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Avatar The Legend of Aang

2011-10-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

The Penguins of Madagascar

2011-10-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

The Penguins of Madagascar

The Penguins of Madagascar is an American is animated tv series airing on Nickelodeon. The penguins Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico. the lemurs King Julien, Maurice , and Mort, and Mason, and Phil the chimpanzees. The Penguins of Madagascar is a spin-off of the Madagascar films. It is not known how the penguins and lemurs arrived at the zoo after their adventures in both Madagascar films, although the penguins and chimpanzees are seen flying away in a plane at the finish of Madagascar.

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Spongebob Squarepants Wallpapers

2011-10-23T12:08:00.001-07:00

Little Krishna

2011-10-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

Krishnastami..??

"Krishna is a name of the Supreme. It means "all- attractive." Anything that might attract you has its source in the Supreme". - Unknown

Krishna is perceived by most Hindus to be an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu. It is believed that all other deities are manifestations of him. Krishna is considered to be a warrior, hero, teacher and philosopher by not just Hindus but people across the world.

Sri Krishna Janmashtami Festival is the celebration of the birthday of Lord Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, on earth. He is considered to be the Lord's most glorious incarnation. This festival is also known as Ashtami Rohini, Gokulashtami, Krishnashtami and Sri Krishna Jayanthi.

This festival occurs on the eight day of the dark half of the month Shravan of the Indian calendar. Krishna Janmashtami 2011 date is 22 August. Eight days after the full moon of Shravan, is celebrated as the festival of Janmashtami,. The first day is Krishnashtami or Gokulashtami. The second day is called Kalastami or more popularly Janmashtami.

The Legend of Krishna's Birth

Millions and millions of the people of India (and other countries) love Sri Krishna, pray to him and worship him, as an avatar (Incarnation) of the Divine.

Krishna's birth was full of strange and mysterious happenings. It is said to have taken place just about this time of year. There was a terrible rainstorm that night, with lots of lightning and thunder. When the baby was born, his mother, whose name was Devaki, was in a dungeon --a prison-- where she had been kept for many years, along with her husband Vasudeva. The reason is this: her evil brother, King Kamsa, had imprisoned them so that he could destroy this baby she was about to have. The king had heard from fortune-tellers that this son of theirs would grow up to be a great power and would dethrone him; that Krishna would be a restorer of righteousness and would spoil all of the wicked plans Kamsa had in mind for promoting his own power and glory.

As the time arrived for Devaki to bring forth the baby, the father and mother were deep in prayer to the Lord, sore at heart and fearful that the king would come and kill this baby as he had killed their other children. And there was no place to hide the little one.

But as soon as Sri Krishna was born a brilliant light lit the whole cavern. Gladness and cheerfulness fell upon Devaki and Vasudeva as the Lord himself shone upon them with a beautiful smile. The divinity in this wee babe was effulgent, unmistakable. His love spread over them and their misery vanished. Now Krishna spoke, reassuring them: "Father and mother," he said, "weep no more. I have come to rescue you and in fact to rescue the whole world. The wicked shall rule no more. King Kamsa will die in the schemes he himself has made, and once again there will be peace on earth."
(Even though he was just born, he could speak, you see. It's often that way with babies in stories like these.)

Then Sri Krishna told his father to carry him to the home of their good friend Nanda, in a village called Gokula, across the Yamuna river. "His wife, Yashoda, has just given birth to a daughter. Put me in her cradle and bring their baby here." When God gives you a command --and you know that it's God-- you don't argue.
Still, Vasudeva had a doubt. "How can I get out of the prison?" he said.

"Your way will be made clear," came the answer. And sure enough, the guards fell asleep, the gates miraculously opened, and Vasudeva was on his way with baby Krishna, through the storm and swimming across the river to Gokula, where Yashoda and Nanda were sleeping beside the newborn baby.
and re-entered the prison, which closed behind him. Soon Kamsa came and found that it was a girl who had been born. The parents, seeing the anger on his face, pleaded: "This is a girl --what harm can it bring to you?"

But you see, rage knows no reasoning; Kamsa was full of hate, and taking no chances, he picked up the baby to dash her to pieces against the stone wall.

What a surprise! Ordinary baby she was not! It was the Divine Mother herself in this infant form. Slipping out of Kamsa's grasp, she rose up to the ceiling and, passing through it she appeared in all her true celestial beauty. Laughing loud at the king, she said, "Fool, do you think that you can prevent the divine will? Your enemy will flourish and bring your wicked rule to an end.

Nanda and Yashoda shared with the whole village of Gokula the joy over the birth of their newborn son. Of course it took quite some time for them to understand just who he was.

How do we celebrate Krishnastami

The Ritual of this glorious festival Janmashtami differs from place to place. Some general ritual are followed everywhere though. It is believed that Krishna was born at midnight and it is at this time that the true festivities commence. Food is prepared from milk and curd Krishnaâ€™s favourite. Some Hindus fast for the first day of Krishna Janmashtami, choosing only to eat after the midnight celebrations. Dances and songs are used to venerate this supreme God. In Temples images of Krishna are bathed and placed in cradles, whilst the shankh (conch shell) is played and bells are rung. Holy mantras are also chanted to venerate Krishna
In Southern India women draw patterns of little children's feet outside the house to symbolize Little Krishna entering to bless it. Varieties of sweets are made during this occasion. Among them, laddus and payasam are the most common sweets.
In north India the festival is celebrated with especial fervor. The temples at Vrindavan and Mathura witness a colorful, even boisterous celebration on this occasion, and festivities at these places may extend for several days. Devotional songs and dances mark the celebration. The Raslila is performed to recreate incidents from the life of Krishna and commemorate his love for Radha.
In Mumbai and other cities of Maharashtra popular ceremony known as 'Dahi Handi' takes place where the pot containing curd or butter or milk is broken by the youths. Dahikala or Govinda, is the festival of tying pots of yogurt and milk, and breaking them.

The festival is celebrated with great joy and communal togetherness by devotees all over the world All because as a revolutionary, promoter of brotherhood, savior of mankind, he was friend with animals, environment, nature, respectful to women, promoter of brotherhood; he was regarded by his devotees as the ultimate deity. A God in all forms he truly represented the universe. His devotees commemorate his earthy presence by celebrating his Janmotsava every year with great zeal and enthusiasm.

Sloka

"Vasudeva Sutam Devam, Kansa Chaanuuramardanam
Devakii Paramaanandam Krishhnam Vande Jagad Gurum"

Meaning: Krishna is the Supreme Lord, Son of Devaki (Sister of Kansa) and Vasudeva. He is the slayer of Kansa and Chanur. I bow to such great lord and may god bless me with his grace always.

Animation Wallpapers

2011-10-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

Rendered content included with DreamScene (such as an animated realization of the Windows Aurora background) was produced by Stardock, while photographic content was provided by the Discovery Channel. Third-party video content in MPEG or WMV format may also be used. In addition, AVI files can be played by altering the file extension.

One of the purported advantages of DreamScene over previous methods of desktop animation is that it makes use of the GPU for display instead of the CPU, leaving the latter free to perform user tasks. To what extent this is achieved is not specified. When a full-screen program is run, such as a game or any window that is maximized, the video will automatically stop since the video will not be seen and will use less GPU and CPU. The video can also be stopped manually. Content encoders need to strive for a balance between compression and file size; decompression requires the CPU, but larger files take up more memory and may cause the disk to be accessed more frequently.

In Windows 7, DreamScene has been replaced by a "Desktop Slideshow" feature which produces slideshow background wallpapers, but does not support videos. The Windows Vista DreamScene DLL can be registered on Windows 7 to make it work, as hacks circulating on the internet describe.

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Animated good morning Greeting card

2011-10-19T23:49:00.000-07:00

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Dream Animated Movies

2011-10-19T23:47:00.000-07:00

Dream Animated Movies

Google’s First Animated Doodle for Newton’s Anniversary

2011-10-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

Google changes its logo frequently to celebrate events such as birth anniversaries of well known people, holiday seasons etc.

These logos are known as Google Doodle.

Today Google is celebrating 366th birthday of Sir Isaac Newton, and they have changed the logo on their website.

This time they added an animated doodle of a falling apple.

Best Animated Wallpapers

2011-10-19T23:43:00.000-07:00

Animated wallpapers

Latest Animated Big Butterfly

2011-10-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

animated dandilion big butterfly

Cartoon Pictures

2011-10-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

Cartoon pictures wallpapers

Disney Cartoon

2011-10-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

Disney Cartoon Wallpaper

Disney Cartoon "Aladdin And Jasmine"

Disney Cartoon "Goofy And Pluto"

Cartoon Desktop Wallpapers

2011-10-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Cartoon desktop wallpaper

Best Cartoons Pictures

2011-10-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

How to Draw a Cartoon Baby

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Donald Duck Disney Cartoon Wallpapers

2011-10-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

desktop wallpapers for your computer and for your mobile phone from our collection of dektop wallpapers. See these Cartoon wallpapers and download free beautifull image. Right click on an Wallpaper then click Set as Desktop Background.

Cartoon Santa Clause Christmas Wallpapers

2011-10-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

We all love Santa Clause with his Christmas presents and gifts, yet when it comes to drawing cartoon Santa not everyone is so much in for the excitement. The main difficulty most people experience in trying to create Santa cartoons is that they don't know where to start or what kind of costume details to pay attention to.

Fortunately, drawing Santa Claus is actually quite easy once you nail down some of the basic steps. So hopefully this article will help answer questions beginners might have when learning how to draw cartoon Santa.

Step 1. Santa Face

Remember his long white curly beard? And those big mustache that look like the shape of tree leaves? How about his nose? Simple, for a cartoon drawing, it can just be simple circle or oval shape if you prefer. Color it with soft pink, as Santa Clause always seems to have a swollen nose because of freezing winter cold. For the eyes just create two circular dots and it's all done.

Step 2. Santa Hat

This part is super easy. First draw the fur part that sits on Santa's head - draft a rectangular shape and then simply round up the corners to depict its softness. After that you can add a curly triangle with a circular shape on its end.

Step 3. Draw Body

Now you probably know well how big Santa Clause is! So draw this part of cartoon Santa with fairly smooth curly lines, just like you would drawing soft toys. Simplify as many details as you like.

Step 4. Legs and Boots

The easiest position to draw Santa's leg is when he stands straight up. All you have to draw are just two rounded corner triangles that have their pointy angles facing down. To sketch the boots, draft very lightly with your pencil two vertical rectangles and two circles by their sides. Connect these shapes with smooth outlines and you're good to move on.

Step 5. Gift Bag

You can really make you cartoon Santa carry a huge gift bag, almost the size of Santa Claus himself! This can be drawn using yet another simple circle or oval shape from the back of our Santa cartoon drawing. To make it look like as if he is really carrying it, pull the lines of the bag to go over his shoulders and connected to one of his hands.

Step 6. Drawing the Arms

As mentioned above, a cartoonish drawing can be very simple. The arms are where people particularly tend to overdo. If you just imagine them as big fat 'V' letters, then you got it. The gloves can be simplified to minimal as well to circular shapes.

Step 7. Adding Accessories

You only need to draw a few things and it will already look like Santa Clause's uniform: soft fur or felt cuffs around the sleeves, coat's center front and bottom edges; black belt below stomach level ; and a yellow square buckle in the middle.

Walt Disney Wallpapers

2011-10-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

Looney Tunes Wallpapers

2011-10-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

Cartoon Wallpapers

2011-10-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

Love is a cartoon like Tom and Jerry

2011-10-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

From our very childhood we are accustomed to see tom and Jerry.

Tom and Jerry play with each other, poke each other as if they never feel bother on any kinds of spoilsport.

They play on everything, they found amusing. They are imaginative, inventive, creative,scientific minded. They are sometimes jealous, wanton type,wanderlust, stubborn and sticky to each other. Beyond these they are lovey, kind hearted, helpful, a true friend in need.

They are sometimes very very destructive, we can hardly expect a fraction of those cruelty in our real life. Sometimes they play in such a rude way that a fraction that is sufficient to vanish you from the world.

They are creative, they always invent some new way to make new types of cheerings to enjoy their life. Their scientific mind act on everything they find on their way.

They are jealous to each other in some occasions. Sometimes they act as if that they can't stand each others comfort. If Jerry goes merriment without tom, it goes crazy, abusive,bellicose and never mind attacking Jerry blatantly. If tom has a nice time passing with it's girl, Jerry apply it's inventive mind to find a way to spoil it's joy.

Jerry is sometimes kind hearted to other animals like goose baby or puppy baby. But tom is always brawly natured. Things come out as if that tom finds out every thing as his sport materials. But Jerry tries to save them from tom's cruelty.

Tom and Jerry both are afraid of creatures bigger and mightier than both of them. They are afraid of ghostly being or vampires.Tom fears the big puppy, the biggy fleshy housewife and so on. Jerry does the same.

Topics come out so far reveals nothing about that tom and Jerry love each other. Then where is the ground of my claim that love is a cartoon like tom and Jerry?

Although tom and jerry always busy with their brawly nature. There are some soft and kind zone in their heart for each other. When tom is in the danger of life by a third party or mightier animal, Jerry try to save tom's life. And if Jerry suffer the same tom can't stay inert, tom also come out with a inventive mind to save Jerry's life. What is this that they don't want to loose each other for ever? It's love, it's their attraction towards each other.

Jerry and tom play with each other years after after. Things come out as if that they remain the same what the circumstances or their past was. Their quarrelly nature don't make any separation between them. They never remind anything from their past. They try to be happy with their present life. Jerry follow tom where ever it goes. Their bond is unthinkable, their mind is unidirectional towards each others heart. Their love for each other remain the same strong year after year.

When tom is sick and can't move, Jerry come with a helping hand. And when tom gets well Jerry make it's game with tom. They are jovial, energetic, agile and muse making. Their love for each other is hidden in their heart. It comes out when it is needed.

Love is that type, not always demand that you jabber or prove you're a sycophant on love. Love demands a true heart, a true friend that come out in real time,in real needing. Love demand your care, your amusement too. Love demands your mild attack and your soothy voice afterward. Love needs your creativity, your prudence, your scientific point of view on some topics too. Love wants that you feel jealous when your partner is making joy with some1 other than you. And when show your jealousy to your partner, he or she feel as if that you are a perfect partner for him or her. Love demands a mild quarrels sometimes, mild heart attack and tears. And after that belligerent period you try to cool down your environment. Love needs your cooperation in every activities, your taking care and your cravings for your partner. Love demands when he or she away from you, you feel her absence and feel the urge that you can't stay a long. You feel her in your heart. Your mind, your love for her or him make you unsettled.

Love thus sometimes comes out as if that you are just a mad. But love demands your cool and pragmatic mind also. When she is in the threat of severe danger, it deserve you come out as a real hero. You try to win every obstacle to make your love come out of that danger. And if you can't understand these simple things than you have no right to love at all.

All Cartoon Network Wallpapers

2011-10-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

Pororo Wallpapers

2011-10-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

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Wallpaper Cats Cartoons

2011-10-19T06:24:00.000-07:00

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Funny Cartoon Wallpapers

2011-10-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Cartoon

2011-10-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

Animated Films

2011-10-18T23:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the second Top 5 list that we've done on Inglorious Blogsters. In honor of the upcoming film Cars 2, we decided that it would be appropriate to list our Top 5 favorite animated films.

This is a genre of film that has been pretty much dominated by Disney since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs came out in 1937. But other studios have seen the kind of money that animated films pull in and have decided to tap into the animated market for themselves. So is this list going to be pure Disney greatness or are we going to have some other studios represented?

As always, we want you to comment below and tell us how we did on our lists. Tell us what we got right and which films we wrongfully snubbed. Feel free to write up your own list too. If you have any future suggestions for Top 5 lists, please comment below or e-mail us at ingloriousblogsters@gmail.com

Chris:

5. Shrek (2001) - I really like the film's concept that story book characters are all living together in a place called Far Far Away. The first Shrek is the best. It's funny, the animation is great, the voice work is really good and it has a stellar storyline. It also introduced us to memorable characters that have become pop culture icons and it spawned a musical. I'd say that's a good film.

4. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - This is going to be the film on my list that the fewest number of people have seen. But if you haven't seen it, you really should. It's directed by Wes Anderson and features the voices of George Clooney, Maryl Streep and Bill Murray to name a few. The humor and voice work are both amazing. It's quirky, fun and really upbeat.

3. The Lion King (1994) - My first Disney film and the only hand-drawn animated film on my list. I don't really know if I need to explain my choice. It has great animation, an amazing story and good music. I think what really sets it apart is the emotion in the film. Who didn't get sad when Mufasa dies in the stampede. This film is great from the opening scene to the end.

2. The Incredibles (2004) - This is one of those animated films that is marketed to adults. Sure you can take your kids to see it but it's an adult film. It's about a family of super heros that struggle to deal with their everyday lives like regular people do. It's a story that everyone watching can relate to. The film is super entertaining, great musical score, really cool action sequences that are better than most live action films. Just a great film.

