't it? The Horned King should've gone down in history as one of Disney's most memorable villains, he's a devilish beast and one of the scariest animated villains of all time (and voiced perfectly by John Hurt). Meanwhile, Eilonwy's probably the most obscure Disney Princess. Good luck seeing her get any merchandise, Disney's tried to bury this film and has only recently acknowledged it with home video releases (still waiting on that Blu-Ray, Disney!). Seriously, this film got beat by the CARE BEARS MOVIE (which will not be appearing on this list). People had bad taste even back then, it seems.
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#79: Watership Down
Year of Release: 1978
Director: Martin Rosen
One of the greatest British animated films of all time, Watership Down is the story of a group of rabbits led by a rabbit named Hazel who seek to find a new home after one of them, a rabbit named Fiver, has a vision of the destruction of their own home. Thus they set out on a dangerous journey (and the dangers are very, VERY real, as demonstrated right from the start) to find a new place to settle, eventually deciding to seek a hill known as Watership Down. Though the plot follows the "journey" type of adventure that pops up in many animated films (and that we'll see more of on this very list), this film pulls absolutely no punches in the danger it presents its protagonists. Not only do they have to battle other animals and the forces of nature, but other rabbits as well, displaying a vivid parallel to man's own inhumanity. It's a powerful movie with a powerful message, though some of the scenes are extremely intense and frightening. The violence is among the most realistic ever seen in an animated film, magnifying the mood of the film and the tensions the characters face. Watership Down was clearly meant to leave an indelible impression on anyone who watched it and in that aspect, it more than succeeds.
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#78: Persepolis
Year of Release: 2007
Directors: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
Persepolis is a French animated film based on the autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian girl who was forced to flee Iran during the Iranian Revolution. The film chronicles her life before, during, and after the revolution, and Marjane's struggle to remain true to herself even as societal pressures push and pull her in different directions. The film depicts a struggle that many Iranian expats have faced, struggling with homesickness in new environments, wishing for the chance to return home while knowing that it can never be as long as the new regime remains in place. The stylized animation is simplistic but expressive, though comparisons to the Triplets of Belleville, another French film that appears earlier on this list, are like comparing apples to oranges. Persepolis' strength lies not in the power of its visuals but with its message, conveyed through animation in such a way that shows Marjane's struggle in an informative and inspiring way. It's a film that anyone who's interested in the state of the modern Middle East needs to see, depicting the conflict between internal and external pressures and the struggle between pride in one's homeland and anger with injustice. Definitely one of the most informative animated films of all time.
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#77: The Brave Little Toaster
Year of Release: 1987
Director: Jerry Rees
The Brave Little Toaster is a film about a group of appliances led by, you guessed it, a brave little toaster, as they set out to find their owner who has seemingly abandoned them. Along the way, the appliances must work together to find their way to their owner but get into all sorts of predicaments along the way. Like a lot of the animated films of the time, The Brave Little Toaster is a musical, featuring a number of highly memorable songs, among them "It's A B Movie" and of course "Worthless", sung during a nightmare-inducing scene by cars in a junkyard about to be smashed to pieces as the appliances are about to share their fate, this film featured some rather scary imagery for such a light-hearted children's movie, but that just added to its charm. The entire cast, from the plucky toaster to the grumpy vacuum Kirby, is likable, and the voice acting (Jon Lovitz is a standout as Lampy) is a standout as well. The film doesn't carry much of a message other than the typical "power of friendship" typically seen in these journey-type films, but the fun songs and exciting action, along with the fairly brisk pace, make it a memorable and classic animated adventure and one of the better animated films of the late 80s.
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#76: The Great Mouse Detective
Year of Release: 1986
Directors: Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, Dave Michener, and John Musker
Based on the "Basil of Baker Street" children's book series, which was itself inspired by the classic Sherlock Holmes novels, the Great Mouse Detective is about the mouse Basil and his assistant Dr. Dawson as the two of them take on the case of young Olivia Flaversham, whose father has been kidnapped by the wicked criminal mastermind Ratigan. Let me just start by talking about Ratigan who has to be considered one of the great Disney villains. Voiced by Vincent Price, he's a walking pile of theatrics, hamming it up gleefully and providing some absolutely hilarious moments even as he's being an absolutely despicable bastard, Ratigan makes this movie and propels it above what would otherwise be superior Disney films. The film is basically a classic Sherlock Holmes-esque detective movie, with plenty of narrow escapes, death traps, and adventures for the protagonist Basil. The ending set piece, in which Basil battles with Ratigan inside of Big Ben, is a classic final Disney confrontation, complete with the villain Ratigan taking a plunge off the clock to his doom. In a lot of ways, this film is rather cliched and predictable, but they're FUN cliches and the film itself rarely lags, providing plenty of memorable moments and lighthearted excitement. While it's true that Disney films were hitting a real rut by this point, the Great Mouse Detective was a welcome sign that there were still talented people at work at the studio, and lots of the people involved on this film were a major part of the Renaissance to come.
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#75: Despicable Me
Year of Release: 2010
Directors: Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud
Despicable Me is a film about a mad scientist named Gru who is seeking to make a name for himself as younger and richer villains emerge to steal his thunder. He decides to steal the Moon to prove himself, but in order to do that he needs the help of three young girls, whom he decides to adopt. It's a rather unique premise, the first part of this film revolves mostly around the back and forth struggle between Gru and his rival Vector, but then after the adoption of the girls, it takes a more emotional turn and we see Gru's human side come out. This was definitely one of the more heartfelt animated films in recent memory, something that the numerous trailers and previews (which focused more on the raw comedy of the Minions) didn't show. It's about a man who learns to care about something besides himself (of course, we already see that he at least treats his minions well), and in the process finds that his true purpose in life isn't to be the best villain he can be but to be the best man he can be. In between, there's lots of silly humor, character-based shenanigans (all three of the daughters have their own quirk and are funny for different reasons, particularly the tomboyish/somewhat "evil" Edith and the ultra-adorable Agnes), and a real engaging story inbetween. With the glut of CGI animated features lately, it's become a pleasant surprise to discover one that's more than the sum of its parts, and Despicable Me is that film. Though the sequel came a few days after the cutoff, it too would have made this list, though the original is the better of the two, with more hilarity and a bit more heart as well.
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#74: Kiki's Delivery Service (aka Witch's Delivery Service)
Year of Release: 1989 (original), 1997 (USA)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Yet another Miyazaki entry on the list, Kiki's Delivery Service is about a young witch named Kiki who moves to the big city and decides to get a job using her broom to fly around and deliver food from a bakery. This is one of the more light-hearted of the Miyazaki films, it's a coming of age story in a lot of ways, as Kiki struggles to make friends and find her purpose in life. The animation is vivid and colorful and this is definitely a fun film to watch over and over again. The English dub was one of the best of the Miyazaki dubs, with a young Kirsten Dunst providing Kiki's voice and Phil Hartman excelling as Kiki's black cat Jiji. While the film doesn't provide some of the emotional and thematic complexities of some of Miyazaki's truly great works, it's enjoyable to watch the entire way through. Kiki and Tombo's relationship is cute but not forced, unlike some of the romantic relationships in lesser films. The town of Koriko is beautiful, the natural charm of the city is a known quality in Ghibli films and it mixes the bustle of a large city with the quaint beauty of the Japanese countryside. All in all, Kiki's Delivery Service is a very good film with very few flaws, it doesn't excel in anything in particular but is one of the most enjoyable animated films to come out of Studio Ghibli.
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#73: The Simpsons Movie
Year of Release: 2007
Director: David Silverman
The very, VERY long anticipated Simpsons movie finally came out in 2007, and people understandably had some trepidation leading up to the release. The show had been declining in quality for years and a lot of people believed that the movie would be just another lousy sign of the show's erosion. But instead, what we got was a genuinely funny, genuinely heartwarming movie. The plot of the film revolved around the Simpson family being forced out of town after the EPA covers up Springfield with a giant dome because of all the pollution the town has generated over the years. They later find out, via a great Tom Hanks cameo, that the EPA plans to blow up the town by detonating a bomb inside the dome, and the Simpsons are the only people who can save Springfield from destruction. There were plenty of great moments, including a recurring Spider-Pig song that became a meme in the year of 2007, it wasn't just a random joke but it had a great payoff at the end, which is always nice to see. We also saw Homer finally reaping the consequences of his actions after increasingly being a jerkass over the past few seasons of the show. Indeed, a lot of people believe this film saved the series and that the quality of the show has been significantly better following the film's release, though that's still a hotly debated point of contention amongst fans. Either way, both fans and non-fans alike embraced The Simpsons Movie and it was the biggest traditionally animated film success since Tarzan back in 1999. It took a massively hyped franchise movie to resurrect 2-D animation theatrically, but we're all grateful for it.
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#72: Shrek 2
Year of Release: 2004
Directors: Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon
Shrek was a major commercial and critical success back in 2001 and it was inevitable that it would receive a sequel. What we got was Shrek 2, which built on the first film in a lot of ways without the burden of having to introduce all the characters. It did lack a lot of the charm that the first one had (and ultimately appears lower on the list), but was still quite a good film in its own right and deserved the huge box office money it got when it hit the theaters in 2004. Shrek 2 continues the events of the first film after Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon. Shrek is invited to a royal ball by Fiona's parents to celebrate his marriage to Fiona, but there's a confrontation between Shrek and the king, which leads to a situation in which Shrek and Donkey sneak into the Fairy Godmother's factory and steal a potion from her, which turns him into a man. It turns out that the Fairy Godmother is trying to dispose of Shrek in order to arrange a marriage between her son Prince Charming and Fiona. As in the first film, a number of comedic misunderstandings and mishaps force Shrek and Donkey to work together so that Shrek ca win Fiona's heart and save the kingdom once more. The comedy isn't quite as focused and outrageous as the first film but the plot still works and by the end everything comes together and you're left feeling as good after this movie as you did after the first. Shrek 2 is the rare example of an animated cash-in sequel that works, proving that it isn't just Pixar who knows how to build a successful, quality animation franchise.
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#71: Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Year of Release: 2000
Director: Curt Geda
One of the greatest DTV animated movies of all time...hell, one of the greatest BATMAN movies of all time, this film is based on the hit Batman Beyond animated series. 40 years after the events of Batman: The Animated Series, The Joker has seemingly returned to cause crime and wreak havoc in Gotham. The new Batman, Terry McGinnis, has to get to the bottom of this new crime wave. What he uncovers about the Joker is the key to the movie and the key to this film's PG-13 rating (the unrated edition, at least) AND this film's position on the list. Basically, the Joker and Harley Quinn kidnapped the old Robin, Tim Drake, 40 years before. After Joker and Harley brutally tortured him for three weeks, Batman and Batgirl finally arrive to save him. Batgirl sends Harley seemingly plummeting to her doom, while the Joker is shot in the chest by Tim who has been nearly completely broken by the torture and he collapses sobbing into Batgirl's arms after the Joker's death. After years of therapy he's seemingly gotten past it but as it turned out, a microchip has been implanted into him that had the Joker's memories and personality imprinted onto it, allowing the Joker to take control of Tim's mind and forcing Tim to "become" the Joker. This film cemented Batman Beyond as a key part of the DCAU and was one of the darkest DC animated films ever released. It explained the Joker's return perfectly and has been a fan favorite ever since. It's a shame that some of the film's releases and appearances on TV were censored, as the brutal original is the ONLY true version of the film and more than worthy of being called one of the greatest animated movies of all time.
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#70: Frankenweenie
Year of Release: 2012
Director: Tim Burton
Tim Burton finally got a chance to do a full-length Frankenweenie feature after his short in the 1980s, and the result was an endearing and indeed very scary old-school style monster film in stop-motion. The black and white was a stylistic choice that enhanced the old-school feel of the movie, it didn't need color to get its message across and indeed it actually enhanced the chill factor at times, with shadows and contrast increased by the effect, making the darkness more frightening and the monsters more intimidating. The plot of the film revolves around a young boy named Victor whose dog Sparky is killed in a car accident. He uses lightning to bring Sparky back to life, but soon all the other kids in the neighborhood learn about Victor's discovery.... and in the climax they revive their own animals in similar fashion with predictable chaotic results. The kid characters are at the center of the film and each brings their own quirks to the table, from Victor's creepy friend Edgar to the quietly disconcerting Weird Girl (brilliantly voiced by Catherine O'Hara), every character in the film has a purpose. The climactic showdown at the end of the film is very tense and exciting, though the ending wraps itself up a bit quickly after all the action is over. When your biggest flaw as a film is that you're too short, it's a pretty good sign that you're doing something right. Frankenweenie is a well-executed animated homage to classic creature features and a fun ride all the way around.
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#69: The Prince of Egypt
Year of Release: 1998
Directors: Simon Wells, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Hickner
This animated retelling of the Book of Exodus was one of the first Dreamworks animated films and a very exciting musical film. The film chronicles the life of Moses, from his birth to his receiving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, similar to the old Charlton Heston Ten Commandments movie. The choice to make the film an animated musical is justified by the number of memorable songs featured in the movie, including the ballad "When You Believe" and of course the now-legendary "Plagues" song (in which Ralph Fiennes gets to show off his pipes). The relationship between Moses and his adopted brother Ramses is at the core of the movie and it does an outstanding job showing how close the two of them were, they were best friends before Moses began his crusade to free the Hebrews from Egypt. The animation is among the most beautiful of any 2-D animated film, right up there with the great Disney films of the time such as Mulan and Tarzan. As far as biblical-based films go, it's right up there with the best of them, telling a wonderful story that any believer or non-believer can appreciate.
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#68: Ninja Scroll
Year of Release: 1993 (original), 1995 (USA)
Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
An anime classic, Ninja Scroll is a film about a group of ninjas known as the Yamashiro clan, whose greedy leader wishes to possess the gold collected from a hidden mine. One of the clan members, Gemma, then attempts to kill the other ninjas in his clan to keep the secret of the mine for himself. A ninja named Jubei survives the slaughter, avenging his clan by killing Gemma. Gemma then returns as a demon lord, and this sets the stage for the film's events, depicting the continued struggle for control of the mine. The film features a mixture of gritty realism and mystical elements, creating an action-packed movie that keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat. It has some of the best combat ever seen in an animated film (as to be expected from a film featuring ninjas) while also providing a deeper story in Jubei's search for revenge and redemption. Gemma is a terrifying villain, one of the most wicked and evil animated villains ever and a perfect contrast to Jubei. The film is full of intrigue and mystery as well, almost reminiscent of some of the old Batman animated series adventures. Ultimately this was one of the great anime films of the 90s, a visceral, edge-of-your-seat action epic.
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#67: Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Year of Release: 2001
Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
One of the more controversial and obscure Disney feature films, Atlantis: The Lost Empire was a visual and auditory tour-de-force, one of the most beautifully animated films in history and a vastly underrated movie that should have done far better at the box office than it did. It tells the story of Milo Thatch, a young cartographer who believes he's found the secret to locating the lost city of Atlantis. He's commissioned to find the city by a woman named Helga and a rich benefactor named Preston Whitmore, and this leads to the expedition to discover the city. The expedition is of course successful, Milo and his motley crew find the city under the ocean and Milo meets the beautiful princess Kidagakash (aka Kida). Milo and Kida later have to defend the city when the evil Commander Rourke seeks to exploit it for his own gain. I don't think I can say enough about the animation in this film. The visuals are among the best ever seen in a Disney film, taking the best of CGI and traditional animation and combining them in an effort that brings out the best of both worlds, creating an incredible visual feast that shines through throughout the film. The plot itself doesn't quite match up to the animation, which keeps this film out of the top 50, but it's still one of Disney's best post-Renaissance films and, IMO, it even tops the anime classic that inspired it, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The voice acting is top-notch, with Cree Summer standing out as Kida amongst a star-studded cast that included Michael J. Fox and James Garner. Atlantis was an all-around classic and it's a shame Disney didn't experiment more with combining CGI and tradition animation before moving on to CGI entirely in 2005.
