The 411 Top 5: Week 37

Posted by Trevor Snyder on 12.01.2006

The Top 5 Animated Films of All Time

Well, the last couple weeks we took a look at the best and worst of the Bond franchise, but it's time to forget about 007, for now. After all, it's not the famous British secret agent that has been dominating the box-office the last two weeks, but another tuxedo-wearing star altogether. Of course, I'm talking about the penguins of Happy Feet. The films massive success has proven that, despite being inundated with animated movies starring animals all year, audiences will never tire of happy-go-lucky cartoon fare. Every few years it seems like a couple animated films will fail, and people will start writing about how animated films are dying off. But let's face it, they're not going anywhere. And that's good news for film fans, as animated movies have provided some of film's most entertaining moments of all time.

But which animated films stand above the rest? This week, we here at 411 offer our thoughts on the best animated films of all time – but we're not limiting ourselves to the usual Disney fare and the like. No, this is a free-for-all battle, with the usual classics going toe-to-toe with more mature films like Heavy Metal and South Park, as well as slightly deeper material like Spirited Away and Tokyo Godfathers. Who will come out on top? Read on:

THE TOP 5 ANIMATED FILMS OF ALL TIME


Trevor Snyder

Honorable Mentions:

- Aladdin: Disney's most all-out enjoyable 2-D feature. Although Robin William's schtick can sometimes be a little overbearing in real life, he's a perfect fit for the character of Genie, one of the most entertaining animated characters ever to grace the screen.

- Heavy Metal: When I was a kid, this just seemed so cutting-edge. Blood and nudity…in a cartoon? Watching it now I realize that not all of it holds up – some of the segments are pretty bad, a lot of the music is lame (although that's not surprise, given that it's all ‘80s metal), and the animation is at times less than impressive. Still, there is a fair amount that works, including the awesome Captain Stern segment and the chilling scene with the zombies on the plane. I can't in good conscience recommend the entire thing, but it gets an honorable mention for me because it was unlike anything I had ever seen at the time.

5) Akira: For the most part, I can do without anime (I have a feeling that simple statement might earn me more negative mail than anything I've said before). It's not that I think it's all crap, though. It probably has more to do with the fact that I'm almost always disappointed by the new anime films I watch. Why? Because none of them seem to ever live up to Akira, which was the first anime film I ever saw (back when we still unknowingly referred to it with the slightly offensive term "japanimation"), and remains my favorite. The film is just as impressive today as it was upon its release, and is pretty damn important in historical terms, as well. In fact, I think it's a shame that a lot of current-day anime fans haven't taken the time to watch Akira, since it's arguable that it's the movie that single-handedly jumpstarted America's interest in anime. Even if you don't go that far, there's no denying the genre wouldn't be as popular today if not for Akira, which came along and kicked American animation fans right in the pants, letting them know that an animated film could be intelligent, violent, bleak, and even visionary. Seriously, if you haven't watched it yet, do so.

4) The Incredibles: Not just one of the best animated films ever, but one of the best superhero movies ever, period. A better Fantastic Four movie than Fantastic Four even came close to being, Brad Bird's masterpiece does an amazing job juggling the larger-than-life heroics of comic heroes with the little problems that every family faces. Plus, it has some of the most genuinely exciting action scenes you will ever see, animated or otherwise.

3) South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut: When this movie came along, it was make it or break it time for South Park. What had seemed so groundbreaking and hysterically funny at the time of its debut was beginning to seem a little more obviously juvenile and unmemorable. Seriously, go back and watch that first season of South Park, once you get past the shock value there's not much else holding it up. Luckily, Trey Parker and Matt Stone used the opportunity of a South Park movie to say something legitimately important about censorship, in the process delivering one of the most wicked satires in years, and even ending up with a surprising critical hit. I mean, seriously, did anyone ever expect South Park to get an Oscar nomination? More importantly, the film's success led to Parker and Stone into using the show to focus more and more on social commentary, which has made it the Peabody Award-winning classic it is today. The movie deserves a lot of the credit for that.

