specialman
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Due to having a two-year-old I watch A LOT of animated films and it's been a good chance to 'introduce' him to animated films that I've loved over the years.
Anyway, as a bit of fun, just thought I'd share with you my faves (a top 10 of sorts), with a bit of explanation why I like them so much - feel free to join in and share:
1) Akira
Without doubt a film that influenced me in many ways and inspired my love for things associated with Japan.
First saw it back in the early 90s when BBC2 ran a manga season, with this as the main event - I was blown away by the animation, the energy of the Japanese soundtrack and the fact that they could make light trails look sooooo effective and real.
It never fails to enthrall me and talking to people about just exactly what the story means and what your own interpretation of it is excites me massively.
2) Toy Story 3
I like the first film and love the second, but the ending of TS3 is a real choker, and looking at it, everything about it is just perfect.
Pixar really did the business with this one IMO and it's a readymade classic that I'll be watching for many years to come I'm sure. But it's not Akira so goes second for me
3) Princess Mononoke
Like Akira, this has many layers relating to culture, history and nature, all things that gives it so many points to talk about.
It's brutal in places - shooting samurai's arms and heads off with an arrow - but it has a real 50s matinee feel to it with the sweeping vistas and indulgent set pieces that really show off the beautiful animation.
Although Sprited Away is probably the headline act of Studio Ghibli, this is its swansong I feel.
4) Spongebob Squarepants: The Movie
I actually bought this as a joke for the missus (she said it reminded her of university) but it's become a film I can watch over again. Put simply, to those who've never seen it, it's is the most bonkers, bizarre and funny film I've ever seen.
It's thinly disguised as a kids film but has so many adult references that just make you belly laugh. A real treat of a film...
5) Cowboy Beebop: The Movie
From the opening Spike Lee-esque titles and noir-ish action, to the brilliant bluesey end credit music, this is one of those animations that you just know is special because it does everything so well but with little individual twists.
The animation is straight-up awesome, different to many of the traditional Mangas you see, but there are hints back to cartoony Manga; expanded boobs on the heroine, bonkers sexless sidekicks that add a zany value to the story.
Brilliant and a blueprint many other films could do well to look at.
6) Kung-Fu Panda
Without doubt the most beuatiful CGI animation I've seen. From those gorgeous opening scenes, to the wide shots that just make you double-take, it is a masterpiece that shows not only Pixar can do computer-generated stuff well. Great script, good characters (stick insect, monkey and crane could possibly do with more build-up) and Jack Black really makes the panda his own.
It has that great quality where you can sit with other people and all try to work out the voices, because they all work so well in each part, some instantly recognisable, others not so. The action is also as fluid as you can get, which is something I still think some animations struggle with.
7) Pom Poko
A film about racoons in the Tokyo hills that can take human forms and conjour up magical visions to scare off humans who threaten their habitat through building houses.
It's supposed to reflect the mood of mid-90s Japan when the economy was on its knees. It blends a very wholesome 'love thy neighbour' theme with 'protect at all costs' undertones or battling (and dying) racoons, falling foul of both the humans and their own kind.
I'm not quite sure why I like it so much; it just feels right when I watch it, and despite the deep sadness within the film, it has a whimsical, loveable quality that's concentrated in the ever-changing forms of the central characters.
8) Waltz With Bashir
Picked this up on the strength of some sticker on the box about it being nominated for some award or other.
Intriguing story about an Israeli soldier-cum-filmmaker who can't quite remember his part in the Arab/Israeli war and goes out to find the truth. Animation is cell-shaded so is very peculiar in places because it loses its fluidity at times, but it cuts a real impression because it's so very different to anything I'e ever seen in the storyline department. The ending is very harrowing....
9) A Scanner Darkly
No your usual animation, this is an adaptation of a Phillip K. Dick novel (so expect wierdness) that uses animation (rotoscoping) that is drawn over the top of live action.
Robert Downey Jr and Keanu Reeves looks unnervingly odd drawn like this and Winona Ryder loses none of her sex appeal
Possibly not the film to have the boys round for a beer 'n' curry session - more of a slow-burner for when you need to massage the grey matter....
10) Fantasia
Those elephants and the ultra-modern visuals never fail to impress.
It was the one 'old' Disney film that I could watch over and over as a child, teenager and into my 20s, simply because it's less of a film and more of a collection of set-pieces that interjoin and bounce off one another.