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#66: A Goofy Movie
Year of Release: 1995
Director: Kevin Lima
Who knew that with all the attention and hype given to Pocahontas, that the best Disney animated film from 1995 would be a Goof Troop movie? In this classic road trip film, Goofy wants to have a great summer with his son Max as the two of them head across the country on a vacation, but Max wants to impress his crush Roxanne by appearing on television during Powerline's big concert in Los Angeles. The two get into a variety of crazy situations as Max feels conflicted between the peer pressure from his friends and Roxanne to appear cool and his desire to have a good relationship with his dad. There are of course some very sweet moments of father-son bonding in the film, Goofy trusts Max to plan out the trip which of course leaves Max feeling guilty with his deception, there are of course some moments when everything seems lost, but this all leads up to a spectacular ending, where Goofy helps Max get onstage with Powerline in the absolutely epic "Eye To Eye" musical number which is simultaneously awesome and hilarious as Goofy keeps getting into trouble during the song itself. A Goofy Movie is a cult classic for a reason, it's a smart, funny, and ultimately sweet little movie that provides the perfect "finale" for the beloved Goof Troop series and even introduces a great new love interest for Max in Roxanne (even if they completely forgot about her in the sequel). A Goofy Movie is goofy but it's also great.
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#65: Kung Fu Panda
Year of Release: 2008
Directors: John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
Another film that was far better than it was expected to be, Kung Fu Panda came out in 2008 amidst a slew of hype but also a lot of uncertainty about how good it would really be. The film was released and...it became one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. The film tells the story of Po, a panda who loves kung fu and idolizes the Furious Five, he dreams of becoming a kung fu master like them but is stuck working with his father at a noodle restaurant. One day, while trying to see who is proclaimed the new Dragon Warrior, the legendary warrior who is said to bring peace back to the valley, Po himself is proclaimed to be the Dragon Warrior and gets the opportunity to train with the Furious Five and achieve his destiny. The protagonist Po is a very well designed character, voiced hilariously by Jack Black. He is incredibly resilient, never giving up despite the adversity he faces from the Furious Five and his master Shifu. Po doesn't have much time to train, as he has to battle the evil Tai Lung, Shifu's former pupil. There are some VERY emotional moments in this film, particularly between Shifu and Po and also between Shifu and Tai Lung. The scene at the end where Shifu begs Tai Lung to change his evil ways is heartrending, you can tell how deeply he still cares about his old pupil. The film, while at times very serious, is lighthearted and whimsical most of the way through, with lots of funny dialogue and visual gags as well. It's a FAR better movie than it looks on the surface and makes another great addition to Dreamworks' film lineup.
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#64: The Emperor's New Groove
Year of Release: 2000
Director: Mark Dindal
The Emperor's New Groove was originally intended to be a dramatic musical romance film (like the other 90s Renaissance films) called Empire of the Sun, but got retooled into a buddy comedy for better or for worse. For mostly better, though, as it's one of the funniest films in the Disney animated canon and is quite well loved to this day. The film is about a selfish teenage emperor named Kuzco who decides to build his summer home on the site of the home of a man named Pacha, rendering him and his family homeless. However, when the machinations of the evil witch Yzma turn Kuzco into a llama, he has to work together with Pacha to restore himself to normal and retake control of his kingdom. The two get into a number of hilarious adventures together on their way to try and take back control of the empire. The movie is full of fun slapstick comedy and sight gags, but there's plenty of subtle character based humor here as well (most of it concerning the selfish Kuzco, but Yzma herself is the funniest Disney villain since Hades). There's of course a lot of touching moments as well, Kuzco has to learn the consequences of his actions and he bonds with Pacha significantly over the course of the film. While we can't know how good or bad Empire of the Sun could have been, what we got is a true Disney comedy, a fun film that's worth watching over and over again (and that produced a great animated TV series to boot).
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#63: Fritz the Cat
Year of Release: 1972
Director: Ralph Bakshi
Legendary Ralph Bakshi's magnum opus is Fritz the Cat, one of the most controversial films in history. The tagline, "we're not X rated for nothin', baby!" says it all....or does it? Beneath the violence and nudity lies a truly intelligent satire, critiquing the "free love" movements of the time while at the same time celebrating youthful exuberance, the movie is an honest look at the counterculture of the time and its ups and downs. I was also surprised at the quality of the animation, very detailed and colorful, the characters moved in an energetic way, with the right things exaggerated for emphasis, it compares favorably to the Disney features at the time. It's no surprise that Bakshi later went on to direct the Lord of the Rings animated features, a worthy effort though they don't match up to the pure ludicrous whimsy of Fritz. Fritz himself is actually a decently likable protagonist, a hedonist with a heart and capably voiced by Skip Hinnant. Fritz the Cat is a film that doesn't court controversy so much as it utilizes grittiness and outlandishness to tell its story. Ralph Bakshi's become infamous as a result of the film but the controversy obscured the real message of what was ultimately one of the more timely animated features to be released.
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#62: Chicken Run
Year of Release: 2000
Directors: Peter Lord and Nick Park
Another Aardman stop-motion film, Chicken Run is about a chicken named Ginger who wants to escape from a farm before she and her friends are killed and served up for dinner. To that end, she recruits the aid of Rocky, who has accidentally crash landed in the farm. Ginger wants Rocky to teach the other chickens how to fly so they can escape the farm. Rocky decides to help the chickens build a plane and this leads to a series of hilarious near-misses and antics. It was Aardman's first animated feature and the reviews were incredibly positive, in fact, this film may have led to the creation of the Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars when complaints that this film was snubbed for a Best Picture nomination arose. Ultimately, most of those positive reviews were well-founded. It's probably Aardman's best work, even better than their Wallace and Gromit material, due to the development of the characters and uplifting plot. The viewer really finds themselves cheering for the chickens to escape, it helps that the farmers are pretty cruel (not overly so, for the most part they're average people but they do seem to delight in wanting to kill the chickens). The voice acting is excellent, Mel Gibson does quite a good job here (he might be a jerk but he's a good actor) and the rest of the acting is top notch. Chicken Run might not be QUITE Best Picture caliber but in an era when Disney was starting to decline it was nice to see another animation studio step up with an excellent effort.
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#61: Cars
Year of Release: 2006
Director: John Lasseter
Cars was one of Pixar's least popular animated films. People really didn't like the heavily merchandised nature of the film and its characters, Larry the Cable Guy was involved...ultimately it just wasn't quite as good as some of their previously great films. But at the core of Cars is a beating heart, an homage to old-school Americana, particularly Route 66 and its car-based culture, and from that springs the soul of the film and the reason why it outranks a lot of films that were far more highly regarded. Cars is the story of Lightning McQueen, a hotshot race car who dreams of winning the Piston Cup in his rookie year. En route to the deciding race of the season, Lightning ends up getting sidetracked in Radiator Springs, and is forced to rebuild the main road he tore up. He befriends the residents of the town, particularly Tow Mater, a dimwitted but friendly tow truck, and ultimately comes to slow down and appreciate the finer things in life. As I said, Cars is a film with a lot of heart, though it really doesn't show up until the second half of the film (I DARE you not to cry during the "Our Town" sequence). The voice acting, as is par for the course in Pixar films, is great, with Paul Newman and yes, Larry the Cable Guy, giving fantastic performances. The ending of the film holds a real message as well, as Lightning learns what kind of car he truly is. The sequel might have stumbled (severely), but Cars itself deserves its place in the Pixar pantheon.
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#60: Tarzan
Year of Release: 1999
Directors: Chris Buck and Kevin Lima
Based on the classic story by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the film follows the story of Tarzan, from the time he was orphaned in the jungle as a child to the time when he grows up among the creatures of the forest, adopted by the motherly Kala and her mate, the gruff Kerchak. When a ship full of explorers (and a man named Clayton who seeks to exploit the apes of the forest) comes ashore, Tarzan discovers the outside world and is faced with the decision of whether to live among the apes or among the world of men. Tarzan was the first Disney film since Rescuers Down Under not to be a strict "musical" per se, instead featuring songs in the background (most of them performed by Phil Collins whose score for this film was excellent). The film also took a more realistic stance to a character not knowing English than Pocahontas did, whereas Pocahontas and John Smith could speak each other's languages through "the magic of the trees" or some such thing, Tarzan had to learn English gradually by learning it from Jane and her dad. The jungle is animated beautifully in the film and it's quite thrilling to see Tarzan (and later Jane) leaping and swinging through the trees. Clayton was a fun villain, in the same vein as Radcliffe but somewhat more realistic and menacing (and his brutal death is an "I can't believe Disney did that" moment). Tarzan's actually somewhat more serious than other Disney films of the same time period, there's some genuinely dramatic and sad stuff in the film (like when Tarzan is taken back to his parents' camp, and of course Kerchak's death) though the seriousness means a slower pace that gave the film some dull moments that other Disney films don't have in the same quantity. Nonetheless, Tarzan still ranks as one of the better Disney movies and a great swan song for the Disney Renaissance.
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#59: The Secret of NIMH
Year of Release: 1982
Director: Don Bluth
Don Bluth's directorial debut is this film based on the classic children's novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Mrs. Brisby, a mouse and a mother, seeks to move her family elsewhere, but her son comes down with an illness and cannot be moved. Mrs. Brisby has to find some way to protect her family from the farmer's plows, and she eventually discovers a group of rats who have access to electricity and lots of knowledge. With the rats' help, Mrs. Brisby might just be able to move her home and keep her ailing son safe. The film contains a lot of the Don Bluth hallmarks, it's darker than the typical Disney film (it's even dark for a Don Bluth film), with lots of mystical and fantastical elements. The animation is really excellent, particularly where lighting is concerned, they used a lot of different techniques to get the lighting effects they wanted and it really shows, adding greatly to the mood of a lot of scenes (and making the scenes that are supposed to be frightening quite so). Mrs. Brisby herself is a very believable heroine, brave but still realistic, seeking only to protect her family, she's incredibly devoted to her children (and it shines through at the end) and anyone can understand her motivations, providing the driving force for the movie. Don Bluth's directorial debut was one of the most promising for any filmmaker, period, and set the tone for the animated features of the 1980s.
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#58: Rango
Year of Release: 2011
Director: Gore Verbinski
An animated film done in the style of an old Western, with just a tad of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas thrown in, Rango is a rather unique, charming, and exciting animated film that you can clearly tell everyone involved had a lot of fun making. Rango is about a pet chameleon named Rango (of course) who becomes stranded in the middle of the desert and comes across a town called Dirt. He pretends to be a rough and tumble macho lawman in order to fit in but soon bites off more than he can chew and has to rely on his quick thinking to survive. While not a motion-capture film, Gore Verbinski used a filming technique where he filmed the actors acting out their roles and used that for the animation of the film (in a similar way to how Walt Disney would have his voice actors act out their roles for the old Disney animated classics). The effect is that the animal characters employ human-like motions with the voices captured in mid-acting, making everything seem quite realistic. The celebrity cast was quite talented, particularly Isla Fischer as Beans (I firmly believe Isla Fischer could be as good as Tara Strong and Grey Delisle if she switched to voice acting full time), and of course Johnny Depp gives a spirited performance as Rango (and his fingerprints are all over the style of this movie). Rango's just a fun movie with a great sense of humor.
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#57: The Princess and the Frog
Year of Release: 2009
Directors: Ron Clements and John Musker
The hype over Disney's long-awaited return to traditional animation was nearly overshadowed by the controversy over Tiana being the first black Disney Princess. Originally, of course, she was intended to be a chambermaid but her character was changed to that of a waitress seeking to save up to buy her own restaurant. The controversy in my opinion was overblown, Tiana herself is a wonderful Disney Princess in the vein of all the other great characters who have held that role, and no matter what her race is, it's the power of her heart that shines through. Politics aside, the Princess and the Frog doesn't QUITE match up to the greatest classics of the Disney Renaissance, but it's a wonderful film in its own right, with an absolutely fantastic villain in Dr. Facilier (Keith David is brilliant in this role) and a surprisingly funny and adorable supporting character in Tiana's friend Charlotte. Honestly, it's Charlotte who steals the show, she's great in every scene she's in and you find yourself wishing there was a lot more of her. She didn't even get to sing a song! Speaking of songs, the songs in this movie were quite good, Facilier's villain song "Friends On The Other Side" is a classic and Tiana's "Almost There" is upbeat and catchy, the animation during the song was a nice throwback to the classic Disney style. The film's biggest triumph is in the characters it creates, Tiana and Naveen almost take a backseat to Facilier, Charlotte, and Ray, and that's probably the thing that held this film back from the top 50. Despite the film's flaws, it's an overall triumph and it leaves Disney fans wishing for some more traditional animation in the studio's future (though the next two CGI films would satiate that hunger a bit).
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#56: My Neighbor Totoro
Year of Release: 1988 (original), 1993 (USA)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Another whimsical anime classic from Hayao Miyazaki, it's the film that made Totoro an animation icon and that many anime fans will cite as their personal favorite. It takes place in late 50s Japan, where two girls, Satsuki and Mei, have just moved into a new house. Mei soon meets a spirit creature named Totoro, who introduces Mei and her sister Satsuki to a world of mystery and wonder. The film is full of curious visuals and amazing creatures, including a cat that is actually a bus and living spirits made of dust. While it's a visual feast, it's also a heartwarming story of friendship, with Totoro helping the two girls through a difficult and scary time in their lives. The 2006 dub, featuring Dakota and Elle Fanning as the two girls, is quite well-done, though the original Japanese voice actors are excellent as well. The creature of Totoro is very well-animated, expressive and instantly endearing, though of course Miyazaki is well-known for his skill with creating amazing non-human creatures in his films. You can just watch Totoro while he's on screen and be entertained, there's a reason he's one of the most beloved anime characters of all time. My Neighbor Totoro continues to be one of the most well known of all anime films and is a great jumping off point for anyone getting into Japanese animation for the first time.
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#55: Monsters University
Year of Release: 2013
Director: Dan Scanlon
Monsters Inc. was a big critical and commercial success and with Pixar doing more and more sequels recently it's only natural that Monsters Inc. be considered. What we got was a prequel, a film showing what Mike and Sulley were up to in college. After a chance encounter with his hero as a young monster, Mike decides to attend Monsters University, though he quickly finds himself in confrontations with the strict dean and the arrogant monster Sulley, whom he's later forced to bunk with. Mike finds himself at risk of being expelled unless he and Sulley and his new fraternity win the Scare Games competition. The film contains a lot of college film cliches, from the tough, disciplinarian dean to the hard luck fraternity, there's definitely some homages to films like Animal House in here with all the requisite party action (G rated party action, of course), but like most of the Pixar classics, there's a lot of heart in this film as Mike and Sulley eventually bond despite their disagreements. It's an inspirational film, as the "failures" of Oozma Kappa all discover their true talents and gain confidence working with Mike and Sulley as they train for the Scare Games, and the ending is unexpected but it leads perfectly into the original film and has a really nice message to go along with it. While Pixar's stumbled a bit in recent years, films like Monsters University are a good sign that the company can still produce a great animated film.
