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Agent's Top 5 Favourite Non Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks movies.
12 years ago
General
Hello there everyone!
Today I would like to talk about... animated movies. Heck, let's face it folks – animated movies kinda are a bit part of our life (depending on the tastes and likes of course). They are kinda a big part of our pop-culture (and culture in fact). Just look at huge companies like Disney (who basically is childhood inc. ), Pixar, Dreamworks... Adults and kids alike are their targets, and usually (usually...) when they release a movie – BANG! Huge blockbuster! People crowd the cinemas, mass hysteria and chaos!
But to be fair and with all the respect to those compan... sorry, studios – they aren't the only ones around. Well... they aren't the only ones around to a bigger degree than a few years / decades ago, if ya know what I mean. Animated movies are created OUTSIDE those biggies and... in my opionon some pretty good and overlooked ones. Now, of course this means Japanese animation, which is a category of it's own, but... that's kinda the point.
So I plan to list some of my most faved NON Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks animated movies. Let it be...
1.Every single Don Bluth movie (except maybe Anastasia, Titan A.E., Rock-a-doodle and... well, almost every single Don Bluth movie).
Those of You who know me enough to have heard my rants about animation know that I freakin love Don Bluth movies. Mostly Secret of NIMH, Land Before Time, All Dogs go to Heaven. In some way this might be cheating the list, seeing as Don Bluth was at disney for a short bit. And it's kinda easy to guess on which movies he worked back them – Robin Hood, Rescuers, Fox and Hound (the guy had a knack for animal animation, aye?). But then he went solo, and started doing his own works.
Soooo... why do I love those movies so much? Well, the animation – once again in my humble opinion, is one of the best western classic animation around. Plus it's just something about his movies... this kind of “Kids can deal with serious s***” thing.
Whatever it is – I love his stuff. Loved it then, love it now
2.Last Unicorn
Some of you might know this little movie. It was made by Rankin/Bass studio (SHUSH!) and actually had some animation work done by Topcraft, who would later by hired by none other than... Hayao Miyazaki to form the Studio Ghibli. Dang...
So... why do I love this movie so much? Well, apart from the lovely western / anime like animation and a quite fancy voice cast (including the ever Christopher “Dracula / Saruman” Lee) the movie has a really nostalgic / melancholic vibe to it. I don't want to spoil the movie for ya, but... there's just something wonderfully depressing about it – the kind of “I wanna feel sad!” thing. So thumbs up for it in my book!
3.Help! I'm a fish!
This has to be one of my top fave animated movies in general. A Danish animated movie from way back 2000, this was for me one of the biggest surprises back then. When I saw the billboards and posters when it was hitting the cinemas – meh... Same for the TV ads. One time it was on the TV, a few years later so I said “yeah, let's give it a shot”. Man, did I felt stupid later. I found the movie charming, clever and a bit dark at moments. All with wonderful animation style, which... how to to say it – is a bit different from the well known disney style. Apart from that – Severus Snapes and one of the Monty Python squad do the voices in the English version. Neat :3
Also worth mentioning is that this movie in my opinion is a fine example of how different culture / point of view may influence and show itself in the art style. The movie is definitely very... European looking. And definitely one of my all time fave's.
4.Animalympics
Holly Jumpin Gingerbread Bisquits! How could I miss this one in my childhood (WELL... mostly cause of... politics... and... stuff... *cough cough*). I found out this one watching a review of it. Found it... interesting. Then I watched the full thing and I was freakin AMAZED! Maybe I'm missing something, but why isn't this one of the keen essential furry movies? The animation, though may not seem so at first, is very, very pleasing. Considering that the tiny animation crew that made this after departing worked on movies like the Lion King, well... let's say that if You watch the movie You can see certain similarities and familiar art styles (I'm still convinced that Don Bluth or his animator was in the crew!). Apart from that general creativity, wonderful old-style music and... Seriously! Anthro-Animal Olympics!!! Why am I even explaining this XD? For me – a must-see-it movie :3
5.Cats Don't Dance
Almost forgot to mention this one on the list XD. Though not my all time fave, I think it is a really nice movie. Mostly cause... well, I have a thing for portraying early Hollywood industry in a comical way (Moving Pictures much?). The story is cliché, true. The characters are cliché, true. But... I dunno, for me there's just something in this movie that I find it hard not to like. Plus, again – anthro animals living side-by-side with humans. Gotta love that thing XD
So, that was the top 5 (in some cases top-and-some-movies-that-i-kinda-remembered) list. Maybe it would change a bit in some places if I thought enough, but this is how it looks at the moment. Also i did avoid anime movies for the point mentioned before - they kinda work in their own cathegory for this and... i might do a separate one for them in the future X3
Of course this was based on a personal taste list, so if You like them – awesome! If You don't like them – awesome too, respect for that!
