Brace yourself… We got ourselves one LOOOOONG ass post here!
I love cartoons. Hell, it’s no mystery to anyone here. The art of making a series of lines and colors pieced together in sequential motion to create the illusion of life, is something that I truly respect beyond like you wouldn’t believe. (Hopefully my art style shows that.) Recently, Time.com made a list of the top 25 best animated films of all time.
And this list is bullshit.
Let’s get it out of the way right now. This is a list made up by a dork who has no idea what makes great animated movie. ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox’ makes that list, but ‘The Incredibles’ or ‘Monsters Inc.‘ does not? The piece of shit ‘Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who’ makes the list, but ‘Fantasia’ or ’Peter Pan’ can‘t make the cut? The ONLY movie by Hayao Miyazaki that makes the list is ‘Spirited Away’ with nary a mention of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind or Princess Mononoke… But oh, we gotta give props to the environmentalist dancing penguin movie! (What? Was Ferngully not preachy enough? What about Wall-E? Oh wait… That’s #2. I’m shocked speechless. Really, I am.) I was going to go off on a tangent insulting the article writer and his mother… But I decided to let it go, and present my alternative list. Unlike the writer of that article, you all have a brain and are completely capable of making your own list of great cartoon movies. So I’ll let you go ahead and do so. By all means, you’re more than welcome to add your opinions and additions below. (In fact, I welcome it.) In the meanwhile, I present to you my top 25 badass animated movies of all time! Why are they badass? Because I’m biased. There are better movies made than those on this list, and while you may not agree with my choices… At least I won’t tell you it’s good because I’m kissing up to someone famous. (Fuck you, Happy Feet.)
25. The Road to El Dorado- I‘ve written an entire blog entry about this one before, so let’s move onto the next one.
24. Rock & Rule- The name is Rock & Rule… What about it isn‘t obviously badass? It’s one of those early 80’s movies made in the spirit of Heavy Metal or Wizards. Like Heavy Metal, it’s got an awesome soundtrack. Unlike Heavy Metal, it’s a badass and fun movie to watch. Oh sure, you can nitpick the movie apart from here to the ends of the Earth with it’s plotholes, but it’s highly watchable, and funkatastic with it’s soundtrack. Besides, you find me another movie that involves drug use, devil worship and mild sexuality. Well, besides…
You might also remember me as what should have been the final boss in Kingdom Hearts.
23. Fantasia- This movie is an acid trip without taking the acid. It’s beautifully animated (despite being over 70 years old) and it’s a wonder to watch. But let’s be honest… We all know the badass part of it is Night on Bald Mountain, which gives us the Chernabog, who may be Disney’s most evil and badass villain ever made. (Except for #12.) And for many of us, it was the first time we ever saw cartoon boobs.
22. Transformers: The Movie- Oh really? You’re sitting there surprised I put this one on the list? Come on. 1980’s power rock soundtrack, a giant planet eating robot, Sharkticons, “One shal stand, one shall fall”? Please, it inspired an entire generation of Transformers fans, of which you know I am one of. It goes on the list, but at least I put it the higher numbers.
21. Ducktales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp- This movie is actually a really underrated gem of Disney’s movies. It’s not been released to DVD yet, but you can rent it on iTunes, and I do recommend doing so. If you remember how awesome the cartoon show was… This movie is more of the same, but bigger and better. I really didn’t understand why it’s not more popular. It was a really great animated movie. It might have been the short run time though.
20. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society- Okay, here’s the thing. I love Masamune Shirow (even if in his later years he has been turning out some really pornographic material) and GitS was my first major exposure to manga and anime. And to be honest… I have a warm spot in my heart for it.However, as beautifully animated the first two animated movies were, they were boring as shit. When the series Stand Alone Complex came out, it took all the elements that was good about GitS, and made up some new stuff that was also good, and got rid of the boring stuff. I consider GitS: SAC the best anime series ever made, with beautiful animation, extremely interesting characters, and some really solid forward-thinking about a post-cyberpunk society. And the animated movie, Solid State Society was basically one giant wonderful story, stand alone story. I loved it. It was, to me, the GitS movie I was waiting for.
19. An American Tail- One of the biggest influences in my art and life is Don Bluth, and his movie about Fievel Mousekewitz and his journey into the new world, was not just an amazing animated masterpiece, but probably the real reason that launched the Disney Renaissance. (You see, it made a lot of money and was a critical success, and the then-new CEO Michael Eisner was like “We’re Disney. We make cartoons! How the hell did this beat us at our own game?!” Next thing you know, Roger Rabbit and the Little Mermaid was made.