2) Shrek: While Disney continued to offer insipid, watered-down versions of classic stories and real-life legends, Dreamworks fired back by offering its splendid parody of fairy-tale conventions. The Shrek films (and, for the record, the sequel is almost as good – it's just as funny, but not as moving) are perhaps the best ever blend of adult and kid's entertainment. There are so many jokes in the movie that can only be enjoyed by the little ones' parents, but that doesn't mean the tykes won't enjoy it, too. Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy were born to be voices in this kind of movie – Murphy's Donkey in particular is the funniest animated character since Genie in Aladdin.

1) Toy Story/Toy Story 2: I hate to have a tie for the first spot, but not as much as I would hate to have to choose between these two films. For all the attention and acclaim that was heaped on Finding Nemo, Pixar's greatest achievement remains this brilliant franchise. The jokes aren't quite as adult as those found in something like Shrek, yet they're not as dumb as those found in most kid's movies. Which means that the Toy Story films can, and will be, enjoyed by the whole family. Whenever people talk about Toy Story they often focus on how the first film was the moment that hailed the arrival of computer-animation as the genre's new king. This is true, but beyond that, let's not forget just how flat-out enjoyable the movie is. And the sequel is just as good, which is pretty rare in live action films, and nearly unheard of when it comes to animated sequels. I can't wait for the third one.


Arnold Furious

Honourable Mentions: Fantasia, Iron Giant, Grave of the Fireflies, Porco Rosso, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Metropolis, Millennium Actress, Princess Mononoke and Finding Nemo. The one of those that came closest to making the list was Millennium Actress but I slightly prefer Tokyo Godfathers so that makes the list instead.

5) Transformers: The Movie (1986). This will always have a special place for me. It's not in the top five animated films I've ever seen. I doubt if it's better than any of the honourable mentions I listed. But it is one of my favourites without question. I was a total Transformers mark growing up. The movie came out when I was 10 and it was a friend of mine's birthday so we all piled into a couple of cars and went to the cinema. It was only my second trip to the cinema after seeing Return of the Jedi three years beforehand. I'd simply not been that interested in anything else at that age. I loved my Star Wars and then I loved my Transformers. It made logical sense those were the two films I wanted to see. I didn't really get into animated films for a long time after this. I didn't like Disney movies when I was young and I tended to prefer reading comics. Well the Transformers comic hyped the movie up so hard, so bad that I was desperate to see it. And unlike in the States the new characters weren't new to me. The UK comic had published stories involving Galvatron and the like thus making him a character I already liked and could relate to. Furthermore the UK comic continued to publish stories relating to the future Transformers while the American issues got gradually worse and more and more like toy catalogues. The UK comic was my reasoning for loving Transformers: The Movie as much as I did. Hell, for years I only had three films on tape. This was one of them (the others being Terminator 2 and Robocop). It means more to me personally than any other film I know of because it's been with me for so long. 20 years to be precise and I reckon I've not gone longer than a few months without watching it in all that time. I pretty much know the film back to front. "Orbalis, look its Unicron. The ships, get to the ships it's our only chance" Cue badass 80's rock version of Transformers theme music. Oh, I was HOOKED right from there. There are so many things I love about Transformers: The Movie. The whole "light our darkest hour" Matrix opening, the death of Optimus Prime, the battle between Prime and Megatron ("I'll rip out your optics"), the war on Earth, Devastator smashing up Autobot City ("breach their defences!"), Unicron eating the Autobot moon bases, the raid on the shuttle where Prowl gets whacked, the entire soundtrack that I play on my PC all the time and Galvatron gunning down Starscream ("who disrupts my coronation!"). Genius. You got the touch; you got the powaaaaaah, yeah!

