Animate This! My Favorite 2-D Animated Movies

Okay, okay,
I know that this really isn't a movie,
it's a short. And an animated one, ta boot.
But it's still a significant step in the evolution of moving pictures.
As everyone and their mother (and grandmothers, too!) knows, this is Micky Mouse's first appearance and the beginnings of what would eventually lead to the world dominating power of entertainment that is the all-powerful Disney.
Not to mention that most of the films on this list probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for this steamboat's maiden voyage.

Wow, look, it's the Lord Of The Rings saga in one movie. And what's even more, it's a cartoon.
Okay, so maybe it's nowhere near as good or as expansive or as as jawdropping as Peter Jackson's big budgeted trilogy that would break ground in the genre almost two and a half decades later.
But still, back at a time that was before there was the level of sophistication that CGI brought to the table of special effects, the number of films based on sword & sorcery was pretty minimal. So it was still kinda cool to see any kind of serious effort (no matter how rudimentary) being put forth into a movie of this specific type of saga-spanning subject matter.
And during the late seventies, being that I was geeky middle school sci-fi/fantasy nerd, I took whatever I could get when it came to medieval-like magic-laden movie "epics".

Take E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,
make Elliot more ethnic & change him into a girl,
then take E.T. himself and make him alot more bad-@ss, but still cute,
and then transform the whole thing into a cartoon,
and there you go.
You've got this movie.

Almost sixty years later after the first Fantasia film, Disney released this follow-up, which "follows" the same format music and animation integration that the original was intended for, with,as just with the original, it also came out with the same amount of varying degree of success for each feature. Although, TBH, personally, I wouldn't have minded if they could've found a way to rev up the stylings of both music and visuals in way that would have better demonstrated the progress made in each field. But in the end, F2000 still manages to entertain and delight in the same manner that Uncle Walt had envisioned when he first dreamed up this moused-eared manner of movie magic.

 Again, Atlantis is another example one of the few Disney films that was turning my overall dislike of their stuff around.  Mostly because it came along near the end of their 2-D run, which was at the time when the company seemed to decide that their homogenized brand could do with a bit of an edge. I was truly absorbed fully engaged in this futuristic submarine epic, particularly in the manner that its vast and sheer underwater visuals separated The Lost Empire with the rest of the mouse-eared megalithic empire. Not to mention that as a hardcore fan of Marvel comics, I was enamored with the unique look of the cartooning which seemed to me to contain a little inspiration from comic book illustrator Mike Mignola to their house style.
 But alas, wouldn't you know it, as is typical with my specific type of luck with the company's cinematic product, just when they had me starting to warm to their stuff, they finally pull the plug to the hand-drawn animation department.

An animated flick about a bunch a bunnies that creeped the heck out of me as a kid.
And if a cartoon about a bunch of bunnies can creep the heck out of me, even if I was a just a kid at the time, then you know that it's gotta be at least somewhat cool.

Here's a movie that comes from France and that is made up a series of short stories, and while each one is in animated form, it is a form rarely seen on film, called silhouette animation. It's a method in which all the characters are shown in silhouette by having a back light shining against articulated cut-outs. This was a European style of storytelling that was popular back in the late 1880's/ early 1900's and had partially evolved from an even older form of storytelling called "shadow play" (look it up). Combined with modern animation techniques and technology, the final product is one that is unique and stylish and allows the silhouette animation style used here to add a sense of mystique that enhances the ethereal themes that are the foundations of each short story.



Now while Tales Of The Night may initially come off as sounding like a horror film, in actuality, it's not. Presented more as moral fables of old, each one is like a tale filled with a "nightish" like sensibility that helps to effectively get across the point and danger of each lesson learned.

 Despite the producers of Titan A.E. being unable to predict the box office success of this film, they were able to present an animated feature that was predicting where these kinds big-budget hand drawn sci-fi epics were going, not just commercially but also artistically as well.  The computer-generated areas that were being incorporated into this still mostly 2-D animated flick, while they were groundbreaking for the most part, still had bits of a noticeable clunkiness to them that made this space adventure somewhat awkward to watch in certain parts. On the other "hand", the parts that were drawn by hand which fortunately of course are the most prominent feature of Titan, are of the highest quality of it time. And, for me, they still come off as quite visually eye-catching.
 Overall, as a completed film, much of A.E. may come off as dated by today's standards, but for me, since I still hold the memory of watching this as one of those moments that I'll always remember being in the theater and just being totally visually amazed by what was on the screen, it going to have a spot on this list for a long time into the future.