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#54: Paranorman
Year of Release: 2012
Directors: Sam Fell and Chris Butler
Laika's follow-up to the hit film Coraline, Paranorman is another frightening but heartfelt film about a child who experiences paranormal events. In this case, it's Norman, who has the power to hear and see the spirits of the dead. Of course, this blessing is in a lot of ways a curse, as no one believes Norman and people tend to think he's crazy. One day, he encounters his uncle, who has recently died. Norman's uncle tells him that the town is in grave danger in a few days unless Norman reads a book at the graves of a group of dead settlers whose spirits will haunt the town if he doesn't complete the ritual. The following events are a cacophony of hauntings and phenomena that threaten the whole town, with Norman teaming up with his new friend, his big sister, and the quarterback of the local football team to save the day. The film starts out rather slow, though the emotional pathos of Norman's everyday existence still resonates with anyone who's been bullied or treated as an outcast. However, it's the second half of the film where Paranorman really catches its stride. The film culminates in the discovery that the ghost haunting the town is in fact Agatha, a young girl who was hanged in the witch trials 400 years before, and whose spirit Norman has to calm in a tear-jerking, brilliantly animated scene that is one of the best scenes in an animated movie in years. The voice acting is great and there's plenty of humor and scares to keep audiences of all ages thrilled, the film was a fantastic follow-up to Coraline and I can't wait to see what Laika does next.
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#53: Howl's Moving Castle
Year of Release: 2004 (original), 2005 (USA)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Based on a classic children's novel by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle tells the story of a young hatter named Sophie who is transformed into an old woman by the Witch of the Wastes. Seeking help to reverse her condition, Sophie discovers a large, walking castle and its master, a mysterious man named Howl, who secretly participates in the fierce war ravaging Sophie's kingdom. Intrigue, magic, and action follow as Sophie discovers the secrets of Howl's castle and the secrets Howl is concealing about himself. The film is typical Miyazaki, with the castle's movements and animation some of the best in the film. The film's dramatic war scenes are also quite thrilling, as Howl transforms into a mystical beast and fights against the witch Suliman's forces. The Witch of the Wastes is quite an intriguing character, menacing at first but then docile and almost sympathetic after Suliman strips her of her powers. There's actually a LOT going on in this movie, enough that one can easily get confused if not following closely, but the animation and fun characters (Calcifer, voiced by Billy Crystal in the dub) make it easy to stay invested and Sophie's own transformation, both external and internal, is quite fascinating to watch. Howl and Sophie's friendship is beautiful, in many ways like the one shared by Haku and Chihiro in Spirited Away. Howl's Moving Castle has become one of the more obscure of Miyazaki's movies but it's absolutely a must-watch.
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#52: Anastasia
Year of Release: 1997
Directors: Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
After releasing a series of turds (Rock-a-Doodle, A Troll in Central Park, The Pebble and the Penguin) into theaters in the mid 90s, Don Bluth made a return to classic form with this film, taking a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" stance and appropriating some of the Disney Renaissance tropes into this grand musical adventure. And to be quite honest...it worked. Yes, this story of Anastasia absolutely butchers Russian history, but all that aside, it's a fun, heartwarming film full of great musical numbers and awesome characters. The film depicts Anastasia, ten years after her supposed "death", in search of her lost family. She comes across a con artist named Dmitri who tells her she can get an audience with the grand duchess, who turns out to be Anastasia's grandmother, if she goes with them. Meanwhile, Rasputin is alive again and he's seeking revenge (and gets an AWESOME villain song to boot), complicating things quite a bit. What follows is a whirlwind adventure as Anastasia and her new companions travel across Europe, Dmitri in search of a big reward and Anastasia in search of her family. The animation rivals anything Disney put out during the 1990s and the songs are fantastic. "Journey to the Past", "Once Upon A December", "At The Beginning", and "In The Dark Of The Night" are right up there with the great Disney musical numbers, making Anastasia a suitable rival to its Disney contemporaries. Historians might eviscerate this film, but the rest of us should just tune them out and enjoy it for what it is, a fantastic animated adventure.
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#51: A Bug's Life
Year of Release: 1998
Director: John Lasseter
We finish off the bottom half of this list with Pixar's second animated feature, about an ant colony menaced by greedy grasshoppers. Flik, the hero of the film, is constantly trying to come up with ways to make the ants' lives easier, but he's always failing and by the time the film starts, he's pretty much a laughingstock. When one of his failures causes the ants to not be able to make the grasshoppers' quota, Flik is exiled from the colony and he stumbles upon a group of circus bugs who help him come up with a plan to scare the grasshoppers off for good. The film is mostly straightforward, but Flik (voiced quite aptly by Dave Foley) is an easy hero to root for, and Hopper (voiced by Kevin Spacey) is an extremely menacing villain. The circus bugs are hilarious in all sorts of different ways, you've got a thespian couple, a tough, burly ladybug, a friendly black widow... they make a great crew and they're all lovable. The film's climax also has a great message, and Flik's final showdown with Hopper is as inspiring as it is dramatic. While A Bug's Life might have suffered a bit in terms of its long-term legacy (being the meat in a Toy Story sandwich will do that), it's still one of Pixar's timeless classics.
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#50: The Jungle Book
Year of Release: 1967
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
The last film ever produced by Walt Disney, The Jungle Book represented in a lot of ways the end of an era for Disney, the end of its Silver Age if you will. Full of classic songs and characters, the film is an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, telling the story of a young orphan named Mowgli who is lost in the jungles of India and discovered by the panther Bagheera. He learns a number of valuable life lessons from the jungle animals, and soon comes to want to stay with the animals and grow up with them. He soon runs afoul of the vicious tiger Shere Khan, and must deal with him while at the same time struggling with his conflict over whether to stay in the jungle or return to civilization. The film is a whimsical classic filled with several memorable musical numbers, there's the classic "Bare Necessities" and other songs such as "I Wanna Be Like You" and "That's What Friends Are For". The film is mostly fun and upbeat but there are a couple of dramatic moments (like the final showdown with Shere Khan), ultimately though, it's a straight up musical comedy and one of the classic Disney films that everyone remembers from their childhood.
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#49: Hercules
Year of Release: 1997
Directors: Ron Clements and John Musker
Another Disney musical from the Renaissance era, Hercules is a lighthearted musical take on Greek mythology. Like Anastasia from the same year, the film badly butchers the source material, but stands on its own as a very fun movie filled with memorable characters and songs and featuring some of the best animation of any Disney film. The movie is in a lot of ways inspired by films such as Superman and Rocky, Hercules is the son of Zeus but a scheme by Hades leaves him mortal (but still with god-like strength), he's cast down from Olympus and adopted by a human family who raises him up normally, but his strength causes him to be an outcast and he seeks to become a hero to find his true destiny. In seeking to become a hero, he gets caught up in the trappings of fame, and his ego gets too big for his own good....meanwhile, a woman named Megara begins to charm him, as it turns out, Megara is working for Hades and she's looking to exploit his weakness so Hades can take over Olympus without Hercules' interference. Hercules' journey from zero to hero is filled with fun songs and exciting fights (the battle against the Hydra is a particularly thrilling sequence), and the voice acting in the film ranks among some of the best in any animated movie (particularly Susan Egan as Megara and the hilarious James Woods as Hades). Hercules has gotten a bit of a backlash in recent years, it's been bashed as being cliche and of course for butchering Greek mythology, but ultimately the movie's successes far outweigh its flaws and it's still a fun watch to this day.
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#48: Lady and the Tramp
Year of Release: 1955
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
The classic Disney romance, Lady and the Tramp is memorable to this day and its legendary dinner scene has received countless tributes in many, many fictional works. It tells the story of Lady, a posh cocker spaniel who becomes somewhat estranged from her owners after they start paying more attention to their newborn baby. When the sister of one of Lady's owners, who hates dogs, takes Lady to get her fitted for a muzzle, Lady runs off and comes across a mutt from the wrong side of the tracks, the Tramp. At first, Lady doesn't trust this wild dog but after his feelings for her shine through, she takes a liking to him and the two fall in love. This is one of those films that just warms the heart. EVERYONE knows about the famous "spaghetti kiss" scene and the romance between Lady and the Tramp, though it moves rather quickly, is still sweet and believable. The film is somewhat light on laughs, it really is just a straight romantic comedy (and toward the end arguably a drama), and one of the best of all time at that. It lacks some of the magic of the upper echelon of Disney classics but for what it is it's a wonderful film and one that resonates with Disney fans even today.
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#47: Dumbo
Year of Release: 1941
Director: Ben Sharpsteen
This short but sweet Disney classic tells the story of a young elephant named Dumbo who is separated from his mother and becomes a circus star. It's a heartwarming film with a number of classic sequences and is surprisingly tear-jerking, Dumbo really gets put through quite a lot before reuniting with his mother at the end. Curiously, Dumbo doesn't speak at all in the film, it's a curious stylistic choice to have a silent protagonist but thanks to the smart animation, Dumbo is incredibly expressive and we don't need him to speak to know how he's feeling. The film features the tear-jerking but very sweet song "Baby Mine", contrast that with the later "pink elephants on parade" sequence and for being such a short movie it takes the audience on quite the emotional ride throughout. Dumbo doesn't need a big epic story to be great, it's the simple tale of a young child seeking to reunite with his mother and it's an unforgettable tale.
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#46: Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (aka Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door)
Year of Release: 2001 (original), 2003 (USA)
Director: Shinichiro Watanabe
Based on the popular anime series Cowboy Bebop, this film takes place between its 22nd and 23rd episodes and shows Spike, Faye, Jet, and Ed in the midst of another high-flying adventure. This time, they're on Mars in search of the perpetrator of a deadly virus that's killed a number of people and threatens to wipe out an entire city. In search of the creator of the virus, Spike comes across a mysterious woman named Electra and an even more mysterious and far more dangerous man named Vincent, and both are key to unraveling the secret of the virus before it takes more lives. In typical Cowboy Bebop fashion, the film features intriguing mystery, great music, and thrilling fights, with all the characters as you know and love them. In a lot of ways, this movie is the perfect introduction to Cowboy Bebop, with everything that made the series so great present and amped up. The animation, already fantastic in the series, is even more fluid and detailed, and the new characters of Electra and Vincent are two of the best ever introduced in the series. The voice acting in the English dub is top notch, the great Jennifer Hale voices Electra to perfection and Daran Norris goes WAY against type as Vincent, one of the most dangerous villains in the entire series. The climactic battle is a perfectly choreographed brawl that you wish could go on a lot longer. This film is definitely worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as some of the great anime films in history.
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#45: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Year of Release: 1996
Directors: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
One of Disney's darkest films, The Hunchback of Notre Dame was adapted from VERY dark source material, but the result is one of the finest Disney films of the 90s, a whimsical musical that touches on some very serious subjects and is ultimately a triumph of writing and animation. The film revolves around the hunchback Quasimodo, who is secluded away in the bell tower of the cathedral Notre Dame by the vicious Judge Claude Frollo, a deeply pious but bigoted man who seeks to wipe out all the gypsies in Paris. One of those gypsies, Esmeralda, befriends Quasimodo but is lusted after by Frollo, whose quest to wipe out the gypsies is accelerated when Esmeralda rejects his advances. The film does contain a few flaws, most notably Quasimodo's gargoyle companions who were added likely to give Quasimodo someone to talk to in the bell tower and to add some comic relief. The REAL comic relief comes from the gypsy leader Clopin, who gets some very nice spotlight-stealing scenes and provides some of the film's biggest laughs, he also gets some of the best songs in the film including the outstanding opening number, "The Bells of Notre Dame". The voice acting is amazing, with Tony Jay, Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, and Kevin Kline all turning in fantastic performances. While people STILL speculate on whether or not it was a good idea to adapt The Hunchback of Notre Dame into a lighthearted Disney film, the movie approaches its subjects with the appropriate gravitas and is a good work of fiction in its own right.
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#44: Brave
Year of Release: 2012
Directors: Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
Brave was released in 2012 as Pixar's first "Princess" film with a strong-willed archer named Merida as the lead. The movie was greatly hyped going into its release but met with reviews that weren't quite what people expected, and the film itself has been somewhat controversial, winning Best Animated Feature at the Oscars to the chagrin of many who thought that one of 2012's other great animated features deserved to win. To be honest, I thought 2012 had four great animated films: Wreck-It-Ralph, Paranorman, Frankenweenie, and this, Brave, which is a lot better than people give it credit for. Let's get something out of the way... yes, the film lacked a real villain. Sure, there was Mor'du the bear, but he was pretty much just a corrupted berserk bear spirit who attacked out of rage rather than maliciousness. The main conflict of the film, however, was between Merida and her mother. Merida desires to have the freedom to make her own choices in life, while her mother is pressuring her to marry one of the three suitors from the neighboring kingdoms. When Merida makes a decision that endangers the lives of her and her mother, the two of them have to bond quickly in order to reverse Merida's mistake and restore peace to the kingdom. The relationship between Merida and her mother is at the core of the film and I thought the movie did a good job of showing their conflict and the gradual restoration of their relationship, though it was over a somewhat short period of time. The character of Merida was far more complex than the typical "spunky princess" archetype, she had some real vulnerabilities and the film addressed them quite well. The animation itself was beautiful (you can tell they did a LOT of work on the animation of Merida's hair) and though the film's stakes weren't quite as high as those present in other princess films, the movie did a wonderful job of illustrating the mother-daughter bond in a most heartwarming way. Brave might have its detractors but it was a true labor of love and one of the most beautifully animated films ever made.
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#43: An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
Year of Release: 1991
Directors: Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells
As far as animated sequels go, Fievel Goes West is near the top of the heap. It continues the story of the immigrant mouse Fievel and his family, who are tricked by cats into heading out to the Wild West to seek peace and prosperity along with a group of their fellow mice. Once there, Fievel gets separated from his family as in the original and he has to find them once again, but unlike in the original, the story becomes less about Fievel's search for his family and more about his desire to become a hero, like his hero the famous Western lawman Wylie Burp. He also has to inspire his friend Tiger who's been in the doldrums following his breakup with Miss Kitty. All the great Western movie tropes are present in this film, there's the gunfight at dawn, the old-timey saloons, the dastardly villain (in this case it's Cat R. Waul, voiced by John Cleese in a fantastic voice acting performance)... this is a REALLY fun movie with some really nice songs (performed by Cathy Cavadini as Fievel's sister Tanya), "The Girl You Left Behind" is a great rollicking upbeat number while "Dreams to Dream" can stand up with the first film's "Somewhere Out There" any day of the week. James Stewart even shows up as the voice of Wylie Burp, this film was his cinematic ride into the sunset and I thought it was a great film for him to go out on. It's a shame that The Land Before Time II utterly paled in comparison to this film because Fievel Goes West showed that Amblimation could do great sequels (indeed, this is probably better than any of the Disney DTV sequels). It just goes to show that any film can be good in the right hands.
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#42: One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Year of Release: 1961
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wolfgang Reitherman
This delightful film, another based on a children's novel of the same name, is about a young man named Roger and his dog Pongo, who marry a young woman named Anita and her dog Perdita and settle down as a family. The two dogs bear a large little of 15 puppies who are highly sought after by the wicked fur coat maker Cruella de Vil. After a failed attempt to buy the puppies, Cruella decides to enlist the help of two criminals to steal the puppies, prompting Pongo and Perdita to search for them with the help of a number of other animals from around the country. Meanwhile, the 15 puppies meet up with 84 more puppies that Cruella has acquired, and Pongo and Perdita decide to rescue all of them. The film is one of Disney's most beloved adventures, it has LOTS of funny animals and of course one of Disney's most memorable villains in Cruella de Vil. It's another fun romp from Disney's Silver Age, by this point Walt Disney had settled into a groove and was rattling off a string of straight-up fun films. The only song of note from this film is the song about Cruella herself but those catchy lyrics you can still remember even today and the song describes Cruella perfectly, a wicked, terrifying monster who will stop at nothing to steal and skin those puppies. Few Disney villains are just as straight-up evil as Cruella, ultimately the morality of this film is among the most black-and-white of all the Disney films with clear heroes in the dogs and a very clear villain in Cruella. The puppies could use a bit more personality but to be fair, there were 99 of them and later source material and spinoffs do flesh some of them out a bit more. On the whole, 101 Dalmatians is one of the most straight-up fun and entertaining films that Disney has produced.