4) Tokyo Godfathers (2003). Until recently I was unfamiliar with the work of Satoshi Kon. Shame on me, really. I dig animation I really should have seen his stuff sooner like I had Hayao Miyazaki or Katsuhiro Otomo. I'd like to quote directly from my own review if I may because a) it saves me writing something new and b) I've already covered everything in it. While Kon doesn't have the same eye for visual grandeur that Hayao Miyazaki, probably the greatest animator in the world over at Studio Ghibli, he can tell an old fashioned story. With his three homeless lead characters Kon introduces the viewer to Tokyo's somewhat seedy underbelly. Not the usual business of Yakuza but something far more sinister. A world where tramps get kicked to death, or simply freeze but are usually just ignored. It's this world that is the backdrop for three separate acts of heroism. All three tramps have to make good for their past failings. Gin sees the baby as a chance to reunite a family as he'd have wanted to reunite his own. His daughter hasn't seen or spoken to him in years. But at the same time it's too much hassle for him. He'd rather look down the bottom of a bottle and obliterate what little brain cells he has left. "I'm not an action hero" he mutters after a slight chase scene, collapsed on the floor and out of breath. Meanwhile Hana is far more determined. He sees the baby as a chance at redemption. At first he wants to claim the child as her own, something he can never have because he might act like a woman but he isn't one. It's a testament to the character that I actually typed "she" throughout the last sentence before realising my error and going back to correct it. Hana might not be a woman but he's very maternal and protective of the child. Once deciding he can't keep it he seeks to return the child to its rightful mother. He leads the others, when they'd rather be moping around or just handing the child over to the cops, and their investigation. Miyuki, the teen, is probably the least engaging of the three and yet still has her own shot at redemption. She left home after getting into an argument with her father and stabbing him. There are hints throughout the film that her father will do anything to get her back but she has to be ready to go back herself. She sees a lot of herself in the baby in that she feels she has no family and wants to make sure this child doesn't end up like her. So all three characters are very sympathetic and very driven. Tokyo Godfathers is such a great feel good movie. After the viewing experience I actually felt good. Not just entertained but warmed inside. It was a Frank Capra style experience. Three down and out nobodies each using the baby as a reason to become better people and each becoming a hero in their own way. Tokyo Godfathers is such a good feel good film it might actually replace Scrooged as my annual Christmas Day movie. For those interested you can get the first 7 minutes for nothing on You Tube. Go and check it out then get the full length film. This includes Miyuki making a few wisecracks at the two more seniors members of their outcast community. A bit like a homeless female Japanese Bart Simpson.

3) Spirited Away (2001). While Hayao Miyazaki, the world's leading animated film maker bar none, has made some truly magical films there are none better than Spirited Away. I didn't feel that way about it when I first saw it (WAY back in FoF #3) giving it a mere ***3/4 but I changed my mind as time went on. On subsequent viewings the film just got better and better. The animation is so incredible and detailed that there's something new to pick up at every viewing. The characters push it ahead of Princess Mononoke and make it Miyazaki's best film. Especially little Sen/Chihiro who loses her parents to a weird spell that turns them into pigs. The thing with Miyazaki though is if you see his name attached to a project then its gold. With Spirited Away he was reaching for his most complex epic yet. It borrows from Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz in thematic terms and visually is one of the most remarkable films ever made. In animation terms it's probably second only in looks to Akira and maybe Fantasia. Of course Miyazaki isn't even close to being finished yet. After this he made Howl's Moving Castle and there's every chance he'll make so many amazing films that he'll solidify himself as one of the great men in animation, ever.

2) Toy Story 2 (1999). One of those rare occasions where the sequel is better than the original. This could also mark the high tide mark for Pixar. On the rise up until this point they've done several great films since but not quite at the same level as this. The animation is incredible and the character work is brilliant. They hardly need to do anything with the characters after doing such a strong job of establishing them in the first Toy Story movie. Everyone is back: Rex, Hamm, Mr Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Buzz Lightyear and of course, Woody. Having done such a great job with them first time out this time it's a doddle. The characters pretty much write themselves. Especially Woody & Buzz whose partnership from the first film is rekindled. Making a buddy picture using toys isn't the easiest thing to do but with the great vocal talents of Tim Allen and Tom Hanks they pull it off easily. Toy Story 2 is a wicked adventure film full of gags and action and of all the newer animated films coming out of North America it's the best. Better than Shrek or Finding Nemo or anything else you'd care to name.

