Grave of The Fireflies. Wow!
A lot of my favourite animation has already been mentioned – Plague Dogs, Grave of the Fireflies, The Man Who Planted Trees, the work of Yuriy Norshteyn (especially Hedgehog in the Fog) and Jan Svankmajer – but here are a few more:
I’ve started to get into the work of Czech animator Jiri Trnka recently. Ruka (aka The Hand) is probably his best, and most well known, short film but I’ve not been disappointed by any of his films so far. There is a real timeless quality to them.
The animated adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ When the Wind Blows delivers a real emotional sucker punch much like Grave of the Fireflies. It really helps that they got the perfect vocal cast for the roles.
Le Roi et l’oiseau is a film I’d love to see with English subtitles one day. The opening 20 minutes is some of the finest animation I’ve ever seen (the remaining hour isn’t too shabby either).
Millennium Actress – I see a few Satoshi Kon films have been mentioned so far but not this one (unless I missed it) which is a shame as it is his best work to date. It has his usual blending of realities but with a much stronger emotional story that keeps it all together. It is a nice journey through Japanese cinema too.
Twice Upon a Time – Whilst not the greatest film in the world I really love the animation style. It used a technique called lumage (translucent cut-out fabric with light shone through it) but bombed on release and I can’t see it getting an official DVD release any time soon.
1. Princess Mononoke
2. Ratatouille
3. Grave of the Fireflies
4. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
5. Spirited Away
6. Wall-E
7. The Iron Giant
8. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
9. Toy Story 2
10. Monsters Inc.
That’s my top ten list but I love so many animated films. These come to mind…
Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, My Neighbor Totoro, Akira, Little Mermaid…
as for anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a must see for anyone who enjoys science fiction. Add Fullmetal Alchemist to that fore the fantasy and steam punk fans.
i’m really digging Mushi-shi at the moment, via HULU.
those plus Code Geass, Kemonozume, and Soul Eater.
Waking Life
Scanner Darkly
Mononoke
Akira
Wizards
Beauty and the beast
Howl’s Moving Castle
rescuers and down under
as far as anime series go I would have to say Berserk(Best story ever writen), Nadesico, and Tenchi.
also toy story was pretty epic
Svankmajer
The Incredibles
Vampire Hunter D
Fantasia
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Coonskin
Chicken Run
I have yet to see a Studio Ghibli film that I DIDN’T like (granted, I haven’t seen the two most recent films . . .). SIDE-NOTE: if anyone at Disney/BVE is reading this — RELEASE “ONLY YESTERDAY” ALREADY!!!!!!!
I just don’t do animated films.
It’s not that I don’t like them if I do watch one, but as a whole, I have no interest in them, (Much like Superhero films). They just aren’t rooted in my reality.
If any, I prefer Burton’s macabre animation over any disney or cgi stuff.
Persepolis and Wall-E are probably my favorites, not necessarily for their innovation in animation, but for the stories they tell.
Pixar have been producing excellent films for over a decade. As for animation being used in propaganda, Why We Fight series is a prime example.
I finally saw René Laloux’s cult sci-fi animation “Fantastic Planet” (1973) and was totally blown away, I had read about it but wow, it is an absolutely extraordinary experience which is heightened by the amazing soundtrack, this film totally proves that animation is a powerful medium for exploring socio-political concerns creatively by using symbolism and metaphors. It appears to have been a major influence on many of Miyazaki’s films.
I also saw his short “Les Escargots” (1965), it’s a brilliantly surreal “parable”, very entertaining ideas and style and it has a great ending.
you can see Laloux’s “Les Escargots” here: www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/escargots/video/x1spx6_les-escargots
Triplets of Belleville
Howl’s Moving Castle
Disney collective till Beauty and the Beast
Nightmare Before Christmas
The works of Bill Plympton
PES
Don Hertzfeldt
shit, so much stuff comes to mind.