1. Toy Story (1995) - This film change animation forever. Hand-Drawn animation has become a thing of the past because of this film. Animated films no longer had to be for children to enjoy only. You can now see the emotion on animated character's faces. You could feel a real connection to the characters like you could in live action films. Honestly, I decided to pick only one Toy Story movie because my top 3 would be the Toy Story films if I didn't. This film's characters are some of the most memorable in film history. Tom Hanks' voice work as the cowboy Woody is fantastic. The concept is so fun and original. Who hasn't on one point wondered if your toys come to life when you leave the room? I personally grew attached to these characters to the point that the third film's ending gets you choked up. I love this movie and there was no hesitation to put this as number one.

MT:

5. Beauty and the Beast (1991) - The only animated film ever to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, Beauty and the Beast is one the greatest Disney films. While most of animated films are being dominated by computer animation today, hand drawn films once ruled the silver screen. I might have lost my man card for this choice but its music and story are unforgettable.

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - Tim Burton was once one of my favorite directors when he was directing and producing original quirky films. Then he fell in love with remaking older films and now I don't follow him nearly as much. During his peak years of the 90's, Burton produced this animated film that is loved my adults and kids alike. A frequent Burton collaborator, Elfman created one of the best original soundtracks for an animated film. The Nightmare Before Christmas is truly a unique original film that is both creepy and heartfelt.

3. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - Like Chris, I feel this is one of the more underrated animated films. Wes Anderson's humor translated nicely to animation. I have always had immense respect for films that use stop motion animation and Anderson handled it like a master. The voice cast is probably one of the better ensembles in history with George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson. The look of the film is just another aspect that helps Anderson's film stand out from other animated films. Fantastic Mr. Fox is definitely the funniest animated film I've ever seen.

2. The Lion King (1994) - "Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba..." Who cant help but scream that out when babies are born?! All kidding aside, this was my favorite animated film growing up. The story is great, the animation is beautiful, and the music is brilliant. Scar, voiced by Jeremy Irons, is probably the greatest animated villain of all time. I watched the film again recently and it hasnt aged even being nearly 20 years old. The Lion King will be cherished by generations to come.

1. Wall-E (2008) - This film might be in my top ten favorite films of all time. The story is unique, thematic, and spoke volumes by doing so little with dialogue. At it's core, it is a love story of two robots designed for a specific purpose that yearn to both do their jobs and be together. The story is much more with themes of the dangers of human's lethargic tendencies, relying too much on technology, and protecting our environment. Wall-E is one of the few films I've truly connected with in my lifetime. I believe many people misunderstand this film; to me it is much more than just an animated film. Wall-E is an underdog story that is imaginative, sweet, and funny. These reasons make Wall-E my top animated film of all time.

Brian:

5. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - I'll be honest, the first time I saw this movie, I didn't like it. But then, it grew on me. Next thing you know, I'm humming the very addictive songs all day at work. This movie is quite unique too, in the sense that it can be watched around Halloween as well as Christmas (although most people watch it for Halloween). This movie also looks fantastic even by today's standards. To give you an idea of how amazing it looks -- this movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It lost to Jurassic Park.

5. Shrek (2001) - While I am not a fan of the copious amount of sequels this movie produced, I will say that the original is downright hilarious and fun. I love how they poke fun at Disney and various fairytales. The "Muffin Man" interrogation scene still cracks me up to this day. Hell even Eddie Murphy made me laugh in this one...and that hasn't happened since 1988.

3. An American Tail (1986) - It was a tossup between this one and Land Before Time (which had the same team working on it, and shares a lot of the same plot), but ultimately I prefer An American Tail. I felt this movie had more heart to it. It's an amazing story of perseverance, family, and dreams. OK that sounds cheesy, but you can't tell me that your heart doesn't fill up with emotion when you watch this movie. This is another movie that also looks great -- the drawings of old New York display a land that is the exact opposite of what the mice had in their heads on the boat ride over from Russia. And now that I think about it, this movie is pretty dark for a kids movie.

2. The Incredibles (2004) - This one is a bit too young to be considered a classic, but I love it anyway. I genuinely enjoy this movie -- the action (yes, it actually has some great action scenes), the story is actually original, and the characters are hilarious. The scene were Mr Incredible, now an insurance salesman, is a slave to his cubicle and his middle-class laugh -- the entire observation is so absurd it's hilarious. And like I said, this movie has one of the more original ideas I've seen recently.

And my #1 favorite animated film of all time is: Toy Story (1995) - This is my favorite Disney movie of all time. And the fact that it was the first full-length all computer-generated feature film is just an added bonus. As with The Incredibles, and extremely original idea that grabs you right from the beginning -- what if our toys came to life when we weren't around? This movie still cracks me up, especially since it has some humor that would go over the heads of younger audiences. Whenever I get done watching this movie, I get a sense of, "Aw it's over?" It probably doesn't help that I have almost the entire movie memorized does it. This movie -- with major emphasis on the story and especially the characters -- were so wonderful that it spawned two sequels that, in my opinion, makes up one of the best movie trilogies I've ever seen.

My Top 6 Favorite Animated Features

2011-10-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

This film is very hard to see, because Disney won't release it in fear of offending African Americans. It's too bad, because the animation (supervised by the great Milt Kahl) is to my estimation the highest point of Disney films. The characters of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear were influenced by the seminal work of A. B. Frost.

However, Disney artists really let loose with their character development, at at times it equals Bob Clampett in terms of humor and design.

No. 5: "Yellow Submarine" (George Dunning)

This was the inspiration for my first feature film, "The Tune" (1991)

I saw "Yellow Submarine" as a senior in college and it blew my mind! What a marvelous blend of music and imagery! The designs are by Heinz Edelman (who recently passed away) His background was in illustration, but the numerous fantastic characters populating this film are so inventive and beautifully designed, you'd think he grew up in animation. It's the greatest union of music and visuals I've ever seen. And they made it in a year with no story!

No. 4. "Dumbo"

One of the perfect Disney films – a gem. Great story, terrific character design, wonderful backgrounds, super humor and heart-rending emotions. And all in 62 minutes – it's one of the all-time classic animated features.

No. 3: "Porco Rosso" (Hayao Miyazaki)

I believe this film is the best of the Japanese master's films. It has terrific visuals, with lush backgrounds and fabulous action scenes. Also, of all of Miyazaki's stories, this is the most coherent and makes the most sense. (I still don't know what "Howl's Moving Castle" is about.) Also, this film has a wonderful bawdy sense of humor which is lacking in a lot of his more recent films.

No. 2: "How to Train Your Dragon" (Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois – Dreamworks)

When this film first came out, I refused to watch – I feared it would be a rehash of the Shrek cartoons. But Chris Wedge of BlueSky insisted that I go see it and I'm glad I did! What a marvel of a film. The character design is fantastic, the story is so charming and engaging. But of particular note are the flying sequences in full 3D. I believe they match and perhaps surpass the wonderful flying sequence from "Avatar". And that's a pretty high bar. This film really puts to use the full powers of animation, this is what animation is for!

No. 1: "Mind Game" (Masaaki Yuasa)

This film came out about 5 years ago and because of a few lame reviews in Japan, this film flopped and was pulled from circulation. What a tragedy – to my mind, it's the "Citizen Kane" of animation. And because it's from Japan, don't think it's anime – it's not. It's a wonderful blend of East and West styles of animation. But the storytelling technique is what really sets it apart. He uses strange views and exaggerated visions multiple times to convey an action – and sometimes, as in the escape from the whale's mouth, he goes on and on with a piece of action, but it's never boring because he ratchets up the intensity with each subsequent shot.

Top Ten (10) Favorite DISNEY Animated Films

2011-10-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

Below is a list of my top ten (10) favorite Disney animated films of all time . . . so far:

TOP TEN (10) FAVORITE DISNEY ANIMATED FILMS

1. "The Incredibles" (2004) - It still surprises me that a story produced by Brad Bird and Pixar and released by Disney about a family of superheroes would end up being my favorite animated film of all time. It is also one of the best action films and best comic book hero films I have ever seen, hands down. Filled with memorable characters - including the unforgettable designer of superhero costumes, Edna E. Mode - and a fantastic plot about family obligations and the revenge of a superhero wannabe (voiced by the always talented Jason Lee), the movie earned a much deserved Academy Award Best Animated Feature.

2. "101 Dalmations" (1961) - Based upon Dodie Smith's children's book, this 1961 film has one of the best written plots I have ever come across in a Disney film. The plot centered on the fate of the kidnapped puppies of Pongo and Perdita, a pair of Dalmations in 1960 London. Not only is the movie a first-class adventure, it humorously spoofed the public's growing fascination with television and has one of the best villainesses - Cruella DeVille - in the studio's history.

3. "Aladdin" (1992) - This movie caused a bit of controversy with its Middle Eastern setting. But I must admit that this tale of an Arabian street hustler named has also been a big favorite of mine, which featured beautiful animation; a strong story co-written by Ron Clements, John Muser, and the "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN" franchise duo Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio; and memorable songs by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. But it was Robin Williams' memorable performance as the Genie in the Lamp that stole the show.

4. "Peter Pan" (1953) - Frankly, I think that this animated version of J.M. Barrie's play is one of the best written Disney animated films ever made. I also feel that it has been vastly underrated by many critics, who seemed to harbor very little thought about it. This is a beautiful film that featured great animation, a solid story and entertaining songs by Oliver Wallace.

5. "The Lion King" (1994) - Loosely based upon William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", yet set in Pride Lands of the Serengeti, this tale about a lion cub who loses his father and kingdom via the machination of his evil uncle has been a favorite of mine for over a decade. It boasts an excellent story; great drama; great humor thanks to the voice work of Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Cheech Marin and Whoopi Goldberg; a superb score by Hans Zimmer and Oscar worthy songs written by Elton John.

6. "The Little Mermaid" (1989) - Based upon Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, this excellent film breathed life back into the Disney animated feature film genre after a string of critical and/or commercial failures that dated back to the early 1980s. It also marked the start of the era known as the "Disney Renaissance". The movie included a number of memorable songs written by Alan Menken.

7. "Ratatouille" (2007) - Produced and directed by Brad Bird at Pixar and released through Disney, this charming and hilarious tale is about Remy, a country rat who dreams of becoming a chef and tries to achieve his goal by forming an alliance with a Parisian restaurant's garbage boy. The movie won a much deserved Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

8. "The Jungle Book" (1967) - Based upon Ruyard Kipling's famous book, this movie would end up as the last one produced by Walt Disney before his death. Although slightly episodic, it was a fun-filled tale about an orphan boy raised by a panther named Bageera and a bear named Baloo in India. The movie also featured some great songs written by Terry Gilkyson and the Sherman Brothers - Robert and Richard.

9. "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986) - Based on the children's book series "Basil of Baker Street" by Eve Titus, this movie drew heavily on the tradition of Sherlock Holmes with a heroic mouse who consciously emulates the detective. His name, Basil, came from the famous actor who portrayed Holmes. And I must say that Basil turned out to be a lot more interesting as a character than Holmes could ever be. I could say the same for the other characters - including the villain Rattigan (deliciously voiced by Vincent Price).

10. "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) - For some reason, I rather like this adaptation of Renault's classic fairy tale. Both the main heroine and hero - Princess Aurora and Prince Philip - are mildly entertaining. And Eyvind Earle, Marc Davis and Ken Anderson's animation were charming. But what made this film for me were the three fairy sisters - Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. They stole the show, along with the elegant villainess, Maleficent.

Top 7 Disney Animated Classics

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7. MULAN - To save her father from death in the army, a Chinese maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China's greatest heroes in the process.

5. (TIE) FANTASIA - A collection of animated interpretations of great works of Western classical music.

5. (TIE) ALADDIN - Aladdin, a street urchin, accidentally meets Jasmine, who is in the city undercover. They love each other, but she can only marry a prince.

4. LITTLE MERMAID - A mermaid princess makes a faustian bargain with an unscrupulous seahag in order to meet a human prince on land.

3. ROBIN HOOD - The story of the legendary outlaw is portayed with the characters as humanoid animals.

2. LION KING - Tricked into thinking he killed his father, a guilt ridden lion cub flees into exile and abandons his identity as the future king.

1. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - Belle, whose father Maurice is imprisoned by the Beast (really an enchanted prince), offers herself instead and finds a prince inside the Beast.

There you have it. Now if you haven't seen any of these movies, go watch them.

Top 7 Current Animated Series

2011-10-18T22:53:00.000-07:00

I love animation. It is truly one of popular culture’s great art forms. But, sadly, in our modern culture, it seems that, as with movies and music, mediocre animated programming is getting all the attention while the best of the medium is being ignored. Analyzing the most popular, or at least most recognized, animated shows of the last few years: The Simpsons has become tired and repetitive, South Park has become overly bitter and preachy, and groundbreakers Family Guy and SpongeBob Squarepants have fallen victim to severe Flanderization, meaning their characters have become nothing more than extreme stereotypes of their former selves.

So for those of you who, like me, have grown tired of the immensely popular, and decreasing entertaining, cartoons flooding the airwaves, I have compiled a list of the seven best animated series currently running on television, but are severely over looked. And let me clarify what I mean by “currently running”, these are shows with new episodes either airing presently or expected in the near future.

Are you ready kids? Okay, let’s go!

7. Kekkaishi (Adult Swim)

If you grew up watching Toonami, you’ll love this. It is just a very fun anime, with a perfect balance of humor and action. Vic Mignogna plays the lead Yoshimori, and is fantastic as always. The plot is a little difficult to summarize (even for someone whose been watching for months), and jumping in at this point in theshow would leave you confused, so watching some earlier episodes online is recommended prior to catching it on TV.

New episodes air Saturday nights at 12:30am Eastern on Adult Swim.

6. Futurama (Comedy Central)

With this one, I should keep it simple: Writing, acting, satire, and style are some of the best and all around superb. The misadventures of a delivery crew in the future. It’s great stuff.

New episodes return in 2011 on Comedy Central.

5. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Adult Swim)

After attending two anime conventions and surrounding myself with people who love the art form, during the summer of 2010 I felt obligated to start getting more into anime. The first show I stumbled upon was this. It is about Edward and Alphonse Elric, two brothers who lost all or part of their bodies in an attempt toresurrecttheir dead mother, and their various escapades. Vic Mignogna is amazing as Edward, and the rest of the cast is great as well. The action scenes are brilliantly animated, and the setting leads to some superb art direction.

Back-to-back reruns air Saturday nights at 1am Eastern. New episodes expected to return soon.

4. Adventure Time (Cartoon Network)

A boy named Finn and his dog Jake go on adventures. While the premise may sound bland, it is easily the craziest and trippiest show on TV. The colorful, abstract world is beautiful. While marketed to kids, the humor is definitely for an older crowd, something I commended Cartoon Network for, but I’ll get more into that later. It is a feast for the eyes, and really fun to watch.

New episodes air Monday nights at 8pm Eastern on Cartoon Network.

3. American Dad! (FOX)

FOX just loves to screw their best comedy shows. First it was Futurama, then Arrested Development, and most recently King Of The Hill. They are slowly, but surely, trying to kill American Dad!, the only worthwhile program left on their Sunday lineup. CIA agent Stan Smith, his family, and their ‘pet’ alien Roger do a bunch of crazy stuff, and it is excellent. It is what you’d have if you took classic Simpsons and made it more adult and outlandish. Roger is one of the funniest characters in animation. Screw Family Guy, watch this.

New episodes air Sunday nights at 9:30pm Eastern on FOX.

2. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Cartoon Network)

The prequels were too melodramatic, and The Clone Wars theatrical pilot was too silly, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars returns to the perfect balance of drama and fun that made the original trilogy classics. Taking place between Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith, the Republic is still fighting the eponymous Clone Wars against the Separatists. The series has come a long way, with the animation becoming more detailed and smooth, and the stories growing darker and more complex. The action sequences are phenomenal, as well. It is funny how a weekly basic cable animated series ‘for kids’ is better scripted and acted than the big budgeted blockbuster prequels. It is a fantastic complement to the original trilogy.

New episodes air Friday nights at 9pm Eastern on Cartoon Network.

1. Regular Show (Cartoon Network)

This show is game-changing. It is pushing the boundaries of what can be presented as “children’s programming”. Because, while it does air during regular Cartoon Network hours, it is just barely keeping itself from being Adult Swim material.

How many “children’s shows” get away with using “crap”, “pissed”, “what the H”, and “screwed”? How many would have montages set to songs from Loverboy, The Thompson Twins, or The Karate Kid? How many would have talking, cannibalistic hot dogs, a transvestite prostitute, ambiguously gay unicorns, a crotch shot courtesy of an ostrich, or implied sex between a horse and a drunken clown?

This show is rated TV-PG for a reason. It ain’t for kids.

Cartoon Network has someserious balls. After their early hits with broad appeal like Powerpuff Girls and Johnny Bravo ended, the programming became lighter and fluffier to compete with Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel. The Clone Wars, Adventure Time, and, now, Regular Show are changing that. They are trying to slowly pull the money making demographic from Adult Swim into Cartoon Network.

The plot and action of The Clone Wars, the trippiness and subtlety of Adventure Time, and the references and humor of Regular Show aren’t aiming for the childrens.

