On April 10th, 1996, yours truly was born. To celebrate the occasion, I decided to tackle an ambitious project: A favorite animated movie from each year of my life so far. For the next couple of days, I’ll tackle 30 animated movies from 30 different years. Without further ado, let’s go!
1996- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
To be honest, picking a quality animated movie from 1996 was tough- Beevis and Butthead Do America is too crude, James and the Giant Peach is too strange, and All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 is a disgrace to the original film. That’s why I picked Disney’s feature that year, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, this movie tells the story of a deformed man named Quasimodo, who has been raised in the Notre Dame bell tower for 20 years. The only friends he has are three gargoyle statues named Victor, Hugo, and Laverne. On the Feast of Fools, Quasi asks his boss and caretaker, Judge Claude Frollo, if he could go. Frollo resents, but Quasi sneaks out anyway. When the townspeople see Quasi, they laugh at his ugliness and throw fruits and vegetables at him. However, he gets rescued by a beautiful gypsy named Esmeralda, and she helps him escape. Enraged by this, Frollo seeks revenge by burning down all of Paris to find Esmeralda so he can kill her.
Despite having annoying gargoyles, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an improvement over Pocahontas with top-notch animation, another great score from Alan Menken, songs that have no right to be this good (except for maybe A Guy Like You), and a strong message about accepting others for who they really are.
1997- Anastasia
I know some people would pick Hercules or Princess Mononoke for 1997, but I decided to pick Don Bluth’s feature that year, Anastasia.
This movie is about a young woman named Anya (Meg Ryan), who suffered from amnesia as a child. When she gets spotted by Dimitri (John Cusack), who is trying desperately to find the real Anastasia Romanov to earn money from the queen, he thinks that Anya is the real Anastasia, and not just an imposter, and brings her to France to prove to the queen that she's the real Anastasia. When the evil Rasputan (Christopher Lloyd) finds out that Anya is still alive, he won't rest until all the Romanovs are dead.
Even though the film strays away from the real-life events, Anastasia is still a capable film with a well-structured story, songs that easily surpass weaker Alan Menken songs, a good score from David Newman, engaging characters, and top-notch character animation.
1998- Mulan
I know some people would pick The Prince of Egypt for their favorite animated movie from 1998, but at our house, Mulan is a favorite of me and my mom.
Mulan is about a Chinese girl named Fa Mulan, who unfortunately fails her matchmaker test. One day, her aging father Fa Zhu gets drafted into a war against the power-hungry Mongolian Huns. This is a bad idea for Mulan because he is sure to die, so Mulan steals her dad’s armor and participates in the war in Fa Zhu’s place. With the help of the lucky cricket Cri-Kee and the pint-sized dragon Mushu, Mulan has to prove what it takes to fight the Huns and save China without the other soldiers finding out her real identity.
When Mulan was first released 28 years ago, Roger Ebert called the film ‘an impressive achievement ranking with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King!’ And he’s absolutely right: Mulan is a gem with brilliant animation, a compelling story, engaging characters, catchy songs from David Zippel and Matthew Wilder, and a brilliant score from the late Jerry Goldsmith.
1999- Toy Story 2
I know that some would pick The Iron Giant over Toy Story 2, but I felt that it would be sacrilegious to exclude a Toy Story movie.
In the sequel to the animation phenomenon known as Toy Story, Woody gets kidnapped by Al McWiggen (Wayne Knight), a greedy toy collector. When Woody finds himself in Al's apartment, he discovers that he was part of a popular TV series from the 50s called 'Woody's Roundup'. He meets a perky cowgirl named Jessie (Joan Cussack), a loyal horse named Bullseye, and a boxed prospector named Pete (Kelsey Grammer). Little does Woody know that Al wants to sell him and his 'Roundup Gang' to a toy museum in Japan! Now it's up to Buzz Lightyear, along with Hamm, Rex, Slinky, and Mr. Potato Head to rescue Woody and remind him what a toy's true purpose in life is.
Even after 26 years, Toy Story 2 is still one of the best animated sequels of all time with a story that really expands on what we loved about Toy Story 1, fun new characters, animation that holds up very well, great quotes, and another great score from Randy Newman.
2000- Chicken Run
Aardman's first feature film Chicken Run is about a British hen named Ginger (Julia Sawalha), who lives on a chicken farm owned by the wicked Mrs. Tweedy. Whenever the chickens stop laying eggs, Tweedy kills them. When a 'flying' rooster named Rocky (Mel Gibson) crashes into the farm, Ginger eagerly asks Rocky how he flew so all the chickens can fly to escape Mrs. Tweedy. They better do it quick- Mrs. Tweedy plans on making the chickens into pies.
Chicken Run is one of the best stop-motion movies of all time with fluid animation, a compelling story, likable and funny characters, a great score from John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams, and Aardman’s best villain to date: Mrs. Melicia Tweedy.
2001- Spirited Away
I’m sorry that I didn’t pick either Shrek or Monsters Inc for 2001, but it’s almost impossible to choose between the two films: It would be like picking between pizzas and tacos. I also wanted to include movies from different countries.
Spirited Away is about a 10-year-old girl named Chihiro, who moves away from her old town with her parents. While stopping at an abandoned resort town, Chihiro’s parents gorge themselves with food that turns them into pigs. Before she knows it, Chihiro gets spirited away to another world where the biggest monsters rule. Now, in order to change her parents back, Chihiro has to work at Yubaba’s bath house while also learning to love herself.
Spirited Away is Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece with a paper-thick story, lovable characters, astonishing character animation, and a moving score from Joe Hisashi.
In Part 2, you’ll see movies featuring aliens, fish, zombies, and penguins!