18. Metropolis- A wonderfully fun, and sometimes rather dark anime from 2001, based on the manga from Omasu Tezuka. And after watching it, you’ll probably never think of the song “I Can’t Stop Loving You” the same way again.
"I'm Batman, and I can breath in space."
17. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths- You know what I love? Super-heroes. You know what I love about super-heroes? The fact that only with super-heroes can you do a story where evil alternate universe versions of those heroes are trying to build a quantum bomb that will end up destroying the entire multiverse, and it’s up to the good heroes to traverse across dimensions to stop them. This stuff ONLY happens with super-heroes. (And maybe Star Trek.) Flawed? Totally. But it’s so utterly fun, I love it. Besides, that line with Batman telling Owlman: “There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back as us… You blinked.” Hell to the yeah.
16. Batman vs. Dracula- Honestly, I know what you’re saying. You’re like “Wait, but that’s THE Batman. The stupid Batman show?” Look, whatever your opinion of the show was, the Dracula movie here… It’s a complete and total homage to the Hammer Dracula films. Dude is drawn like Christopher Lee, the music plays up the violin chords like the Hammer films, and even Gotham looks a little more gothic in design than usual. Plus the fight with the vampire Joker and Batman in the blood bath was a little unsettling. It’s got a couple of holes, and they totally do that Alucard thing, which by now is like the world’s worst kept secret identity… But it’s a fun horror flick that’s not pretentious at all. (And in today’s world of horror, that’s saying a lot.)
"I have no idea who this Twilight Sparkle is. Who are you people, and why do you keep asking me about her?"
15. Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven‘s Door- One of the greatest animes of all time, and this is it’s movie. Really, not much more to say than that. They did such a good job on the show, that when the early rumors were abound that the DVD release wasn’t going to have a dub job, and be subtitled only… Fans bitched. It was one of the first times anime fans finally acknowledged that the English dub jobs can actually be good!
14. Tarzan- Really, out of all the traditional 2D animated movies, I think this one of them all, has the greatest animation. It’s fluid, the character designs are wonderful, and the rescue scene with Tarzan, Jane and the Baboons is just one of the greatest minutes and a half of animation ever done. The only reason it’s not higher on this list is because of that annoying gorilla. But it does contain probably the most horrible Disney villain death of all time… Yikes!
13. Dragonball Z: Super Android 13!- I admit it. I loved DBZ. I mean, it was a great show, and what I liked the most about it… Was the dubbing of it. I’ve seen the subtitles and the like, and you know what? It’s not as fun. The cheesy rock soundtrack, the screaming about sending people to another dimension, and really… Who doesn’t love that it’s over 9000? It’s a stupid fight show, that never took itself too seriously in the slightest. And the dubbing, there was a certain logic to it, that really showed through with this movie. (Like non of the heroes would swear, they’d always say “darn it!” and the like. The villains would, but not the heroes. They’d never say kill, they’d say destroy. It’s a funny logic to it that’s hilarious.) That said, this one was one of the more self-contained of the movies, made a little later, so the animation was better, the dubbing was smoother, and it had all the characters we liked. (Hey, at least it’s better than the live action movie!)
12. The Emperor’s New Groove- Watch THIS and try and tell me that Yzma is not the greatest Disney villain of all time? This movie is like a big budget version of a Chuck Jones cartoon. It’s witty, funny, and just a joy to watch. And even more amazingly, the spin-off cartoon, The Emperor’s New School was also a great cartoon in it’s own right.
Seriously though, isn't Belle falling for Beast essentially a case of Stockholm Syndrome?
11. Beauty and the Beast- The follow up to the Little Mermaid, this was a great animated movie. Also, it was the first animated film to be nominated for the best picture Oscar, which caused a huge stir at the time, because it’s a cartoon and shouldn’t be taken seriously. So they made the best animated movie Oscar category, which of course goes to whatever movie Pixar is doing. Anyway, movie’s great, songs are wonderful and Gaston is hilarious.