This show, and the other Cartoon Network originals mentioned, could help put an end to the dreaded ‘Animation Age Ghetto’. People might wise up. They might come to their senses and realized that cartoons aren’t just for kids. While others have tried to send that message for decades, it still isn’t getting through. These great shows can change that.

Regular Show, in case you’ve been wondering, is about friends Mordecai and Rigby, a blue jay and raccoon, whowork for a talking gumball machine and a talking lollipop, alongside a yeti who skips.

Yeah, really.

The plots are crazy, the music is awesome, the characters are hilarious, and the writing is fantastic.

There are not enough good things to say about this show. I love it to death.

This is, without adoubt, the best animated series you’ll find on TV.

Don’t miss it.

Best Cartoon Series of All Time

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Cartoons are the best thing of your life, no matter what age group you are in, what mood you have or hat ever you are doing, they can easily make you laugh by their funny acts and chases, they can quiet down a crying baby, and they can stop the little monsters from destroying your home apart. They are the best part of your life!

There are cartoons which you never forget and whenever you watch them again, you feel the same enthusiasm that you felt years ago. Those blue creature cartoons and the tom and jerry series, those flint stone cartoons and many more! I still remember them and they were so classic!
So guys here we present a list of top 10 best Cartoon Series of All time.

10. Beavis and Butt-head

This was an American cartoon series and this was aired in 1993 to 1997. The story is about two rock/metal loving boys who were in no supervision at home. The basic comedy in this series is about the lack of conventional values. I must say it is still awesome.

9. Animaniacs

These cartoon are the mixture of cartoon violence and wackiness! These are kind of educational cartoons that are based on different subjects for kids. These were aired in 1993 to 1998.

8. Futurama

This is an American Sci-Fi cartoon and is created by the same person who created Simpsons. This is present in the Guinness World Record book as the highest critically Acclaimed Animated Series.

7. South Park

This was aired in 1997 and is running still on the TV, this series was basically made for mature people. It is famous for its dark humor on a wide range of topics.

6. SpongeBob Square Pants

This is about the SpongeBob and his friends from the underwater city called “Bikini Bottom”. This is one of the nickelodeon’s highest rated cartoons.

5. FlintStones

This one is also an animated sitcom and it displays the stone-age life of man with his family and friends. I think Joseph Barbera has done an awesome job!

4. Tom and Jerry

This one is my favorite! This hilarious cartoon with the love and war of both Tom and Jerry is totally amazing. The chases and the fun they do together is unforgettable. You watch the same cartoon over an over again and you are never bored.

3. King of the Hill

This one has the humor in a more realistic manner; it was aired in 2009 and is running up till now.

2. The Simpsons

These are classic cartoons, presenting the “YELLOW” people from 1989 up till today. This is influence of adult oriented cartoons that displays the life of Americans.

1. Looney Tunes

These are the most popular and most widely seen cartoons all over the world. These cartoons gave rise to many other cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Sylvestor, Speedy Gonales, Tweety, Taz, Road runner and many more. These are such a great cartoon series I must say!

Top 10 Animated Movies

2011-10-18T22:48:00.000-07:00

Great news! Animation isn’t just for kids any more! America has finally clued in on the fact that you can create a film of moving drawings and it can be more than mindless pablum for ADHD-stricken brats (though there is still plenty of that, make no mistake). Pixar is knocking down the barriers between kiddie yuks and adult humor, Japanese anime is reaching a wider and wider audience, and big-name folks like Wes Anderson, Zack Snyder, and Jerry Bruckheimer are experimenting with the medium of animation. Heck, these days you’re just as likely to find A-listers like Clooney and Brangelina voicing cuddly cartoon animals as playing real people! In light of this exciting revolution, I’m going to present my all-time favorite animated films -- from those that left a mark on me in my youth, to those that have inspired me more recently. Watch these if you haven’t already!

DANG-BLASTED’S TOP TEN FAVORITE ANIMATED MOVIES

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)
I must have been seven years old when I first watched Will Vinton’s claymation take on the life and work of Mark Twain, and I was sucked right into the trippy, surreal, funny, scary adventures contained therein. Vinton seems determined to get inside Twain’s complex brain, and he does so by staging a swashbuckling yarn in a strange meta-world where the famous author exists alongside his most beloved creations. With the unwitting help of Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Becky Thatcher, Twain boards a fantastical airship and sails the skies in search of Halley’s Comet; along the way, the trio of fictional kids dive headlong into some of Twain’s work and witness the antics of his characters, including the Celebrated Jumping Frog, Adam & Eve, The Mysterious Stranger, and more. All this is portrayed in an incredible, vibrant swirl of color and form where reality shifts and distorts according to the whims of the animation. I’ve never seen claymation this detailed; it’s truly a work of art, an impressionist journey through the psyche of a literary lion. It grabbed me as a kid and hasn’t let go since, and every time I watch it, I find something knew to marvel at.
BEST SCENE: The creepy Mysterious Stranger sequence is probably the most well-known part of the film, but I prefer the climactic chase scene, as Twain and the three kids literally pilot the airship through Halley’s Comet. It’s a tour-de-force of animated action and beauty.
*SLICE-OF-MY-CHILDHOOD SEAL OF APPROVAL*

Fantasia (1940)
Waaaaaaay back before most of us were born, Walt Disney was a man with a plan to revoluntionize animation. With him at the helm, Disney Studios created Fantasia, an experimental “concert film” that fused classical music with a variety of animated styles and themes. Walt D. hoped that the concept would grow and expand over the years. The experiment flopped (a new Fantasia wasn’t made until sixty years later in 2000), but that doesn’t stop the original from being one impressive movie. Each piece of music brings life and narrative to an amazing work of animation, and the sequences range from the abstract to the realistic, from slapstick to pathos. Enchanted broomsticks, Greek gods, dancing hippos, demons, dinosaurs, fairies, fish, and even stranger entities cavort to the music; there is no dialogue beyond a bit of narration from music critic Deems Taylor, but you don’t miss it one bit. I think Fantasia was a bit too ambitious for its time; audiences weren’t even used to feature-length cartoons back then, let alone a freakin’ “concert film.” But it has endured, and I love to revisit it.
BEST SCENE: I have to pick “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” just because it’s so iconic. (It’s where the image of Mickey Mouse in a wizard costume comes from.) But it’s a tough choice. The “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence, in which a vast demon presides over a danse macabre of ghosts, devils, and bare-breasted harpies, is about the most hardcore thing you’ll ever see in a Disney cartoon. In a good way.
*SLICE-OF-MY-CHILDHOOD SEAL OF APPROVAL*

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
This movie fills me with joy and I don’t even know why. I can’t love it as a Roald Dahl fan, because it cheerfully butchers and/or ignores almost everything from his book. I can’t love it as a Wes Anderson fan, because I’m not one. Maybe I love it because there is nothing else quite like it in existence. I mean, here we have cute forest animals, crudely rendered in stop-motion animation, struggling to escape the crushing soullessness of their bourgeois existence by stealing farmyard produce. Here we have George Clooney and Meryl Streep creating a sexy, loving, and utterly believable married couple out of two gangly fake foxes. The soundtrack mixes the Stones with Burl Ives, the cinematography looks like a series of 4th-grade dioramas, Willem Dafoe voices a strutting Spanish rat with a switchblade, and the dialogue parodies yuppie-speak to great effect (“I have a phobia of wolves!”). I don’t know what to make of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, yet I could watch it again and again on an endless loop. It’s that....fucking....loveable.
BEST SCENE: Jarvis Cocker strums a banjo and sings his heart out while Mr. Fox and his fuzzy sidekicks rob the three evil farmers blind. And then they dance. And dance. And dance some more. And it is the weirdest, cutest dancing you will ever see, especially from woodland creatures. You will say “WTF” and then fall in love.

The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
This movie was supposed to be your usual Disney fare: serious plot, lots of musical numbers, strong moral message, blah blah and blah. Thank CHRIST that plan went pear-shaped and the filmmakers scrapped the budget and made a screwball comedy instead. The Emperor’s New Groove is about the funniest, most irreverent thing to emerge from the Mouse House, in which the plot -- about a bratty South American ruler who gets turned into a llama -- is practically buried under a gleeful landslide of slapstick, sight gags, and flawless comic timing. Yeah, there’s still a moral message about respecting others and how money and power aren’t everything, but how great is it that they took such a crazy route to get there? The voice cast (David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, and Patrick Warburton) are clearly having so much fun that you wish you were there for the recording sessions, and each setpiece is like an escalating explosion of belly-laughs. “Kronk, pull the lever!.....WRONG LEVEEERRRRRR.....” Thank you, Disney, for breaking your own rules.
BEST SCENE: Every scene with Kronk (voiced by Warburton), the calamatously dumb evil henchman who exists in a surreal comic world of his own. “Uh, is he doing his own theme music?” Brilliant.

Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Dreamworks’ animated films are very hit-or-miss; for every Shrek, there’s a Shark Tale. But I gotta say, they hit a home run with Kung Fu Panda, a slapstick-heavy homage to chop sockey that lovingly recreates the tropes of Chinse martial arts extravanganzas even as it parodies them. Jack Black voices a corpulent panda named Po who is inexplicably picked to be the Dragon Warrior, trains with Kung Fu masters, learns that It’s What’s Inside You That Counts, and so forth. If the plot moves along the usual rails, the sumptuous color pallette, atomospheric scenery, and blistering kung fu scenes make up and then some. It would’ve been easy to stuff the movie with obnoxious pop culture references and fart jokes and call it a day, but you can tell the filmmakers are in love with their subject matter; it shows in every floating cherry blossom and swooshing bamboo pole. Plus it’s hilarious. Plus Jack Black is actually not totally shitty and annoying for once. Whoa!
BEST SCENE: “You are free to eat.” Po’s mentor, Master Shifu, offers him a single dumpling...if he can get it. What results is a kung fu duel of epic awesomeness (to paraphrase Po himself) that’s so fast and funny you’re laughing five minutes later as your brain catches up. Second place: Bad guy Tai Lung escapes from a cavernous prison fortress and takes out a batallion of rhino guards while hopping across freefalling stalactites. BADASS.

The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
You never see this Disney flick on the lists of superior sequels, and it’s a total crock. Sandwiched as it was between The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, this adventure about two brave mice rescuing a little boy from a vile poacher got totally overlooked when it came out. I’m here to tell you to see this film because it is AMAZING. The animated vistas and landscapes of Australia are brought to dizzying, vertiginous life, and the action sequences are well-worthy of Indiana Jones and his ilk. There are no musical numbers, no princesses -- in fact, the one major female character, Bianca the mouse, is one empowered and resourceful lady, and her sidekick, Bernard, is totally pussy-whipped. Take that, anti-princess feminists! Seriously, though, this movie is unforgettable, and also carried a strong environmental message: the brave boy Cody risks everything to save a beautiful golden eagle from the creepy poacher in his giant killdozer. Kids will love it and learn from it. I know I did! As for the original Rescuers movie....ehhh, something about bayous and crocodiles. As forgettable as its sequel is brilliant.
BEST SCENE: Either the pulse-pounding “SOS montage” as word of Cody’s abduction travels to the Rescuers in New York City, or the jaw-droppingly gorgeous sequence when the eagle takes Cody flying. I should mention that this movie has one of Disney’s best orchestral scores ever; the music for both these scenes sends me through the ceiling with bliss.
*SLICE-OF-MY-CHILDHOOD SEAL OF APPROVAL*

Spirited Away (2001)
If only Hayao Miyazaki could live forever, making wonderful and timeless animated films. It’s so hard to choose a favorite of his, but I think I’ll go with Spirited Away. This movie is constructed with such love, devotion, and attention to detail that it leaves me breathless; it’s like an intricate puzzlebox that slowly unfolds to reveal one wonder after another. It’s about growing up, about shouldering responsiblity and learning to stand on your own two feet. This is dramatically visualized as the young heroine, Chihiro, becomes entraped within a marvelous bathhouse for the gods, run by a wicked witch, in which reality and form are as fluid as the play of light across water. Speaking of which, no one can fill a cartoon with quirky and lovable details like Miyazaki; listen to the little squeaky noise as the obese Radish Spirit waddles along, or witness the eccentric behavior of the Soot Sprites in the basement. Or the haunting, silent spectre called No Face, who morphs into a ravening monster when fed. Or the train sailing across the surface of an endless shallow sea. Or the three bug-eyed bouncing green heads. Or, or, or.....I could go on. Chihiro’s journey takes her through layers of dream and idea, and we follow along, entranced. This movie honestly gives me faith that the human imagination will never die.
BEST SCENE: Hoo boy. Every scene. Can I pick every scene? No? Okay, I’ll go with the train journey near the end of the movie. It’s so....quiet. So still. It pushes the pause button on the entire plot. For a minute or two, we’re just there with Chihiro and her friends, riding the train. Watching the dreamlike scenery outside. Thinking. Wondering. I get goosebumps every time.

Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992)
I remember going to my grandparents’ house and watching Nickelodeon all day. Some shows ruled and some sucked, but I always danced for joy when Tiny Toon Adventures came on. Then I found this Tiny Toons feature film on VHS, and thus entered paradise. Like Animaniacs, Tiny Toons was hilarious, subversive, and funny on multiple levels, and the film -- which follows various characters through their summer hijinks -- took the brilliant buffoonery to the highest level possible. Buster and Babs Bunny are swept downriver and wind up in a parody of Deliverance. Plucky Duck joins Hampton Pig and his family for the road trip from hell, complete with a pork-eating psycho in a hockey mask. Fifi the Skunk pines for a stinky movie heartthrob whose resemblance to Johnny Depp is sooooo totally coincidental. The sight gags and pop culture references fly so thick and fast that you basically HAVE to watch the movie several times, and it’s so worth it. Solid gold animated anarchy. God, I hope this exists on Torrent somewhere.
BEST SCENE: After spending the whole movie in the car, Plucky and Hampton finally arrive at the glorious theme park of Happy World Land, and (spoiler alert) Plucky’s bubble of bliss is rudely burst when the pig family immediately turns around and heads home, declaring: “Don’t wanna overdo it on our first visit!” Comic payoffs rarely get better.
*SLICE-OF-MY-CHILDHOOD SEAL OF APPROVAL*

Wall-E (2008)
There is no way to pick the best Pixar film. Can we all agree on that? They’ve not made a bad animated movie yet, and it is SO BLOODY HARD to single out my favorite. But I guess....yeah, I guess it has to be Wall-E. Everyone who’s not living on the ocean floor knows why this film is so good, but let me just address what makes it so amazing to me personally: the silence. For a great deal of the movie, there are no human voices beyond a few faded recordings and the vaguely phonetic chirps and squawks of the titular robot, who has spent centuries tirelessly gathering refuse on an abandoned, trash-encrusted planet Earth. Yet the wordless Wall-E is as good a physical comedian as Keaton or Chaplin and as lovable as E.T. The romance between him and EVE (the sleek, sexy, feminine iBot who’s way out of his league) is hilarious, hopeless, and heartwarming, and the resulting sci-fi action shenanigans are driven, not by plot or by the need to blow stuff up, but by the simple bond between two robots who, like all robots, were built by us and represent everything we hope for and fear about ourselves. Think of that. Marvel on it. If Dreamworks had gotten their paws on this property, Wall-E would be screeching with the voice of Will Ferrell and using farts to propel himself. Thank you so much, Pixar, for being classy and old-fashioned, for knowing how to tell a perfect story. For tapping into wonder.
BEST SCENE: Wall-E’s befuddled courtship of EVE, as I said. Not only will it make you laugh and break your heart at the same time, it foreshadowed the even more sob-inducing wordless romance at the beginning of Pixar’s mext film, Up. Grab a box of tissues and a bar of chocolate.

The Wrong Trousers (1993)
Long live Wallace and Gromit! The Wrong Trousers wasn’t the first claymation I’d ever seen, but one look at it and I knew this was something special, something charming and British and definitive. I only have to summarize the plot -- evil penguin uses pair of remote-controlled robotic pants in a diamond heist, only to be foiled by inventor and his dog -- and you want to see this movie, even if you’ve already seen it. I fell in love with Wallace, the delightfully dopey inventor in the tweed vest, and Gromit, his resourceful and long-suffering pooch, who emotes more with his clay eyebrows than many actors do with their whole damn body. I was genuinely creeped out by Feathers McGraw, the dead-eyed penguin bad guy. Each scene is constructed with loving attention to detail, and each gag beautifully sets up the next one in an escalating chain of craziness. British humor works by its own lovely mechanisms, and how lucky we are that comedy can be internationally shared! Wallace and Gromit have made a feature film and several shorts, all brilliant, but The Wrong Trousers will always be my favorite. It’s a perfect animated film to me.
BEST SCENE: The train chase at the end. And by “train chase” I mean model trains, as our heroes pursue their feathered nemesis around the living room.

A Dozen of the Greatest Animated Movies of All Time

2011-10-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

Toy Story 3 still reigns at the box office, so I decided to write about my top ten favorite animated movies of all time, but I couldn't stop at ten. Here, then, is an even dozen of the best movie cartoons ever made.