Compared to modern CGI stuff it probably pales in comparison to those of a younger generation, but I love its simplicity, its wholesomeness, its Disney-ness.
Anyway, as a bit of fun, just thought I'd share with you my faves (a top 10 of sorts), with a bit of explanation why I like them so much - feel free to join in and share:
1) Akira
Without doubt a film that influenced me in many ways and inspired my love for things associated with Japan.
First saw it back in the early 90s when BBC2 ran a manga season, with this as the main event - I was blown away by the animation, the energy of the Japanese soundtrack and the fact that they could make light trails look sooooo effective and real.
It never fails to enthrall me and talking to people about just exactly what the story means and what your own interpretation of it is excites me massively.
2) Toy Story 3
I like the first film and love the second, but the ending of TS3 is a real choker, and looking at it, everything about it is just perfect.
Pixar really did the business with this one IMO and it's a readymade classic that I'll be watching for many years to come I'm sure. But it's not Akira so goes second for me
3) Princess Mononoke
Like Akira, this has many layers relating to culture, history and nature, all things that gives it so many points to talk about.
It's brutal in places - shooting samurai's arms and heads off with an arrow - but it has a real 50s matinee feel to it with the sweeping vistas and indulgent set pieces that really show off the beautiful animation.
Although Sprited Away is probably the headline act of Studio Ghibli, this is its swansong I feel.
4) Spongebob Squarepants: The Movie
I actually bought this as a joke for the missus (she said it reminded her of university) but it's become a film I can watch over again. Put simply, to those who've never seen it, it's is the most bonkers, bizarre and funny film I've ever seen.
It's thinly disguised as a kids film but has so many adult references that just make you belly laugh. A real treat of a film...
5) Cowboy Beebop: The Movie
From the opening Spike Lee-esque titles and noir-ish action, to the brilliant bluesey end credit music, this is one of those animations that you just know is special because it does everything so well but with little individual twists.
The animation is straight-up awesome, different to many of the traditional Mangas you see, but there are hints back to cartoony Manga; expanded boobs on the heroine, bonkers sexless sidekicks that add a zany value to the story.
Brilliant and a blueprint many other films could do well to look at.
6) Kung-Fu Panda
Without doubt the most beuatiful CGI animation I've seen. From those gorgeous opening scenes, to the wide shots that just make you double-take, it is a masterpiece that shows not only Pixar can do computer-generated stuff well. Great script, good characters (stick insect, monkey and crane could possibly do with more build-up) and Jack Black really makes the panda his own.
It has that great quality where you can sit with other people and all try to work out the voices, because they all work so well in each part, some instantly recognisable, others not so. The action is also as fluid as you can get, which is something I still think some animations struggle with.
7) Pom Poko
A film about racoons in the Tokyo hills that can take human forms and conjour up magical visions to scare off humans who threaten their habitat through building houses.
It's supposed to reflect the mood of mid-90s Japan when the economy was on its knees. It blends a very wholesome 'love thy neighbour' theme with 'protect at all costs' undertones or battling (and dying) racoons, falling foul of both the humans and their own kind.
I'm not quite sure why I like it so much; it just feels right when I watch it, and despite the deep sadness within the film, it has a whimsical, loveable quality that's concentrated in the ever-changing forms of the central characters.
8) Waltz With Bashir
Picked this up on the strength of some sticker on the box about it being nominated for some award or other.
Intriguing story about an Israeli soldier-cum-filmmaker who can't quite remember his part in the Arab/Israeli war and goes out to find the truth. Animation is cell-shaded so is very peculiar in places because it loses its fluidity at times, but it cuts a real impression because it's so very different to anything I'e ever seen in the storyline department. The ending is very harrowing....
9) A Scanner Darkly
No your usual animation, this is an adaptation of a Phillip K. Dick novel (so expect wierdness) that uses animation (rotoscoping) that is drawn over the top of live action.
Robert Downey Jr and Keanu Reeves looks unnervingly odd drawn like this and Winona Ryder loses none of her sex appeal
Possibly not the film to have the boys round for a beer 'n' curry session - more of a slow-burner for when you need to massage the grey matter....10) Fantasia
Those elephants and the ultra-modern visuals never fail to impress.
It was the one 'old' Disney film that I could watch over and over as a child, teenager and into my 20s, simply because it's less of a film and more of a collection of set-pieces that interjoin and bounce off one another.
Compared to modern CGI stuff it probably pales in comparison to those of a younger generation, but I love its simplicity, its wholesomeness, its Disney-ness.
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