Now, i'd love to hear what are YOUR fave non disney/pixar/dreamwork movies. Do You have ones? Maybe some lesser known pearls, that evade the general public. Please share Your opinion in the comments!
Thankies for reading and I do hope You enjoyed, or at least didn't find this self-exposing piece of journal too boring!
Take care and stay wonderful the way You all are!
- A
Today I would like to talk about... animated movies. Heck, let's face it folks – animated movies kinda are a bit part of our life (depending on the tastes and likes of course). They are kinda a big part of our pop-culture (and culture in fact). Just look at huge companies like Disney (who basically is childhood inc. ), Pixar, Dreamworks... Adults and kids alike are their targets, and usually (usually...) when they release a movie – BANG! Huge blockbuster! People crowd the cinemas, mass hysteria and chaos!
But to be fair and with all the respect to those compan... sorry, studios – they aren't the only ones around. Well... they aren't the only ones around to a bigger degree than a few years / decades ago, if ya know what I mean. Animated movies are created OUTSIDE those biggies and... in my opionon some pretty good and overlooked ones. Now, of course this means Japanese animation, which is a category of it's own, but... that's kinda the point.
So I plan to list some of my most faved NON Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks animated movies. Let it be...
AGENT'S TOP 5 FAVED NON DISNEY/PIXAR/DREAMWORKS ANIMATED MOVIES!!!1.Every single Don Bluth movie (except maybe Anastasia, Titan A.E., Rock-a-doodle and... well, almost every single Don Bluth movie).
Those of You who know me enough to have heard my rants about animation know that I freakin love Don Bluth movies. Mostly Secret of NIMH, Land Before Time, All Dogs go to Heaven. In some way this might be cheating the list, seeing as Don Bluth was at disney for a short bit. And it's kinda easy to guess on which movies he worked back them – Robin Hood, Rescuers, Fox and Hound (the guy had a knack for animal animation, aye?). But then he went solo, and started doing his own works.
Soooo... why do I love those movies so much? Well, the animation – once again in my humble opinion, is one of the best western classic animation around. Plus it's just something about his movies... this kind of “Kids can deal with serious s***” thing.
Whatever it is – I love his stuff. Loved it then, love it now
2.Last Unicorn
Some of you might know this little movie. It was made by Rankin/Bass studio (SHUSH!) and actually had some animation work done by Topcraft, who would later by hired by none other than... Hayao Miyazaki to form the Studio Ghibli. Dang...
So... why do I love this movie so much? Well, apart from the lovely western / anime like animation and a quite fancy voice cast (including the ever Christopher “Dracula / Saruman” Lee) the movie has a really nostalgic / melancholic vibe to it. I don't want to spoil the movie for ya, but... there's just something wonderfully depressing about it – the kind of “I wanna feel sad!” thing. So thumbs up for it in my book!
3.Help! I'm a fish!
This has to be one of my top fave animated movies in general. A Danish animated movie from way back 2000, this was for me one of the biggest surprises back then. When I saw the billboards and posters when it was hitting the cinemas – meh... Same for the TV ads. One time it was on the TV, a few years later so I said “yeah, let's give it a shot”. Man, did I felt stupid later. I found the movie charming, clever and a bit dark at moments. All with wonderful animation style, which... how to to say it – is a bit different from the well known disney style. Apart from that – Severus Snapes and one of the Monty Python squad do the voices in the English version. Neat :3
Also worth mentioning is that this movie in my opinion is a fine example of how different culture / point of view may influence and show itself in the art style. The movie is definitely very... European looking. And definitely one of my all time fave's.