1) Akira (1988). It's not so much that Akira is the best animated film ever made, but it's the first animated film I really remember that totally blew me away. Sure, I loved Transformers: The Movie, but that was an easy sell on me. Akira was something I saw on late night TV and instantly fell in love with. The Neo-Tokyo setting is just mind blowing for the age of the film. At the time North American animation, quite frankly, sucked. As much as I love Transformers: The Movie – watch it and look out for how bad the actual animation processes are. In the battle between Prime and Megatron the characters levels of damage change due to the cheap nature of animating the long shots. While some of the backgrounds were quite nice the general trend for American animation was along the same lines as this. It looked cheap. Hell, everything on TV looked cheap in the 80's. GI Joe, Thundercats, etc. It all looked equally as bad. So in comes Akira and blows my mind. I'd grown up and abandoned animation as anything of interest by my early teens when Akira just dragged me right back in. I'm sure I wasn't the only one whose opinion of animation and especially anime got changed overnight when they saw Akira. It might not make a lot of sense but it looks amazing and it's intended for adults. The concepts of quality and appealing to a mass market outside of just appealing to kids got the American animation guys to change their ways. Which is why a decade later they were making great animated films. Money had come back into it and the whole world had changed. This is all down to Akira, in my book. It's the film that changed the way that Joe Animation-Fan looked at the product. They started demanding more from the American market and they got it. I think Steven Spielberg helped as he pushed for the Bob Zemekis flick Who Framed Roger Rabbit to be made at the same time but that was an attempt to revolutionize how animation was used. Akira revolutionized how animation existed. Without Akira there might not even be a Pixar or a return to fortunes for Disney. Animation could still be in the cheap kids only gutter if it weren't for Japanese animation really pushing the boat out. Akira was the big film to do that. I can't watch the motorbikes driving around the neon drenched future city without going "wow", even today. Groundbreaking and visually stunning, Akira remains my favourite animated film although there are better animated films out there.



Bryan Kristopowitz

Honorable Mentions

- Shrek (2001)- I didn't watch the first Shrek until the second flick came out. I had to borrow it from a friend. I watched it one night before going to bed. It took me over an hour to fall asleep because I was so wired from laughing so hard. What the heck was I waiting for? Why the heck didn't I go and see this movie? It's a blast from start to finish. The best part to me is the whole "Muffin Man" back and forth. Hysterical.

- Family Guy presents: Stewie Griffin-The Untold Story (2005)- I know this is really just three Family Guy episodes stitched together with some filler linking material, but so what? As a whole, it's a fine, funny butt movie. It also helps when you're a Family Guy nerd to begin with. I hope they find the time do more of these types of "direct-to-DVD" movies. Heck, Futurama is coming back, too. Can't wait for that.

- Pinocchio (1940): I haven't seen this classic animated movie in years. When I was a kid I watched it constantly. Now, I can't. The whole "Pleasure Island" sequence now gives me the creeps (again, when I was a kid I ate the whole thing up). It's one of the best horror sequences in the history of movies (I've often wondered if the mothers of the young boys turned into donkeys ever went out and searched for their lost children. They probably didn't, I assume that was part of the point of the whole thing, but it's a possibility that, yeah, still gives me the creeps). Aside from that horror story, the rest of the flick is a blast. Honest Jon, Jiminy Cricket, it's all good stuff.

- Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (1983)- This was an HBO staple for me when I was a kid. Daffy Duck as Ricardo Montolban. How is that not going to be funny?

- The Rescuers (1977)- This is the first movie I ever saw in a movie theatre. I haven't seen it since (it's one of those movies I'm going to have to buy on DVD). I'm only including it because of that.


5. The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)- This was the first anime flick I ever saw, and one of the few I actually went out and bought (got it on VHS way back when VHS was still cool). My first experience with Golgo 13 was the Nintendo game that I borrowed from some video store and played for a day straight. I figured that the game and the movie would be similar in style and tone. Ha. I wasn't offended by the sex and violence and nudity, I just didn't think it'd come on that strong. I wasn't ready for it. It's still thrilling to this day, although (and maybe I'm missing it. I have to admit that I'm not that in tune with the whole anime thing) I don't hear much about it anymore.

4. Aladdin (1992)- One of the great Disney flicks from the 1990's, with Robin Williams voicing the Genie of the magic lamp in an astounding performance that's still talked about to this day. It proved that Robin Williams is a real life cartoon character. The greatest line, though, comes from the villain Jafar, the first time he meets the prince Aladdin/Ali Ababwa: "Ecstatic." It makes me laugh every time I think of it.