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#41: Wreck-It Ralph
Year of Release: 2012
Director: Rich Moore
Disney's animated homage to video games, Wreck-It Ralph tells the story of Ralph, the villain of the game Fix It Felix Jr. Ostracized in his own game for his job, he decides to seek out a chance to be a true hero in the game Hero's Duty, but when he gets sidetracked in Sugar Rush and meets up with the adorable but troublesome Vanellope von Schweetz, he'll have to discover what it really means to be a hero. The film revolves around Ralph and Vanellope, both of them outcasts for reasons beyond their control. It's really sweet to watch them gradually start to bond over their shared ostracism, and Ralph really develops a protective instinct around Vanellope (which hurts him later on when the villain King Candy tricks him into destroying Vanellope's kart under the false belief that she'll be killed if she wins a race...honestly that whole scene is incredibly heart-wrenching and Sarah Silverman's voice acting is amazing, you REALLY feel for Vanellope as that kart is being smashed and you can't help but shed a tear for the poor girl). Fix-It Felix Jr. is a great character as well, hilariously chipper, while the rough and tough Sgt. Calhoun (played by Jane Lynch) is a great foil for the other, sillier characters. The film is full of laughs and definitely a movie written by gamers for gamers with tons of little references and sight gags littered all over the place. Alan Tudyk is masterful as King Candy, drawing comparisons to Ed Wynn in his portrayal of the flamboyant monarch. There's a lot to love about this movie and the biggest problem is that there's just not enough time to see more game worlds or characters, it's one of the few Disney films that people are actually CLAMORING to have a sequel of, which, considering Disney's history with sequels, is a pretty big accomplishment. Wreck-It Ralph combines the best aspects of Disney classics and video game nostalgia to give us a wonderfully fun fusion of both, this is one of those movies that I'm really glad it worked out so well.
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#40: Lilo and Stitch
Year of Release: 2002
Directors: Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
Lilo and Stitch's promotional material hearkened back to the best films of the Disney Renaissance, showing Stitch messing with a number of classic Disney moments in order to build hype for this film's release. As it turns out, Lilo and Stitch has become a Disney classic in its own right. The film tells the story of a young Hawaiian girl Lilo whose sister Nani is struggling to raise her well enough to keep her from being taken away by a social worker. Meanwhile, Stitch is an alien created with the purpose of pure destruction who crashlands on Earth and ends up being adopted by Lilo. What follows is a series of hilarious and heartwarming antics as Lilo and Stitch gradually warm up to each other and Stitch discovers the true meaning of "family". More than anything else, this movie revolves around the concept of family, summed up in the Hawaiian word "ohana". As Stitch begins to bond with Lilo, he causes a lot of tension in Lilo's family at first, and this intensifies the pressure that the social worker puts on Nani to shape up. Lilo and Nani have a VERY interesting relationship, Lilo is a unique and rebellious girl who causes Nani no end of trouble but of course when it comes right down to it, the two love each other deeply. Daveigh Chase and Tia Carrere are both fantastic as the two sisters and though there aren't any big musical numbers, Nani sings a very sweet song to Lilo at one point that's guaranteed to be a tearjerker for the audience. Of course I'd be remiss not to mention the Elvis music played throughout the film, it's used very well here and really sets the mood for the more upbeat parts. The movie wouldn't be the same without the Elvis music and you'll find yourself shaking and dancing right along with it. This was perhaps Disney's last gasp before hitting its doldrums in the mid 00s, it's right up there in quality with the best of the 90s Disney films.
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#39: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Year of Release: 1993
Directors: Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm
Based on the critically acclaimed animated series, this film expanded the mythology of the DCAU and showed a completely different side of Bruce Wayne, depicting a segment of his life before donning the mask of Batman. The film's plot revolves around a series of mysterious murders of former gangsters carried out by a haunting figure known as the Phantasm. The Phantasm's similarities to Batman cause the latter to be blamed for the murders, adding to the urgency that he faces in tracking down the true killer. This is interspersed with flashbacks of Bruce's life during a time that he dated a beautiful woman named Andrea Beaumont, who represented his final chance for a normal life. The film contains all the mystery and action of an episode of the animated series, and of course the Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill) comes along for the ride. It was for the most part a box office flop, which is a real shame since it's among the best Batman films to ever come to the big screen. The plot is extremely well done with everything tying into something else, providing a fantastic background for the DCAU's Bruce Wayne. Andrea herself is a great character (who turns out to be the Phantasm, seeking revenge for her father's murder, it's an incredible reveal and it makes Andrea one of the most complex animated characters possibly ever, adding a layer of tragedy to Bruce's poignant backstory) and expertly voiced by Dana Delany. Mask of the Phantasm is fantastic, it's dark, it's grim, but there's a layer of hope there too. The perfect companion film to the Batman animated series and the DCAU's crowning cinematic jewel.
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#38: Beavis and Butt-head Do America
Year of Release: 1996
Director: Mike Judge
Based on the MTV animated series about a pair of dumb teenagers, this film shows Beavis and Butthead going across the country, seeking to "score" with a woman who secretly gave the two of them a biotech weapon to carry across the country. The two are completely oblivious, only looking to score and get enough money to buy themselves a new television after the theft of their old one. This was an absolutely hilarious movie, the two visit various landmarks and tourist attractions and get into trouble pretty much everywhere (such as when they accidentally shut down the Hoover Dam, taking out power to all of Vegas). They "befriend" an old woman along the way, mistaking her claims of being able to score easily in Vegas for claims of sexual promiscuity, which of course impresses the two sex-crazed teenagers. The two end up in Washington DC at the end of the film and get into a serious of hilarious mishaps that have to be seen to believed. Robert Stack has a great cameo as an ATF agent obsessed with full-body cavity searches, while Bruce Willis and Demi Moore play the two criminals who are behind the whole biotech plot in the first place. There's even a great psychedelic sequence in the desert during which Beavis and Butt-head meet their real fathers. It's not the best-animated film but it's one of the most hilarious movies of all time with some truly brilliant situational comedy. If you don't get what Beavis and Butt-head was all about, one watch of this film will definitely tell you everything you need to know.
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#37: All Dogs Go To Heaven
Year of Release: 1989
Director: Don Bluth
One of Don Bluth's last great films, All Dogs Go To Heaven is a heartwarming tale about a pair of dogs helping to save a little girl from a vicious gangster. The film's main characters are the dogs Charlie and Itchy, who have run afoul of the gangster dog named Carface. Charlie is killed by Carface and sent to Heaven, but he decides he'd rather be alive than dead and flees to Earth, putting his eternal soul at risk of damnation. Charlie and Itchy plot revenge on Carface but soon encounter a little girl named Anne-Marie, who is gifted at being able to communicate with animals and pick the winner of horse races (which is why Carface was holding her prisoner). The two dogs soon grow attached to the girl but have to protect her from Carface, while Charlie has only a limited amount of time to return to Heaven before his "life watch" runs out. It's a surprisingly mature film and it was rumored that it barely slipped by with a G rating, Carface is a very cruel and vicious villain for a kids' film and the film deals with such issues as gambling and death pretty straight-forwardly (Don Bluth was never one to sugarcoat or dumb things down for youthful audiences, one of the reason his films had so much appeal among all ages). Anne-Marie is an incredibly sweet and endearing character and the emotional weight of this film is SIGNIFICANTLY enhanced once you find out what happened to her voice actress Judith Barsi ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Barsi). The voice acting in the film was great all around, Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise voice Charlie and Itchy in somewhat of a Cannonball Run reunion. The film also featured the infamous "Big Lipped Alligator Moment", an unnecessary scene which likely knocks this film out of the top 30. However, that was the only glaring flaw in what is otherwise a touching and fun film that continued Don Bluth's winning streak in the 80s.
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#36: Monsters, Inc.
Year of Release: 2001
Director: Pete Docter
Back in 2001, Pixar gave us Monsters, Inc., a hilarious and heartwarming film about a pair of monsters named Mike and Sulley who work for an organization devoted to scaring humans and collecting their scare energy. Sulley is Monsters, Inc.'s top scarer and it seems nothing can stop him except for up-and-coming scarer Randall Boggs. Randall, however, has been cheating by leaving a door open to the human world, and one day an adorable little girl named Boo comes through the window, prompting Mike and Sulley to work together to get her back home. They're opposed by Randall, who has built a device to extract children's screams and sees Boo as a golden opportunity to test his device. The film contains a lot of the typical Pixar silliness, with Boo and the monsters ending up in a variety of places, the film featured Pixar's most outlandish animation yet and you can definitely tell that the animators and writers had a lot of fun designing all the different monsters in the film. There's plenty of slapstick and action, especially during the big chase scene toward the end with Randall pursuing Mike, Sulley, and Boo through dozens of doors in an homage to the old school cartoon chase scenes. At the center of this film, though, is the attachment between Sulley and Boo. Sulley might be a champion scarer, but he's got a heart as big as anyone's and it's incredibly heartwarming to see how much the two care for each other toward the end of the film. Another of Pixar's emotional greats, the film came at the height of Pixar's popularity and continued their growing streak of hits.
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#35: Princess Mononoke
Year of Release: 1997 (original), 1999 (USA)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Commonly cited as one of THE pre-eminent anime films, Princess Mononoke is an epic fantasy film set in late medieval Japan, dealing with the conflict between human industry and natural wonder, it's a visual spectacle filled with symbolism and masterful animation. The film takes place in the city of Irontown and the surrounding forests. A young prince, Ashitaka, is attacked and bitten by a corrupted boar god who has been crippled and turned into a demon by a shard of iron from the city of Irontown. Ashitaka is told that the Great Spirit of the Forest could heal his wound, but the spirit is in conflict with the people of Irontown. Meanwhile, Ashitaka is accosted by a girl named San who has grown up among the forest wolves. San and Ashitaka must work together to restore the balance between the forest and the growing human encroachment. The film has an obvious environmentalist message, but unlike some films (Fern Gully) that practically beat you over the head with it, Princess Mononoke tells everything through visual spectacle and symbolism, showing the vivid effects of the growing human development on the spirit world itself. The forest spirits are seen to be corrupted and at times terrifying as a result of their corruption, while the natural untouched forests and their creatures are seen as things of beauty. The central characters of the film are Ashitaka and San and they're both quite complex and intriguing, Ashitaka is much deeper than a typical hero, he's working with a purpose and he comes to see his own struggle as that of the forest's and of San's as well. Meanwhile, San starts out quite cold but we gradually see her warm up to Ashitaka as she realizes the purity of his purpose. Then there's Lady Eboshi, she's technically the "villain" of the film but she's an incredibly strong character and in no way wicked, she's doing what she believes to be the right thing to do and she has a fierce urge to protect the people of Irontown. With complex characters, gorgeous animation, and an inspiring plot, Princess Mononoke is an absolute classic. In terms of pure entertainment value, it falls a bit short of some of the other films on this list, but as a work of art it definitely ranks among the great animated movies of all time.
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#34: The Land Before Time
Year of Release: 1988
Director: Don Bluth
The Land Before Time has had a LOT of notoriety in recent years due to some truly horrible sequels that have badly sullied the good name of this franchise, but before those sequels the original was one of the best animated films of its time and is still a fantastic watch today. The film takes place during the time of the dinosaurs, as worsening conditions have forced a herd of apatosauruses (known in the film as "longnecks") out of their homelands which are burdened by drought and lack of food. The longnecks, including a young dinosaur named Littlefoot, join up with other herds of dinosaurs to find the "Great Valley", where food and water are plentiful. Along the way, the herds are attacked by a vicious T-rex known as "Sharptooth", and Littlefoot's mother sacrifices her life to save her child. In one of the saddest scenes in all of animation, we see Littlefoot trying desperately to wake his dying mother up to no avail (it's absolutely heartrending and there's NOTHING like this in any of the sequels). Littlefoot comes across some young dinosaurs from other herds who have been separated from the adults, and he later gets an angry young triceratops girl named Cera to join the group as they make their way to find the Great Valley. This film is absolutely intense, the young dinosaurs are struggling to survive and along the way they come across many hazards that test their resolve. There aren't too many "journey" films that are this serious, the young dinosaurs all bond over their shared hardships and draw strength from one another. Littlefoot, Cera, and Ducky were all voiced by child actors, Ducky herself was voiced by Judith Barsi (who also acted in All Dogs Go To Heaven) and Candace Hutson was SIX YEARS OLD when she did the voice work for Cera. This has to be counted as one of Don Bluth's very best works, he's really not afraid to pull any emotional punches with this film and compared to the happy-go-lucky musicals that the sequels were, this is a masterpiece.
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#33: How To Train Your Dragon
Year of Release: 2010
Directors: Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
One of the very best animated films to come out of Dreamworks, How To Train Your Dragon tells the story of Hiccup, a young man living in the village of Berk. The village is under the constant threat of dragons, and Hiccup's father, Stoick, is the village chieftain and one of the best killers of dragons...though Hiccup himself is seen by many of the villagers as a failure who will be unable to ever kill a dragon. One day, Hiccup takes down a Night Fury, the most feared of all the dragons, but seeing it helpless in the valley he's unable to kill it and he sets it free. The dragon, Toothless, eventually befriends Hiccup who now has to keep his new friendship a secret from the others, including the rough and tumble girl Astrid who Hiccup harbors a crush on. The film has many of the classic animated film tropes, particularly the "Well Done Son Guy" trope as far as Hiccup's relationship with his father Stoick is concerned. With that said, the dynamic between them is executed quite well. We see that Stoick is proud of his son, but he does worry that Hiccup will endanger himself, especially once he finds out about Hiccup's secret friendship with Toothless. The supporting characters, particularly Hiccup's young "friends", are also quite well developed and all of them have their own endearing qualities, from the dorky Fishlegs to the quarreling Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and of course the badass but still cute Astrid, Hiccup and his friends are easy to like and they're the first to get behind Hiccup once the secret behind the dragon attacks is revealed. The animation is absolutely beautiful, it's one of those films you have to see on Blu-Ray if you didn't see it in the theater, the dragons and the surrounding village are stunning in some scenes (Hiccup's "kidnapping" of Astrid is a particularly good scene from a visual perspective, as well as the final battle with the massive dragon who's been enslaving all the other dragons). The trailer for the sequel just came out and, unsurprisingly, it looks as amazing as the first. How To Train Your Dragon is an example of how good a film can be when animators and writers pay attention to every detail.
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#32: Tangled
Year of Release: 2010
Directors: Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Based on the classic fairy tale Rapunzel, Tangled is a film that was YEARS in the making and cost a quarter of a billion dollars to make because of all the retooling that had been done over the years. The trailer was finally released and it was a bit of a disappointment, the film had gone straight CGI and the Pink song in the trailer indicated that the film would be overloaded with pop-culture references and silly sight gags and that it wouldn't be the classic Disney Princess film we'd been promised during production. Boy, were we wrong. This was the film that proved that it's possible to bring that classic and Renaissance-era Disney magic to the medium of CGI. The plot is rather simple, Rapunzel is kidnapped as a baby by the wicked Mother Gothel in order to use her hair to keep Gothel young and beautiful. When Rapunzel is about to turn 18, a thief named Flynn Rider stumbles into the tower and Rapunzel makes a deal with him to take her to see the mysterious floating lanterns that appear on her birthday. The animation, though not the ink painting/2-D CGI style we saw in pre-production, is still incredibly beautiful, with Rapunzel's hair appearing big, flowing, and realistic, incredible attention was paid to the animation of the strands. Rapunzel herself looks just like a Disney princess transported into 3-D CGI, there's not too much of a difference in basic looks between her and Belle or Cinderella or Ariel (indeed, Glen Keane worked on the animation for both characters). There are songs everywhere, with "I See The Light" being the big romantic duet between Rapunzel and Flynn. To be honest, the songs were a bit of a weak point for the film, nothing was really bad but nothing stood out as being as memorable as the great Disney classics....but the incredible animation for the I See The Light sequence made it a standout song and a true Disney classic scene. The voice acting was superb, with Mandy Moore shining as the speaking and singing voice of Rapunzel, though Zachary Levi was fantastic as well with near-perfect comedic timing. Tangled should be given a lot of credit for restoring faith in the Disney formula, while The Princess and the Frog is regarded as a false start by some critics, Tangled left absolutely no doubt that Disney was serious about returning to its true form.
