I whiled away the afternoon at work writing and rewriting and rewriting this list following a discussion with my lovely animator BFF Jeff Freeman about how Wall-E had easily made it into each of our theoretical top fives.
The list started as a simple way to pass the time and turned into a hotly discussed and debated piece of parchment. There were at least ten drafts before the 'final' one, below, with annotation. One aspect of the discussion (mostly between Freeman and I, unsurprisingly) was what exactly the criteria for the accolade was. There was no final word on how it should be decided but I'd say the list below uses the following criteria roughly equally:
Sentimental/personal value: These movies all mean a lot to me because I'm me. It's not meant to be universal, and I would fully expect anyone else's list to be completely different.
History / Innovation / Singularity: That said, representing major types and localities of animation was important to me, as well as recognizing certain landmarks. Fantasia almost made the cut for this reason alone, but I booted it because it's personal value to me is almost null. However, there was a sense of needing to have a representative movie from the east, a representative stop-motion film, etc.
Artistic / Creative Achievement: I think all of the top ten movies could be called 'masterpieces' from a purely artistic standpoint.
As far as what qualifies..Eventually the rule I came up with is that if it's animation on top of live action backgrounds, the animation is more of an 'effect' -- hence Who Framed Roger Rabbit was not considered. But if there is limited live action 'on top' of the animation -- i.e. Wall-E -- it qualifies as full length animation. The Phantom Tollbooth was allowed because the live action serves as a very brief bookend to what is really a full length animated movie. Puppet movies don't count, stop motion does. Shorts are excluded, that's a list of it's own.
Summer: At least half of the top ten use anthropomorphized animals or robots to deal with themes of equality or humanism -- freedom from oppression.
Jeff: Cartoons about humans are dumb.
Summer: Yeah, but they're still human themes. Unless animators are a bunch of radical animal/robot rights activists. Although NIMH might actually be about mice...
Summer: Let's not even get started on Bambi... Talk about radical!
By far the best response to the list was from Jerome: "I guess I'll forgive you for not including The Great Mouse Detective."
It should be noted that I am not really a fan of computer animation and your pleading arguments for Finding Nemo or The Incredibles will not do anything for me. Yes, I've seen them. I can appreciate that a lot of people like those movies, but I really don't. I find Wall-E to be the disarming, beautiful, wonderful,
singular exception that proves my rule.
Okay, here:
Close but no cigar: Waking Life, Fantasia, Bambi, Pinocchio, Robin Hood, Spirited Away, The Rescuers, Sleeping Beauty, Watership Down, Charlotte's Web, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Metropolis, An American Tail, Princess Mononoke, Paprika, Yellow Submarine, An American Tail, Ghost In The Shell, The Corpse Bride, James And The Giant Peach, Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit...
10. The Nightmare Before ChristmasHotly contested by Freeman. But I love this movie. Maybe a little less than I did once, because as he rightly pointed out, the songs wear on you a bit after years of hearing them. But this movie was one of the first times I was overwhelmed by the
beauty of animation and felt true
wonder during a full-length animated film, other than as a small child. The character design is creative and classic. Jack Skellington is a perfect antihero. Sally is lovely and strange. There's a reason these characters have endured. They are Mickey and Minnie for the young and the alternative.
9. The Phantom TollboothThis charming and simple movie is what animation for children feels like at it's best. It's not showy or particularly innovative or splashy or bright, but the adaptation of Jules Feiffer's wonderful book illustrations is exactly what this story deserves. Magical.
8. The Secret of NIMHThis movie is representin' Don Bluth and all he did in the 80s that was really the continuation of the wonderful and funny, not-so-epic, beautifully drawn Disney movies in the 60s-70s that were all but forgotten by the languishing Disney studios at the time. I mean, didn't this come out the same year as 'The Black Cauldron'? Don Bluth picked up where they left off and proved that someone else could make wonderful children's animation. This movie is still fucking scary and dark and serious and awesome.
7. 101 DalmationsA lot of Disney movies got 'cut' at the last minute to make room for other things, but Dalmations had to stay. It has some of the best music of any animated film ever, the art style is unique and singular to this day, the characters are unforgettable (Cruella!), the voice acting is the best I can think of, and it's always, always, always 'watchable.' I love this movie. Walt Disney kind of hated it, weirdly enough. What does he know? Oh, yeah.
6. AkiraI am not personally equipped to write eloquently about this film, although I love it very much and it has had an enormous impact and if you have not seen it, you really should. I'll leave it at that
5. The Triplets of BellevilleThis delightful movie singlehandedly revitalized my passion for animation. It seems to be both a huge step forward and a nod to the past. Unforgettable. Sad. Whimsical. Funny. Heartbreaking. It's a 'cartoon' in a very real sense, but also very serious. It straddles the line between animation as 'entertainment' and animation as 'art.'
4. The Iron GiantThis movie is perfect. I cry every single time I watch it, and the animation itself takes my breath away.
3. Wall-EThis movie is perfect. It exceeded my incredibly high expectations and impressed me even further the second time I saw it. Everything from the story to the visual to the sound design to the music is innovative and different and yet completely classic. I find myself thinking about Wall-E and Eve every single day.
2. My Neighbor TotoroThis movie is perfect. Totoros are now an important part of my personal mythologies. And this has to be my favorite animated movie from a visual perspective. I could freeze any frame of this film and frame it as art. All that, while appealing to kids on a basic and primitive level at the same time. Magic, magic!
1. Lady And The TrampThis movie is perfect. It's a romantic comedy disguised as a children's movie. And although the Lion King likes to claim this honor on a technicality, L&TT is really the first 'original story' to be made into a Disney animated feature. AND it's hilarious and true and beautiful and I never ever get tired of it, ever, although I've been watching it at least once a year for at least twenty years.
Labels: animation, lists, movies