4.Animalympics
Holly Jumpin Gingerbread Bisquits! How could I miss this one in my childhood (WELL... mostly cause of... politics... and... stuff... *cough cough*). I found out this one watching a review of it. Found it... interesting. Then I watched the full thing and I was freakin AMAZED! Maybe I'm missing something, but why isn't this one of the keen essential furry movies? The animation, though may not seem so at first, is very, very pleasing. Considering that the tiny animation crew that made this after departing worked on movies like the Lion King, well... let's say that if You watch the movie You can see certain similarities and familiar art styles (I'm still convinced that Don Bluth or his animator was in the crew!). Apart from that general creativity, wonderful old-style music and... Seriously! Anthro-Animal Olympics!!! Why am I even explaining this XD? For me – a must-see-it movie :3
5.Cats Don't Dance
Almost forgot to mention this one on the list XD. Though not my all time fave, I think it is a really nice movie. Mostly cause... well, I have a thing for portraying early Hollywood industry in a comical way (Moving Pictures much?). The story is cliché, true. The characters are cliché, true. But... I dunno, for me there's just something in this movie that I find it hard not to like. Plus, again – anthro animals living side-by-side with humans. Gotta love that thing XD
So, that was the top 5 (in some cases top-and-some-movies-that-i-kinda-remembered) list. Maybe it would change a bit in some places if I thought enough, but this is how it looks at the moment. Also i did avoid anime movies for the point mentioned before - they kinda work in their own cathegory for this and... i might do a separate one for them in the future X3
Of course this was based on a personal taste list, so if You like them – awesome! If You don't like them – awesome too, respect for that!
Now, i'd love to hear what are YOUR fave non disney/pixar/dreamwork movies. Do You have ones? Maybe some lesser known pearls, that evade the general public. Please share Your opinion in the comments!
Thankies for reading and I do hope You enjoyed, or at least didn't find this self-exposing piece of journal too boring!
Take care and stay wonderful the way You all are!
- A
Of course i am aware that all this was "opinion based" and You might like / hate them (or everything in between). But i think they are worth checking out for the sheer opinion creating thing. Plus it's just me, or some of them are really overlooked - i rarely hear people mentioning them in conversations, which i think is a real shame.
I know / watched most of the mentioned films, and i'm a huge fan of Cowboy Bebob (which btw is probably my fave anime series ).
Anastasia was more classical Bluth with very Disneyish undertones.
Rockadoodle, Troll in central park and Penguin and the Pebble? Dreadful.
Lee's performance in "Last Unicorn" was stellar. A Shakespearean actor like himself could portray Haggard as a tragic figure bound by his own obsession. I still love to listen to his monologue "Do you still deny yourself?! Do you still dare pretend to be human?!! I'll hurl you down to the others with my own hands if you dare deny yourself!" Such flair!
Personally I also enjoyed "Secret of Kells" a lot. The movie feels kind of unfinished but the amount of work they put in and the wondrous style is truly remarkable. A fictional story of the most prized cultural possession of Ireland - a wonderfully illuminated book from the end of the Dark Ages, story of civilization, savagery, inspiration and obsession. It's a remakable work.
Wizards and American Pop are another favourite of mine, althoug opinions on Bashki's movies tend to be polarizing, I enjoyed Wizards for the weirdness of the post apocalyptic world, while American Pop was a very bitter take on American pop culture from the 1910s to 1980s.
Thief and the Cobbler (The recobbled cut, any other version is just garbage) is a work of art. While the story is naive and a bit trivial, the whole movie is enjoyable because of the cast of actors (Vincent Price! Sean Connery (Okay one line but still...)!) and AMAZING hand drawn animation.
And I think I'll close my list with the stop-motion feature "Adventures of Mark Twain", which is a real surreal trip into Twain's most famous writing, offering a touch of comedy, a touch of horror and maybe leaves people with something to think about. And yes it is (in)famous for the Mysterious Stranger segment "Who are you?" "An angel" "What's your name?" "Satan", which I think it's one of the most powerful scenes in the movie and provides the most haunting quotes "I can't do no evil, cause I don't know what it is.".
Do i smell a fellow NC watcher ? Hehe...
I agree - Titan A.E. for me is a "sad disappointment, seeing how one of the best animators imo of his times throws away his wonderful style for CGI. The movie has TONS of potential and ideas, but... is wasted for faced paced, overlooked and unexplored story. It could have been great but landed in the "meh" part of the world.
Anastasia... well, Nostalgia Critic summed it up perfectly. It was the time when Bluth threw the towel and said "Disney - You won...". Plus i have a personal hatred for the movie based on the fact that it has an AWESOME song with TOTALLY ruined visuals ( In the Dark of the Night).
Thief and the Cobbler - YES! The cut is so abstract that... it's hard not to enjoy. The released version was... well...
Haha! Yes! I know that one and i love it! It's so... lovely dark and creepy, that it's hard not to love it. Though to be fair i didn't want to put this on the list just because i love one scene so much. The rest is really good, but... That scene Maybe will do a "my fave creepy animation" list sometimes.