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#31: The Incredibles
Year of Release: 2004
Director: Brad Bird
Pixar's take on the superhero genre, The Incredibles features a family of superpowered individuals who are forced into retirement by a litigious culture. The patriarch, Bob Parr, also known as Mr. Incredible, longs to use his powers and be heroic again, and takes a job with a mysterious client on a deserted island. The job goes sour and Bob is captured, drawing the rest of his family into the fray as they uncover a plot by a new supervillain and must foil it before their town and all superheroes are destroyed. The film does a great job juggling its two main focuses...superhero action and the family dynamic. The Parrs really are your typical American family, they face the same conflicts and insecurities as everyone else, they just happen to be, well...superheroes. Helen suspects Bob of cheating on her when he keeps going away, Violet is dealing with being a wallflower in her class, and Dash wants to compete in sports but his family won't let him use his powers. Combine that with some truly classic side characters, from Bob's old superhero buddy Frozone (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson with some awesome scenes), the laconic Edna Mode, and the main villain, the brilliant but evil Syndrome who's murdered nearly all the other superheroes and who turns out to be Buddy Pine, who tried to become Mr. Incredible's sidekick as a boy but was rejected, The Incredibles is just a great film all the way around. Even the musical score by Michael Giacchino is fantastic, hearkening back to the old superhero films and giving this movie a real throwback quality (the 50s-esque clothing styles and architecture do that as well, adding to the nostalgic feel). The voice acting is top-notch as well, you've got Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter as Bob and Helen and you've got Sarah Vowell, who had never voice acted in her life, doing a great job as the shy Violet. All in all, The Incredibles is one of Pixar's best and one of the best superhero movies ever made.
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#30: Coraline
Year of Release: 2009
Director: Henry Selick
Based on a children's novel by Neil Gaiman, Coraline tells the story of a little girl who is feeling lonely after she and her parents move to a dreary town in rural Oregon. Though she meets a boy named Wybie, she still feels isolated until she crawls through a secret portal in her home to an alternate reality version of her world. There she meets a woman just like her mother, only seemingly much nicer...there's one catch, the woman wants to sew buttons into Coraline's eyes and keep her forever and she'll stop at nothing to get her way. Coraline must outwit the wicked Other Mother if she ever hopes to see her parents again. Animated in stop-motion, this whimsical, creepy film draws a lot of parallels to The Nightmare Before Christmas, though it's different in a great many ways. It's a much more insular, tighter-plotted film, focusing mostly on Coraline. The film naturally changes a few things from the book, most notably (and most welcome) is the addition of Wybie, a foil for and later friend to Coraline, there mostly to give Coraline someone besides herself to talk to but a great character in his own right. Coraline herself is a typical little girl, though she puts up a brave front she's frightened by the same things that an actual girl would be frightened by, she does have a strong heart once the going gets tough and she's one of the best animated heroines in recent memory. The voice acting is also excellent, featuring great performances from Dakota Fanning, Keith David, and of course Teri Hatcher as the Other Mother (and Coraline's real-world mom), it's easy to see why this film was a sleeper hit and one of the most well-acclaimed animated films of the year. Were it not for Pixar's Up, this likely would have been a shoo-in to take the title of best animated film of 2009. Coraline is delightfully scary and it's one of the films I've found myself watching many, many times.
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#29: Sleeping Beauty
Year of Release: 1959
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Les Clark, Eric Larson, and Wolfgang Reitherman
One of the quintessential Disney fairy tale classics, Sleeping Beauty is based on the classic Perrault tale of the beautiful princess cursed to sleep for all time until she is kissed by her true love. The film begins by showing a beautiful kingdom celebrating the birth of a new baby girl, the Princess Aurora, who is blessed by three fairies, but when the evil fairy Maleficent shows up and curses Aurora to die on her 16th birthday, the fairies must spirit her away to live in a distant forest to be protected until the curse's time has passed. Meanwhile, her betrothed, Prince Phillip, has fallen in love with the now-disguised Aurora, not knowing that she is the princess whom he has been destined to marry his entire life. Maleficent knows she's running out of time to set the curse in motion and decides to take matters into her own hands to make her dark prophecy come true. Sleeping Beauty is a fantastic tale of romance and wonder. Unlike previous Disney films where the prince and princess barely know each other before getting married, here, Phillip gets to know Aurora before even finding out she's a princess and this makes his later fight for her much more believable. Maleficent has to be considered one of the great Disney villains, embued with wicked evil and incredible magical power, indeed, during her final battle with Phillip, which is absolutely epic by the way, she transforms into a fierce dragon and invokes "all the powers of hell" to bear against Phillip and the fairies assisting him in battle. Maleficent's voice actress was Eleanor Audley, known for giving more than one great Disney villainess performance, and she's the shining star of this film, even moreso than Mary Costa. The film did relatively poorly at the box office and was Disney's last fairy tale film for many years. It's a shame that this film represented in a lot of ways the end of an era for Disney, but it made a memorable impression and its reputation has only grown over the years, it's now known as one of Disney's finest epic adventures.
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#28: Ratatouille
Year of Release: 2007
Director: Brad Bird
Brad Bird's follow up to his 2004 hit The Incredibles, Ratatouille is a film at a much smaller scale, but the more intimate setting produces more lovable characters and an endearing plot that makes this one of the most heartwarming of all of Pixar's offerings. It takes place in Paris, France and revolves around the rat named Remy, who idolizes the great chef Auguste Gusteau. His dream is to become a great chef like Gusteau was, but it's obviously much harder for a rat to get a job as a chef than a human, despite Gusteau's inspirational motto, "anyone can cook". He eventually comes to team up with Linguini, who gets a job at Gusteau's restaurant but is unable to cook. By pulling strands of Linguini's hair, Remy can control his arms and cook for him, and Linguini, with Remy's help, soon becomes the talk of all of Paris with his great cooking, which is just in time for the restaurant's big visit by the very strict food critic Anton Ego. Ratatouille is full of intriguing characters, both rat and human. Remy has a very happy-go-lucky brother named Emile who is the source of a lot of the film's laughs, while on the human side, there's the fierce but very talented Colette (voiced very capably by Janeane Garofalo who affects a French accent to play the quick-talking chef) who ends up being Linguini's love interest. Remy and Linguini must come to trust one another as the film goes on, Remy must trust that the larger Linguini doesn't smash him flat while Linguini has to trust that Remy will continue to make him seem like a great cook. The film's biggest statement, I think, comes at the end of the film. Anton Ego's big review goes quite well, he orders ratatouille and Remy and Linguini cook it to perfection for him, bringing back his memories of childhood, he then makes a profound remark in his review about the nature of criticism in general: "In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends." You've got to think that the film itself is Pixar's statement on criticism and talent and discovery in general, and in the midst of all the fun, the movie left a lasting impression.
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#27: Mulan
Year of Release: 1998
Directors: Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook
Based on the classic Chinese tale of Mulan, this Disney adaptation is somewhat softer but still very dramatic and epic, the only true "war" film in the Disney canon and one that uses animation techniques quite brilliantly to create realistic armies on screen. The main action of the film begins as the Huns invade China and Mulan's father is drafted into the army. Knowing that her aging father will die if he goes off to war, Mulan disguises herself as a man and steals her father's armor, posing as his son in his place. She is assisted in this endeavor by Mushu, a dragon who has been given the task of retrieving Mulan by her family's ancestors (actually, he stole the job from the family's great guardian). As Mulan makes new friends and trains as a soldier, all the while concealing her identity, the Huns begin their rampage through China, and Mulan doesn't have much time to get ready for battle. This was easily one of the most epic films Disney has ever produced, with incredible battle scenes accompanied by majestic music composed by the late great Jerry Goldsmith. With just enough humor and slapstick to ease the tension of the heavy battle scenes, the film is one of Disney's best paced. An example of the variety of moods present in this film is the "Girl Worth Fighting For" scene, a humorous and upbeat song where Mulan's fellow soldiers describe their ideal mates, only to encounter a destroyed and burned village, interrupting the end of the song as the soldiers find out that Shang's father has been killed in battle and as Mulan mourns the death of a little girl, finding only her doll left behind. Mulan is an incredibly strong heroine, determined and brave right from the start, though she's unsure of herself as a soldier before her training. She grows to be quite the warrior and she has the highest on-screen body count of any Disney character, hero or villain, using an avalanche to slaughter thousands of Huns. This film excites and delights all the way through, one of Disney's finest efforts and a film that ranks among the best animated war films ever produced. There are so many great moments in Mulan that it rarely gets boring or drags, that's the sign of a very smartly-made movie.
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#26: Cinderella
Year of Release: 1950
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson
The Walt Disney classic Cinderella is filled with many memorable songs and moments that continue to permeate pop culture to this day. It's by far the most well-known adaptation of the classic tale and one of the first films that comes to mind when people think of Disney, indeed, the castle itself has become an iconic symbol of the company. As for the film itself, Cinderella is about the titular heroine, whose father marries a woman named Lady Tremaine, gaining Cinderella a mother and two new stepsisters. After the father's death, Tremaine and the stepsisters begin tormenting Cinderella, forcing her to do all the work around the house and emotionally abusing her every single day. Meanwhile, the prince of a nearby kingdom is in search of an eligible wife, and he decides to hold a grand ball to choose the perfect girl. Cinderella wishes to attend the ball but her mother and stepsisters prevent her from doing so, leading her to wish for her fairy godmother to allow her to attend. The film is of course a romantic classic, with many memorable songs and moments. The Fairy Godmother herself is a lovable magical being who grants Cinderella's wishes with kindness and whimsy. Cinderella's transformation, both to and from her beautiful debutante self, features some gorgeous animation, and Cinderella is one of the best of the Disney princesses, kind but hard-working and resourceful as well, she's a much more complex character than Snow White and you can really get a sense of the evolution of Disney writing and animation from the company's first few films (though Snow White was a wonderful film in and of itself for different reasons). The success of this film (well-deserved, I might add), saved Disney's studio, without it most of the films on this list wouldn't exist. The film's music is excellent, from the classic "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" to Cinderella's beautiful "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes", Cinderella is one of the great Disney Princess classics, starting Disney's Silver Age off with a glorious bang.
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#25: Bambi
Year of Release: 1942
Director: David Hand
Disney's classic about a young deer who must grow up and realize his destiny, the film follows a young fawn named Bambi who is destined to one day become the Great Prince of the Forest. He spends his early years in the forest with his friends and family, learning life lessons and gradually growing into the prince he will one day become. One cold winter, he learns his harshest lesson when his mother is shot dead by a hunter. He must overcome his grief as he grows into his adolescence, learning more about life and about love and his growing feelings for his friend Faline, now a beautiful young doe. This film, more than any other Disney film, is a true coming-of-age story, far more than just the one scene everyone remembers from the movie, the death of Bambi's mother. Bambi is one of the most surprisingly complex characters in Disney history and his growth reflects the growth of a lot of children. The movie really shifts in tone multiple times, from the adorable, child-like events of Bambi's childhood to the near-romance film it becomes in the middle, to the warrior-like embodiment that Bambi takes on at the film's end, this film is far more than it seems at the beginning, though the beginning itself is a bit slow, the film only really hits its stride with the crack of that hunter's bullet. The animation is beautiful from beginning to end, Bambi's forest is one of the most detailed works of artistry in any Disney film and the musical score perfectly accentuates the action on screen. Bambi might just feature the most complex plot seen in a Disney film until The Black Cauldron, it's a film that's far more than it seems on the surface and anyone who has yet to watch it is in for a very pleasant surprise. There's a reason Bambi remains one of Disney's most enduring classics.
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#24: Alice In Wonderland
Year of Release: 1951
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
Disney's 1951 film based on the classic Lewis Carroll novel, Alice In Wonderland is a delightful cacophony of strange sights and sounds, filled with pure silliness and whimsy, it's one of the most fun to watch films of the entire Disney canon with some of the most memorable characters in any animated film. The film depicts Alice, a young girl who wishes to live in a world of nonsense and wonder. However, when she gets her wish and falls into the wacky Wonderland, all she wants to do is return home...of course, she has lots of strange creatures and circumstances in her way and must use her wits to navigate Wonderland's tricks and traps if she has any hope of making it back home. What this film does wonderfully is populate its world with surprises at every turn. You never know what's going to turn up next, and the variety of strange happenings in this film are complemented by masterful animation and pitch-perfect timing. Alice is of course the true star of this film and even as an ordinary girl among all the strangeness, she manages some of the funniest lines of the film, she's quite witty and her voice actress Kathryn Beaumont, despite her young age at the time the voices were performed, delivered her lines with incredible skill. Alice bounces from strange situation to strange situation, every scene like a miniature set-piece, all connected by the common thread of Alice's desire to get back home. Along the way we meet some fantastic characters, the Cheshire Cat is of course fun and the Caterpillar's cryptic, somewhat creepy nature is very memorable, but I was partial to the Mad Hatter, his scenes were a laugh riot thanks to Ed Wynn's unique delivery and the unbirthday scene was one of the most brilliantly wacky comedic segments to appear in a Disney film, period. Of course, Alice's true bravery also shines through during a number of scenes and she even got to sing a lovely song among the beautiful flowers. Alice In Wonderland is another classic Disney masterpiece full of color and musical and whimsy and it's a perfect adaptation of Lewis Carroll's timeless work.
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#23: An American Tail
Year of Release: 1986
Director: Don Bluth
Don Bluth's classic story about the mouse Fievel, who immigrates to America in the late 19th century with his family, is the film that lit a fire under Disney's ass in the late 80s and may well have been the impetus for the Disney Renaissance. It's based on real history, with the trials of the Mousekewitz family paralleling the struggles of the Russian Jews who emigrated to America, complete with pogroms (conducted by cats in the film). The family is making their way to America when a sudden storm hits their ship, washing Fievel overboard. Believing him to have drowned, the family continues on to America despite their intense grief. However, Fievel survives, floating to America and befriending a group of mice in the hopes of reuniting with his family. What follows is a heartwarming (and sometimes heartwrenching) story as Fievel tries desperately to reunite with his loved ones while encountering all sorts of dangers along the way. The film hosts a curious and interesting cast of characters, from the fun and friendly Tony and Bridget to the wicked Warren T. Rat, Fievel's journey is never dull, and it's filled with music, particularly the ballad "Somewhere Out There" that Tanya and Fievel sing to each other from across the city under the beautiful starry sky. The song is very sentimental, with poignant lyrics expressing the hope that they're both singing together under the same sky and that the siblings will reunite someday. The movie is animated beautifully, filled with scenes of the turn of the century New York landscape, made even bigger and more majestic by the fact that it's being navigated by mice. It really enhances the scope of Fievel's journey which is definitely not an easy one, there are times when you really wonder just how he's going to make it to his family. This film was VERY well received by audiences, grossing the highest of any non-Disney animated feature, and it's the movie that made Don Bluth both a superstar and a legend. There's a reason Fievel became the mascot of Amblimation, this film catapulted Don Bluth's studio to the top of the animation mountain and it would take an incredible effort to knock him off.