10. Batman: Under the Red Hood- You know, it’s a really good Batman story. I had my skepticism, because the story of how Jason Todd survived his death, always… Well, it wasn’t that good. (Superboy-Prime punching the universe?) But they re-wrote it, got rid of that horrible Superboy-Prime crap and actually made it a good movie. There’s a few moments in the movie that really takes me out of it, because it was probably left in from the original comic script. (Amazo, cyber ninjas, ect.) And if they had more time to flesh out the story, it really could have been extraordinary, as opposed to just great. And it asks the question I’ve always wondered: Why is the Joker still alive? And Batman’s answer… Just wasn’t that good of an answer. You actually started thinking that Batman was wrong.
What the hell am I eating?
9. Ninja Scroll- I saw this movie in college during the summer of 1996. At this time, we were used to our anime being essentially robots, magical fireballs, fuzzy animation and the occasional boob shots for no reason. Then we rented this one on a whim. Holy crap, we were blown away. Now bear in mind, this movie is stupid. It’s like goes so far into the ‘stupid’, it creeps up the other side, into ‘awesome’. One of the opening sequence pretty much set the entire tone of the movie, with the Koga Ninja getting slaughtered by Tessai the stone giant, is just insane the first time you see it. And the whole conflict with him and Jubei just continues the insanity. But there’s a few things in there, like pretty much how the character Kagero gets treated by some of the villains that make me feel a little squicky.
8. Justice League: New Frontier- This was one of the earliest DC Animated movies, and it’s one of the best. A period piece set after the Korean War, at the dawn of the Silver Age of comics. It’s mostly a Green Lantern story, but it’s quite clever and incorporates quite a few of the DC heroes in it. There’s some truncation, from the great comic story it’s based on. (The bit with Aquaman and Superman at the end.) But I’m a big sucker for awesome, epic super-hero stories, and I’m also a sucker for period pieces too. Combine the two together, and it’s quite great. In fact, if they had fleshed out the truncated parts a bit more, they could have easily released this theatrically. (The animation not quite up there, but the story makes it work.) Seriously though, with the success of X-Men: First Class, and the less than stellar success of Green Lantern… Maybe Warner Bros. should consider a live action version of it?
7. Kung Fu Panda- As of this time, I have not seen Kung Fu Panda 2, but I intend to soon. You see, when Kung Fu Panda came out, it was around the same time that Wall-E came out. And everyone was like “Oh, Wall-E is great! Eve is so cute!” And I was like, Wall-E is pretty good, but I liked Kung Fu Panda more. At least KFP was about kung fu fighting. Wall-E… I think the message in the movie was that if we pollute the Earth enough, Wal-Mart will send us on a Galactic Cruise for a few centuries, and then the Earth will fix itself. Or something like that. But seriously, Kung Fu Panda is awesome to watch, especially that opening dream sequence. (I was actually disappointed the entire movie wasn’t done like that!)
6. Princess Mononoke- Hayao Miyazaki’s environmental movie here was the perfect way to do it. It’s not preachy, the people of Iron Town and Lady Eboshi are not depicted as soulless monsters, the forest spirits are not all pure and good… It’s a very level and honest movie about industry vs. nature, with the character of Ashitaka as our eyes into this conflict. It tells the same story, that movies like Happy Feet tries to tell… Minus all the pandering and pretentiousness. It’s honest, haunting and beautiful. I think it’s Miyazaki’s greatest film he’s ever done. I truly admire this film.
5. The Incredibles- This movie proved to the rest of the world that super-heroes CAN be taken seriously, and be a financial success. This movie is near prefection, and of all the sequels that Pixar seems to be making with Toy Story last year, Cars this year and Monsters Inc. coming up soon… The one I want the movie, is the one they won’t give me. I want a second Incredibles movies. The scene where Dash is running away from the scissor ships, and he discovers he can run on water? Good God, that scene STILL just totally gives me goosebumps. It’s just so freakin’ super, I loved it. If I have only complain, it’s that because of this movie, we now see what the Fantastic Four movies SHOULD have been and weren’t.
"Mulan, why are you a Disney Princess? I am not an emperor, and Shang is not royalty either."
4. Mulan- I love Mulan. It was intelligently written, and beautiful to behold. It was also Disney’s last musical movie until the Princess and the Frog from ‘08. Yeah, they took some liberties (like a lot) from the original poem, but I can totally forgive it. They took the message of women and men being equal, and did not get preachy or pandering in that ‘After-School Special’ sort of way that we were all expecting. You felt for Mulan. You understood where she was coming from, even if you were a guy… You understood. It’s a beautiful movie. In almost every way. And the animation and coloring styles in the movie is so damn influential on my and my art, that I can’t even begin to explain it. This to me, is everything I love about Disney movies. The only reason it’s not higher than this, is because of how important the other three are to me.