3. Transformers: The Movie (1986)- I was quite the Transformers nerd back in the day, and I was jazzed when I went to the theatre to see it. Much like my Golgo 13 experience, this flick shocked me. It wasn't anything like the daily cartoon. Well, it was, sure, but when the Deceptacons blew away the ambulance robot (that was the one that was shot, right? I haven't seen the movie in a long time so I don't remember) I wasn't prepared. And then the big sad moment happened, the one moment that I will admit caused me to cry then (and still makes me tear up. It's so lame, I know, but it does): the death of Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime!?!? What the heck were they doing? I'm going to have to get the new fangled DVD that just came out.

2. Beauty and the Beast (1991)- I remember all of the hoo-ha surrounding this flick, a freaking cartoon, getting nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. I knew then that there was no way in heck it was going to win (it's a freaking cartoon!), but by watching it just once you understand why it was so honored when it came out. It's a brilliant movie expertly executed. It doesn't break any new story ground, it does all of the usual stuff Disney animated movies did (and still do), but it all just comes together. And it's beautiful to look at. Cell animation, I feel, is still best, and this is one of the classics.

1. Titan AE (2000)- I was intrigued by this flick for several reasons. It was a big science fiction cartoon, something that I hadn't seen advertised as a releasable movie (I know Ghost in the Shell was given some kind of theatrical release, but I don't think it was very big). It was made by an American studio, Fox, and they were riding high on the success of Anastasia. Here was a big, action science fiction cartoon released by an American studio, made by Americans. It was a summer release. It was going to make money. And then it came out and died quickly. I had to go see it at a second run theatre, where the theatre was half packed on the discount admission night. Why the heck did this movie fail? I don't get it. It's Matt Damon's best movie. Perhaps, in a few years, it will start to gain some respect. I doubt it, but there is hope.



George H. Sirois

HONORABLE MENTION

Family Guy Presents The Stewie Griffin Story - A very funny mini-series combined into one movie. This was the first sign that Lois was finally going to be given more material (it helps that Alex Borstein wrote one of the episodes), and anytime Stewie and Brian are together, it's comedic gold. Unfortunately the third episode loses a bit of steam before the classic Ferris Bueller segment.

Shrek / Shrek 2 - I gotta lump these two together only because I still can't make up my mind over which one is better. The jokes in these are a perfect blend of adult and kid humor, with enough pop culture references to make Seth McFarlane's head spin. This series helped make Eddie Murphy relevant again and allowed Antonio Banderas to show the world just how funny he can be. I only hope they don't push the envelope too far with the next two sequels and Puss ‘n Boots spin-off.

Monsters Inc. - For a few years, this was my favorite Pixar movie. I've always been a fan of Billy Crystal and he and John Goodman make a terrific team. The character designs are terrific and the whole monster city is excellent. The ending where Sully has to say goodbye to Boo always kills me. The only reason Monsters Inc. didn't make the Top 5 is because there was only one Pixar film that outdid it.

The Iron Giant - It took me three years to finally see this, and I still can't understand what was holding me back from seeing it in the theater. What could it be…? Oh yeah, it was Warner Bros. doing a piss poor job with the marketing and letting people know how much of a winner they had on their hands. This is a very daring piece of work, as it tells us that animation doesn't have to be just funny. This movie has a hell of a story with brilliant writing and great voice work by everyone involved. Thankfully, this wouldn't the last time we would hear of Brad Bird.



5. Heavy Metal - To hell with Rocky Horror, Heavy Metal corners the cult movie market. We got six great stories with something for every mood. You want a fantasy yarn, you got Den. You want a future noir tale, you got Harry Canyon. You want a horror pulp, you got B-14. How about some humor with both Captain Sterrn and So Beautiful and So Dangerous. And then you got a post-apocalyptic epic with Taarna. Still not enough? How about more nudity and sex than you thought possible in an animated film? (It is rated R for a reason.) And then you got a rocking soundtrack by Sammy Hagar, Journey, Blue Oyster Cult, Stevie Nicks, Don Felder, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, and Devo! Still not enough?! The movie starts with an astronaut steering a convertible through space into Earth's atmosphere and down safely to the ground before driving home. You know you want to see it now!