The Iron Giant - My favorite has to be this perfectly paced, brilliantly animated gem about the friendship between a boy and a misunderstood giant alien robot. Released in 1999, the movie is set in the late 1950s, a time of UFO hysteria and Cold War paranoia, and the film's tone captures the mood of the time to perfection. Directed by Brad Bird (who also helmed Ratatouille and another great cartoon on my list called The Incredibles) with a talented voice cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, Cloris Leachman, and others, this is one of the under-rated classics of cinema history. If you have never seen it, hunt it down and enjoy.

The Lion King - In 1994, Disney gave us an original animated story that would become one of the biggest hits of the studio's illustrious legacy, not just in terms of tickets sold, but also in terms of critical praise by both professional reviewers and the general public. The coming of age story of a lion cub who grows to become king of his pride is the end-product of a long list of writers if we judge it by the official credits. The film has a mythic scope and features the memorable music of Hans Zimmer and award-winning songs by Elton John and Tim Rice. Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Nathan Lane, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and others all provide the voices for the unforgettable characters.

Akira - I could probably list a bunch of Japanese anime as my favorites, but this trendsetting classic tops them all. Made in 1988, it set the standard for not only future animated movies, but also some live-action motion pictures as well. Set in the future city of Neo-Tokyo, it has a number of iconic scenes full of action and sci-fi ideas that will burn in your mind forever,.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Disney's first feature-length cartoon debuted in 1937 and it still holds up as one of the best. It has humor and genuinely scary moments. Based on the Grimm fairytale, it is arguably Walt Disney's greatest movie of all time, and considering all the great Disney movies over the decades, that's saying a lot.

The Incredibles - Some might say that every single Pixar movie deserves to be on a "best" list. While I love many other Pixar films, including Monsters Inc., Wall*E, Up, Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life, (and all of them really), this story about a family of superheroes is fantastic from beginning to end. I dare anyone to find a noticable flaw in this movie (and if you do, I'll argue that you're nitpicking). Starring the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jason Lee, it celebrates and spoofs virtually all the superhero stereotypes while embracing the greatness of the genre. I never grow tired of watching it.

Pinocchio - Another Disney classic, this 1940 cartoon has great characters, great action, great songs, and a terrific moral. It stands the test of time and still delights audiences of all ages.

Toy Story 2 - The other Pixar movie that made my list is the second Toy Story chapter. I think this is one of the best sequels ever made. Director John Lasseter and his production team know how to tell a story and it is obvious that the voice actors (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, Wayne Knight, Laurie Metcalf, etc.) all had a great deal of fun making this film.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit - I was slightly annoyed to hear one of the critics on At the Movies list this Robert Zemeckis hit as one of the most over-rated cartoons of all time. This was a landmark film, seamlessly blending live-action and animation in a plot that combined some of the greatest cartoon characters in history all in one film.

Fantasia - This Walt Disney experiment is a true gem. Released during the same year as Pinocchio, it was not a commercial success, but it lives on as a creative highpoint in Mr. Disney's career as he endeavored to use animation to bring classical music to visual life. The anthology of cartoon segments included the sublime to the ridiculous, with "The Sorceror's Apprentice" being the highlight of the film.

Princess Mononoke - I've written about this movie before. Needless to say, I consider it to be Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece. I'm a sucker for mythic storytelling, and it doesn't get better than this.

A Nightmare Before Christmas - Tim Burton's stop-action animated movie tells the tale of the king of Halloweentown, Jack Skellington, discovering Christmas Town. Full of masterful tidbits, it's a fan-favorite, and deservedly so.

Heavy Metal - Finally, I'll include a movie that many critics hate. It's a collection of short sci-fi/fantasy and horror cartoons, definitely not for kids, loosely connected by a plot device centering on a glowing green orb that seems to be the embodiment of evil in the universe (hey, it's just a macguffin as Hitchcock would say to move the stories along). The film contains a great music soundtrack and is full of violence and nudity, but it epitomizes the notion that cartoons should not be limited to childish fare -- the animated medium can also provide a creative outlet for other stories that might not work in a live-action format but might be perfectly suited for the limitless potential of the animated feature.

The 50 Best Animated Features

2011-10-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge animation fan but, dang it, I know what's good. And I was livid after seeing Richard Corliss's woeful list of the top 25 animated films for the pages of Time Magazine. Happy Feet? Horton Hears A Who? And The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie at #3? That was just a collection of shorts hastily cobbled together! Corliss' sloppy arrangement of the titles, and the list's lack of diversity seem pandering and short-sighted (11 out of the 25 came from the 2000s, and the classic Disney era was given criminal short shrift, with neither Bambi, The Jungle Book, Sleeping Beauty, Fantasia nor 101 Dalmatians making the list; also, animated films from countries OTHER than the USA were virtually ignored). This all made me so mad, I had to put my own list together. A word of warning: you may be similarly made angry by my snubbing of titles like The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and The Little Mermaid, but I'm sorry--I was left cold by them; also WALL-E just misses hitting my list because it falls apart so badly in its second half. I should also note that there's a whole lot of Japanese product I have yet to see (mainly because I have a bias against their preferred low-frame-rate animation; it's an acquired taste). But I hope you'll note some more obscure but well-considered titles here and search them out. Anyway, it's better than Corliss' list, this is for certain. So, in order according to (1) overall quality, (2) animation quality, and (3) influence, here are my favorites:

1) Bambi (David Hand, James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright, Walt Disney, 42)
2) Toy Story (John Lasseter, 95)
3) Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter, Ash Brannon, Lee Unkrich, 99)
4) Fantasia (James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Norm Ferguson, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney, 40)
5) The Tale of the Fox (Wladislaw and Irene Starewicz, 30)
6) Lady and the Tramp (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, W. Disney, 55)
7) The Iron Giant (Brad Bird, 99)
8) Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (David Hand, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney, 37)
9) Yellow Submarine (George Dunning and Al Brodax, 68)
10) The Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009)
11) Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, 91)
12) Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata, 88)
13) Sleeping Beauty (Clyde Geronimi, Walt Disney, 59)
14) Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, Sam Armstrong, Norm Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Walt Disney, 41)
15) Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
16) Pinocchio (Ben Sharpsteen, Norm Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Walt Disney, 41)
17) The Triplets of Bellville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003)
18) Wallace & Grommit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Nick Park, Steve Box, 2005)
19) 101 Dalmatians (Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman, Disney, 61)
20) The Secret of NIMH (Don Bluth, 82)
21) Monsters Inc. (Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, 2001)
22) South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (Trey Parker, 99)
23) My Dog Tulip (Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, 2009)
24) The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (Karel Zeman, 58)
25) Gulliver's Travels (Dave Fleischer, 39)
26) The Illusionist (Sylvain Chomet, 2010)
27) The Jungle Book (Wolfgang Reitherman, Walt Disney, 67)
28) Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001)
29) Akira (Katsuhiro Ohtomo, 88)
30) American Pop (Ralph Bakshi, 81)
31) Alice in Wonderland (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, W. Disney, 51)
32) Waltz With Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)
33) Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007)
34) Charlotte's Web (Charles A. Nichols and Iwao Takamoto, 73)
35) Mary and Max (Adam Elliott, 2009)
36) Alice (Jan Svankmajer, 88)
37) A Town Called Panic (Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, 2009)
38) Mad Monster Party? (Jules Bass, 67)
39) Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009)
40) A Boy Named Charlie Brown (Bill Melendez, 69)
41) Allegro Non Troppo (Bruno Bozzetto, 76)
42) Watership Down (Martin Rosen, 78)
43) Chicken Run (Nick Park and Peter Lord, 2000)
44) The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004)
45) I Married A Strange Person (Bill Plympton, 97)
46) Teacher's Pet (Timothy Björklund, 2004)
47) Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley, 2008)
48) Fantastic Planet (René Laloux, 73)
49) Twice Upon A Time (John Korty and Charles Swenson, 83)
50) The Adventures of Mark Twain (Will Vinton, 86)

Top 25 Animated Features For Time Magazine

2011-10-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

Richard Corliss has compiled a list for Time Magazine of “25 All-Time Best Animated Features”. Posted below is the full list of the 25 films and you can watch video with Richard Corliss explaining his choices for the Top 10 here: TIME Video

1. Pinocchio (1940)
2. WALL-E (2008)
3. The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)
4. Dumbo (1941)
5. Spirited Away (2001)
6. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
7. Up (2009)
8. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
9. Finding Nemo (2003)
10. The Little Mermaid (1989)
11. Toy Story 3 (2010)
12. Toy Story (1995)
13. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
14. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
15. Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
16. Happy Feet (2006)
17. Akira (1988)
18. The Lion King (1994)
19. Tangled (2010)
20. Paprika (2007)
21. Kung Fu Panda (2008)
22. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
23. Yellow Submarine (1968)
24. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
25. Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Top 10 Animated Movies Based on a TV series

2011-10-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

How I Spent My Vacation - a Tiny Toon Adventures film that is so good that it should have been released into theaters over direct-to-video. The movie shows how each of the main characters from the show doing during their summer break. Mostly focusing Plucky's road trip to hell and Buster and Babs journey downriver. Making this movie best remembered for it's slapstick and humor.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - based on the hit animated series, this Batman movie was released in theaters in 1993. Sadly, it did little in the box-office mainly because Warner Brothers focused more on advertising for that awful Batman Forever movie. It became more popular when it was being sold on home video. So popular that Warner Brothers made more films like Subzero and Return of the Joker that are equally as good as the first.
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut - unlike a the ones below, this one was given strong effort into giving an original story for an adult cartoon show and providing it with memorable musical numbers.
The Chipmunk Adventure - putting our favorite Chipmunks and Chippetes in a race around-the-world story...Genius!!! The animation is really topnotch especially since a couple of animators from Disney worked on it. And who could forget that song: The Girls and Boys of Rock and Roll.
The Simpsons Movie - Despite it mostly being just an 87 minute episode, it was still hilariously memorable. Not to mention the introduction to the newest addition to the Simpson family cast, Spider-Pig.
Duck Tales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp - an underrated Disney film that deserves a DVD or Blueray release.
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island - One of the rare Scooby-Doo movies that's actually scary for a family kids film. But it's much better compared to that live-action version.
The Spongebob SquarePants Movie - The only real good movie made by Nickelodeon that everyone could love. My only downside with it is that I was expecting it to be the conclusion of the entire show. But if that happened, Nickelodeon would be out of business.
The Rugrats Movie - The first Nicktoons movie based on their most popular cartoon, Rugrats. The film seems to force itself into scary and intense situations just to compete with Disney. Overall, it's more enjoyable to watch for little kids or people who grew up watching the show.
The Powerpuff Girls Movie - A prequel that explains the origin of the PPGs even though we've already heard it countless times in the opening credits. The only clever part of the film I liked was Mojo Jojo's plan to "make the town a better place."

Top 5 Animated Movies

2011-10-18T22:35:00.000-07:00

I love animated movies and I don't think they are just for kids. So here's the Top 5 list of what I think are the best animated movies of all time. Disney/Pixar has a majority of the list. And I have yet to see Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon so the list can change.

1) - Up - This is the only animated movie that actually made me cry. The story is original and the animation is wonderful. The movie has comedy, action, suspense, and might tear you up. I love this movie.

2) - Kung Fu Panda - I watch this movie all the time. It's really funny and has some fun Kung Fu scenes. I can't wait for the second one.

3) - Toy Story - The original computer animated movie has to be on the list. Great movie. The second one is also fantastic. I can't wait to see the 3rd one.

4) - Finding Nemo - I can also watch this movie over and over again. The images are great and it has a great story. Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) has to be one of the funniest characters ever.

5) - Wall-E - The 1st half of the movie has no talking. It keeps you interested without having any dialogue for 30 to 40 minutes. It's also a great look at how lazy the world is. It's also really funny. I love this movie.

Top American Animated TV Series

2011-10-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Family Guy Humor TV Series

Family Guy Film TV Series

My top 5 animated films with ecological themes

2011-10-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

Animated films aren't just for kids! Indeed they are a fantatsic medium to inspire, innovate and express ideas that maybe dont quite hit home so hard in more conventional media. Master animators can bring nature to life in fantastic ways that simply isnt possible without fancy special effects or years of patient camerawork (hats off to the BBC planet earth team), so here are my top 5 friendly animated movies:

Fern Gulley the last rainforest

Some say this Australian/American animated tale was a direct inspiration for James Cameron’s epic Avatar. The plot follows very similar lines, replacing a futuristic alien setting with an Australian rainforest and blue skinned navii with tiny faerie folk. The story focusses on the romance that develops between one of these said faeries (Crysta) and a young human wood cutter called Zak. He is shrunk by faerie magic and so gradually comes to understand his place in the natural world.

This film is probably the most heavy handed in its ecological message, humanity is seen as an aggressive domineering force and oil driven technology is demonstrated to destroy the natural world (an awaken ancient evil spirits!). The ideas of ecological connectedness and waste recycling are also strongly stressed here. This film takes a more direct approach to many of the others on this list often explaining these ideas in very simple and straightforward terms, yet still doesn’t quite descend into and ecological rant. In addition the harms of deforestation and pollution, there is also a critique of animal experimentation. The bat character, played by Robin Williams, has been the victim of animal testing and is entertainingly crazy as a result of some kind of electroshock treatment.

The film is charming and engaging, raising awareness of key ecological issues, but is far from a masterpiece of animation. I think a great film for children, but the rest of the list is made of sterner stuff.

Nausicaä valley of the wind

(I so want one of these!)

The first Studio Ghibli film on my list, this 1984 Japanese animated film has lost none of its charm or presence. If anything it pre-empted much of the modern environmental film making, introducing the idea of a world that is both beautiful and deadly to humans, and how we react to natures awesome power with fear and anger.

The film is set in a post apocalyptic world, destroyed by a great war. The soil and air poisoned by man, a toxic jungle grows across the planet inhabited by deadly insects forcing humanity to fight over the ever dwindling resources and tiny patches of land where they can draw fresh water. On top of its overwhelming ecological message of living in peace with nature, it also wraps this up with a commentary on war and violence between people.

The heroine of the film (the self titled Nausicaä the princess of the Valley of the Wind) deserves particular mention as she is one of the most inspiring female leads I have yet to encounter. She is at once explorer, leader, scientist and warrior. Not only does she achieve remarkable things but does so with complete and utter dedication to compassion. Her ability to make all of the dominant characters in the movie look foolish and weak by comparison shows us all that warriors do not always fight with swords. Indeed she grows and develops to exemplify the practices of non violence (Ashima) and universal love expressed in Eastern religions, yet remains a charming grounded individual fully connected to her people and the planet.

If there is one film that unities the ideas of human compassion and environmental compassion, to show they form one inseparable ideal; that a balanced life in harmony with nature is a peaceful life in harmony with man, then it is Nausicaä.

Ponyo

(Lovely deep sea fish)

My second Ghilbli film, this recent Japanese hand drawn adventure tells the tale of a young boy and his discovery of the run away juvenile sea spirit Ponyo.

I love this film primarily for it showing the awesome power and beauty of the marine world. Ancient extinct placoderms (armoured fish) lazily swimming along next to trilobites was a real treat for a marine biologist who was also fascinated by extinct animals (dinosaurs obviously included) as a child. The beauty and naturalness of the animation very literally made one of my fantasy’s a reality, to see these extinct animals brought to life.

Yet the main ecological theme is a relatively short section that shows the damage that humanity is causing to the sea. As Ponyo swims into the quaint Japanese harbour we see the effects of bottom trawling, the damage caused by plastic bags and cans thrown into the sea and the oily slick produced by our engines. This makes a bold statement, even from our perspective in what we would consider an idyllic little fishing village, there is dramatic damage being done to an environment we are not familiar with. Ponyo then builds on this theme by building an emotional connection with this environment, so that we come away thinking that it is something worth working for.

WALL·E

(Hopefully not how we all end up!)

The 2008 Pixar masterpiece has received almost universal praise for the quality of its animation, story construction and adorable characterisation, yet for me the stand out elements of this film were the way it carefully criticized modern industrial and information society.

The plot focuses on the comic romance that develops between two robots, WALL·E the hard working junk collector who is stuck down on earth which is transformed into and indurtial wasteland and Eve a high-tech space bot sent down to search for signs of life. When they find a tiny plant, they are both transported back up to the orbiting spaceship containing the remants of humanity.

The key ecological themes in the film are humanities disconnection from the natural world. Indeed WALL·E is the most compassionate, connected and aware being in the entire film. He is shown to have grown to love, care and connect with his environment because of his work cleaning up the earth. The obese, chair bound humans who have no idea where their food comes from and rely on machines to perform even the most simple tasks are at the opposite end of the spectrum. All of their knowledge is second hand, downloaded from a wikipedia like interface and they have no reakl life experience.

The beauty of this film is that it is not anti technology, our hero is after all a piece of technology. Its that it shows how the application of some forms of technology lead to disconnection from ones environment and then afterwards from oneself. It is a philosophy very close to my heart, that man and machine can work together to build a better world; a connected, ecological and sustainable one in which all human beings (and sentient robots of course) can prosper.