3. The Secret of Nimh- This is one of the first animated movies I ever saw, and it was probably one of the biggest influences on me ever. Don Bluth showed me what adventures can await, with a little mouse. To a six year old kid who was so wrapped up in Star Wars at the time… It was eye opening. I just remember seeing it (and still do) and thinking “that is so beautiful.” And I’ve spent years trying to recapture that same feeling. So yeah, you ever wonder why I try to emulate an animated look with the comic? Blame Don Bluth. He got me when I was six years old. (And then Mulan got me again later!)
2. Tangled- I believe I went off on how great it was last November here. No need to repeat myself, right?
1. The Little Mermaid- …’nuff said.
Yeah, those are my choices. I probably would have added a few more in there too, but anime like Read or Die, or Talespin: Plunder and Lightning are really a compilation of episodes and not really films. I could fill an entire list out of just animated series that kicks rocks. I could give honorable mentions to stuff like ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Ponyo’… But I‘ll leave it at that for now. What about yours?
Actually, I own “Ducktales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp” on DVD. It’s just I’m sure Disney put it back in the vault after a certain time…I’ve owned it for about 5 or so years.
Great list ^_^
This is ridiculous…what are you 12 years old??? The little Mermaid is your number 1 Badass movie of all time????? Beauty and the beast?? Mulan??? c’mon!! You can’t be serious, you should stop writing about things you don’t know anything, like right now!! First and last time I come to this site.
I don’t know what your goddamned problem is other than the fact you think extra punctuation is an effective means of communication and I am not usually one to use profanity on our site, but fuck you, sir. Fuck you right in the face. This is HIS site and he is welcome to give his opinion on these movies and the fact that you think someone has to be 12 years old to appreciate classic movies that changed the way people think about animation and one that was nominated as freaking best picture is as moronic as you are. I’m the only one that gets to call him names. So go back to your own damned site and post your stupid baby pictures and kiss the fuck off.
-I- was going to say that if he was basing his attendance of a horror-drama web-comic based on ONE post about animation that he clearly didn’t take time to truly understand, then his patronage is as unnecessary as his bile-filled comments.
But, hey, that works, too.
Wow. That was awesome. You killed him with fire. Completely appropriate when dealing with douchebag trolls. I think, “Fuck you right in the face,” is going to be my new favorite phrase.
And you say that Time.com top 25 list is bullshit?!?!?!?
I do.
Not that I disagree with any particular movie, but I’m surprised that Batman Beyond: Revenge of the Joker didn’t make the cut. That movie is probably my favorite of the original DCAU movies, and the fact that there’s an uncut version means that they originally made it so badass that they thought they had to tone it down (that version, I understand, didn’t sell so well, so I’m glad they released their uncut version).
Forget Heath Ledger, Mark Hamil is the greatest Joker of all time. Of. All. Time.
Here’s the reason I didn’t include it. I DID think of it, and was going to to add it, but then I Thought about it and realized that honestly, I didn’t like it as much as everyone else did. Because I didn’t like Batman Beyond as much as everyone else did. You see, I love the artwork of Bruce Timm, but I didn’t think it translated well into a cyberpunk future, and it tainted my opinion. Though I do understand why people like it. It’s a good movie, just not one of my favorites.
I don’t like top whatever lists, they can be very subjective. But it’s always fun to see people who appreciate the same movies you do. And Alfonso, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. See ya!
Here’s my very subjective list:
1. Nausicaa Of The Valley Of Wind
2. Princess Mononoke
3. Fantasia
4. Toy Story 2
5. Toy Story 3
6. Porco Rosso
7. The Incredibles
8. Patlabor 2
9. The Iron Giant
10. Spirited Away
11. The Thief & The Cobbler: Re-cobbled Edition
12. Up
13. The Nightmare Before Christmas
14. Kiki’s Delivery Service
15. Lupin III: Castle Of Cagliostro
16. Grave Of The Fireflies
17. Arcadia Of My Youth
18. Perfect Blue
19. Snow White & The Seven Dwarves
20. Justice League: The New Frontier
21. Galaxy Express 999
22. Wall-E
23. Akira
24. Paprika
25. Ghost In The Shell
*smacks forehead*
IRON GIANT! Dammit, the entire time writing it, I was constantly forgetting something, and it was something obvious too. So yeah, I’m not sure where it’d go, but retroactively, add that movie here too.