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#22: The Little Mermaid
Year of Release: 1989
Directors: Ron Clements and John Musker
And this was the film that put Disney back on top of the mountain again. After going 30 years without telling a fairy-tale based story, Disney adapted the Hans Christian Andersen classic into a musical film, using Oliver and Company to gauge fans' interest in Disney musicals. After that film exceeded expectations, all systems were go for The Little Mermaid and ultimately, this film marked the beginning of the Disney Renaissance. The protagonist of the film is Ariel, a 16-year-old mermaid who desires a life beyond that available to her under the sea, especially when she lays eyes on the handsome Prince Eric while he's on a sea expedition. After she saves him from nearly drowning, their bond is sealed and her desire to escape the sea is only further enhanced after her father King Triton discovers her undersea grotto and destroys it in a fit of anger. This drives Ariel into the tentacles of the sea witch Ursula, who makes a deal with Ariel...she'll turn Ariel into a human, but in exchange, Ariel must give the sea witch her voice, and if she can't make Eric fall in love with her in the next three days, she'll become one of Ursula's deformed sea creature trophies. Ariel is the star of the film, a beautiful mermaid and Disney's first princess since Aurora in 1959 (technically Eilonwy was a princess but since Disney chose to forget about The Black Cauldron, officially it's Ariel). Ariel is voiced to perfection by Broadway star Jodi Benson, it's Jodi's speaking and singing performance that lie at the heart and soul of the film, and indeed, Ariel's voice is what Ursula seeks in order to take over the sea. (Jodi also performs as the evil "Vanessa", Ursula's dark alter ego, and it's a shame Jodi didn't do more villain voices after this because she did fantastic with it.) Ariel is accompanied by a host of fun sea creatures, including the musically-inclined Sebastian and the friendly fish Flounder. The movie is chock-full of classic memorable songs... "Part Of Your World", "Under The Sea", "Kiss the Girl", "Poor Unfortunate Souls"...any one of them would be the best in a lot of animated musicals but this film is loaded with fantastic music. The romance between Ariel and Eric is a bit contrived, but it's in the final act that we see some realistic, earned love between the two of them as they save each other during the final battle with Ursula. Then again, a LOT of Disney romances are contrived and Ariel and Eric are still adorable, so there's not too much to complain about here. Ultimately, The Little Mermaid was the shot in the arm Disney needed after the company hit its nadir during the 70s and 80s. It brought the old-school romantic Disney princess films into a new generation and at the same time created a new generation of lifelong Disney fans.
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#21: Shrek
Year of Release: 2001
Directors: Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson
The film that put Dreamworks Animation on the map and changed the landscape of cinematic animation forever. Though Pixar's Toy Story was the birth of CGI feature films, this was the film that popularized them and shifted the landscape away from traditional animation. Shrek had been in production for many years, Spielberg bought the rights in 1991 and the film lingered in development hell, Chris Farley actually recorded most of the dialogue for Shrek before his tragic death in 1997. Eventually though, the film was released in May 2001 to MASSIVE box office success. It starred Shrek, a grumpy ogre who only wanted to live in solitude in his swamp, only for a massive immigration of fairytale characters to disrupt his peaceful existence, prompting him to go to Lord Farquaad for assistance in booting these new residents out of his swamp. He makes his way to the castle, only to inadvertently thrust himself into a wrestling match with dozens of knights from throughout the kingdom. As it turns out, the knights were competing to be the one to rescue Princess Fiona. Farquaad tells Shrek that he'll get rid of the fairytale characters from his swamp if he rescues the princess, and Shrek agrees to the deal. He ventures off to save the princess alongside a donkey named Donkey. The film is a twisted, humorous take on the classic fairy tale tropes, with a lot of inverted tropes throughout. What makes Shrek such a great film is its nonstop humor. It does rely somewhat on pop culture references which dates the humor a bit, but there's plenty of situational and character-based comedy to be had, and the humor based on subverting classic fairy tales is utterly timeless. Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy are a great comedic team and there are plenty of hilarious dialogue sequences between the two of them (Donkey's talks about onions and parfaits are particular high notes). There's also a real heart beneath all of this comedy, Shrek comes off as an aloof jerk at first but it's only because people have always treated him so poorly, judging him before they even get to know him and causing him to stop trying to get close to people. When Shrek meets Fiona, their relationship is developed gradually and it too ultimately subverts the classic fairy tale romances. Shrek achieved massive critical and commercial success and appears on a number of "Best Animated Movies Of All Time" lists, of which this is no exception. It's an epic fantasy, a biting satire, and a sweet romantic comedy all in one and one of the most demographically-friendly animated films of all time. Kids love the fart jokes, adults love the subtle character-based humor. The film launched a franchise that, while none of the successor films live up to the original, is still one of the best animation franchises of all time, filled with references to classic fairy tailes and cartoons. People might blame Shrek for being the beginning of the end of traditionally animated feature films, but forget that the only reason Shrek achieved so much is because it was such a great film itself.
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#20: Peter Pan
Year of Release: 1953
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
Disney's classic Peter Pan was one of the company's most magical films, an adventure filled with nonstop fun and filled with memorable and endearing characters. The film depicts the three Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael. The three children are visited in the night by Peter Pan, who takes them to Neverland. There, the three are menaced by mermaids and pirates, but still have fun after meeting Peter's companions the Lost Boys...but Wendy and Peter soon come into conflict over how best to deal with the boys, with Wendy saying that perhaps they need to settle down and have a normal life while Peter tells her they're all content to stay in Neverland. Meanwhile, Peter's companion Tinker Bell finds herself jealous of Wendy and this also creates conflict between her and Peter. This film was created by Disney after the revival generated by the success of Cinderella, By this point, the company had hit its stride, and practically every film they released was a success and a classic. Peter Pan was no exception. Kathryn Beaumont, who had been Alice in Alice in Wonderland, is cast as Wendy here and her performance is as good as or better than her previous excellent effort. Peter Pan's voice actor Bobby Driscoll is equally good and Hans Conried and Bill Thompson are fantastic as Hook and Smee. The relationship between Peter and Wendy in this film is VERY complex, it's not the typical Disney romance by any means. Wendy, as a potential love interest and motherly figure, represents for Peter the threat posed by the outside world, of having to put aside his fun and grow up, but at the same time there are scenes where we see how deeply he cares about her, the conflict between Peter's feelings for Wendy and his desire to stay a boy forever form a big part of his internal conflict in the film (ultimately the romance is a non-issue, Peter does decide to stay "just friends" with Wendy as he remains in Neverland while they go back to London). Tinker Bell, one of Disney's most enduring and beloved characters in her own right, is incredibly fun to watch, even if she doesn't speak she's quite expressive and her own internal conflicts are on display as she eventually is captured by Hook after she attempts to aid Hook in capturing Wendy, but we soon see how deeply she cares about Peter. At the core of the film, despite all the great characters (particularly Peter, Wendy, Hook, and Tinker Bell), is one of Disney's most fun adventures and a film that's worth watching over and over again, Peter Pan still resonates as one of the greatest fantasy films ever put to screen.
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#19: Up
Year of Release: 2009
Director: Pete Docter
One of Pixar's most emotional films, Up tells the story of Carl Fredricksen from his life as a young boy (wanting to be an adventurer after admiring his hero Charles Muntz), befriending and eventually falling in love with a girl named Ellie, and living out his life with her. The two try to have children but Ellie is barren, the two decide instead to save up for a dream vacation to Paradise Falls, but Ellie dies before the two of them can go. This opening sequence, about ten minutes in length, is one of the saddest things ever put to screen and tells you immediately everything about Carl that you need to know. He's turned into a sad, bitter old man with only one thing keeping him going, his promise to his departed wife Ellie to visit Paradise Falls. Just before he is to be evicted from his home, he ties thousands of balloons to his house and lifts off into the sky...but there's a hitch in his plans, a young Explorer Scout named Russell has hitched a ride on his balloon house and Carl reluctantly lets the boy accompany him on his voyage. This kicks off a grand adventure as the two reach Paradise Falls, with Carl trying to complete his promise to Ellie and get the two back home. This film is known for its great animation and its great emotional story, with Carl being one of the best characters Pixar has ever produced. It's about Carl finding a new purpose in life, he starts out the film angry at the world, a stark contrast to the happy-go-lucky Russell who's just trying to get a merit badge for helping the elderly. Despite being known for its sad scenes, Up features plenty of upbeat and wacky action with a variety of animals, including a strange bird named Kevin and a rather adorable talking dog (talking with the assistance of a device, anyway) named Dug who "loves" everyone he sees. Carl finally meets his childhood hero Muntz, but Muntz has turned into a vicious poacher, obsessed with catching Kevin and willing to do anything, even killing Russell, to achieve his goals, leading to a spectacular climactic aerial fight sequence at the end of the film. Up is one of Pixar's most beloved films, its hard-hitting emotional pathos is some of the most effective you'll see in ANY movie, and though its action doesn't have quite the non-stop rollicking fun of the Toy Story trilogy, the journey is still a rich and fulfilling one, both the exploration of Paradise Falls and Carl's journey for a new purpose in life.
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#18: Ghost In The Shell
Year of Release: 1995 (original), 1998 (USA)
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Perhaps the best Japanese sci-fi anime film, Ghost in the Shell takes place in the future, where most people have connected their bodies and minds to a worldwide connected internet, inhabiting cybernetic bodies called "shells" to access the global web. Motoko Kusanagi, the main character, is in pursuit of a hacker known as the Puppet Master, who can access seemingly anything and is like a ghost, nearly impossible to find. What starts out as a sci-fi police film soon turns into a complex philosophical exploration into the concept of the metaphysical, what it means to possess a soul and the nature of the soul itself. The film raises these questions amidst heart-stopping, mind-bending action punctuated by some of the best animation in any anime film. The film is in a lot of ways a precursor to The Matrix in terms of the metaphysical questions it raises, combined with the incredible physical actions that the characters pull off (indeed, the Wachowskis were said to be influenced by Ghost in the Shell when they created The Matrix, and James Cameron would later explore similar things in his sci-fi hit Avatar). The Puppet Master himself is far more than he seems and raises most of the philosophical questions in the film: it's an artificial hacking program that has gained self-awareness and is using its talents to create bodies for itself in the hope of being recognized as a sentient being in its own right, it sees Motoko as a way for it to propagate its ideas and consciousness and requests to merge with her so that it may live on within her mind. Like many of the classic works about artificial intelligence, Ghost in the Shell raises important questions about the nature of free will and the soul, the title of this film referring to the soul as a "ghost in the shell", the shell being our bodies. Combining these intriguing ideas with animation that was ahead of its time and smartly-paced action, Ghost in the Shell is not only one of the most exciting animated films of all time but one of the smartest as well.
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#17: Pinocchio
Year of Release: 1940
Directors: Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske
Another of Disney's most enduring classics, Pinocchio is an adaptation of the classic Italian children's novel. The film begins with a man named Geppetto wishing on a star that the wooden marionette he just completed could become a real boy. The Blue Fairy grants this wish in the middle of the night, giving life to Pinocchio, though he remains a puppet. The Blue Fairy tells Pinocchio that if he is selfless, brave, and true, he will become a real boy of flesh and blood, and appoints Jiminy Cricket to serve as Pinocchio's conscience. The film shows Pinocchio encountering a variety of temptations, and he struggles to maintain his goodness despite Jiminy's efforts. The movie is thus at its core a fairly simple morality play, but the whimsy, the memorable characters and songs, and the excellent quality of animation make it a truly magical adventure. "When You Wish Upon A Star", an absolutely beautiful song and one of the best songs in cinematic history, has become a Disney icon. The scene in which Geppetto wishes on a star for Pinocchio to come to life has become iconic in and of itself. The ending scene in which Pinocchio rescues Geppetto from Monstro is dramatic and spectacular, one of Disney's best action set pieces to date. Pinocchio is a realistic, flawed hero, acting just as a real boy would. He's easily tempted by fame, fortune, and fun, straying from the path of good numerous times. It makes the ending scenes, where he finally redeems himself, all the more endearing. While Pinocchio is a rather predictable and simplistic film, it tells its story with great emotional weight, with scenes that continue to move audiences to this day.
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#16: Aladdin
Year of Release: 1992
Directors: Ron Clements and John Musker
One of the classic Disney Renaissance era films, Aladdin is a loose adaptation of the classic story from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. The movie starts right off with the song "Arabian Nights", launching us into the city from a bird's-eye view of Agrabah and giving us a vivid preview of the action to come. The film revolves around Aladdin, an orphaned "street rat" who steals food from merchants in the city, gaining a reputation as a criminal and attracting the attention of the palace guards. He meets up with Jasmine, the princess of Agrabah who secretly seeks a life away from the gilded cage of the palace. The two have only a brief encounter but seem to fall for each other quickly, but when Aladdin is dragged into a quest to plunder the Cave of Wonders, he thinks he's lost any chance at winning Jasmine's heart (especially when he finds out she's the princess and can only marry a prince). He's tasked with taking a magic lamp from the cave but accidentally summons the Genie of the lamp, giving him three wishes, of which he uses the first to become a prince and take another shot at winning Jasmine's heart. Palace intrigue follows and Aladdin must decide whether to keep his promise to free the Genie or pursue Jasmine and save his wish for any hitches that might result. Complicating matters is the scheming vizier Jafar who seeks the lamp for his own purposes to take over the kingdom. This is just a straight-up FUN movie with plenty of upbeat songs, visual sight gags, and an electric performance from Robin Williams as the Genie. How does he know about all those pop culture things from the 20th century? Who cares, it's funny! Aladdin and Jasmine are pretty much the perfect Disney couple. The two have the same goal (Aladdin seeks a better life for himself, Jasmine does as well, though in different ways, and both come to seek each other as well) and are equally brave and adventurous, neither one of them taking any crap from Jafar (and though Aladdin saves Jasmine at the end of the film you can easily see it being vice-versa, indeed she does save him more than once in the animated series). The songs in the film, as mentioned before, are exciting and fun, "Prince Ali" is filled with fun accompanying animation (and its dark reprise is fantastic as well), "You've Never Had a Friend Like Me" is bombastic and over-the-top, and the big love ballad "A Whole New World" might just be the best love song in all of Disney. Aladdin is a splendidly fun film, a favorite among Disney fans, and it continued the magical Disney streak of the early 90s without missing a beat.
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#15: Toy Story
Year of Release: 1995
Director: John Lasseter
Toy Story was the first feature length computer animated film, and was the first feature film from Pixar Studios. It depicts a group of toys led by Woody, the cowboy doll who's been Andy's favorite as long as he can remember. One fateful day, Andy gets a birthday present...Buzz Lightyear, the hot new space toy that soon takes over Woody's spot as Andy's favorite and the "leader" of the toys, even though he believes himself to be an actual space ranger. Woody devises a plan to get rid of Buzz which ends up getting them both tangled up in a journey to get back to Andy's room before Andy and his mom move away. The film's plot seems simple enough at first, but its pioneering use of computer animation and its smart dialogue made it an instant classic and kicked off the era of CGI films with style. The toys each have their own distinct personalities, there's the gruff Mr. Potato Head, the snarky Hamm, the cowardly Rex, the sweet Bo Peep...and of course Woody and Buzz, the stars of the show, whose personalities both contrast and compliment each other as the dynamics of their relationship change throughout the film. Voiced to perfection by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen respectively, Woody and Buzz come from different places, Woody completely embraces his role as Andy's favorite toy while Buzz is in his own little world, loving the attention and admiration but still seeing himself as a ranger on a mission, when Buzz finally realizes the truth about himself, it shakes his whole world view and it takes Woody overcoming his own jealous of Buzz to snap the space toy back to his senses so the two can escape the clutches of Sid. It's a rather brilliant shift in personality for Buzz and for Woody, they both hit their rock bottom at the same time and begin to bond, with Woody offering his insights about the purpose of being a toy and Buzz forgiving Woody for trying to get rid of him before, it establishes a friendship that becomes the core of the following two films as well. The film is sparse on action but the few big set pieces, particularly the moving van chase at the end are thrilling, especially since by now you're rooting so hard for Woody and Buzz. Randy Newman's great songs are the icing on the cake of this film that started the CGI revolution and started one of the greatest film trilogies of all time.
