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Home > Blogs > Sir Critic on Cinema > Archives > 2006 > December > 01 > Entry
Are these the best animated films of all time?
Like the old commercials used to say, “I’m goin’ to Disney World” next week. That’s why it’s perfect timing to return to the Zagat survey today and see what their 15,000 avid moviegoers list as the best animated films of all time.
Classic (Pre-1960)
Fantasia: Even 65 years later, the film still seems way ahead of its time.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Not my personal favorite of the Princess movies, but you have to put this on here. It only started the animated feature film revolution. Nothin’ special.
Pinocchio: My absolute favorite of the Walt-era films. Stunningly beautiful, hilariously funny and heartbreakingly sad. It’s like a bolt out of the blue.
Cinderella: THIS is my personal favorite of Walt’s princesses. And the mice are hilarious too.
Bambi: Bambi’s mom. Oh god … (sniff)
Lady and the Tramp: Outside of Dumbo, Disney’s best animal-centered movie.
Peter Pan: You will believe a boy can fly,
Sleeping Beauty: I like this one, but it’s clearly the weak sister of the Princess movies. Many lovely moments, but it tries too hard to be epic and ostentatious.
Dumbo: “Baby Mine.” Oh god … (sniff)
Alice in Wonderland: Not one of Disney’s best features, but certainly not without its charms. It’s certainly visually zany, although none of this has anything on “Dumbo’s” pink elephants.
Overall, that’s a very solid list, but I would sub out “Sleeping Beauty” for the lesser-known “The Three Caballeros,” a trippy visual delight with Donald Duck.
Now, on to the modern choices …
Modern (1960-on)
Finding Nemo — Pixar’s most visually beautiful film.
Toy Story: How can anyone not love the movie that introduced us to Pixar?
Shrek/Shrek 2: Meeeeeh. I enjoy the Shrek movies and I like the second better than the first, but their endless pop-culture riffing makes them dated already, and they spawned way too many imitators cranking out the same tired jokes.
Beauty and the Beast: A towering achievement in every way; the top film of Disney’s “renaissance.”
The Incredibles: For sheer fun, it’s hard to top this marvel, which I consider to be the best superhero movie of any sort. Sorry, Spidey, Batman and Supes.
Monsters, Inc.: Probably Pixar’s most ingenious concept.
The Lion King: Here’s another film I liked a lot, but I can’t understand why everyone went bananas over it. The story is stong (Mufasa-sniff), but aside from “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata,” the songs are weak. That’s a major debit for a Disney animated movie.
The Iron Giant: I’m very glad to see this in the list, especially since Brad Bird’s movie before “The Incredibles” was ignored in theaters. My favorite memory of seeing this was at a sci-fi festival where a bunch of geeks scoffed at it, then loved it after seeing it.
The Little Mermaid: Disney’s wonderful return to form.
Now, on to the MAJOR omissions in this list. I’ll throw out the two Shrek movies and “The Lion King” and add the following:
Aladdin: I’m stunned this didn’t make the list. It leaves “Lion King” in a big ol’ puff of smoke!
Fantasia 2000: Terminally underrated, this movie is nearly the equal of its amazing predecessor.
Hercules: Opinion is divided on this one, but I have sentimental attachment to it. One of the voice artists reads this blog. ;)
Spirited Away: This scored highly in Zagat’s guide but is mysteriously missing from the list. It’s Miyazaki’s otherworldly masterpiece.
Toy Story 2: For some ungodly reason, this isn’t even in the Zagat guide. MAJOR blunder. This is not only superior to the original, it’s one of the three or four best animated films ever made.
Yellow Submarine: Hey, it was the first movie I can clearly remember seeing, and it’s a Beatles movie. I HAVE to include it!
Chime in and tell me what your favorite animated movies are. Are any missing from these lists?
Meanwhile, if anyone missed my post asking about must-see Christmas movies, that’s here. That post also includes the schedule of holiday movies and specials on TV. Thank you for the great response, and I’ll see you after next week, when I get back from the Florida Mouse House.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Lists
Comments
By LucyB
December 12, 2006 8:49 PM | Link to this
You’ve never heard of “Strange Planet” because I screwed up the name. It’s actually called “The Fantastic Planet (USA title)” or in the original French, “La Planete sauvage (Savage Planet).” The animation is super psychedelicized, done by Czech and French artists in 1973. The storyline involves tiny humanoids and their struggle to break their bonds of slavery to a weird race of giants. It’s really an absorbing, intriguing, thought-provoking tale. Kind of a sci-fi cult classic.By Sir Critic
December 12, 2006 9:55 AM | Link to this
You’ve picked one I’m not familiar with, Lucy B. Tell us more if you can.By LucyB
December 12, 2006 5:57 AM | Link to this
Sir Critic, your anime favorites are mine as well. “Spirited Away” was awesome. Have you seen “Strange Planet”?By Cali
December 3, 2006 8:24 PM | Link to this
I think that the movie “Spirit” should be added to the list..not so sure how it did in the box office…but it had a great plot, and an excellent soundtrack..Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo are excellent! What about the “Ice Age” films?..those are great as well!By Erica
December 3, 2006 1:11 PM | Link to this
One of my all-time favorite animated movies is “The Great Mouse Detective.” It’s not epic or princessy like Disney’s classics, but I thought it was a ton of fun as a kid and still love to watch it. The few songs are great numbers — one even takes place in a seedy pub with showgirl mice! And Professor Rattigan is a showstopping villain with great voice work by Vincent Price.By Derwood
December 1, 2006 8:07 PM | Link to this
Metropolis was excellent. So was Steamboy.By Sir Critic
December 1, 2006 3:54 PM | Link to this
Dave: You make a good point. I don’t think “Spirited Away” truly qualifies as anime, but in that genre, I like “Akira” and “Meropolis” especially well.By Dave
December 1, 2006 1:19 PM | Link to this
What about anime? They are making a huge number of excellent films and series (along with a lot of crap), and some of them deserve to be recognized.