The Lion King

(The circle of life just starts playing in my head...)

We had to have at least one Disney film in here I guess, and the lion king is just one for the job. Multi award and heart winning, the lion king has stood the test of time. The tale of a young boy lion Simba who matures to reclaim his damaged kingdom from his power hungry uncle Scar, has both a powerful and compelling story and a whole bundle of charm to boot.

Ecology wise there are two major strengths. Firstly, the sheer scale and spectacle of the African savannah is shown in all its glory. One of our last true wildernesses and the last place on earth where we have both herds of wild grazing mammals and large numbers of mammalian top predators (we unsurprisingly killed off, ate and domesticated the rest of these large mammal populations), the Savannah ecosystem is rightfully worshipped by the animation in the Lion King. The opening circle of life sequence is a powerhouse that never fails to leave an emotional impact on me.

Secondly, we have the notion of ecological connectedness and sustainable use. The wise father figure Mufasa, spends a good deal of time schooling the young Simba on the fact that all parts of the Savannah are connected together. Mufasa intellectually and practically understands his role as a keystone predator, too many lions and the gazelles suffer, then the lions suffer and so does everything else in the system. The lion is king because he has the power to later the whole ecosystem. We see that when Scar runs the show, the entire system collapses and there is starvation, erosion, drought and death. This is a powerful message for us humans, who are after all the most important keystone predator on this earth.

Top 10 Animated Movies of All Time

2011-10-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

Today Animated movies not only for Kids but for All of age (become Family movies). Official Academy Award have nominated for Best Animated Feature. that means Animated Movies equals with another movies genre like Drama,Action,Horror,Comedy etc. we'd just give you our take on the best of the best Top 10 Animated Movies of All Time :

1. The Incredibles

Pixar, 2004
Written and directed by Brad Bird
Brad Bird not only wrote and directed the most perfect animated film of all time, he also voices the film's best character, Edna—the world famous fashion designer who's bored with making clothes for super models ("Nothing super about them... spoiled, stupid little stick figures with poofy lips who think only about themselves") and jumps at the chance to outfit Mr. Incredible when he privately comes out of retirement. It captures suburban ennui as well as American Beauty, while being the best pre-Marc Forster Bond film in years. Brad Bird should be a household name.

2. Toy Story 2

Pixar, 1999

Written and directed by John Lassiter and others

Toy Story was a revelation of technology. Its sequel was simply a revelation. When Woody is stolen by Seinfeld's Newman, it's Buzz Lightyear's turn to save the day. The toy store scene with Tour Guide Barbie ("I'm a married spud, I'm a married spud") and legions of Buzz toys is priceless.

3. Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi)

Buena Vista, 2001
Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

The creator of Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle is an artist who dredges the deepest regions of the phsyche to capture a world of dreams through animation. There's a strangeness to the wonder, and there's beauty in the most nightmarish corners.

4. The Lion King

Walt Disney, 1994
Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff
More than 20 people are credited with writing the story for my favorite Disney movie, defying my belief that group-thinking scripts leads to disaster. I'd just returned from my first trip to Africa when I saw this film and got chills during the opening wildlife scenes. That animation could so gorgeously capture the African plains just blew me away, and the tale of a young, betrayed prince felt ripped from the pages of Shakespeare. Plus Nathan Lane made a great meerkat.

5. Shrek

Buena Vista, 2001
Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, based on Shrek! by William Steig
This wonderful twist on the Beauty and the Beast saga is possibly the funniest movie on the list with comedic geniuses Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy given the whole of fairyland to roam. And Cameron Diaz's princess as ninja warrior is a fun feminist response to all of Disney's delicate flower leads.

6. Metropolis

Madhouse Studios, 2001
Directed by Rintaro, written by Katsuhiro Otomo
The plot of Metropolis is complex as the world it occupies. Written by Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo, its an Anime masterpiece of futuristic government intrigue, jealousy, world domination, love and redemption.

7. The Iron Giant

Warner Bros., 1999

Directed by Brad Bird, based on The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
Before he was creating masterpieces for Pixar, Brad Bird was directing this less-visually interesting film for Warner Bros. But the story about a boy and his robot is as compelling as any on this list.

8. Ratatouille

Disney/Pixar, 2007
Co-written and directed by Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava
While consistently fun, many of Pixar's film's succeed by taking an obvious universe impossible to really capture with live action—anthropomorphizing toys, fish, monsters, cars, etc.—and crafting a solid story around it. But Ratatouille is anything but predictable: a rat (Patton Oswalt!) who dreams of becoming a chef.

9. Wall-E

Disney/Pixar, 2008
Co-written and directed by Andrew Stanton
The first half of the film was mesmerizing, as a lone robot made the best of his post-apocalyptic world, finding purpose in cleaning up the mess, companionship in a cockroach, and beauty among the trash. When he's whisked away to a traveling cruise ship filled with the sloth-like human refugees from Earth it starts to feel a little more like a cartoon than a vision, but the clever plot sustains the final acts.

10. Watership Down

Nepenthe, 1978
Directed by Martin Rosen, based on the novel by Richard Adams
It's become common, particularly with the slew of insect movies to come out in recent years, to portray individual critters suffering under collectivism. But in 1978, Watership Down showed a caste system with warrior rabbits on top, a police state in another warren and the realities of war. These were not happy, fluffy bunnies.

Monkey Punch’s Top 20 Animation (2003)

2011-10-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

Monkey Punch (モンキー・パンチ) is the pen name of Japanese manga artist Kazuhiko Katō (加藤一彦, b. 1937). He is the manga-ka behind the popular series Lupin III which began in 1967 and has been adapted into various animated series and movies. The most famous adaptations of his work being the Lupin III TV anime series and Hayao Miyazaki’s film Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) – the latter of which gets a nod on Monkey Punch’s selections for the top 20 animations of all time.

The biggest influences on Monkey Punch creatively have been the work of Mad Magazine comic artists Mort Drucker (b. 1929) and Sergio Aragonés (b. 1937). His favourite animation ranges from American cartoon classics to contemporary video game animation. In addition to popular fare, Monkey Punch also demonstrates an interest in art animation such as Aleksandr Petrov’s beautiful paint-on-glass animation The Old Man and the Sea (1999), Dianne Jackson’s pastel and crayon cel animation The Snowman (1982), and Osamu Tezuka’s Jumping (1984).

Judging from this list, one can see that Monkey Punch enjoys the fantastic and in particular, he seems to admire people who take risks with their animation. From the cult classic fantasy films of Ralph Bakshi to innovations in animation styles and technologies by the folks at Pixar and MTV, Monkey Punch seems open to both the wild and the wonderful. Sticklers will point out that the Thunderbirds is not really animation but puppet drama, which Monkey Punch also acknowledges, but he seems to have a pretty broad interpretation of the definition of animation. He writes, for example, that he had to include the video game Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.² because he likes it so much that he just can’t help himself. One could say that Monkey Punch is enthusiastic about animation in all its forms from hand-painted to CGI.

List Source: Laputa’s Top 150 World and Japanese Animation(2003)

Fantasia

(ファンタジア, Disney, James Algar et al., 1940)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(白雪姫, Disney, David Hand, et al., 1937)

Tom and Jerry

(トムとジェリー, Hanna-Barbera/Gene Deitch/Chuck Jones, 1940-1967)

The Old Man and the Sea

(老人と海, Aleksandr Petrov. 1999)

The Snowman

(スノーマン, Dianne Jackson, 1982)

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro

(ルパン三世カリオストロの城/Hayao Miyazaki, 1979)

Heavy Metal

(ヘビイメタル, Gerald Potterton, 1981)

The Lord of the Rings

(指輪物語, Ralph Bakshi, 1978)

Wizards

(ウィザーズ, Ralph Bakshi, 1977)

Watership Down

(ウォーターシップダウンのうさぎたち, Martin Rosen, 1978)

Æon Flux

(イーオン・フラックス, Peter Chung, TV anime, 16 eps., 1991-1995)

Thunderbirds

(サンダーバード, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson)
(Supermarionation TV series, 32 eps., 1965-66)

Wallace and Gromit Series

(ウォレスとグルミットシリーズ, Nick Park, 1989-on)

The Nightmare Before Christmas

(ナイトメアー・ビフォア・クリスマス, Harry Selick/Tim Burton, 1993)

Final Fantasy

(ファイナルファンタジー, video games/animation, Hironobu Sakaguchi, 1987-)

Luxo Jr.

(ルクソーJr, Pixar, John Lasseter, 1986)

Yellow Submarine

(イエロー・サブマリン, George Dunning, 1968)

The Simpsons

(ザ・シンプソンズ, Matt Groenig, 1989-)

Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.²

(ヘビイメタルFAKK2, video game, Ritual Entertainment, 2000)

Jumping

(ジャンピング, Osamu Tezuka, 1984)

Not all 3D Animated Flicks are created Equal

2011-10-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

One might see this weekend’s Box Office leader Megamind as just another hero triumphing under the cape of 3D CGI Animation. After all, over the past three years, 2 out of 3 of these animated comedic adventures gross at least $200 million dollars, and with production budgets of maybe a quarter that amount, that’s a pretty profitable cape. The similarly super villain themed Despicable Me or How To Train Your Dragon have hit giant $500 million dollar takes. Up and Shrek Forever After posted $750+ mil, and Toy Story 3 grossed over $1 billion worldwide.

3D CGI Animation seems to equal mega B.O. success.

But at second glance, it isn't such a simple formula. The story-telling quality of these animated pics directly correlates to the B.O. success. Paramount/Dreamworks may celebrate Megamind's opening, but the story's shortcomings spell a more limited run than some of Megamind's more profitable counterparts.

This Will Ferrell helmed super villain movie has an amusing premise, in which bad boy Megamind accidentally kills his rival superhero Metroman (Brad Pitt) and ends their battle of good and evil. With no adversary to challenge him, Megamind finds himself bored and alone, until he concocts a plan to create a new hero whom he can battle. Unfortunately, Megamind falls for Metroman's old flame, Roxy Ritchie (Tina Fey), and must battle his new moody adversary for her affection.

It’s a wildly entertaining romp, with some great voice acting and amazing visuals. And it pulls off a very strong first act, bonding the audience to the misunderstood and ostracized Megamind, who has no choice in the beginning but to drift into a life of villainy. But the story falls short in three major areas, which is why the mixed reviews are coming in on Rottentomatoes at 67%.

Where Megamind Falls Short

1. Mild Comedy

First off, most of Megamind's comedy comes from the improv rantings of Will Ferrell, who once again portrays an egotistical man-boy character. Some of the funniest CGI animated movies of the last couple years, like Toy Story 3, Up, or How To Train Your Dragon, derive their humor from the story's conflict. A movie like Toy Story 3 mines all sorts of laughs from the prison break scenario, then builds on those laughs, like those moments with Spanish Buzz and Tortilla Style Mr. Potatohead. Megamind limits itself to dialogue-driven jokes and back-and-forth banter, much like other Will Ferrell-type moments from his live action comedies.

When test audiences request more laughs, often producers race back to recording studios have the actors embellish moments with inserted jokes and improved exchanges. But often, this will slowdown the story, eliciting only more eye rolls and moans. And that's what seems to have happened with our friend, Megamind.

2. Outdated

Megamind also feels dated, with a soundtrack that sports classic songs like Welcome to the Jungle and Michael Jackson's Bad, and fails to relate to its modern audience. Plus, when you are a teenager, and a character delivers several flat jokes, well, they start to remind you of your parents. Megamind and his love interest Roxy just feel old, lacking a hip energy that younger audiences need to relate to the characters.

3. Slow Story

Finally, the story lags at points, and getting into too much analysis of the writing, it tries to do too much in the middle, and doesn’t lock in enough conflict to carry it smoothly to the finish line. Plus the central relationship of the story, that of the romance between Roxy Ritchie and Megamind doesn't live up to Shrek and Fiona or Wall-E and Eva.

Where Does Megamind End Up?

So how does our blue egomaniac stack up to other 3D heroes? Compared to Despicable Me or Monsters vs Aliens, Megamind grossed $10 million less in its first weekend. It had an attendance of less than half that of The Incredibles, which was released during the same November weekend in 2004. A movie like How To Train Your Dragon may have come behind Megamind at the Box Office with $43 million, but amazing reviews and word of mouth gave that Dragon time to fly well over the $500 million mark. Megamind doesn't have those great reviews to keep it going.

And with an expensive production budget of $130 million, and a P&R campaign of probably $50-60 million, one can see how clearing $100 million at the Box Office isn't exactly a winning situation for our evil mastermind. Suddenly those little pitfalls in the story and shortcomings in the comedy prove to be far more expensive then perhaps expected.

Megamind might be celebrating his promising $47.7 million debut, and sure, he’ll be fine in the long run, but someone should have told him once these movies clear $100 million dollars, a little more story quality can bring some to climb into the mega B.O. takes. He might have changed the setting on his story-telling death ray from "Cloudy Meatballs" to "Pixar".

It’s a lesson to all studios out there that a solid premise and some artful CGI animation does not alone equal big bucks. Even past the $100 million dollar successes, there is a lot of gradation that can spell the difference between a small and mega profit margin. Pixar has proven that the extra time and focus on story does equal long term profit, and even though the genre of CGI animation may be safer in the Box Office than most right now, it still requires story-tellers pay some mind to the story.

FableVision's Top Animated Films of the Decade (2000-2009)

2011-10-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

10. Kung Fu Panda (2008)

DreamWorks SKG hasn't had the best track record for good movies. For example, Shark Tale and Antz, didnt exactly raise the bar for CG animation. When I heard that they would be making an animated feature film about a young panda that learns martial arts, called Kung Fu Panda, I was instantly reminded of those little awkward ant(z) voiced by Woody Allen and Silvester Stallone. In doing so, I instantly threw out any thought of buying a ticket to see this movie. It was wrong for me to pre-judge this movie and I am sorry Jack Black, for thinking you were just another gimmick celebrity voice.

I did in fact watch Kung Fu Panda, and what I saw shattered the mold made by previous SKG movies. This was an honest to goodness original film, and best yet, it was BEAUTIFUL. Color Palettes to drool over, sweeping landscapes, and masterful lighting really stood this film apart from its predecessors. I think the only reason I can comfortably say this doesn't belong in the number 5 slot, is because of the first 10 minutes of the film. It was a jarring experience to go from what I consider some of the best 2D animation I've seen in a feature film, to transition over to 3D in the very next shot. A dangerous move that could have ruined the entire movie. However, it didn't and they managed to recapture my attention almost immediately.

skidoosh. —Keith Zulawnik

9. Shrek (2001)

If you were a squatter in the Bornemann kitchen, every so often you'd hear this exchange:

Jesse: Do you know....the Muffin Man?
Eric: The Muffin Man?
Jesse: THE MUFFIN MAN.
(pause)
Eric (in a squeaky pitch): You're a monster!

No, my husband and I aren't obsessed with nursery rhymes. We are, of course, quoting from Shrek, the 2001 DreamWorks movie chronicling one ogre's quest to save a princess and rid his swamp of annoying fairytale campers. Shrek is a bit of a lumbering oxymoron -- full of "inside jokes" that every Disney-literate individual (translation: everyone) can share; bursting with messages of self-acceptance voiced by picture-perfect Hollywood stars. But only a Grumpy Dwarf would take Shrek too seriously. The main character makes a candle out of his earwax, for crying out loud. —Jesse H. Bornemann

8. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

This beautiful film from Hayao Miyazaki, Japan's master of animation, plunges into a complex and visually fantastic world of demons and sorcery. Based on a novel, it is about a mousy young girl named Sophie who is transformed into a 90-year-old woman by a witch's spell. Slowed by the pains of sudden old age, she goes on a quest to undo the curse and stumbles across the wizard Howl and his great magical traveling castle. As she unravels the answer to her own dilemma, she finds herself tangled up in the chaos that surrounds the conflicted young wizard and risks everything in her determination to save the man she loves. —Tami Wicinas

7. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

With a quirky story spun around a stubborn old lady, her bicycle loving Grandson, a dreaming dog, double agents, gangsters, and a group of old-time frog-eating vaudeville musicians, The Triplets of Belleville is…something completely different. Subtle humor makes this film geared more for adults than kids; you may find yourself smiling through the entire film without knowing exactly what’s tickling you. Nearly void of dialogue and moving at a relaxed (yet superbly timed) pace, the film calls all attention to the animation itself. Keep an eye out for bits of CGI blended seamlessly into the highly stylized artwork. Well worth a spot in your Netflix queue if you missed it, Triplets is possibly the hidden gem of the last decade. —Ryan McNulty

6. Persepolis (2007)

This French film is a must-see for anyone interested in a culture besides their own. Persepolis mixes politics and growing pains to tell the story of a girl growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. Adapted from the autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis tells its story with wit and emotion, and is a compelling and beautifully animated film. As the rebellious Marjane becomes a young woman, we get a glimpse of Iranian history during a time of upheaval and change. And though deeply personal, the universal themes of growing up and finding one's identity in the world help make film accessible to everyone.