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#14: The Iron Giant
Year of Release: 1999
Director: Brad Bird
This film came in under EVERYONE'S radar (indeed, a lot of people went just to see the trailer for Pokemon: The First Movie). After the critical and commercial failure of Quest for Camelot, Warner Brothers didn't have much faith left in the animation department and though kept on a tight budgetary leash, Brad Bird had pretty much free reign to bring his vision to reality... resulting in one of the greatest animated movies ever made. The film depicts a large object crashing just outside of a small town in Maine in 1957. The object turns out to be a giant robot, who is found by a boy named Hogarth. Hogarth befriends the robot but knows he has to keep it hidden from the rest of the town, lest the robot be discovered and freak out the townspeople. Eventually, however, the government comes to investigate the crash, led by a shady agent named Kent Mansley. Mansley's attempts to uncover the truth put more and more pressure on Hogarth to keep the giant hidden, and he has to enlist the help of his older friend Dean (who also happens to be the love interest of Hogarth's widowed mother). The Iron Giant himself plays a HUGE role in the film (he doesn't talk much but when he does he's voiced by Vin Diesel and his dialogue tends to be VERY important), the animation does a great job of conveying the giant's emotions as Hogarth teaches it about humans and about Earth. He reads comics to the giant, of which one of them is Superman (which again turns out to be important and symbolic). The film's main message is quoted directly by Hogarth in the film: "You are what you choose to be." The giant turns out to be an alien weapon programmed with a hair-trigger self-defense response, whenever threatened it whips out a massive contingent of missiles and guns and at times even goes on a rampage. It's Hogarth's friendship that ultimately leads the giant to overcome this programming, though that is tested by the military's violent response once the giant becomes an apparent threat. The film hearkens back to the nostalgic era of the 1950s, Cold War era concerns and the promise of technology permeate the film and the atomic age factors in heavily. The 1950s are the perfect time period for science fiction, the wonders of the atomic age and the military paranoia at the time make a great backdrop for a great story such as this. The ending scene, where the giant invokes Superman as he sacrifices himself to save the town from nuclear destruction, is incredibly poignant and hammers home the moral of this film, the giant, built to take life, has instead chosen to save it. It's a shame that this movie failed at the box office, but it gained a new life on televised showings and on video and DVD. A film this great couldn't be kept down forever.
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#13: Finding Nemo
Year of Release: 2003
Director: Andrew Stanton
Pixar's undersea saga that became one of its defining films, Finding Nemo is full of heart and spectacle and has endeared countless audiences while becoming one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. The film starts out by showing a clownfish named Marlin and his wife Coral, admiring their new eggs. The idyllic family scene is shattered by an attack from a vicious barracuda, killing Coral and all of the eggs but one, whom the devastated Marlin names Nemo. Nemo becomes Marlin's pride and joy and Marlin is INTENSELY protective of him as the young son is all he has left. Nemo wishes to spend some time out of the shell his overprotective father has made for him, and he runs away, getting himself abducted by a fisherman in the process. Marlin has to scour the ocean for Nemo, with the help of an amnesia-addled fish named Dory (voiced in a hilarious performance by Ellen DeGeneres). The trek takes the two across the sea, meeting a huge variety of sea creatures along the way. This film features some of Pixar's best creativity and animation, with a huge amount of research going into the depictions of the creatures in the film. The fish themselves are beautifully designed and colorful, and a jellyfish-infested "minefield" is frighteningly beautiful. The plot, while dealing with a serious matter (Marlin's desperate search to find his lost son) is for the most part light-hearted and funny. There's a shark who struggles to stop eating fish, a helpful surfer-dude turtle, a group of greedy seagulls... the film is almost perfectly paced, the journey made much more fun by Marlin and Dory's dynamic, the two are like a brother and sister (no romantic relationship is implied) and though Dory is quite loopy and happy-go-lucky due to her condition, she has a hidden deep side that comes out in one of the film's most emotional scenes. Meanwhile, Nemo has his own adventures in a dentist office fish tank with a group of fish led by the old fish Gill, one of the movie's most intriguing characters in his own right, who becomes like a mentor to Nemo. The only real "villain" in the film is the dentist's daughter Darla, who is more ignorant than malicious, prone to killing fish by shaking them too hard, she's certainly menacing as she's depicted in the film but is ultimately just your typical careless child. Finding Nemo achieved great success because it has something for everyone, from parents to children, with bright colors and fast-paced action enhancing a beautiful story of the love a father has for his son.
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#12: Akira
Year of Release: 1988
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Perhaps the quintessential anime film, Akira takes place in 2019, in a Tokyo (rebuilt after a catastrophe caused its destruction three decades earlier) that glimmers on the surface but hides an underbelly of crime and corruption. Shotaro Kaneda, a biker ganger, is riding with his friend Tetsuo when Tetsuo gets into an accident involving a mysterious boy named Takashi. As a result of the accident, it is discovered that Tetsuo harbors latent psychic powers similar to a boy named Akira, the cause of Tokyo's destruction in 1988. The government wants to study (and perhaps kill Tetsuo), prompting him to escape into the streets, where he eventually begins to go on a rampage using his new powers, with only Kaneda able to stand against him. The film's action is fierce, its animation beautiful for the time, with the bright colors of Neo-Tokyo a suitable backdrop for the intensity of the film and the horrifying violence that results from Tetsuo's loss of control. Unlike most anime films released previously, Akira's animators cut no corners with the animation and everything is smooth and fluid and detailed, making the film's intense battles and at times grotesque visuals all the more impactful. Tetsuo is one of the great tragic characters of animation, quickly becoming consumed in a situation that grows rapidly beyond control. And though Kaneda is actually the main protagonist, the titular Akira shows up and steals the show toward the end, despite his power and destructive capacity he's quite endearing, a welcome respite from the emotional gravitas immediately before his arrival. Akira is a film that hits all the right notes with its blend of action, incredibly detailed animation, and characters whom you quickly grow to care about. It's influenced countless action films all over the world and if you mention Akira to any anime fan, their eyes instantly light up. Proving once and for all that the medium of animation can be used to tell powerful, visceral, personal stories, Akira stands tall as an anime classic, or in the eyes of many, THE anime classic.
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#11: Toy Story 3
Year of Release: 2010
Director: Lee Unkrich
The epic Toy Story trilogy concludes with this, the third and final installment, which sees Andy going off to college as the remaining toys wonder what will become of them. Toy Story 3 was 11 years in the making and Pixar pulled out all the stops, with callbacks to previous films in the series and references that clever fans who saw the previous two films could spot if they looked carefully. It was one of the biggest commercial and critical successes of any animated film and is considered by many to be Pixar's magnum opus. The film starts out with an action set-piece (full of callbacks to previous series films), followed by a brief montage showing Andy's childhood and then gradually showing him getting older and older until we see the room as it is in the present, mostly depleted of toys as Andy, now 18, is getting ready to head off to college. A mix-up with the packing sends all the toys except for Woody to the Sunnyside Daycare, where things seem nice at first but in reality all new toys are treated as second-class citizens unless they can learn to play Lotso's twisted political game, being subjected to torture and rough play at the hands of toddlers who don't know how to handle their toys yet. Woody eventually comes to the rescue but the breakout is reminiscent of a prison escape with tricks and traps at every turn. Toy Story 3 brings the trilogy full circle, we get Buzz back in his serious Space Ranger state, we get a cameo from Sid, and we get Woody leading the toys as he did at the very start of the first film. The toys' friendships are tested by the circumstances they face but ultimately re-affirmed and strengthened, culminating in a heart-wrenching scene toward the end of the film, where the toys all join hands as they drop slowly toward an incinerator, fearful of their death but comforted by each other's presence. Lotso is a truly dastardly villain, though he's given a pretty strong motivation, he's come to reject humans after being "betrayed" by his beloved owner Daisy, even when given a chance to redeem himself at the end of the film he rejects it and meets an appropriate fate. We're introduced to the character Bonnie, who is both adorable and hilarious (To Woody's "someone's poisoned the water hole!" she replies "Poison? Who would do such a mean thing?") and is ultimately a fitting new owner for the toys at the end, though that does nothing to reduce the tear-jerking bittersweetness of seeing Andy finally letting them go. Seriously, there wasn't a dry eye in the house at that ending. For those who grew up with the trilogy, Toy Story 3 takes you on an emotional journey that perfectly resonates with the transition that comes at the end of childhood. For those kids just wanting to see a great animated movie, Toy Story 3 doesn't disappoint, it's filled with laughs and sight gags and hilarious moments that you don't need to see the first two films to find appealing. Toy Story 3 is the finale that most trilogies wish they could have, wrapping everything up perfectly and rewarding long-time fans with a satisfying conclusion and lasting memories.
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#10: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Year of Release: 1993
Director: Henry Selick
Released during the height of the Disney Renaissance, The Nightmare Before Christmas isn't an official film in the Disney canon but it's so good it might as well be. Filled with surprisingly deep characters including one of the greatest animated couples of all time in Jack and Sally, emotional highs and lows, lots of laughs, great music, and beautiful animation, it's one of the greatest cult classic films ever and is perhaps Tim Burton's finest work. The film centers around Jack Skellington, the "Pumpkin King" of Halloweentown which is filled with monsters, ghouls, ghosts, and all sorts of fantastical frightening creatures. He's beloved by the townspeople for bringing joy and fright at Halloween time, but he's grown bored with the same old routine and finds himself stumbling into Christmastown. Inspired by the whimsical Christmas sights, decorations, and traditions, Jack resolves to bring the joy of Christmas to Halloweentown, making it the best Christmas ever. He also wants to take over the role of Santa Claus and asks three of his friends to kidnap Santa until the end of the Christmas season. The friends, however, are the mischievous lads Lock, Shock, and Barrel, and they bring Santa to their maniacal gambling-obsessed boss Oogie Boogie, who has a far more nefarious purpose for Santa Claus. At the same time, the rag doll girl Sally longs for Jack, lamenting that he's too busy with Christmas to acknowledge her feelings for him. All of these elements come together to create a film that's possibly the best Christmas movie and almost certainly the best Halloween movie ever made. Jack and Sally's romance is simple but beautiful, it doesn't overwhelm you with much melodrama but instead their feelings (primarily Sally's feelings for Jack) are conveyed with subtle gestures and in Sally's case a beautiful song (that's gotten a beautiful cover by Amy Lee, though Catherine O'Hara sings it amazingly in the film itself). Chris Sarandon voices Jack (though not his singing voice) and is fantastic in his own right, while Ken Page is morbidly hilarious as the gregarious Oogie Boogie. There are plenty of things to laugh at in this film, from the antics of the many Halloween creatures to Jack's epic Christmas fail, while Nightmare Before Christmas certainly has its share of sad and serious moments, it's still one of the funniest animated films ever. Ultimately, The Nightmare Before Christmas has gained a sterling reputation over the years and it's well deserved.
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#9: South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
Year of Release: 1999
Director: Trey Parker
From the twisted minds of Matt Stone and Trey Parker came this, the South Park movie. Why was this movie so incredibly good? Because it, like the series that spawned it, went so much deeper than what it was on the surface. Was it a wickedly offensive movie filled with foul language, over-the-top humor and gratuitous violence? Of course! Was it a brilliantly biting social satire on the nature of what offends people and the lengths that some will go to impose their self-righteous morality on others? Of course! Was it one of the finest musicals ever to grace the silver screen? Of course! The film starts out innocently enough, with the kids heading to the local theater to see the new Terrance and Phillip movie. The movie features the two comedians using massive amounts of foul language which prompts the kids to use the language at school, enraging their parents who decide to...declare war on Canada out of their anger over the film. Yes, a simple complaint about foul language in a movie turns into a brutal world war. It's that kind of over-the-top hilariousness that made South Park the series so damn great and it's what makes the movie even better. Not only is this film a satire, it's a musical, satirizing and parodying the Disney Renaissance musicals and classic musicals such as Les Miserables. EVERY song in this film is a classic, from the center setpiece "La Resistance", to Satan's soulful ballad "Up There", to Terrance and Phillip's vulgarity-laced movie song that I'd have to hit myself with a warning if I posted the title of it here, its slate of songs is among the best in any movie musical. Indeed, no less than Stephen Sondheim himself, the MASTER of musicals, said that this was the greatest musical in the last 20 years. If Stephen Sondheim is praising your work, it must be doing something right. The animation is done in the typical South Park style, though Matt and Trey ratcheted things up a bit with the use of CGI, a precursor to the computer animation they'd use for the show later on. I didn't even mention the film's great villain, Saddam Hussein. They reportedly showed this film to Saddam Hussein himself when he was in prison and I would've loved to have seen his response, he gets SKEWERED in this film (figuratively AND literally). As far as animated movies go, it really doesn't get much funnier than South Park. Just when you think this film's gone as far as it can go, it tops itself with another riotously offensive scene and you're both shocked and amused by all the jokes, songs, and sight gags. A lot of South Park fans think that it was all downhill from the movie. The show's actually been really great since then but the movie was so good that it's understandably been hard to top.
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#8: Fantasia
Year of Release: 1940
Directors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasia_%28film%29#Credits
Disney's Fantasia was created to be a new form of artistic expression, combining the nascent animated feature film medium with symphonic music to create a synthesis of sight and sound designed to bring Walt Disney's magical visions to life. The ultimate result is one of the greatest pieces of pure artistry ever put to film. Fantasia is a visual symphony, eight separate pieces combined together into a single musical program. The pieces range from the lighthearted Dance of the Hours, to the exhilarating Sorcerer's Apprentice, to the terrifying Night on Bald Mountain. The music and animation are perfectly in sync with one another, married together to create emotionally-stirring pieces of animated art that must have been awe-inspiring to experience in the theater with full stereophonic sound (another novelty at the time). Night on Bald Mountain is perhaps the most memorable of the pieces, its powerful, driving notes accentuating the rampaging Chernabog and his horde of demons. Sorceror's Apprentice is of course another favorite, featuring Mickey at his best as he struggles to contain the magic of Yen Sid's magic. There's the Rite of Spring with its depiction of Earth's geological history, and even the intermission keeps audiences entertained with its upbeat jazz tunes and animated accompaniment that reminds one of the visualization feature on the modern computer media player. Fantasia was in many ways ahead of its time, and it was unable to make back its budget due to the expense of the animation and equipment required and the limited number of engagements, but its legacy carries on, able to be experienced by a new generation of animation fans and inspiring awe in them even today.
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#7: The Lion King
Year of Release: 1994
Directors: Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff
From the very beginning, this film opens with a majestic scene of the African savannah, with thousands of animals bowing to the new prince Simba as "Circle of Life" booms in the background. I was once told that you can tell from the opening song in a movie how good it was going to be, and if that's true then Lion King must be one of the greatest films of all time. The movie begins with Simba, the young prince still learning the ways of his kingdom, he can't wait to be king and he spends most of his time hanging out with his friend Nala. Meanwhile, Scar, brother to the current king Mufasa, schemes to usurp the throne, and his schemes shatter Simba's idyllic life forever. Lion King is in a lot of ways a Disney adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, with Scar, Simba's uncle, usurping the throne from Mufasa by killing him, and the young prince Simba forced to come to grips with his destiny, avenge his father and retake his rightful place on the throne. The film features several amazing musical numbers, from the opening "Circle of Life", to Scar's epic villain song "Be Prepared", complete with goosestepping hyenas. There's even the love ballad "Can You Feel The Love Tonight", which plays as Simba and Nala reunite as adults and fall in love before their epic return to Pride Rock and battle with Scar. The film's soundtrack was one of the most successful film soundtracks of all time, a certified Diamond record with ten million sales, and it's no wonder it succeeded so much, as every song on the record is a winner. The film's conclusion is as epic as its beginning, as Pride Rock is consumed by flames while Simba battles Scar in an epic slow-motion lion fight. There's comedy galore, with Rowan Atkinson as Zuzu and Ernie Sabella and Nathan Lane as Timon and Pumbaa bringing plenty of laughs to the table. Simba, though having his share of comedy, is mostly a serious character, making the hero's journey and gaining redemption in one of Disney's finest character arcs. I'd be amiss if I didn't mention Mufasa himself, one of the great cinematic fathers and voiced to perfection by the amazing James Earl Jones. Before Finding Nemo or Shrek, Lion King was the original box office super-blockbuster and likely would've gotten a Best Picture nomination had 1994 not been such a great year for movies in general. With re-releases, international releases, and DVD and Blu-Ray sales, The Lion King has easily brought in billions and billions of dollars for Disney, making this masterpiece one of the greatest commercial successes Disney has ever had, just like the great old classics. Without a doubt, The Lion King represents the peak of the Disney Renaissance, and Disney hasn't climbed back up to the peak since.