As you say that, I realize I forgot 2 favorites on the list: “Coraline” and “The Royal Space Force.”
If I sat and thought about it, I could probably include another 25 ^_^
I’m with you. Their list blows. Yours meshes with more of my preferences. Nice to see some of the better (in my opinion) films getting dusted off instead of hidden under the bed.
Dude Ninja Scroll! That movie was brutal and made about as much sense as most anime… but it was a good watch. I need to see if I can find that again somewhere. There’s another animated movie I really dug along those lines if I can remember the title to it…. Ahah! Sword of the Stranger! If you can find it it’s worth watching. (http://stranger.bandai-ent.com/)
As for therest well I’m a weird duck. I think I got exposed to Voltron too young and after all the kiddie stuff just didn’t interest me. There needed to be giant robots and explosions, maybe a monster or two, to get my attention. Though Secret of Nimh definitely stuck with me because it was rather mature. Death in an animated movie was usually reserved for the big bad and not other characters and you never really saw the whole thing. The rest of it was far and away different then anything else I’ve seen in a long time and that’s probably why it stuck with me as long as it did.
Oh and Kaaaaame-haaaaaaaaaame-HA! *cue stock explosion sound*
I agree with Batman VS. Dracula and Bebop. Kung Fu Panda 2 could easily replace it’s predecessor on the list (that’s right, Dave. It’s MUCH better than the first, and the first was pretty awesome to begin with). Incredibles also.
I actually did catch Secret of NIHM recently. My brother bought it packed with it’s DTV sequel, which we also watched. Oh, Hynden Walch and Eric Idle…you poor sons of–
ANYWAY…here’s some of my favorite animated movies…
Ultimate Avengers: One of Marvel’s first Direct-To-Video ventures, and it was pretty darn sweet. It’s sequel isn’t too bad either.
Since it’s only half animation, I’ll only mention half of Who Framed–
Green Lantern: First Flight: DC’s animation hasn’t this beautifully fluid since Batman: TAS (pre-New Gotham Adventures). The story is simple, and that’s part of why it’s that good. It’s a basic cop movie…but with magic technology. IN SPAAAAAAAAACE!!
Up: One of the few movies to get me to tear up. That dog sheepishly sitting on the old man’s porch reminded me of my own dearly departed pooch.
Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero: Similarly to “First Flight”; top-notch animation. I once critiqued that “Star Trek: Insurrection” was more of an episode of TNG than a movie. Sub-Zero is kind of like that, but in many ways better by comparison (to insurrection).
Iron Giant: “I am not a gun!”
And last but not least…
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm: The theatrically released adaptation of the animated series. I SSOOOO wish I could’ve seen it on the big screen when I was a kid. But that’s okay…It’s still awesome on DVD.
GAH! I forgot Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame! Excellent music, great voice work, and appropriately dark.
I’m glad Under the Red Hood made the cut. I thought that it was a fantastic flick. Yes, Amazo and the Fearsome Hand of Four detract a bit from it. But it didn’t matter in the slightest by then because I’d already heard John DiMaggio’s voice as the Joker. It was quite a shock to the system for someone who grew up hearing Mark Hamill voice the character, but not an unpleasant one. DiMaggio’s Joker was one of, if not THE most viscerally frightening portrayals ever done. He wasn’t Hamill, but I think it unlikely that Hamill could ever been the joker that Under the Red Hood needed.
Hey, come on- don’t knock Happy Feet too badly! The main character was adorable, and the attention to detail was incredible- I mean, did you see those snowstorms?!? It was groundbreaking for how much it packed into each frame! Pixar is still the gold standard in terms of computer animated movies, but even they don’t reach the consistent level of detail in that film! I’m really surprised that didn’t rate higher on your list just because of that.
My disdain for Happy Feet has to do with how preachy it got at times, and more importantly… It’s another damn penguin movie. Between March of the Penguins, Happy Feet, Surf’s Up, and the damn penguins in Madagascar… I’m a little penguined out.
In a related story, Yahoo News ranked the Pixar movies released so far in order of quality from 1 to 11.
The Incredibles was #10 and that’s when I quit reading. The guy complained that it “was for geeks, not kids.”
