The fourth animated feature from
Studio Ghibli, Kiki's Delivery Service tells the story of a young witch named
Kiki who leaves home with her cat Jiji to
start a delivery service in a European-style city. The movie portrays the gulf
between independence and reliance in teenage Japanese girls. Because of the
failure of Warriors of the Wind, a poorly dubbed and edited version of Hayao
Miyazaki's Nasicaä and the Valley of the Wind, Miyazaki wouldn't trust the US
for years to dub his films. An English dub of 'Kiki' finally made it to the US
in 1998, in which it was dubbed by Disney. Unfortunately, it was only
direct-to-video in the states, maybe because it would have to compete
against DreamWorks' Antz at the box-office.
9. Persepolis (2007)
Adapted from Marjane Satrapi's
autobiographical graphic novel, Persepolis tells the story of the Islamic
Revolution through the eyes of a young Iranian girl named Marji, powerfully
evoking the fear of daily life at that time. As she becomes a teenager, Marji
discovers punk and her love for Western pop culture and her stubborn nature set
her in opposition to the new regime of the Islamic Fundamentalists. Fearing for
her safety, her parents send her to a boarding school in Austria, where she
finds Western values to be shallow and impersonal. She returns to Iran, but
feels unable to live there, so she makes the decision to move to France. Drawn
in the same style as Satrapi's novel, the black and white animation is simple
and stylish. Satrapi believes that this abstract graphic style helps make the
story universal. Persepolis got nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated
Feature, but lost to Pixar's Ratatouille.
8. Aladdin (1992)
In Disney's 31st animated feature,
street rat Aladdin (Scott Weigner) and his friend Abu the monkey (Frank Welker)
live on the streets by stealing from the marketplace. When he falls in love
with the beautiful Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin), he willingly helps the
wicked Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) find a magic lamp in the Cave of Wonders. When
Aladdin finds the lamp, Jafar tries to steal the lamp, but Abu swipes it and
seals Aladdin and Abu in the cave. When Aladdin rubs the lamp, a joyous blue
genie (Robin Williams, who unfortunately passed away in 2014) helps Aladdin win
the heart of Jasmine, and eventually, to set Genie free. What makes this movie
memorable is the impressive collaboration between Robin Williams and Eric
Goldberg's (supervising animator for Genie) team in creating Genie. Aladdin
premiered in November 1992 and earned over 500 million dollars at the box-office,
the most successful movie of that year. It also won the Oscars for Best
Original Score and Best Original Song (A Whole New World).
7. The Iron Giant (1999)
A favorite of many animators, Brad
Bird's The Iron Giant was a brilliant take on Ted Hughes' book about a boy who
befriends a giant alien war robot who wants to learn how to not be 'a gun'. The
story is brought to life with clean, contemporary-looking 2D animation, which
was blended perfectly with a 3D CGI-animated robot and background elements, all
wrapped up in a retro 1950s aesthetic to fit the anti-Cold War, beatnik-age
tale. And to think, this is from the same animation studio that did the zany TV
shows Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs, as well as the classic Looney Tunes
cartoons. The Iron Giant got great reviews and won several awards, but
unfortunately, bombed at the box-office. Most likely due to poor marketing, as
well as having to compete against Disney's Tarzan at the box-office.
6. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Once upon a time in a faraway land,
there lived a young prince. Although he had everything he ever wanted, he was
selfish, spoiled, and unkind. One winter's night, an old beggar woman asked for
shelter, and in return, a single rose. Afraid of her haggard appearance, the
prince refused, but when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness
melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. She turned the prince into a
horrible monster and placed a powerful spell on his castle and all who lived
there. The rose she gave the prince was truly an enchanted rose, and would
bloom until the price turned 21. If he learned to love another and earn her
love in return, the spell would be broken. If he doesn't, the prince was doomed
to be a beast for all time. Many years later, while on his way to a science
convention, an elderly man named Maurice loses his horse and stumbles upon the
beast's castle. When the servants, who have been turned into household objects,
welcome Maurice, the beast storms in and locks him up in a tower. Upon hearing
this, Belle (Paige O'Hara), Maurice's daughter, heads to the castle to take his
place. At first, Belle views him as nothing more than a monster, and the beast
sees her as difficult and stubborn, but slowly they develop feelings for each
other. When Beauty and the Beast premiered in November of 1991, the movie got
overwhelmingly positive reviews and earned a ton of money at the box-office. It
even got nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, the first animated feature
to do so, but lost to Silence of the Lambs. However, it did win the Oscars for
Best Original Score and Best Original Song (Beauty and the Beast). Beauty and
the Beast was also the last project Howard Ashman, who co-wrote the songs for
Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid with Alan Menken, to be involved
with. Just a few months before the film premiered, Howard passed away because
of AIDS. Beauty and the Beast would be dedicated to him.
5. Song of the Sea (2014)
Tom Moore's superior follow-up to
The Secret of Kells, Song of the Seas takes place in Ireland during the 80s.