4. TransFormers: The Movie - I could just go on and on about this one, but instead I'll just steer you towards my Scene Anatomy 101 column HERE. If you claim to be a fan, I hope you picked up your 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD. And anything that I haven't said, all the guys in the Movies Forum have said it.

3. The Incredibles - If these were pre-existing characters, this movie would be in my Top 5 of my favorite comic book films. As it is, on first viewing it very quickly became my favorite Pixar film and my number 3 favorite animated film of all time. Brad Bird finally gets the credit he deserves with this masterpiece, and everyone involved – from the cast to the animators to the designers to the composer – brought their A-game to this one. This is what Fantastic Four should have been, and I wouldn't be surprised if everyone from 20th Century Fox took one look at this and just hung their heads in shame.

2. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut - I knew this was gonna be good, but I had no idea that this film would be THAT good. And this film was the perfect example of parents having ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what they're doing, as all four times I saw this in the theater, there were parents with their kids sitting there. Right from the start, I was laughing, and as soon as Terence told Philip he was a pig-fucker, I remember parents exchanging worried looks as brand-new words rattled in their kids' virgin ears. The songs by Trey Parker are fantastic as well.

1. Fantasia: This masterpiece represents everything right about animation. The look, the feel, everything about it is just a feast for the eyes and the music blends flawlessly with what is on the screen. Despite its initial less-than-spectacular run at the box office, Fantasia has gone on to inspire not only other films like it but also inspire people around the world to become artists and animators. An amazing piece of work that was years ahead of its time, I can't imagine what would have happened if the film was a hit the first time around!


Scotty Flamingo

Honorable Mentions:

Finding Nemo - A great father and son flick. While not near as fun as The Incredibles, this is probably my second favorite Pixar film

The Secret of NIMH - Not a perfect film, but a unique one. Dark as hell, and truly scary in some parts. I still get creeped out by owls due to this movie.


5. South Park: BLU - A filthy and hilarious send up of the entire animated feature genre that is way more than just toilet humor. Some of the catchiest song of ANY film, not just animated ones. The movie also somehow manages to thumb its nose at the MPAA while getting away with more than you would ever expect a cartoon to get away with, even if it is R Rated.

4. Beauty and The Beast - The Best of the 90's boom of Disney flicks. Unlike films like Aladdin and Hercules, there are no dated jokes to weight this one down. It is a straight telling of the story. It also breaks away from the cute animal sidekick formula that the others had.

3. The Iron Giant - Brad Bird hit a homerun here that nobody saw due to Warner Bros totally dropping the ball with the marketing of the film. A great mix of 50's style science fiction and Cold War Era paranoia. The final confrontation between the giant and the military has some of the best traditional animation I've ever seen. It gets a bit preachy and sappy in spots, but this is easily overlooked. Great voice work by a unique cast featuring Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr. and Vin Diesel of all people!

2. The Incredibles - The best Pixar movie. A great homage to classic comic books and sci-fi. There are so many influences here, from the obvious comparisons of the family to the Fantastic Four, to the 60's era James Bond style of Syndrome's island lair. This is the only movie I have ever seen twice in the same day in the theater.

1. Pinocchio - The best animated movie ever made. As mentioned earlier, it has a darkness to it that later Disney films shy away from. Plus it is just gorgeous. It is like watching a work of art come to life. From Gepetto's humble workshop, to the seductive Pleasure Island, to the belly of Monstro the Whale, this movie has it all in spades.

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There you have it – a fairly balanced blend of timeless classics and recent favorites, if you ask me - although I'm sure I'll hear from some old-school traditionalists bothered that more of the Disney classics didn't make the list. Still, at least no one picked Disney's Pocahontas, right?

Of course, that might not be the case next week, when we take a look at The Top 5 Worst Animated Films of all time. As a matter of fact, given that I already know my list, I can pretty much guarantee Disney's "real history be damned" blunder will be included. What else will make the lists? Come back next week and find out.