I’ll add:
Wings of Honneamise
Pat Labor I & II
Tekkonkinkreet
Angel’s Egg
If series are allowed I’d also add:
Haibane Renmei
Serial Experiments Lain
Texhnolyze
Paranoia Agent
Cowboy Bebop
Ooooooo cowboy bebop. sweeet.
Im really surprised no ones mentioned TEKKONKINKREET and Heavy Metal
I’m a enormous fan of Wladyslaw Starewicz, who is really the founding father of stop-motion animation. It’s very difficult to find, but if you ever have the chance, see his full length masterpiece Le Roman de Renard (1930). The film took years to complete and is actually only the sixth full length animated film ever made. Really beautiful stuff.
Here’s a particularly beautiful scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcznvlBTQFk
Corduroy,
You just beat me to Starewicz; wonderful haunting stuff, something that should be screened a lot more than it is.
Willis Harold O’Brien: “The Lost World” (1925) and “KIng Kong” (1933). With these two trendsetting films he not only scared the heck out of a lot of moviegoers, but set a standard for using model animation alongside human actors. These influenced monster movies for decades.
Nick Park: His wonderful “Wallace and Gromit” are fantastic works, sidesplittingly funny, and he is the true present-day champ of classic three-dimensional animation.
Disney’s “golden age” features, with full cell animation are all-time classics not to be surpassed. Same, in their own way, the Warner’s shorts with the wacky wabbit and friends.
Claus, you’re so right. It’s kind of unfortunate that they don’t mention people like Harryhausen in the animation industry. At least I don’t think they do. It seems that he’s been pigeon-holed in special effects, and it’s not like he didn’t do it. But his animation on Jason and the Argonauts is still unrivaled. The man’s a genius.
So I take it ya’ like Selick? Duh. That guy who made “Meat Love” and the MTV animator Voltaire are both pretty great as well. All time fav is Don Hertzfeldt though, verbatim. Anybody?
King Kong (1931)
Nightmare Before Christmas
What are probably the best and what I personally like are two different categories buy my all-time favorites and ones that I own would be:
Beauty and the Beast
A Bug’s Life
Spirited Away
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Antz
Once again, The Corduroy Suit, you have fine taste. Thanks for the recommendation of Wladyslaw Starewicz “Le Roman de Renard”. I must own this film. I haven’t looked for it yet. Any suggestions? A lot of great recommendations on this thread for foreign animation. Thanks!
Bakshi
Bakshi
Bakshi
Anything by:
Bob Clampett
Tex Avery
Max Fleischer
Milt Gross
John K. (except the Ripping Friends)
and Castle Films. I love Heckle and Jeckle.
THE IRON GIANT
NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
THE CORPSE BRIDE
MIRROR/MASK (I think this applies – there seems to be more CGI than humans)
SPIRITED AWAY
MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO
MILLENIUM ACTRESS
TRIPLETS OF BELLVILLE
ROBOT CARNIVAL
the BEANY & CECIL series
all WALLACE & GROMIT (but especially “The Wrong Pants”)
the Max Flescher SUPERMAN cartoons
Coonskin (Street Fight)
Anything by Satoshi Kon
Anything by Hayao Miyazaki (except “Kiki’s Delivery Service”)
Aeon Flux
Fantastic Planet
Grave of the Firefilies
Akira
Most written by Masamune Shirow (ex: “Ghost in the Shell” “Appleseed” 1998, or “Appleseed Ex Machina”)
Many by Mamoru Oshii
the independent feature that came out last year, ‘We Are the Strange’. Directed by this guy Mdotstrange, took him like 2 years doing probably around 90% of the film by himself. (with the exceptions of voice acting and some concept work).
look him up on youtube.
I forgot to include one of my very favorites: YELLOW SUBMARINE
Halim Cillov
I just recently saw “Waltz with Bashir” and was completely blown-away by it…Even though the animation style of the film wasn’t something entirely ‘new’ and ‘unique’, I thought the direction and the script of the film was very powerful and created an unforgettable Cinematic experience…