A decade earlier, animator Ralph Bakshi introduced animation for adults with the very adult Fritz The Cat.
With each film he made after that, even though he continued to produce cartoon cinema aimed towards a much more matured audience, he had begun moving towards a more mainstream type of animated flick.
And even though I felt that he never really fully achieved the ultimate potential of where he was headed with his work, American Pop seemed to be the result of his accumulated efforts.
A mini-epic that follows the musical family tree of one family through the ages, it's cohesive storytelling and down-to-earth, gritty portrayal of decades long struggles, along with it's tight animation makes this my favorite of Bakshi's films.

These types of animated movies that are spun-off of equally animated TV series, are usually ones that I don't hold much hope for.
Therefore, I was quite surprised at not only how much I enjoyed this big screen adaption the Bruce Timm little screen episodes, but also, at how I found it's story to be better than many of those of the TV program. Walking out at the end of Phantasm, I actually found myself feeling like the giant comicbook nerd that I truly am, but for years, had denied myself of truly being.

  Okay, here we have the Fab Four starring in an animated movie about an underwater ride of psychodelia that is supposed to be geared towards kids of all ages. But we all know that, even though some little ones may find some attraction to the bright colors splashed all over this feature, the main viewers who are gonna be attracted to this sixties semi-surreal submersible are those who will grow up with an affinity towards "trips" of a more esoterically exotic nature.
Yeah,
ya gotta love the sixties.



  On a more serious note, one of the co-founders of Pixar has been noted as saying that Yellow Submarine is one of the first animated films to bring attention to the idea that animation on celluloid could be used for other purposes other than just as "children's entertainment". 
  That's one of the primary reasons I have it here in this list. In other entries about animated movies, I mention the disappointment I felt at the way so much of Hollywood has been overtaken by the Disney style of making such films, not just Disney, but other film companies as well. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's obvious that cartoon-based cinema directed towards a more mature mindset will ever match the more "family friendly" variety in terms of box office, but that doesn't mean that the former should be dismissed altogether. There's a much more expressionistic element that is available in 2D animation that would serve more complicated and intelligent type of stories if set up in the medium of this style.  And it is one that has gone criminally underused because of the lack of open-sidedness of a formula fixed industry, particularly thru the dominance of the mouse-eared megalith in this general part of Hollywood.
But, as John, Paul, George and Ringo have shown here, as they have done in their music at the time, art, including that which is animated, doesn't have to always be colored within the lines or by the numbers.

 (Before I begin, let me state that I typed this entry way before any of the Gal Gadot live action movies were considered, let alone made. Since then, having Wonder Woman portrayed as ultimate she-warrior that I wanted to see her as has come to fruition. But you can’t tell yet from reading this entry since I haven’t found the time to update it yet. Just a heads up to keep that in mind as you read…)



 As anyone who is a tried-and-true comic book fan would tell you, Diana Princess is a true bad-ass.
  Go to any comic-con anywhere and start up a discussion about female butt-kickers, and Wonder Woman is a name that will always be a part of that conversation. One popular opinion in those circles is that she had never been fully depicted at the true level of bad-ass for which she had the potential to be.
 Then, one day, I picked up this recent straight to DVD feature, and came to the conclusion, that even though it may not yet be at the point that I personally would like to see her at, it is a huge step in the right direction.
  As far as the animation goes, it was done in the typical Bruce Timm style that had been defining any of DC Comics' cartoon series during the 90's and early 2000's. IMO, in wasn't the sharpest use of this style, but that shouldn't be too surprising. I'm sure that the production company that made these 'toons had whole staffs that were designated to emulate Timm's style of artwork, and a s result, the quality varied depending on the talents of the individual artists who made up those staff groups. So, it's probably easy to just assume that their very top talent animators were more likely assigned to the higher profile Batman projects. 
  Still, the visuals were dynamic enough, and TBH, it's the overall presentation of the package that provides the entertainment value. For me personally, it was the story and depiction of the most famous female member of the Justice League that fuels the fire in this particular fem-force feature. The Double W may still be in the form of a cartoon, but in this latest interpretation of the Amazonian wonder, she is finally approaching the bad-ass broad with balls that she should've always been.

At the time when the first Fantasia film was completed, this was only the third in Disney's full feature cinema released canon and it set out to integrate classical music with animation in eight featurettes with the purpose of having each medium compliment the other. The power of the music was enhanced by the visuals of each short (with various degrees of success of course) while at the same time, the hand crafted artwork of each cell seemed to be powered by the notes and melodies of each time tested arrangement.

  For a long time, I used to think that I was the King of Sinful Sots.
  Then I saw this.
  And I realized that compared to this guy, I'm just a moldy purple spot
on the dead tomato splot that is his heart.
  You are the true rotter,
Mr. Grinch.