Ben, whose mother passed away shortly after giving birth to his sister,
Saoirse, discovers that his sister is part Selkie, a mythical seal-like
creature whose race is in danger. Together, they embark on an adventure to go
back home to find Ben's dog Cú, and to save the Selkies. About a decade before
the film's release, Tom Moore went on a walk on Ventry beach with his
10-year-old son. They were devastated to see the beach littered with dead
seals. Reports at the time suggested that local fisherman, who blamed the seals
for the dwindling fish stocks, were responsible for the kill. A local tour
guide said there was a story to every landscape. Moore stated that she was
saying the seals would have been respected - they would have been seen as the
Selkies, containing souls of the dead- the people who were lost at sea. This is
where the story behind Song of the Sea got its origin. Like 'Kells', Song of
the Sea was made in five different countries, this time all for different
reasons. Song of the Sea premiered in the US in December 2014 and got nominated
for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Despite being the most creative animated feature of 2014, Song of the Sea did not win. Instead, Disney's Big
Hero 6 won the award that year.
4. Princess Mononoke (1997)
In ancient Japan, the boy prince Ashitaka
is wounded when he defeats a supernatural boar creature that has been menacing
his people. The wound is slowly sapping his strength and when he travels on his
elk to find a cure, he meets Princess Mononoke, who lives with wolves. Ashitaka
gets caught up in a war between the emperor of the humans and the woodland God
and uses the powers that his wound gave him. The magical, semi-fantasy natural
world and the neat designs and slick animation of the young protagonists are
beautifully designed and drawn in the Miyazaki tradition, although the rambling
storyline and themes are perhaps more aimed at audiences familiar with Japanese
folklore. Princess Mononoke was a big hit at the box-office in Japan, but when
it was released in theaters in the US in 1999, it wasn't as successful. However,
the DVD sales of the movie were very strong, and before he died, Roger Ebert
stated that Princess Mononoke was one of his favorite movies of all time.
3. The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)
The
Tale of Princess Kaguya was the last movie from director Isao Takahata,
co-founder of Studio Ghibli and director of Grave of the Fireflies, Only
Yesterday, and My Neighbors the Yamatas. The movie tells the story of a tiny
girl nicknamed Takenoko, who was found in a stalk of shining bamboo. She grows
rapidly into a young lady and enthralls everyone she encounters- but ultimately
she must confront her own fate, the punishment for her crime. The animation
style is different from previous Ghibli movies: In movies like Princess
Mononoke, Spirited Away, and The Wind Rises, the human characters were drawn
very lifelike in the usual anime style. In The Tale of Princess Kaguya, however,
the humans appear more Western, but still appear Japanese. Along with Song of
the Sea, The Tale of Princess Kaguya got nominated for the Oscar for Best
Animated Feature, but lost to Disney's Big Hero 6.
2. The Lion King (1994)
Storyboard artist Brenda Chapman
described The Lion King as Bambi in Africa with elements from Hamlet. 'Bamblet'
she nicknamed it. Lion King tells the story of a lion cub named Simba, who just
can’t wait to be king. His evil uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons) sets up a plan to
kill King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) by throwing him into a pit of rampaging
wildebeests and blaming it on Simba. Simba runs away and meets a meerkat named
Timon (Nathan Lane) and a warthog named Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), who teach Simba
to leave the past behind you, and to eat bugs. Now it's up to the wise baboon
Rafiki to set things right. Like Bambi, the animators studied real lions that
were brought into the studio, while another group went on a research trip to
Africa. The Lion King is a genuine classic with eye-popping animation, an
all-star voice cast, unforgettable songs from Elton John and Tim Rice, and a
great story heavily (but smartly) influenced by Hamlet. However, there are
those that think Disney deliberately stole the script from Kimba the White
Lion, a cult anime TV series from the 1960s. Anyway, Lion King earned 780
million dollars worldwide at the box-office, got excellent reviews, and won the
Oscar for Best Original Song (Can You Feel the Love Tonight).
And the greatest traditional
animated movies of all time is...
1. Spirited Away (2001)
In Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece,
while on a trip to a new town, Chihiro (Daveigh Chase in the English dub) and
her parents stop at a deserted village. Her parents start eating the food there
and turn into pigs. Now Chihiro embarks on an epic quest to turn her parents
human again. The movie is an allegory on a lot of topics, such as greed,
pollution, maturity, and responsibility. Inside the palace, Chihiro's name is
taken away from her, which represents the end of her childhood. Her struggle
for survival forces her on a journey which represents her move from childhood
to adulthood, and her transformation from being a rather negative, complaining,
selfish young child into someone hard working, positive, and caring. In this
sense, the cutoff fantasy world of the castle represents a view of teenage
years as in an unreal world that rejects the rules of adult society and creates
a kind of anarchy where the biggest monsters rule. Spirited Away premiered in
the US in fall of 2002, got great reviews, and won the Oscar for Best Animated
Feature, the first and, so far, only hand-drawn animated movie to do so.
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