Persepolis stands apart from other graphic novel adaptations by bringing Satrapi's drawings to life, rather than attempting a live-action portrayal. Satrapi's simplistic black and white drawings show that truly great story-telling can be achieved without embellishment or flair, and leave a lasting impression. —Taryn Johnson

5. Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Monsters, Inc. is an imaginative story about what's really on the other side of your childhood closet door. The characters are endearing and the cast and clever writing doesn't disappoint audiences of any age. However, what I remember the most about the experience of seeing this in the theatre, was how vividly detailed Sully's wavy fur was illustrated. There was definitely a "wow" moment there for me, further convincing me that Toy Story was just Disney/Pixar's tip of the iceberg, and to follow their creations for the decade to come. —Heidi Hall

4. WALL•E (2008)

We're now all but numb to computer-generated animation. It's everywhere—accounting for most of the animated films released each year beginning with the arrival of Toy Story in 1995. Go back a little further and you'll remember the Pixar short Luxo, Jr., which features the hopping desk lamp later incorporated into their logo. With WALL•E, Pixar comes full circle by returning to CG animation in its original form and advancing it. In this case, using technology to breathe life into robots and machines. They take full advantage of the strengths of the medium, not trying to mimic cartoony hand-drawn animation or to dazzle you with fully-textured, cute, wise-cracking critters. It is the embodiment of everything that is right about CG.

WALL•E boasts a realism unlike any of their previous features, and is easily their most daring film to date—opening with nearly 45 minutes of dialogue-free story-telling. In it's place, we get intelligent boops and beeps with a wordless comedic charm which draws comparisons to silent film stars Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. WALL•E and EVE are incredibly genuine and expressive robots, revealing a greater humanity than any of their overweight human counterparts. Combine this with more than a few nods to the sci-fi genre, mix in a love story, and you have a near perfect piece of film-making. —Bob Flynn

3. Spirited Away (2002)

Spirited Away is a towering achievement in animation. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, it is the story of a young girl who becomes trapped in a magical world populated by spirits and demons. Chihiro faces many challenges, but her inner strength and spirit help her overcome all obstacles.

The meandering and sometimes puzzling plot is grounded by the strong central character, and the viewer follows her along through this strange world, discovering it with her. This film can be surreal and frightening at times, but also has moments of breathtaking beauty. The animation is stunning, the backgrounds beautiful, the musical score magical – an inspiring film from start to finish. —John Lechner

2. Finding Nemo (2003)

"Mine! Miiine! Miiine! Mine! Miiine!"

I can't be the only one who uses this squawking phrase at least once a week...and it's not the only quotable phrase from Pixar's 2003 release, Finding Nemo. Easily one if the best animated films of the decade, Finding Nemo has everything you could ask for: comedy, adventure, mistakes, rewards, tears, fears, colors, beauty...pivotal life changing moments, and "Bubbles! Bubbles!"

With an ocean of possibilities, Pixar has an easy cast of likeable characters from Clownfish to Anglerfish (i.e. cute vs. scary). The story starts on a sad note, but sets the tone for why Marlin is so protective of his son. (Pixar used this technique again with Up in 2009.) The rest of the story goes a little bit something like this: Nemo touches the butt with his gimpy fin and gets captured by Dentist, P. Sherman from 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney. Marlin pulls out all the stops to find Nemo, even though he starts off as a bit of a 'nervous nellie.' He meets forgetful Dory along the way and POOF! you have comedy. Wise fish, Jellyfish, and Mount Wannahakaloogie are only a few other reasons to watch Finding Nemo...

I won't give away any more, though mostly everyone has seen this movie. And, if you haven't...whether or not you want to believe it, you will love it. You need to SEE it, duuuude!

P.S. Why does John Ratzenberger have a part in every single one of Pixar's movies!? Likely, there's not really an answer, but I'm sure he'd respond to your silence by saying, "That's ok kid, don't hurt yourself." The best answer to this question is really...to not ask so many questions. —Renée Kurilla

1. The Incredibles (2004)

There are very good reasons for why enough people put this wonderful movie on their top 5 best-animated-features-for-the-past-decade list and caused it to win overall. And here are some of the reasons I feel made this the great feature that it is.

The Incredibles created a believable world without ever referencing real world events/people, or breaking the 4th wall. This is important to me as I come to see a lot of entertainment series and movies using these elements like crutches to propel themselves. But of course if the story is good enough, you don't have to do that. As well, The Incredibles successfully bring together every important aspect of a superhero story with weakness and conflict. And it makes the superhero genre more accessible by placing it in a family setting, with characters most age groups can relate to and enjoy easily. Again strengthening the story.

Character and set design are very successfully and takes lots of themes and conventions from superhero (every type of superpower shown in film) and popular action and sci fi films and comics (pulp mad scientists of early day comics, through James Bond villainy), but avoids being derivative and makes those elements part of it's own story. Not to mention lighting, effects and animation techniques were more advanced than other animated features at the time and still hold up as some of the best stuff today.

The momentum of the story in combination with Michael Giachinno's score show how important Brad Bird was in directing the movie, in collaboration with John Lasseter's sensibilities. You see, Brad Bird is a FANTASTIC director, but even the greatest directors can go overboard if not reigned in a bit (i.e. George Lucas, Steven Spielberg.) Brad Bird's original stories and ideas for The Incredibles were great but a bit convoluted. It took other minds such as John Lasseter to help smooth out the story and simplify things to create the strong clear story we have today.

Top Animated Movies

2011-10-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! give us the top 30 animation movies from their users reviews today.

Here are the top 5:

1- Finding Nemo
2- Kung Fu Panda
3- The Incredibles
4- Spirited Away
5- The Lion King

Top Animation Movies

2011-10-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

Animation and drawing on the border between conscious animation and reality. Animation, widely used over the years, and it really is better every day. In fact, most animated films too big, definitely worth your money applied for.

Many of the best animated films, and between partners was released in 2001, the film is excellent, and won the Academy Award for best animated film. The William Steig, who was released in 1990 by the book based on the myth of American film. Commercially, it was really successful, and launch, and animated film, the name that attracted young people, but also adults and the elderly.

A cartoon to match the wall is excellent. The 2008 is a science fiction computer animation that tells the story of a robot named Wall-mail was released as. Specifically covered in the floor cleaning robot developed irritability, it is visible in the distant future is to be expected.

See many animated movies are the best the past, through the release of Disney's The Lion King during the 1990s did a great job. Made in the imaging industry strike is not true and still, still strong traditional animated film ever released.

Nemo, the biggest animated film to use celebrity voices to help as well, and some incredibly fantastic and implausible film is being associated with films. More often than not, celebrities use the show voice vote after the normal processes of the specific duties are kept out of work. Nemo, however, a different system applications. Without doubt, the glory went to get Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks Nemo fans as they gave a wonderful holiday, and on the way to fill in some laughter.

Top 10 Animated Movies

2011-10-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

Animation isn’t just for kids any more! America has finally clued in on the fact that you can create a film of moving drawings and it can be more than mindless pablum for ADHD-stricken brats (though there is still plenty of that, make no mistake). Pixar is knocking down the barriers between kiddie yuks and adult humor, Japanese anime is reaching a wider and wider audience, and big-name folks like Wes Anderson, Zack Snyder, and Jerry Bruckheimer are experimenting with the medium of animation. Heck, these days you’re just as likely to find A-listers like Clooney and Brangelina voicing cuddly cartoon animals as playing real people! In light of this exciting revolution, I’m going to present my all-time favorite animated films -- from those that left a mark on me in my youth, to those that have inspired me more recently. Watch these if you haven’t already!

DANG-BLASTED’S TOP TEN FAVORITE ANIMATED MOVIES

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)
I must have been seven years old when I first watched Will Vinton’s claymation take on the life and work of Mark Twain, and I was sucked right into the trippy, surreal, funny, scary adventures contained therein. Vinton seems determined to get inside Twain’s complex brain, and he does so by staging a swashbuckling yarn in a strange meta-world where the famous author exists alongside his most beloved creations. With the unwitting help of Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Becky Thatcher, Twain boards a fantastical airship and sails the skies in search of Halley’s Comet; along the way, the trio of fictional kids dive headlong into some of Twain’s work and witness the antics of his characters, including the Celebrated Jumping Frog, Adam & Eve, The Mysterious Stranger, and more. All this is portrayed in an incredible, vibrant swirl of color and form where reality shifts and distorts according to the whims of the animation. I’ve never seen claymation this detailed; it’s truly a work of art, an impressionist journey through the psyche of a literary lion. It grabbed me as a kid and hasn’t let go since, and every time I watch it, I find something knew to marvel at.
BEST SCENE: The creepy Mysterious Stranger sequence is probably the most well-known part of the film, but I prefer the climactic chase scene, as Twain and the three kids literally pilot the airship through Halley’s Comet. It’s a tour-de-force of animated action and beauty.
*SLICE-OF-MY-CHILDHOOD SEAL OF APPROVAL*

Fantasia (1940)
Waaaaaaay back before most of us were born, Walt Disney was a man with a plan to revoluntionize animation. With him at the helm, Disney Studios created Fantasia, an experimental “concert film” that fused classical music with a variety of animated styles and themes. Walt D. hoped that the concept would grow and expand over the years. The experiment flopped (a new Fantasia wasn’t made until sixty years later in 2000), but that doesn’t stop the original from being one impressive movie. Each piece of music brings life and narrative to an amazing work of animation, and the sequences range from the abstract to the realistic, from slapstick to pathos. Enchanted broomsticks, Greek gods, dancing hippos, demons, dinosaurs, fairies, fish, and even stranger entities cavort to the music; there is no dialogue beyond a bit of narration from music critic Deems Taylor, but you don’t miss it one bit. I think Fantasia was a bit too ambitious for its time; audiences weren’t even used to feature-length cartoons back then, let alone a freakin’ “concert film.” But it has endured, and I love to revisit it.
BEST SCENE: I have to pick “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” just because it’s so iconic. (It’s where the image of Mickey Mouse in a wizard costume comes from.) But it’s a tough choice. The “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence, in which a vast demon presides over a danse macabre of ghosts, devils, and bare-breasted harpies, is about the most hardcore thing you’ll ever see in a Disney cartoon. In a good way.
*SLICE-OF-MY-CHILDHOOD SEAL OF APPROVAL*

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
This movie fills me with joy and I don’t even know why. I can’t love it as a Roald Dahl fan, because it cheerfully butchers and/or ignores almost everything from his book. I can’t love it as a Wes Anderson fan, because I’m not one. Maybe I love it because there is nothing else quite like it in existence. I mean, here we have cute forest animals, crudely rendered in stop-motion animation, struggling to escape the crushing soullessness of their bourgeois existence by stealing farmyard produce. Here we have George Clooney and Meryl Streep creating a sexy, loving, and utterly believable married couple out of two gangly fake foxes. The soundtrack mixes the Stones with Burl Ives, the cinematography looks like a series of 4th-grade dioramas, Willem Dafoe voices a strutting Spanish rat with a switchblade, and the dialogue parodies yuppie-speak to great effect (“I have a phobia of wolves!”). I don’t know what to make of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, yet I could watch it again and again on an endless loop. It’s that....fucking....loveable.
BEST SCENE: Jarvis Cocker strums a banjo and sings his heart out while Mr. Fox and his fuzzy sidekicks rob the three evil farmers blind. And then they dance. And dance. And dance some more. And it is the weirdest, cutest dancing you will ever see, especially from woodland creatures. You will say “WTF” and then fall in love.

The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
This movie was supposed to be your usual Disney fare: serious plot, lots of musical numbers, strong moral message, blah blah and blah. Thank CHRIST that plan went pear-shaped and the filmmakers scrapped the budget and made a screwball comedy instead. The Emperor’s New Groove is about the funniest, most irreverent thing to emerge from the Mouse House, in which the plot -- about a bratty South American ruler who gets turned into a llama -- is practically buried under a gleeful landslide of slapstick, sight gags, and flawless comic timing. Yeah, there’s still a moral message about respecting others and how money and power aren’t everything, but how great is it that they took such a crazy route to get there? The voice cast (David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, and Patrick Warburton) are clearly having so much fun that you wish you were there for the recording sessions, and each setpiece is like an escalating explosion of belly-laughs. “Kronk, pull the lever!.....WRONG LEVEEERRRRRR.....” Thank you, Disney, for breaking your own rules.
BEST SCENE: Every scene with Kronk (voiced by Warburton), the calamatously dumb evil henchman who exists in a surreal comic world of his own. “Uh, is he doing his own theme music?” Brilliant.

Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Dreamworks’ animated films are very hit-or-miss; for every Shrek, there’s a Shark Tale. But I gotta say, they hit a home run with Kung Fu Panda, a slapstick-heavy homage to chop sockey that lovingly recreates the tropes of Chinse martial arts extravanganzas even as it parodies them. Jack Black voices a corpulent panda named Po who is inexplicably picked to be the Dragon Warrior, trains with Kung Fu masters, learns that It’s What’s Inside You That Counts, and so forth. If the plot moves along the usual rails, the sumptuous color pallette, atomospheric scenery, and blistering kung fu scenes make up and then some. It would’ve been easy to stuff the movie with obnoxious pop culture references and fart jokes and call it a day, but you can tell the filmmakers are in love with their subject matter; it shows in every floating cherry blossom and swooshing bamboo pole. Plus it’s hilarious. Plus Jack Black is actually not totally shitty and annoying for once. Whoa!
BEST SCENE: “You are free to eat.” Po’s mentor, Master Shifu, offers him a single dumpling...if he can get it. What results is a kung fu duel of epic awesomeness (to paraphrase Po himself) that’s so fast and funny you’re laughing five minutes later as your brain catches up. Second place: Bad guy Tai Lung escapes from a cavernous prison fortress and takes out a batallion of rhino guards while hopping across freefalling stalactites. BADASS.

The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
You never see this Disney flick on the lists of superior sequels, and it’s a total crock. Sandwiched as it was between The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, this adventure about two brave mice rescuing a little boy from a vile poacher got totally overlooked when it came out. I’m here to tell you to see this film because it is AMAZING. The animated vistas and landscapes of Australia are brought to dizzying, vertiginous life, and the action sequences are well-worthy of Indiana Jones and his ilk. There are no musical numbers, no princesses -- in fact, the one major female character, Bianca the mouse, is one empowered and resourceful lady, and her sidekick, Bernard, is totally pussy-whipped. Take that, anti-princess feminists! Seriously, though, this movie is unforgettable, and also carried a strong environmental message: the brave boy Cody risks everything to save a beautiful golden eagle from the creepy poacher in his giant killdozer. Kids will love it and learn from it. I know I did! As for the original Rescuers movie....ehhh, something about bayous and crocodiles. As forgettable as its sequel is brilliant.
BEST SCENE: Either the pulse-pounding “SOS montage” as word of Cody’s abduction travels to the Rescuers in New York City, or the jaw-droppingly gorgeous sequence when the eagle takes Cody flying. I should mention that this movie has one of Disney’s best orchestral scores ever; the music for both these scenes sends me through the ceiling with bliss.
*SLICE-OF-MY-CHILDHOOD SEAL OF APPROVAL*

Spirited Away (2001)
If only Hayao Miyazaki could live forever, making wonderful and timeless animated films. It’s so hard to choose a favorite of his, but I think I’ll go with Spirited Away. This movie is constructed with such love, devotion, and attention to detail that it leaves me breathless; it’s like an intricate puzzlebox that slowly unfolds to reveal one wonder after another. It’s about growing up, about shouldering responsiblity and learning to stand on your own two feet. This is dramatically visualized as the young heroine, Chihiro, becomes entraped within a marvelous bathhouse for the gods, run by a wicked witch, in which reality and form are as fluid as the play of light across water. Speaking of which, no one can fill a cartoon with quirky and lovable details like Miyazaki; listen to the little squeaky noise as the obese Radish Spirit waddles along, or witness the eccentric behavior of the Soot Sprites in the basement. Or the haunting, silent spectre called No Face, who morphs into a ravening monster when fed. Or the train sailing across the surface of an endless shallow sea. Or the three bug-eyed bouncing green heads. Or, or, or.....I could go on. Chihiro’s journey takes her through layers of dream and idea, and we follow along, entranced. This movie honestly gives me faith that the human imagination will never die.
BEST SCENE: Hoo boy. Every scene. Can I pick every scene? No? Okay, I’ll go with the train journey near the end of the movie. It’s so....quiet. So still. It pushes the pause button on the entire plot. For a minute or two, we’re just there with Chihiro and her friends, riding the train. Watching the dreamlike scenery outside. Thinking. Wondering. I get goosebumps every time.

Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992)
I remember going to my grandparents’ house and watching Nickelodeon all day. Some shows ruled and some sucked, but I always danced for joy when Tiny Toon Adventures came on. Then I found this Tiny Toons feature film on VHS, and thus entered paradise. Like Animaniacs, Tiny Toons was hilarious, subversive, and funny on multiple levels, and the film -- which follows various characters through their summer hijinks -- took the brilliant buffoonery to the highest level possible. Buster and Babs Bunny are swept downriver and wind up in a parody of Deliverance. Plucky Duck joins Hampton Pig and his family for the road trip from hell, complete with a pork-eating psycho in a hockey mask. Fifi the Skunk pines for a stinky movie heartthrob whose resemblance to Johnny Depp is sooooo totally coincidental. The sight gags and pop culture references fly so thick and fast that you basically HAVE to watch the movie several times, and it’s so worth it. Solid gold animated anarchy. God, I hope this exists on Torrent somewhere.
BEST SCENE: After spending the whole movie in the car, Plucky and Hampton finally arrive at the glorious theme park of Happy World Land, and (spoiler alert) Plucky’s bubble of bliss is rudely burst when the pig family immediately turns around and heads home, declaring: “Don’t wanna overdo it on our first visit!” Comic payoffs rarely get better.
*SLICE-OF-MY-CHILDHOOD SEAL OF APPROVAL*

Wall-E (2008)
There is no way to pick the best Pixar film. Can we all agree on that? They’ve not made a bad animated movie yet, and it is SO BLOODY HARD to single out my favorite. But I guess....yeah, I guess it has to be Wall-E. Everyone who’s not living on the ocean floor knows why this film is so good, but let me just address what makes it so amazing to me personally: the silence. For a great deal of the movie, there are no human voices beyond a few faded recordings and the vaguely phonetic chirps and squawks of the titular robot, who has spent centuries tirelessly gathering refuse on an abandoned, trash-encrusted planet Earth. Yet the wordless Wall-E is as good a physical comedian as Keaton or Chaplin and as lovable as E.T. The romance between him and EVE (the sleek, sexy, feminine iBot who’s way out of his league) is hilarious, hopeless, and heartwarming, and the resulting sci-fi action shenanigans are driven, not by plot or by the need to blow stuff up, but by the simple bond between two robots who, like all robots, were built by us and represent everything we hope for and fear about ourselves. Think of that. Marvel on it. If Dreamworks had gotten their paws on this property, Wall-E would be screeching with the voice of Will Ferrell and using farts to propel himself. Thank you so much, Pixar, for being classy and old-fashioned, for knowing how to tell a perfect story. For tapping into wonder.
BEST SCENE: Wall-E’s befuddled courtship of EVE, as I said. Not only will it make you laugh and break your heart at the same time, it foreshadowed the even more sob-inducing wordless romance at the beginning of Pixar’s mext film, Up. Grab a box of tissues and a bar of chocolate.

The Wrong Trousers (1993)
Long live Wallace and Gromit! The Wrong Trousers wasn’t the first claymation I’d ever seen, but one look at it and I knew this was something special, something charming and British and definitive. I only have to summarize the plot -- evil penguin uses pair of remote-controlled robotic pants in a diamond heist, only to be foiled by inventor and his dog -- and you want to see this movie, even if you’ve already seen it. I fell in love with Wallace, the delightfully dopey inventor in the tweed vest, and Gromit, his resourceful and long-suffering pooch, who emotes more with his clay eyebrows than many actors do with their whole damn body. I was genuinely creeped out by Feathers McGraw, the dead-eyed penguin bad guy. Each scene is constructed with loving attention to detail, and each gag beautifully sets up the next one in an escalating chain of craziness. British humor works by its own lovely mechanisms, and how lucky we are that comedy can be internationally shared! Wallace and Gromit have made a feature film and several shorts, all brilliant, but The Wrong Trousers will always be my favorite. It’s a perfect animated film to me.

Beauty and the Beast Animated Wallpapers

2011-10-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

Beauty and the Beast is my second favorite animated movie (Sleeping Beauty being my favorite). The first time I saw this movie I was astounded at the animation, how the camera moved, the color palette used and the music. As to the animation, in some instances we might be focused in the foreground, but the background would held beautiful images worth contemplating.

Nonetheless, my favorite sequence in all the movie is Be Our Guest. This sequence includes not only a catchy song with beautiful lyrics, but also the energy, warmth, and strength of eating and drinking (and serving). It is also a joyous and long awaited hiatus in the lives of the servants, as is put into song:

Life is so unnerving
For a servant who's not serving
He's not whole without a soul to wait upon

Ah, those good old days when we were useful...

Suddenly those good old days are gone

Ten years we've been rusting

Needing so much more than dusting

Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills!

Most days we just lay around the castle

Flabby, fat and lazy

You walked in and oops-a-daisy!

A daisy, indeed. And what joie the vivre!

But my favorite shot is actually in the reprise of the song Belle, when Belle has said no to Gaston's marriage proposal and she goes to the woods to sing her heart out.

She is definitely not Madame Gaston. Belle also wants much more than her provincial life can provide (even though one might say that she is privileged to live in such a beautiful and luscious place- it all depends in one's circumstances, I guess).

This sequence reminds me so of another of my favorite movies: the beginning of The Sound of Music, when Maria is also singing in the woods (even the music, to my untrained ears, sounds similar).

What a marvelous library. I've always been the nerdy type, so I fell in love with the Beast's library. So much knowledge and so little time to read it all.

Thanksgiving Season Animated Wallpapers

2011-10-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving is the season of autumn when people enjoys falling leaves and beauty of nature spread all over the land. We have given animated look to this beautiful scene during thanksgiving in the form of this Animated Thanksgiving Season Wallpaper as decorative background of the fallen season.

Happy New Year Animated wallpapers

2011-10-08T05:31:00.000-07:00

Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959) Animated Movies

2011-10-08T05:24:00.000-07:00

Candle Animated

2011-10-08T05:05:00.000-07:00

Celebrity Animated 2011

2011-10-08T05:03:00.000-07:00

Angel Animated 2011

2011-10-08T05:01:00.000-07:00

Beauty Animated Purple Butterfly Wallpaper

2011-10-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

The Best Animated TV Shows of the 70s

2011-10-08T00:37:00.000-07:00

Often referred to as the decade of disco, the 1970s were a phenomenal and memorable set of years still widely referenced in today's culture. In addition to bell bottoms, platform shoes, Afro puffs, and white disco suits, the 70s are also renowned for their classic entertainment. Animated television was one form of this entertainment. Before 3D, high def, and blue ray, there was pure, old-fashioned animated TV that brought the quality entertainment its viewers so desired. Join us on a trip down memory lane as we revisit ten of the best animated television shows to air during the 70s!

1. Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids: (First aired 1972, ran until 1985) "Hey hey hey! It's Faaatttt Albert!" This was the beloved expression of the characters on Fat Albert--an animated series that was created, produced, and at times voiced by comedian Bill Cosby. The show was based on remembrances of Cosby's childhood gang and focused on the lovable and oversized character Albert. Often featuring an educational lesson and a rock song performed by the characters, Cosby's upbeat kids had an impact on children across America, regardless of race. In 2004, the animated series was released as a film adaptation, but of course nothing tops the original.

2. Schoolhouse Rock!: (First aired 1973, ran until 1999) Remember how in grade school your teacher would turn certain lessons into a song to help you remember it better? Well that's exactly how the widely popular show Schoolhouse Rock! got its start. The show began after David Mcall noticed that his son was having trouble remembering his multiplication tables but knew the lyrics to several rock songs. Each episode was an animated musical and educational short film that covered topics such as grammar, science, economics, and math. Schoolhouse Rock! was short but sweet and adorned by kids and parents everywhere. It'll definitely go down as one of the classics. Rock on dudes!

3. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: (First aired 1969, ran until 1972) Who can forget America's favorite Scooby-snack loving, easily frightened, affectionate Great Dane dog and his four fun-loving mystery-solving pals? Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was the first incarnation of the long-running Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. Each episode involved Scooby and his four teenage pals, affectionately called "the gang," solving a super-natural mystery. Scooby and Shaggy were the somewhat clumsy, "fraidy cats" of the group, while Daphne was the damsel in distress, and Fred and Velma were usually the brains of the operation. These five personalities were combined to create a show that, despite its antiquity, is still being embraced today.

4. Josie and the Pussy Cats: (First aired 1970, ran until 1972) Before Hannah Montana and the Cheetah Girls, there was Josie and the Pussy Cats--an animated series that featured an all-girl pop music band that toured the world getting swept up by delectable adventures along the way. The show became famous for its music and the girls' leopard-print leotards complete with tails and ears. The original show only ran for 16 episodes before it was transformed into the amusing spin-off Josie and the Pussy Cats in Outer Space. Even after its final airing, the spunk and charisma of Josie and her team continued to influence animated series for years to come. Hooray for girl power!

5. Star Trek: The Animated Series: (First aired 1973, ran until 1974) Geeks, hold on to your seats as we take a brief journey into what some might call the biggest asset known to geek-kind. After Star Trek: The Original Series but before Star Trek: The Next Generation, there was Star Trek: The Animated Series, sometimes referred to as The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. Star Trek: The Animated Series was an animated science fiction television series set in the titular Star Trek Universe following the original series of the 1960s. The animated episodes were largely modeled after the original show, with a bit more flexibility in introducing new characters and technologies. (Because let's face it--it's easier to draw a Klingon-speaking, non-humanoid alien than it is to actually build one.) The series went on to receive critical acclaim and a Daytime Emmy Award.

6. Jabberjaw: (First aired 1976, ran until 1978) As part of the overall shark mania of the 1970s and shortly after the then-recent film Jaws, Hanna-Barbara Inc. released Jabberjaw--a Saturday morning animated series about a 15-foot talking great white shark. Jabberjaw was the drummer for a rock group made up of four teenagers who all lived in an underwater civilization in the year 2076. As Jabberjaw and his rock band buddies traveled to different underwater cities, they would encounter and attempt to conquer diabolic villains with plans to take over the undersea world. The format and writing for Jabberjaw was similar to that for Scooby-Doo and Josie and Pussycats, but for a time when people were scared out their minds of sharks, you've got to admit it was pretty cool to create one that was heroic and loveable.

7. Super Friends: (First aired 1973, ran until 1986) The Super Friends were an animated group of superhero comrades. The show was based on the Justice League of America--a fictional superhero team that appeared in then-recent comic books. During its 13 year span, the show existed under several different titles, all involving some combination including the words 'super' and "friends.' Plotlines for the show focused on the often far-fetched schemes of mad scientists and aliens, who were eventually revealed to be well-intentioned but pursuing their goals through unlawful means. Typically, each episode would end with the Super Friends convincing the antagonsits to adopt more reasonable methods. The Super Friends and the Justice League of America were merely the animated embodiment of the "justice for all" atmosphere that cloaked the nation at that time.

8. Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels: (First aired 1977, ran until 1980) This series can be accurately described as a cartoon take off of Charlie's Angels. After being set free by the Teen Angels from a block of glacier ice, Captain Caveman emerged as the world's first superhero. Along with the three Teen Angels, the Captain solves crimes with his super strength and an endless assortment of gadgets that he keeps hidden in his caveman fur. Even after the Captain's own superhero days had ceased, he continued to make appearances in other shows and was featured in The Flintstone Comedy Show, the Flintstone Kids, Robot Chicken, and a few others. Who says our Stone Age brethren can't make it in the modern day?

9. The Funky Phantom: (First aired 1971, ran until 1972) The 70s were all about getting down at the disco and keeping it fresh, so it only makes sense that the Phantom had to be funky too. Attempting to find shelter from a rain storm, three teens take refuge in an abandoned house. While there, they discover the ghost of an old coward who had hidden in his clock from British soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Not to worry, however, because this ghost was far from frightening and soon became the gang's favorite "Funky Phantom!"

10. Groovie Goolies: (First aired 1970, ran until 1972) Groovie Goolies was an animated spinoff of Sabrina The Teenage Witch (the original comic book series, not the one with Melissa Joan Hart). Keeping with their name and the atmosphere of the time, the Groovie Goolies were indeed quite groovy. The show actually produced a hit song for Richard Mondo called "Chick a Boom." The Goolies themselves were a group of hip monsters who sang a pop song during each episode. What you might not have guessed from their name, however, is that the Goolies were drawn to be funny and not scary.

Top 15 Animated Films of the Decade

2011-10-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

The past ten years have been absolutely chock full of ridiculously amazing animated films. Creating this list was impossibly hard for me, because I feel like I've seen almost every animated film released since I was born, and I'm in love with so many of them. However, below are what I consider to be the 15 best animated films of the past decade. Even with 15, I'm excluding a lot of great films! Anyway, here you go:

15. Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Dir: Mark Osborne and John Stevenson

I was extremely skeptical before going in to see "Kung Fu Panda". It looked like just another quickly-churned-out family movie with some celebrity voices to get ticket sales. But little did I know how truly awesome it would be. "Kung Fu Panda" is a joyous and colorful little movie. The animation is slick and sharp and the scenery and score are absolutely lovely. Plus, it had a great and honest heart that truly set it above the rest.

14. Coraline (2009)
Dir: Henry Selick

"Coraline" is a feast for the senses. The music is brilliant, the story is exhilarating, and the visuals are absolutely fantastic. Not only that, but it seamlessly mixes in 3D, so that it does not distract, but instead adds artistically to the presentation of the movie. This film is mystifying for children, thought provoking for adults, and has better production design than most live-action films.

13. Finding Nemo (2003)
Dir: Andrew Stanton

The first of what will be a few Pixar films on this list, "Finding Nemo" became an instant family classic, and rightfully so. It's a wonderful tale that mixes adventure, humor, and sadness all perfectly, as Pixar films usually do. It has an amazing score and any of the underwater scenes are just...to di(v)e for. Oh, and Ellen DeGeneres is just awesome.

12. Corpse Bride (2005)
Dir: Tim Burton

Ah, I wish that Tim Burton would make another animated film. This is the medium where his truly eccentric visions shine. "Corpse Bride" is a mystifyingly macabre ode to love, life, and the inevitable death. Burton's mature and almost humorous view of death in this film make it something absolutely wonderful. Plus, as a musical it succeeds so well.

11. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
Dir: Sylvain Chomet

"Triplets" is kooky, crazy, exaggerated, and awesome. It's such a success of animation - with basically no dialogue, it is able to tell a story (albeit a bizarre one) with only images and music. I mean, I love the soundtrack to this movie so much that it would probably make my top 10 of the decade itself. Every wacky visual is used perfectly - as a symbol, a caricature, or as a plot point. I can't wait for Sylvain Chomet's next film.

10. The Incredibles (2004)
Dir: Brad Bird

Action! Adventure! Family dynamics! For the longest time, "The Incredibles" was my favorite Pixar movie (until they released number 4 on this list). It's such an exciting and fun movie, one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen. I can't think of any other word to describe this movie other than...awesome.

9. Persepolis (2007)
Dir: Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi

"Persepolis" is not for children. It's an intense, political cartoon based on the graphic novel memoirs of Marjane Satrapi. The unique animation brings the viewer in immediately and is a revolutionary way to tell the story. It's sad, beautiful, and hilarious all at once...just an amazing piece of filmmaking. I hope that Satrapi adapts one of her other books for the screen someday in the future...

8. Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were Rabbit (2005)
Dir: Steve Box and Nick Park

Wallace and Gromit's short film success translated beautifully to a feature film. I love witty comedies, and "Wallace and Gromit" is about as witty as it gets. I mean, I just can't imagine anyone not loving it! Plus, think about all the time it takes to move those little clay figures. Gosh.

7. Millennium Actress (2001)
Dir: Satoshi Kon

I'm not sure what it is about this movie that makes me love it so. It's just absolutely gorgeous - a captivating romance story that spans decades. This movie is slightly more obscure than the others on the list, so if you haven't seen it yet, please check it out. It's just a fantastic movie, one that is full of surprises. Oh, and did I mention that the visuals are unbelievable?

6. Up (2009)
Dir: Pete Docter

I'm a sucker for colorful movies, in case you haven't noticed (15, 13, 7) and of all the other movies on this list, this is probably the most vivid. But that's just face value. Get down to the heart-wrenching script, the beautiful score by Michael Giacchino, and...just everything else, and you've got one of the most irresistible movies ever.

5. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Dir: Hayao Miyazaki

Oh, Miyazaki. How is it possible that each of Miyazaki's movies can be so amazing? A lot of it, of course, relies on the masterful music by Joe Hisaishi. "Howl's Moving Castle" is just a stunning film. Detailed, awesome, and unbelievable. I think Miyazaki is one of the greatest directors of all time and this is certainly one of his best.

4. Ratatouille (2007)
Dir: Brad Bird

"Ratatouille" is a movie just meant for me to love, because it's about Paris and about cooking. I just love, love, love those sweeping shots of Paris, with that beautiful Parisian music playing...mmmm. Anyway, "Ratatouille", like its culinary namesake, is simply delicious. While most CGI animated movies take the easy route, the hard work shows in this one and it's amazing.

3. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Dir: Mamoru Hosoda

This anime sci-fi romance mixes the best of all three genres flawlessly. This movie could have easily gotten so sappy so quickly, as it's about friendship and about teenagerhood, but...it never really does, which is probably why it's so great. To be able to balance the emotions of being a teenager (which I obviously can relate to) without getting sappy makes everything so effective and genuine.