Yeah, I’m completely with you there. At #10? That’s ridiculous. Let me guess… Bug’s Life was Number #11 and Wall-E was #1. Am I close?
Am I the only person in exhistance who thinks “How to train your dragon” was freaking fantastic? Well apart from my 4 year old.
The animation for the Dragon in it blew my mind.
That’s just me though
Far from the only one, Jacobus. I think it was Dreamworks’ first real contender for Pixar since Kung Fu Panda. And that aerial scene from Hiccup’s POV during the climax was totally worth seeing in 3D.
Dang it…just when I think I’ve named off the good ones, another pops up. If I could see my DVD collection from here..,
Don’t…want…to get up…from chair!
I have never seen anything in 3D.
I could not get over how well animated Toothless was when it came to his mannerisms and their similarities to common house hold pets.
Well… I never saw it. I heard good things about it, and I would like to see it. I just… Never got around to it.
Also . . . what about Up? It was pretty good. . .
My god this list goes on and on.
“Why do we even have that lever?” All right, you have persuaded me that I need to make time to watch The Emperor’s New Groove one of these days.
THEN HIT IT WITH A HAMMER!
My off-the-cuff list:
1. The Last Unicorn
2. Grave Of The Fireflies
3. Spirited Away
4. Millenium Actress
5. The Secret of Kells
6. What’s Opera, Doc?
7. Charlie Brown Christmas
8. Charlotte’s Web
9. How The Grinch
You can see from the number of shorts that I rate by goodness per minute.
At the moment I’m also fond of How to Train Your Dragon, Dragon Hunters, Nightmare before Christmas, Ratatouille, and all the rest of Pixar.
Hmm… I’ll go with a top 10 list instead… and with the caveat that I have not experienced some of the movies mentioned by others. Also… a lot of Anime… as serious western animation hasn’t existed for a while outside comic properties… and I’m not much for moving comics or “kid stuff.”
(honorable mention). Cool World
If you don’t know it you should be ashamed. A comic cartoonist, fresh out of prison, seeks to continue his work on Cool World… only Cool World isn’t just a place from his mind. It’s far older than he is and very real. Cool World also introduces the nymphomaniac femme fatale Holli Would who would (a does) do much more than play patty cake. This tale could be likened to a more grown up Who Framed Roger Rabbit… though relatively clean… it certainly ain’t for kids. It includes a before-he-was-a-star Brad Pitt. See more: http://youtu.be/GACDzexAdV0
10. Dominion Tank Police
A late 80 Dystopian adventure following the adventures of the Tank Police… an elite force of tank driving police officers who’s job is to capture the baddest of the bad guys… or, failing that, just blow them and the surrounding 3 city blocks to smithereens. They are chasing Buaku’s gang… a group of miscreants and theives lead by three sentient androids: Buaku himself and the Puma Sisters, AnnaPuma and UniPuma (source of 90% of modern catgirl fanboyism). Buaku’s gang, the tank police, and a group of mysterious mercenaries duke it out in the middle of the city… much to the chagrin of pretty much every one else. The Puma Sister Striptease (from the american version, not the japanese) remains a personal favorite of mine… for the music more than anything else (honest!). Classic 80′s dance music. http://youtu.be/bY7ry8RshQs (not *completely* safe for work, but no nudity).
9. Disney’s Sleeping Beauty
One of the oldest of Disneys works… it is based off of the classic fairy tale of the same name. Gave us the line “mirror mirror on the wall who’s the fairest of them all” and the line’s speaker: Maleficent… possibly the most frightening Disney villain ever… especially in her 80 foot tall black dragon form
8. An American Tail
It’s been a long time since I have seen this, yet the animation sticks with me as both detailed and breathtaking. Also gave us the heartfelt and bittersweet song “Somewhere Out There.” I still can’t listen to that song without misting up.
7. Disney’s Aladdin
Robin Williams as The Genie… nuff said. No seriously… nuff said: http://youtu.be/cd07uvkTeKo
“PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER!!! itty bitty living space…”
6. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
If your not familiar with the Batman Beyond Series that’s ok. The long and short of it is that Bruce is old… hobbling around on a cane old. So he gets some one young to take over. All the old villains are dead or locked up for good… and Joker is decidedly dead.