As for the "Secret of Kells" - will have to check it out -)
Titan A.E.'s CGI was quite smartly used I thought. The ice ring scene or the scene where they zoom through the exploding gas-filled balls planet wouldn't be that easy to animate. We saw awesome alien designs that were on screen for 5 minutes and then thrown a way. The problem was that well... the story was too going to fast there was little exploration of the world. I still love it. But it's really a disappointment. At least it's not "Wing Commander: The Movie."
Anastasia on the other hand has some flair but alas it's a distant cry from when Bluth had total control. Funny enough Anastasia was a SMASHING success on the charts, outdoing Disney that year. If anything it was Disney who could throw the towel. Sadly it was a one time thing since when people thought Don Bluth's luck has turned around. WHAM. Titan A.E. fiasco.
If you'd ever want to do "Creepy Animation" - Segments from "The Wall" would probably trump all. Amazing, haunting animations.
There is one thing that I want to address that I didn't address earlier: The biggest problem I have with Cats Don't Dance is Randy Newman. I loved the movie when I first saw it, then I watched it again listening the the music... and yes it's Randy Newman alright. It's the same damn tune... and it's so damn flat too. Same piano the same 'cheap bar' tune and the same 'Oh it's a song about friendship' feel. The songs from that movie I've enjoyed the mosts were the ones that weren't composed by him! But alas. It's a tribute to one of my favourite musical stars - Gene Kelly and for that it holds a special place in my heart. Quite frankly... The movie did a great job at making the main character had the same personality many of Kelly's roles - a simple country boy with the heart in the right place.
I still need to watch "Waltz with Bashir" and "Persepolis". My friend really recommends me the latter. The former I heard a lot of good things about but I also heard a it being a bit too politically biased.
The Thief and the Seizure.
Or "The Thief and Where-are-my-medication-pills?"
The difference is just groundbreaking and mindblowing - how the... well, sequels doesn't really match, so let's call them knock'offs. Not a single one of them comes even close to the original. WELL... let's say that the American Tail ones weren't THAT bad. They lacked the dark, serious tone and incredible animation, but to be fair... I did enjoy the second one and one more had a pretty nice animation and such.
Hobbit... Sadly i never saw the whole thing. I did see the "Lord of the Rings" animated movie and i know i will sound crazy, but it wasn't THAT bad.
You might want to check your local library, if they lend out movies. I know my library had The Hobbit on DVD. When you talk about the animated 'Lord of the Rings,' there's actually two films. The first was by a director named Ralph Bakshi (I think that's right) and, as I understand it, covers the first two books of the trilogy. When Bakshi couldn't finish the story himself, Rankin/Bass got his permission to finish it with their production of 'The Return of the King.' I haven't seen the Bakshi film myself, but I enjoyed the second film.
BTW: if you haven't seen this part, it's my favorite part of the Rankin/Bass Hobbit. I was really disappointed when the Peter Jackson version (IMHO) didn't live up to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj8r5ojAh9k
...also I'm sure a lot of people here on FA like it for the TF song.
Yet again... Sadly the movie was slowly drifting away from the quality Don Bluth got us used to (though wasn't THAT bad).
Sadly... chances to play any of them in my part of the world back in the day... Let's say that You had a bigger chance to find a hidden dimension with mutated, talking animals in your closet. But yeah, they kinda shake the whole arcade industry for a moment or two. And were really nice to watch (what ya can't say about the animated series "based" on them ^^')
*hugs*
Then again, I don't know if it's fair to call it just a Don Bluth movie. One of the problesm with that movie was well, too many cooks spoil the stew. It's a great thing to watch, yes, but it sorta shows.
except his mid 90's stuff: Pebble and the Pinguin, Thumbulina, A Troll in Central Park
Like i said in one of the comments - Titan A.E. was a disappointment for me, because it had a lot of very good ideas, awesome designs and... heck, the characters were animated very, very nice. It was a shame, that the movie was rushed and kinda in that "pop-culture-trendy" direction. It tried to be mainstream imo and do too much things at the same time. Especially if You check the cut content and not used designs, which are REALLY impressive.
Titan A.E.
The Secret of Nihm
An American Tail 1 and 2
The Wind in the Willows (1908's claymation)
and Rango
And... i was surprised to see Rango wasn't Pixar / Disney (Nickelodeon studio if i'm correct).
As for Winds in the Willows - sadly i don't know that one. I'm most familiar with the British stop motion TV series.
I kinda wanted to make it a more expanded one. BUUUUUUUTTTTTT... at the same time i didn't want to make it boring X3
But again - Japanese Animation X3 I prefer to stay away from it on this list, since for me Japanese Animation is a separate world of it's own, and it requires separate handling (maybe a small list in the future).