Tuesday, July 13, 2010

My 10 Favorite Animated Films

1. Grave of the Fireflies (1988, Isao Takahata)

The greatest anti-war film (alongside Paths of Glory and All Quiet on the Western Front), the saddest film I've ever seen, and finally the most haunting cinematic experience of my life. Proof that animation should never be overlooked.


2. Wall-E (2008, Andrew Stanton)

This film made me believe that I inhabited its fictitous realm, this ranks as one of the best science-fiction stories but it also works on so many visual levels.


3. Spirited Away (2002, Hayao Miyazaki)

A magical adventure with a supreme amount of pyschological depth that is full of heart, it takes the longest time to put into words after watching how charming it can be.


4. The Lion King (1994, Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff)

Stands on its own as the best Disney animated film after Pixar productions and Snow White, this film is among the most sad and the most happy of films I've ever seen.


5. Waltz With Bashir (2008, Ari Folman)

A war documentary that plays like a dramatic film, this film uses animation to represent both pleasant and horrid memories. One of the most imaginative war films aside from Fireflies, and The Thin Red Line.


6. The Iron Giant (1999, Brad Bird)

Animated films seem to be great for taking inanimate creatures and making them into touching protagonists, this story involves all of your emotions as you come to care for these characters.


7. Watership Down (1978, Martin Rosen)

Both one of my favorite adaptations as well as my favorite British film, of all the films on this list aside from Fireflies, it amazes me how mature this one can be.


8. Paprika (2006, Satoshi Kon)

The ultimate blending of fantasy and reality actually took place for me in an animated film that is both humane and thrilling. The Matrix of animation.


9. Toy Story (1995, John Lasseter)

A true visual treat that is just as exciting, it is a modern Disney-style fairytale that set the bar high for one of the best animation studios ever created.


10. A Scanner Darkly (2006, Richard Linklater)

A film with characters that freak out so much because of the events that surround them, that it almost becomes maddening when the film involves the viewer to the point that the freakouts of the characters become our own.