…but he gets better. We get to see the final destiny or Harley and Joker… and it is proven once and for all why Joker will always be the most dangerous of Batman’s rogues. But hey… see for yourself… http://youtu.be/kSzB-Qfrc2c (warning, huge spoilers)
5. Armitage III (Poly-Matrix)
A classic 90s cyber punk adventure. It follows the freshly hired martian detective Ross Syllabus. After transferring from Earth in the wake of his partners murder (by androids) he tries to find who is killing off a series of high-profile celebrities. The really puzzling part? All these celebrities seem to be exceptional advanced androids of a third type never seen before… completely unbeknownst to their fans, coworkers, and even lovers. And making Ross’ life even more interesting is his new partner… a take-no-prisoners redhead in hot pants named Armitage. Armitage’s erratic behavior and complete disregard for protocol are standard issue… but her seeming connection to the case is anything but.
Also one of the few anime to get decent American voice overs for the dub. Ross sounds like Kiefer Sutherland. Be careful not to get the OVA… this is one case where when they took stuff out of the OVA to make a movie… it made a better story.
4. Disney’s The Lion King
It really needs no introduction… but to explain it’s presence here: there is the memorable story, the dastardly villains (including two of Disney’s best), the beautiful animation, and the impossible to forget sound track. Also Rafiki… http://youtu.be/ffgnK-imS0k
Hakuna matata!
3. Perfect Blue
An anime movie quite unlike what americans have comes to expect of anime. No giant mecha or magic girls here. Instead Perfect Blue follows the journey of a JPop Idol as she tried to make the leap to Japan’s silver screen. Only one of her fans is determined to show her she should stay a singer. As our starlets career becomes mired in public scandal and the body count rises will she uncover the truth… or go mad trying? This is a dark psychological thriller of the kind Saw only wishes it was.
It was a veritable phenomenon in Japan… though was far less successful in America due to lackluster promotion and the animation age ghetto.
2. Akira
Say what you will about Akira’s convoluted plot… Akira changed the face of Japanimation. Most of what came before was the likes of Astroboy and Speed Racer. Akira ushered in an age of hyper-detailed backgrounds and deep meaningful plots… which in turn has effected Japanese pop culture and (through that culture) the many video games we import today. That’s not to say these didn’t exists before, but they were not the norm. Akira was to Japanimation what Final Fantasy 7 was to the video game RPG.
And personally… I never had any problem understanding the plot. Here’s a tip: don’t wait for people to talk… read their actions and facial expressions (yes realistic facial expressions in animation).
1. Steamboat Willie
It was an animated short… which in it’s day was the only kind of animated movie there was. It was also Disney’s big start and can be credited, through it’s many successors and Disney itself, as the single most influential animated film of all time. It’s influence stretches not just through time but also across countries and cultural barriers…. informing the direction of all animation in the world for the next century (and counting). In fact, one of Disney’s next big moves, after Steamboat Willie, was to use the proceeds to create Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Fantasia… the first three “feature length” animated films ever made. These lists might very well not exist without Steamboat Willie. Shadow Girls might not exist. Even other media, including live action film and/or comics, would have been effected had Steamboat Willie not existed. No Steamboat Willie might very well mean no Disney…
But wait! you say… steamboat willie might be influential… but it’s barely even entertaining by today’s standards… much less the best animated movie of all time. To which I say: by leading animation down the path to every other film on this list it has the right to claim all of their awesomeness for itself… so really this whole list could just be Steamboat Willie repeated 10 times and be perfectly valid.
I’m sorry, minor correction, “mirror mirror” was snow white… not sleeping beauty. I have such a hard time keeping those two straight.
The problem with “top lists” is that they’re almost universally personal opinion of the writer and rarely a compiled opinion of multiple people, which actually is what makes a “top” anything. I don’t agree with either your or their list in the entirety, but when you really get down to it there are so many wonderful animated films, it really is hard to narrow it down. One thing I do respect about their list is giving mention of The Triplets of Belleville, there’s quite a good bit of quality animation from the French out there that we Americans rarely get exposed to, and I have to say that movie was quite good, if also quite weird, though not as weird as Paprika.
I think both lists have their strong points, I don’t think I could come up with one without hours of work. maybe later.
As a side note, I don’t think you can properly respect Metropolis as an anime without having seen the original silent film Metropolis. The version with music done by Queen is really stellar, it’s an overall great film, it’s not animated, but it is THE original story behind even the manga and I think really only improves the manga and the anime movie.