Flat animation, overly simplistic story and some of the references may seem a bit out of date.
And yet, here is a made-for-TV cartoon that still ranks high on many a Chrismas-fave-list.
I guess I could specify why, every year, I still watch "Chuck's" first foray in animation, but I'd just be repeating the same descriptions of charm and nostalgia that every single article that has ever been written about "A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Let me just say that, as the hustle and bustle of the commercial side of the Yuletide season expands more and more every year (and it does), I'm still from the generation who will always have the image of a tiny, single ornament-wilted Christmas tree embedded deeply into its holiday memories.



Oh, and just in case I forget to wish any of you Listalites a proper season's greetings this holiday season, please allow me to do so right now;
"Merry Christmas,
you blockheads".

One of the most classic of fairy tales in history comes to life in the form of one of the most classic animated films in history. And little did anyone know at the time, that this would be the start of one the biggest (if not the biggest) movie studios in history.



To be honest, while I'm not that big of a fan of the Disney formula, I still do enjoying watching Uncle Walt's earliest efforts at creating movie-length animated features.
The manner in which he was able to instill the application of color, the smooth sense of movement and the attention to detail in Snow White, the very first big screen "cartoon flick", exemplifies why he was such a pioneer in the field of animation.

Worlds collide as the cartoon universe and the "real" universe meet in this who-dunnit "tail" of a wascally wabbit with claims that he has been
fwamed.



A groundbreaking modern day film noir with enough color, comedy and star-studded cartoon cameos to make any hardcore animated film buff want to play pattycake with themselves.

Hey,
check it out....
I got a film, or an animated short in particular, that only lasts for only seven minutes on this list of what I think are some of the best cartoon flicks ever.
B'cuz as short as it is, it's that good.



Presented as an hors d'oeuvre before Wreck It Ralph, what really caught me about this short was the way that it is presented, in the classic house style of Disney from back in the day, but updated with a very modern flair that, with excellent placement of lighting, gives the art style a very vibrant feel, even it's all in black and white. Combine that with it's lighthearted and yet very "practical" romp racing romance between the two main and only characters (an accountant named George and a woman named Meg), and this story that barely lasts seven minutes comes off very effective as an amorous quickie for any lover of the art of animation.

When you put the holiday of "Christmas" together with the name of legendary animator Chuck Jones, the first thing that comes to anybody's mind is How The Grinch Stole Christmas. And while I love that holiday classic, I also have much love for a much lesser known Jones illustrated special called A Very Merry Cricket. It's the sequel to a cartoon short called A Cricket In Times Square (which to be honest, I've never heard of until I saw Merry Cricket and have yet to watch if I can ever find it...) and continues the tale of a cricket who, instead of chirping sounds, has the ability to play violin-like music by rubbing his wings together. Music that is loud enough to touch both the ears and hearts of crowded major metropolitan downtown areas.

From the country of France comes a really cool anthology horror film that's done all in black & white animation. Five different short stories, each written by one of five different artist and/or comic book creators with a style based on that particular creator's artwork. In between the tales are two running intervals which primary purposes is to stitch the whole thing together. Each segment's animation is done with a real sense of vibrancy, despite the monochromatic color scheme, which serve's to enhance the feel of creepiness that is the heart of this project's intention.
And while not every story may send you to sleep afterwards with nightmares, they will plant within your brain images that can convey the kind of creepy uncomfortableness that will make any sleeper dreaming these dreams to squirm spasmodically in their bed.
In other words, Peur(s) Du Noir is just plain good stuff all around.

The reason I include this this animated flick on this list is because more of the the Legend Of Sleepy Hollow segment than that which features and Mr. Toad.
The Sleepy Hollow half contained enough fright in the climax of it's story, that every year during Halloween, after it aired on TV, I would find myself curled up with the sofa cushion for security against the goosebumps that resulted upon viewing.
And as kid who loved horror-related material, the spine-tingling sense of kick-assery that emanated from the Headless Horseman is what it was all about.

Probably my favorite 2D animated film of all time is The Triplets Of Belleville, a 2003 release, masterly written and superbly directed by french animator Sylvain Chomet.
Seven years later, his follow-up that feature with the not as grand yet equally beautiful The Illusionist.
Based on a unused script written by legendary director Jacques Tati, it uses Chomet's subtle caricature style to tell the story of the kind of unique unconditional love that exists between a father and his daughter. With a combination of slender figures with the vivid color work that is used to brighten a setting most famous for it's bleak backdrop, The Illusionist expresses it's heartfelt story in a manner that comes as universally personal and visually poetic.