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#6: Toy Story 2
Year of Release: 1999
Director: John Lasseter
While there's endless debate over which of the three Toy Story films is best, I believe it's the second film that comes out on top. From an emotional standpoint, though Toy Story 3 certainly had tear-flowing drama and an incredible catharsis, the deeply personal story of Toy Story 2, revolving around the axis of Woody and the new character Jessie, was just a bit more touching and makes the film's climax all the more satisfying. The humor was at its smartest, at times reaching the level of brilliant satire about the nature of toys and toy companies themselves, and the action was at its most compelling, sending the toys on a mad dash across the city to rescue Woody from the clutches of a greedy toy dealer. The film starts when Woody is accidentally damaged during a play session with Andy, preventing Andy from taking him to cowboy camp. When Woody begins to despair that he'll be abandoned, his fears are only compounded when he's stolen by the toy seller Al McWhiggin, who intends to sell Woody as the centerpiece of a collection of Western-themed toys to a museum in Japan. In Al's apartment, Woody meets his fellow cowboy doll Jessie, who seems happy on the surface but has been deeply wounded by past abandonment and confinement in a dark box. Woody must face the choice of remaining with Al to be put on display or to risk returning to Andy but possibly being rejected by him once Andy grows up. It's a deeply emotional dilemma and we are given a vivid look at the nature of Jessie's emotional wound during the song "When She Loved Me", the series' biggest tear-jerker before the end of the third film. Meanwhile, the other toys get into some truly classic antics as they scour Al's Toy Barn for any sign of their friend. The scene where Rex reads the Zerg game strategy guide is one that brings back feelings for any video gamer, while the toys are joined by a Barbie doll who makes Potato Head have to constantly remind himself of his current marital status. The film perfectly juxtaposes emotion and humor, while throwing surprises and curveballs at every turn (like the scene where the alternate Buzz Lightyear meets his "dad"). There are pop culture and toy homages everywhere but they're not forced or out of place like later CGI films, they come as an organic part of the writing and are usually used to make a point about our own culture, not to bring up some reference for cheap laughs. This film earns its laughs and its emotional payoffs and the ending is a high point for the series, the movie leaves you with a feel-good sense that would've made a perfect ending for the series if not for Pixar's effort with Toy Story 3. Still, if I absolutely had to say which one of the two films is truly the greatest, I've got to go with the second for the reasons mentioned above. There's absolutely no doubt, however, just how great the Toy Story trilogy is as a whole, and if you haven't seen all the films in the series, you're missing out.
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#5: Grave of the Fireflies
Year of Release: 1988
Director: Isao Takahata
A haunting film about the struggle of two Japanese orphans to survive in the bleak aftermath of World War II, Grave of the Fireflies shows the vivid horrors of war and starvation through the eyes of Seita and his little sister Setsuko after the firebombing of Kobe in March 1945. The firebombing afflicts their mother with burns that eventually become fatal and set the two youths on a journey to find food and shelter. Isao Takahata used Seita to create a character that audiences would identify with, making his journey all the more heart-wrenching. Seita and Setsuko's story could and did happen to countless people all over Japan during the war and is indeed based loosely on a true story. In contrast with Akira, released the same year, the animation in Grave of the Fireflies is more simple, but it gives the two main characters a delicate feel, almost as if they're something that could be easily broken despite their internal strength. Seita is struggling to survive not only for himself but for his sister, who in the original Japanese version was voiced by a very young girl, giving her a realistic (and ultimately tragic) portrayal. The film has a reputation for being one of the saddest films of all time, and of course it's very difficult to have this kind of a film without it being so heart-wrenching, this of course was one of the purposes of creating the film, as it (and the book it was based on) were created to honor and depict the victims of war in an intensely realistic manner. It is powerful, it is visceral, and its message echoes to this day. Everyone who's seen it immediately clenches up with tears in their eyes at the mention of these words: "She never woke up again." The film's message of courage in the face of tragic, soul-crushing futility is etched into the hearts of everyone who's seen it and anyone who wishes to see the effect of war on those unfortunate enough to be caught in its fires need only watch Grave of the Fireflies to see both the best and the worst of humanity.
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#4: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Year of Release: 1937
Director: David Hand
The first animated feature film ever made still stands tall as one of the very best, establishing Walt Disney forever as an entertainment tour-de-force and birthing the very notion of Disney magic, this film tells one of the great fantasy stories of all time and may well be one of the most impressive movies of its time. The film's plot is rather simple, Snow White lives with her stepmother, the Wicked Queen, who is mortally jealous of the beautiful young girl after being told that Snow White is the "fairest of them all". She decides to have Snow White killed, but the huntsman assigned to do the dirty deed can't go through with it and tells her to run away as far as she can. She eventually finds shelter with a group of seven dwarfs, who decide to let her live in their cottage with them after seeing how well she tidies up their home while they go off to work, freeing them up to be able to sing songs and play games in the evenings. Things continue like this for some time, but when the Queen realizes that Snow White still lives, she hatches another dastardly plan to kill the girl once and for all. Snow White's production session, now legendary, was a collaborative effort from Walt Disney and his legions of animators and writers, who came up with a myriad of sight gags and visual cues to enhance the entertainment value of the film. It was an enormous risk for Disney, who put every chip he had on the film's success, pouring his heart and soul into its production. The film was simultaneously a savvy business gamble and a labor of love. Animators toiled countless hours to create beautiful art, both moving and in the background, that still impresses critics and fans to this day. You can spend hours just looking at the stunningly beautiful and detailed backgrounds in this film, great backgrounds became a Disney staple but this was the film that pioneered the Disney style and its influence on subsequent works all over the world cannot be understated. The film directly influenced the creation of The Wizard of Oz, itself one of the greatest movies of all time. The climactic final scenes, the battle between the Queen and the Dwarfs under a lightning filled sky, and the beautiful scene where the Prince kisses Snow White to revive her as countless animals and of course the dwarfs celebrate, are two of the most beautiful and iconic scenes in the history of animated films. Not a single film on this list would even exist if it wasn't for Snow White, and though there are better animated films, they are very few and very far between. There is absolutely no denying that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the single most influential work of animation of all time.
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#3: Wall-E
Year of Release: 2008
Director: Andrew Stanton
Pixar's magnum opus, this futuristic saga about an abandoned, lonely robot who finds the one companion he's been longing for for hundreds of years is a beautiful master work of art and romantic expression that will resonate with audiences for decades to come. It offers both a terrifying vision of a potential future and hope for a new tomorrow, building a world around its romantic centerpiece that exhibits the best of humanity and of the soul itself, giving life to its robotic denizens in ways that make them arguably more human than any human we see. The film takes place 700 years into the future. Earth has been rendered desolate and barren by the dumping of countless tons of garbage all over the planet, destroying all its natural surfaces and forcing humanity to evacuate on a fleet of world ships that now soar listlessly light years away from the abandoned planet. Wall-E is a small robot whose only job is to collect the accumulated garbage, an ultimately Sisyphean task as all other robots on the planet have long since powered down. However, during his lonely time on Earth, Wall-E has developed a unique, caring spirit, a soul not unlike that of a lonely human being, longing for companionship and taking whatever he can get, in this case a tiny bug that accompanies him on his journeys. He draws inspiration from an old video recording of "Hello, Dolly!", its songs forming his only window into the world of emotion and love. One day, a robot named EVE, sleek and outfitted with the latest technology, is sent down to the planet to search for organic life. As she searches, Wall-E develops feelings for her, though she does not reciprocate them as she continues her stoic search. Finally, however, she discovers a single plant growing on the surface and she deactivates until such time that she and the plant can be retrieved. Thinking the ship come to retrieve her is kidnapping her, Wall-E accompanies her on the ride and is taken to one of the human world ships, where he tries to woo EVE as she attempts to complete her mission. Though the scenes of the desolated Earth are regarded as the dramatic centerpiece of the film (with not a single line of spoken dialogue), the scenes on the ship, where Wall-E and EVE's relationship develops, are filled with brilliant character moments and emotional involvement, climaxing in the "Define Dancing" scene which is a brilliant cacophony of sight and sound to rival anything in Fantasia. Wall-E and EVE soar through space together around the ship to a beautiful song as the ship's lights beam in time with their dancing, it's the moment when EVE truly begins to get feelings for Wall-E and though neither robot can speak (other than the other robot's or their own name), the feelings between them shine through regardless. The side characters have some great moments of their own. Though the humans on board the ship have grown fat and lazy and isolated from one another, when they get the chance to interact it's clear that the human spirit still resides somewhere between those fleshy folds, and the ship's captain has the best examples of this, ultimately declaring "I don't WANT to survive, I want to live!" when the duty-bound AI of the ship tries to order him to prevent efforts to return to Earth. The final scene of the film is an homage to a great Disney classic (Snow White, with EVE's kiss reviving Wall-E) and you'll have tears streaking down your face as the credits begin to roll. Wall-E is a masterwork and was robbed of a Best Picture nomination (and in my opinion, robbed of a win) in 2008. It remains Pixar's greatest work and is one of the greatest films ever made.
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#2: Spirited Away (aka Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away)
Year of Release: 2001 (original), 2002 (USA)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
A visual feast of unbelievable sights, perhaps the greatest character arc in all of animated fiction, and a masterful musical score make Spirited Away the greatest anime film ever made. It tells the story of a young girl named Chihiro, who, along with her parents, are moving to their new home when Chihiro's father suddenly makes a wrong turn, getting them lost. The group crosses a riverbed and comes across a curious group of buildings, but as Chihiro goes off exploring on her own, she is warned by Haku that she must leave by sunset. When she returns to her parents, she is horrified to discover that they have turned into pigs, and Chihiro is forced to stay in the spirit world, searching desperately for a cure to her parents' condition. She takes a job at a bathhouse, but first must deal with the witch Yubaba, who steals her name and forces her to go by the name "Sen". Now Chihiro is truly trapped, for if one cannot remember their name they must remain in the spirit world forever. While working at the bathhouse, Chihiro meets all sorts of strange creatures, and is forced to work diligently in order to keep the bathhouse's many clients satisfied. Through her efforts, Chihiro gains great inner strength, though she still longs to return her parents to normal and go back home. She is brave in the face of danger and stands up for her new friends, but maintains a warm heart and treats strangers with kindness and unselfishness. Her relationship with Haku is a friendship that Chihiro risks her life and freedom in order to maintain, not realizing that Haku is actually the Kohaku River, the river spirit who saved her life as a young girl, but protecting him out of the goodness of her heart as he has protected her since her arrival in the spirit world. Spirited Away's animation is near the peak as far as quality goes, its characters transform in the blink of an eye, moving and shifting in all sorts of ways. The animation on the No-Face character stands out as being particularly impressive and visually stirring, but the animation on Haku's dragon form, in the details of the faces of the witches Yubaba and Zeniba, and even the animation of Chihiro's face, which shows her emotions in perfect detail, shine through as crowning achievements. The spirit world, which combines elements of rural Japan with that of the fantastic and otherworldly, steals the show in many scenes in its own right, and all of this is accompanied by a beautiful symphonic score that seems to respond to the characters and environment themselves, rising, falling, tensing up, and loosening when necessary in a perfectly synchronized work of art that hearkens back to the great Disney films of old. The Japanese voices are near perfection but the English dub is no slouch, Daveigh Chase is the perfect voice for Chihiro while Jason Marsden gives what may be his best performance as Haku, and we even get a fun John Ratzenberger cameo. In summation, Spirited Away shows why Hayao Miyazaki is such a beloved artist. This film is him at the peak of his genius and displays in full detail what he's all about. Whimsical, moving, inspiring, Spirited Away is the crowning achievement of the anime art form and a film that every person with even an ounce of emotion in their heart should see.
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#1: Beauty and the Beast
Year of Release: 1991
Directors: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
There are films that transcend their medium and become not just a film but a spark of emotional inspiration, artistic masterpieces that resonate through the years to become something far, far more than the sum of their parts. Beauty and the Beast, Disney's take on a classic French fairy tale and the realization of Walt Disney's dream of bringing a magical story to life in the perfect way, is the greatest animated film ever made because it is the most COMPLETE animated film, and perhaps the most complete film in the history of the medium. Every single element, from the animation to the story to the voice acting to the music, comes together to make a harmonious film that never once lags, never once loses its footing, never once fails to stir up some sort of emotion. From the immediate affinity one has for Belle to the humorous bellowings of Gaston to the fear at the first reveal of the Beast, the growing warmth of their mutual friendship and later love, the whimsical joy at the big "Be Our Guest" number, the heartbreak and terror in the Beast's rejection of Belle after she intrudes upon the West Wing, the renewed sense of warmth and joy during their repaired relationship, the awe and wonder at their ballroom dance, the anger with Gaston once he finally snaps and demands Belle marry him in exchange for her father's life, the inspiration of the stirring fight between the castle's objects and the townspeople, the thrill of the Beast's fight with Gaston, the despair at the Beast's death and the overwhelming, tearful joy at Belle's declaration of love and the restoration of the Beast and his castle, the movie's pacing is perfect and the audience is never left wanting for some sort of emotion. It's a short movie, less than an hour and a half long, but it doesn't need another second to tell the story it needs to tell (the addition of "Human Again" in some additions neither adds nor subtracts from the film). In breaking down this film's elements to examine its constituent parts, we see that every single thing is crafted with love and an absolute mastery of the art. The background visuals and the moving people and things on screen are detailed, vivid, and colorful, the castle is a haunting, terrifying sight but beautiful when it's restored, while the early CGI used during the sweeping ballroom shots does look dated today but given its place in the film it still fits and is still a gorgeous sight. The film's cast is perhaps the finest ever assembled in an animated film. Great singers all, the film's amazing musical score is enhanced by the cast's talent. Paige O'Hara is literally PERFECT as Belle, her endearing, caring but still strong voice is perhaps the finest voice acting performance ever, Robby Benson utterly terrifies as the gruff voice of the Beast but when he softens up it's amazingly convincing, Richard White (why have we never seen HIM again?) gives a stirring performance as the egomaniacal Gaston, David Ogden Stiers and Jerry Orbach are the perfect foils for one another as Cogsworth and Lumiere, and Angela Lansbury, timeless as she is, is warm and gentle as Mrs. Potts, singing the film's centerpiece theme song flawlessly and making the ballroom scene iconic and heartwarming. Beauty and the Beast has earned its place at the top of the animation heap because of what it accomplishes, stirring the audience's emotions at all the right moments and filling every scene with something that can be considered a great work of art. Note that it is still the only animated film to ever receive a Best Picture nomination under the old five nominee system and also note that it was ROBBED by Silence of the Lambs, a magnificent classic in its own right. Beauty and the Beast stands alone as the greatest animated film ever made, a title it won't relinquish any time soon.