If any of these “top whatever” lists was truly about quality and influence on the animation medium, I can guarantee you that at least half of it would be comprised of works that most people in the Western world have never even heard of. The problem I have with the Time.com list, is that it’s essentially what I call an elitist review. He picked these movies as the greatest, because they won awards and critical accolades, and not because they were good or influential. (Though quite a few of them are.) There was no real research to the list, no real substance.
A ‘top whatever’ list means nothing without actual research and consideration into the subject. Thus these lists seem to slide toward personal preference. In my case, I came right out and said “mine was biased.” My list is based upon my own personal preferences and experiences. I mean, seriously. If my list was about quality… Christ, you think Transformers and Dragonball Z would be on there? (I love those movies, but man… Are they stupid!) If someone truly sat down, and gave actual research and consideration to what would be the “Top 25 animated movies of ALL TIME”, actually looking into the history of these movies, what they accomplished, what they overcame, how they influence others, and so forth… One could make a truly profound, interesting, and informative list about the history of animation. ESPECIALLY with the resources that Time.com has. (THAT’S what pisses me off about that list.)
Many people here who’s replied thus far has made up their own list of what they consider great animated films, as well as their own thoughts and reasoning behind it. Even you yourself, commented on the history of Metropolis, with the connections to the 1927 Fritz Lang movie, and even Queen’s Radio Gaga (both of which I have seen and adore), where you’ve given thought to this, and some actual retrospection. Tink up above gave her reasons for why she liked Happy Feet, and while I really do dislike that damn penguin movie… I respect her reasoning and opinions behind why she liked it. Others here have also given thier thoughts about what they consider to be a good animated movie, and not just agreeing with a populist viewpoint.
And that’s my point.
You don’t really need to see the original Metropolis to enjoy the animated version, since they’re completely different stories. Osamu Tezuka actually based his manga of Metropolis on a still photo from the silent film without ever having seen the film ^_^
If you haven’t yet, check out the newly restored “complete” Metropolis. It’s fantastic!
Don’t let your anti-penguin prejudice stop you from watching Mawaru Penguindrum.
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There is also the weird question of what makes a cartoon great. It has always stuck with me that Lois Lane kicked more butt in a Max Fleishman 15 minute short in 1942 than in ever episode of the 50′s live action Superman show and Lois and Clark combined. Is it a great cartoon? No. Is it 5 decades ahead of it’s time? Yes!
Well, that there is a question with more than one answer. First, the story has to be good, as with all storytelling. It could be a redundant story told very well, or a very complex tale explained with simplicity. There has to be something about the story your trying to convey that grabs audience attention and says “look at me for the next couple hours because I’m worth more than Brand X”.
Secondly, the characters have to be believable, likeable, or hate-able. Are their dreams/motives/goals/actions fitting or justifiable. Can you see this happening in the right context?
Then comes the inevitable: Animation. It has to look good, which can be hard considering how subjective art can be. Like comedy, what works for some people won’t do so for others. It doesn’t always have to be expensive and heavily detailed to get the job done (depending on the media outlet), but it helps.
Also the voice cast has to be good. I’ve heard some anime in my time that was just sub-par compared to even the shows my 2-year-old neices watch (You Are Under Arrest and the Shadow Skill OVA come to mind). Yet there can be some decent acting in cartoons that you wouldn’t think would be worth it.
Following what I’ve said (and remember, I have no idea what I’m taking about outside a spectator’s view), that’s why I’d count “Hunchback of Notre Dame” as a truly great film. Animation and backgrounds were gorgeous, the cast made the characters worthwhile (oh, Tony Jay, we miss you), and it got pretty serious for a Disney musical.
I’m glad someone mentioned Honneamise, but I’m kind of surprised…no “Watership Down”?
Maybe you had to read the book to make sense of the movie, but it impressed me by following the book’s premise, and it was done well.
Sorry, I re-did my comment below, with my info shown.
I’m glad someone mentioned Honneamise, and while I know it’s all subjective opinion, and yadda-yadda. I’m still surprised, though – no “Watership Down”?
Just sayin’.
When I originally answered this, I only listed animated movies. Today I wrote a post about what makes a good animated TV series. Completely different.
Glad to see Fantasia getting some attention and I agree that Happy Feet and Horton Hears a Who doesn’t belong anywhere near any best animation list 25, 50, hell, I don’t know if it would break my top 100. My own opinion is at http://www.filmcrave.com/list_genre_movie.php?genre=Anime