I must admit, even though I grew up not that big of a fan of Disney, I don't hate 'em. It's just the musical numbers combined with the saccharine quality that usually accompanies them usually made it difficult for me, even as a kid, to sit through their entirety. I tend to prefer a little more bite or edge to my cartooninized cinematic-fare.
Sleeping Beauty is a bit of an exception because of the memory I have associated with it.
I remember watching this movie as a very young child, and the kickassery of the animation, particulary of the Witch & her dragon, is what caused my little mouth, probably for the first time ever, to uttered the words
"Holy sh#t....!".

By the time this movie was released, the whole Simpsons phenomenon that had been so huge for such a long time, had pretty much at this point been running on fumes.
So when the decision was made to finally make a film adaptation of the long-running series, every effort was made to ensure that the movie was lived up to the hype and legacy that the Simpsons TV show had created.
It took several years and practically a hundred rewrites before producers finally gave the go ahead to give Homer and Co. the big screen treatment and it was a decision and an effort that paid off.
The Simpsons Movie depicted the characters in a manner and in a story that didn't stray too far off from what hardcore fans have become used to for so many years but also had a vibrancy to it's script that made it seem like this was a series that was still as sharp and as relevant as ever.

A trio of animated shorts that I like basically for the same reasons that I stated for Heavy Metal and The Animatrix.
I really enjoy the format of an anthology, because, as it is demonstrated here in Memories, it allows for a wider choice ideas of stories that probably wouldn't be big enough to fill up an entire movie.
It also allows for a bit more risk in the creativity of the plot, without having to commit all the time of work that it would take to make a full length feature that is dependent on the tastes of a wider audience.

Y'know, whenever I watch this movie today, and I cannot imagine today's generation being impressed with it's animation style at all. However, when it was first realeased, movies of this kind had never been seen before. At least not by me, that is. This was the first adult animated flick I had ever seen and to my virgin eyes, the movements of the animation came off as very realistic and flowing. Although my tastes have matured along with my ability to recognize more sophisticated techniques of making painted figures move on film, HM was the catalyst that really opened up my eyes to the potential of new horizons that could be (and eventually would be) done not just with animation, but also with it's integration into story-lines. With and end result that could engage as well as entertain even those of us who should've grown out of this stuff a long time ago.

With movies like Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs,
9, Wonder Woman, Monsters Vs Aliens, Mary & Max, A Christmas Carol, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Coraline and Up, 2009 proved to be one of the richest years for animated features to come along in a long time. And not just in quantity, but also both in quality and in diversity.
And to add the already massive mix is a pretty unknown cartoon "classic" called The Secret of Kells. Based on the the creation of the Book Of Kells, it is a fictionalized "fairy" tale of the illuminated manuscript of one of Ireland's most sacred national treasures. A title that can also be applied to this film after experiencing it's beautifully stylized animation full of detailed Celtic imagery and enchanting colors, not to mention it's respectful scripting and culturally customized music.
For any fan of animated cinema who may have not seen of even heard of this movie, Kells is truly a treasure worth digging up.

Here is a French animated film that was originally started back in 1948, tentatively titled "The Shepherdess and The Cimneysweep". However, after some production and financial problems, work on the project came to a halt. Several years later, in 1954, the title was changed to "The Curious Adventures Of Mr. Wonderbird", and it was released in it's unfinished state, much to the dismay of the original animators. Many more years later, the original director was able to acquire the film and arrange financial backing so that work on the project began again in 1977. Retitled "The King And The Mockingbird", the finally finished full length feature was released in 1980 and since then has become regarded as one of the best works of traditional animation to come out the country of France.
A semi-surrealistic semi-fable, it is an obscure masterpiece that is definitely worth the time and energy of looking it up.

Just when I thought that my hairy pimp-ass had finally reached a point in life that was hardcore enough that even the idea that I could get misty over a movie-ending was, for me, about as far on the other side of the street, that it was in anudder 'hood, dawg.
Then comes along the Iron Giant, and proves me wrong.
And it's not just that it's a movie,
but even worse, it's an animated movie.
A cartoon.



Whenever I watch the scene with the line " ....Suuperrmann...",
I always find it quite difficult to refrain from repeatingly dabbing at that "something in my eye" that starts to become annoyingly persistent.
Damn.

Watching a movie makes life hard to be a hardcore gangsta a pimp.

Also known as Belleville Rendez-vous.
Speaking as someone who has worked the majority of his life as an illustrator and cartoonist, I was surprised at how close this flick was to the specific style of drawing that got me interested in the field to begin with. Gritty yet beautifully rendered, cartoonishly exaggerated yet realistically animated. I could look at artwork like this all day.
Plus, even though it is a foreign film, it has no dialogue in it, at all. And therefore, no need for sub-titles. So if some bizarre accident occurs (heaven forbid, of course) whereby that part of your brain that's responsible for reading becomes inexplicably cancelled out, you'll still be able to watch and enjoy this flick.