2. Wall-E (2008)
Dir: Andrew Stanton

Wow, wow, wow. I'm sure you all saw this coming, but Wall-E is easily Pixar's best film and I doubt they'll ever be able to outdo it. Its very concept seems impossible, yet the movie is nearly perfect. I'll never forget that "dancing in space" scene (pictured above). It's a gorgeous, romantic, and wonderful scene in a gorgeous, romantic and wonderful movie that I'm sure will last forever.

1. Spirited Away (2001)
Dir: Hayao Miyazaki

So here it is. My number 1 animated film of the decade...and, incidentally, my favorite film of all time. Everything about this movie is absolutely stunning, mind-blowing...use any positive superlative you want, it applies to this movie! The visuals are beautiful, the score is...ahhhh. And it instills in you (or at least in me) a sense of wonder that I rarely ever feel when going to see a movie. Ah, ah, ah...I just can't even do justice to this film in words. It's an absolute masterpiece.

Top Animation Pics

2011-10-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

The list that Keiichi Hara (原恵一, 1959) submitted for the Laputa Top 150 World and Japanese Animation (2003) is fascinating as it reveals not only the animation that influenced him during his formative years, but it also his dissatisfaction with the state of animation in Japan in the early 2000s.

At the time of the poll, Hara’s talent as an animator had recently been recognized with the Mainichi Animation Award for Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called: The Adult Empire Strikes Back (クレヨンしんちゃん嵐を呼ぶモーレツ！オトナ帝国の逆襲, 2001), the eighth installment in the Crayon Shin-chan film series. Although he would stay with the Crayon Shin-chan franchise for several more films, there were already signs in 2003 that he might consider taking his career in a new direction.

The animation professionals polled in 2003 were asked to list what they felt were the 20 best animated works of all time. Keiichi Hara elected to nominate only six titles: 3 feature films and 3 TV anime series from the 1970s.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

(風の谷のナウシカ, Hayao Miyazaki, 1984)

Keiichi Hara considers Hayao Miyazaki’s adaptation of his own manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind the greatest animation every made in the history of world animation. During the recent Q+A with Hara in Frankfurt, he reaffirmed that he still admires Nausicaä.

Night on the Galactic Railroad

(銀河鉄道の夜, Gisaburo Sugii, 1985)

Hara also heaps praise on Gisaburo Sugii’s Night on the Galactic Railroad, which is an adaptation of a novel by Kenji Miyazawa. While chatting with Hara and Nippon Connection organizers earlier this month in Frankfurt, the subject of Miyazawa came up during a discussion about vegetarianism and Hara spoke of his admiration for Miyazawa’s writing. He mentioned particularly how much he enjoyed Miyazawa’s use of word play like onomatopoeia.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

(人狼, Hiroyuki Okiura, 1999)

Most of the animation on Hara’s list comes from his childhood or the early part of his career in the animation industry. Jin-Roh is the only recent work that seemed to have impressed Hara, and he even writes that he wishes more animation would be like this film.

Ganba no Bōken

(ガンバの冒険, Osamu Dezaki, TV anime, 26 eps., 1976)

This anime impressed Keiichi Hara when he was a teenager because it was clearly so very different than other TV anime of the 1970s.

Space Battleship Yamato

(宇宙戦艦ヤマト, Leiji Matsumoto, TV anime, 26 eps., 1974-75)

This was a science fiction anime series that aired on TV in Japan when Hara was a teenager. He recalls that every week he eagerly anticipated the next episode. Although the project was conceived by producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki a year before animator and manga-ka Leiji Matsumoto came on board as a director, Matsumoto shaped the TV series to such an extent that he is generally credited with the unique look of the anime.

Future Boy Conan

(未来少年コナン, Hayao Miyazaki, TV anime, 26 eps., 1978)

Hara cites this TV anime as having a profound influence on his own work. The always sharp-eyed Benjamin Ettinger over at Anipages spotted the name of Shojuro Yamauchi (山内昇寿郎, name sometimes transliterated as Toshiro Yamauchi), a key animator on Future Boy Conan (and many other Miyazaki projects) in the credits for Hara’s Colorful (2010). Yamauchi passed away last year on the same day as Satoshi Kon. It is fortunate that Hara had the chance to work with someone whose work he admired.

It is noteworthy that Hara does not mention any foreign animation in his preferences. Yet despite his clear preference for anime, Hara writes in the comments section of the survey that he has been actually finding it difficult to watch animation. Somehow, he thinks that the characters and the voice acting make him feel sick and he wonders if too much anime is being produced, or if the talent levels of the animation staff has declined over the years, or if he is simply going crazy. He says that there is simply nothing worth watching anymore and he wonders if it would be better to reduce anime production by a third.

I would speculate that Hara’s comments on this survey reflect the animator’s weariness with producing “programme pictures.” He spent the better part of the 1980s working for the Doraemon and Esper Mami series, and at the time of this survey he had spent a decade making Crayon Shin-chan films. In the short amount of time I had to speak with Keiichi Hara in person, I had the impression of a very thoughtful man with wide-ranging interests from popular culture to literature and world cinema. In his most recent films, he has taken on challenging subject matter and tried out new animation styles. I think we have only just begun to see what great things this talented animation is really capable of creating.

The 50 Best Animated Features

2011-10-08T00:15:00.000-07:00

Best Animated Feature 2010

2011-10-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

First awarded in 2001, Best Animated Feature is the youngest of AMPAS’ competitive categories. The number of nominees in the category is determined according to how many films are eligible to be long listed. If there are at least eight eligible films, there will be three nominees. If there are sixteen or more, the category expands to five nominees. To qualify for the long list films have to be at least 70 minutes long and have had a theatrical release in Los Angeles during the qualifying year.

This year's nominees:

Coraline: Henry Selick's stop-motion film (the first stop-motion film to be made in 3D) took 3 and a half years to get to the big screen (2 years of pre-production; 18 months of filming) and became an instant classic. With 10 Annie nominations as well as PGA, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations for Best Animated Feature and notices from several critics groups, Coraline is in a good position going into Oscar night.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: Wes Anderson's first foray into animation would appear to be the greatest threat to Up's almost assured win in this category. Already rewarded with 2 awards from the Las Vegas Film Critics, one from LA and one from the New York Film Critics Circle, as well as a couple of Best Adapted Screenplay awards from various critics groups, Fantastic Mr. Fox has a great shot at pulling off an upset.

The Princess and the Frog: Disney's return to traditional, hand-drawn animation proved to be a hit with critics and audiences alike. The film is nominated for 7 Annie Awards, and nominated as Best Animated Feature at the PGAs, Golden Globes and Critics Choice.

The Secret of Kells: The surprise nominee in the category, though it did nab an Annie nomination as Best Animated Feature so I suppose it's not totally out of left field. I would be very surprised to see this one win, but then again I was surprised by the nomination, so there you go.

Up: The Animated Feature category is pretty much Up's to lose. What more is there to say? Pixar's well-deserved domination of the category seems likely to continue.

Best Animated Girls Wallpapers

2011-10-08T00:10:00.000-07:00

The 15 Best Animated Superhero Shows

2011-10-08T00:03:00.000-07:00

Superheroes are awesome, it's just fact. And while live action seems to be the trend lately, animation is a much more natural fit to really represent them in the best way possible. So with that in mind, here are the 15 best examples of top notch shows pretty much anybody should be able to enjoy:

#15: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Far more goofy than their gritty comic book origins, the original Turtles show took a whole bunch of weird and made it work. As if the Turtles themselves weren't crazy enough in concept, adding brain-like space alien Krang and moronic minions Bebop & Rocksteady turned it up a notch. And yet for the most part it worked really well, managing to combine decent action with comedy really well. It kind of fell apart the last couple seasons, but few shows, animated or otherwise had such a strong run for such a long time, to this day they are still making TMNT, with a new show on Nickelodeon coming out this year, which speaks to the appeal and strength of this oddly fantastic foursome of ninjas.

#14. Freakazoid : Possibly the most insane superhero ever, winning most of his battles by simply irritating his enemies more often than doing anything remotely heroic. Whether he actually even qualifies as a hero is possibly in question, since he just does whatever he wants most of the time, mostly in an absolutely hilarious fashion, with completely awesome and random humor thrown in just for the hell of it.

#13. The Tick

While most of these shows do a pretty good job at poking fun at the superhero genre once and great while, The Tick managed to do it every single episode, be it the dim bulb hero or his equally ridiculous allies like Sewer Urchin and even more awesomely ridiculous enemies such as Chairface Chippendale. A still brilliant parody of the occasional stupidity of comics, this probably still reigns as the greatest superhero comedy ever.

#12. Darkwing Duck: Superheroes are supposed to be selfless, all about helping their fellow man, and don't really care for glory. That is not Darkwing at all. He's all about the glory, extremely petty, egotistical and selfish, sometimes dangerously so. And that's what makes him so awesome. But at the end of the day, he still beats the bad guy, making him one of the few heroes that usually can back up his huge boasts.

#11. X-Men Evolution: It'd be nearly impossible to try and outdo the original X-men series (more on that later), so why even bother? Granted, sending heroes back to high school is a risky proposition, but Evolution made it work incredibly well, bringing a great mix of stand-alone and arching storylines that would even stretch into the next season, which is extremely rare for an cartoon shows. It's a shame it only lasted 3 seasons, which didn't five it much of a chance at having a rich a deeply layered history like it could have.

#10. Gargoyles: This is probably Disney's most ambitious animated series to date. It's has layers upon layers of character development and plot lines, it's dark, dealing with deep betrayal, murder, kidnapping, hate crime and other such non-kiddy fare. And being on Disney with this kind of subject matter, you knew it was only destined for a few seasons, but what a fantastic few seasons they were.

#9. Batman: The Brave & the Bold : It's an incredible accomplishment to do Batman as light and campy and still make it work exceptionally well, but that's exactly what the most recent Dark Knight series has done, being extremely funny and loaded with cameos from DC's vast B & C-list such as Blue Beetle & Plastic Man. It's also the only show to portray Batman as having an actual sense of humor, which while out of character for his more serious portrayals, works very well within the show.

#8. Batman Beyond : There can't really be another Batman other than Bruce Wayne, right? Nobody could possibly fill that role. Except what the hell do you do when Batman actually does get too old? In comes Terry McGinnis, who isn't Bruce Wayne, not by a longshot. But he's a new kind of Batman, for a new age, and it works, even beating the likes of Freeze and the Joker in his own way. Gotham doesn't always need Bruce Wayne, but it does always need a Batman, and Terry fills in the role very nicely.

#7. X-Men : Premiering the same year as Batman: the Animated series, this was one of the first attempts to do a real, serious cartoon show, and boy did it work. Arcs that ran over the whole show, a real continuity to the universe and the episodes, and the bonus of bringing some classic X-Men storylines to life. This was one of the first examples that animation and cartoons specifically did not have to be candy coated crap meant to sell toys and could be as good as anything on prime time TV. If it has any failings, it was that unlike the best shows, it was completely serious, instead of having a good mix of humor and drama.

#6. Spectacular Spider-Man : There have been a fair amount of Marvel cartoons over the years, several starring Spider-Man, this is far and away the best, managing to perfectly capture the personality of the wall-crawler while successfully taking a new spin on most of his villains and friends. Sadly this fantastic show lasted only 2 seasons, a fatality of the rights going back to Sony, which choose to go with a new show rather than keep the great original. Boo Sony.

#5. Teen Titans : This might actually be the funniest superhero series that isn't a spoof, giving the show an exaggerated anime style and most of the characters extremely goofy yet enjoyable and endearing personalities. Yet it manages to mix in some seriousness, most of it dealing with Robin's arch nemesis Slade but also dealing with things like Raven's repressed darker nature from time to time. For pure entertainment and hilarity, it's hard to top this awesome 5-season run.

#4. Superman : The Animated Series: Arguably DC's most famous hero (at least until Batman's recent leap in popularity), a huge problem with Superman was that he was practically invincible, how do you keep that interesting? Bruce Timm managed to do it, making nearly every episode entertaining and the best representation of the Man of Steel to date.

#3. Avatar: The Last Airbender : Like many of the shows on this list, Avatar manages to blend drama and humor extremely well. What makes it stand out is that it's an original property that manages to create a rich universe and it manages to tell its story in three short but amazing seasons. It could've gone on longer (and sort of will thanks to an upcoming spin-off) but in the end it didn't really need to, it accomplished what few shows, especially cartoons manage to do in wrapping up all its key plots to come to a stellar and satisfying conclusion, making it easily one of the best series ever, animated or otherwise.

#2: Justice League/Justice League Unlimited : The original Justice League show was a great feat, managing 8 superheroes in compelling ways with great intertwining storylines for 3 seasons. When it changed to Unlimited, potentially incorporating the entire DC universe, it got even better, taking time to make us care about nobodies like Hawk & Dove, Vigilante, or the hilarious Booster Gold while still giving plenty of screen time to the big name heroes. Probably the most amazing aspect was continuity, even mining episodes of Batman, Superman & Batman Beyond for episode material.

#1. Batman: The Animated series: Arguably responsible for cartoons finally being taken as something more than kid's stuff. It was true to the source material, and actually made the comic it was based on better. Harley Quinn was an original creation of the show, Mr. Freeze was made a better villain, and so on. It managed to have great adventures, seriously dark moments, and even completely hilarious episodes. It is the standard-bearer, and probably always will be.

Best Animated 2011

2011-10-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

Horses in films don't always consist of real flesh and blood, some of the best horses come as animated ones. Some of my favorites are listed below.

How could I not mention My Little Pony's. They're the greatest animated horse stars of all time.

The Hunchback of Norte Dame has Achilles, Phoebes horse. Achilles might be the horse star in the film, but Frollo's horse who's name is never mention, but in the commentary it's snowball, is a big black friesian. One of the greatest one liners is when Phoebes walks off screen and says " Achilles, heel. " Great!

The Last Unicorn is one of the films that is not from Disney, but is one of my favorites.

Hercules along with the Last Unicorn hold the title for mystical horses. Pegasus is Hercules right hand partner, and one of the best in Disney history.

Sampson in Sleeping Beauty helped the prince rescue the beautiful Aurora, while also being the stubborn old nag.

I couldn't leave out Bullet in Toy Story. Great Pixar horse.

Mulan and Kahn are a great team. Kahn is of course one of my favorites, well because he's black. Softy for blacks.

The Road to Eldorado has one of the forgotten animated horses. Altivo was Cortez horse, and walks of the ship in quite a cartoon frame then relaxes when he joins the two adventurers to find gold.

Last but not least, the all time best animated horse film of all time is Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron. Spirit embodied the true mustang, and the livelyhood of the wild horse. Narrated by Matt Damon and music by Bryan Adams, made a great film.

The Best Animated

2011-10-07T23:56:00.000-07:00

Being fat, I like food. So while I was eating my snack between snacks I started thinking of all the visually splendid food in a few of my favourite animated films. You know, the cartoon meals that just make you want to dig into the pantry. So without further ado, here are the best visual feasts... in some of the best animated films... which are kinda visual feasts... because they are visually stunning to... umm yeah just read the rest of the article.

Spirited Away

In the beginning of Hayao Miyazaki's (8th) masterpiece, Jihiro gets frustrated because her parents suddenly start acting irresponsibly, helping themselves to an abandoned feast in an abandoned town. Not a smart thing to do, sure, but how can you blame them? If I saw such gorgeous food, I would gorge on it as well.

Shrek 2

When Harold and Shrek are yelling at each other at the royal dinner table, I wanted to intervene and gobble up the chicken, the lobster AND the donkey.

Ratatouille

Considering how much I love eating, it should come as no surprise that one of my favourite films of all time is one all about food. I am of course talking about Ratatouille, the Pixar/Brad Bird masterpiece. All of the fine, French cuisine is beautiful to behold, and the film inspires everyday people to get in the kitchen. Fun fact; most of the food in the film was first cooked by the staff at Pixar, and then photographed and animated!

James and the Giant Peach

If I was on-board with them, the film would be called "James".

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Of all the films about food, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gets the most Michelin stars. They could have just featured still photos of food for two hours and I would have been happy, but they used food in so many imaginative ways it was impossible not too summon a massive appetite while watching it. Might I add; this film is very underrated; I seriously think it's one of the funniest films of the last few years.

Well there you have it; some of the yummiest food to grace animation. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go watch Masterchef while eating half a kilogram of chocolate...

2011 Best Animated Shorts

2011-10-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

iTunes, in its infinite wisdom, has made just 4 out of the 5 films up for Best Animated Short available for purchase. Despite this seemingly silly oversight, it was a treat to watch these films and have the chance to make an informed opinion in this category for the first time in my Oscar-watching career.

So although I wasn’t able to watch The Gruffalo, which of course is one of the films people are saying could win, here is my rundown of this year’s crop of nominated films.

Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (or Madagascar, A Journey Diary) was my favorite of the nominees for its eclectic mix of animation techniques. It’s essentially a plotless piece of work, but it’s so beautifully rendered, with watercolor, pencil, and many other very unique styles blended seamlessly. You get caught up in it, and the director’s obvious love for Madagascar and its culture. I don’t think it’s that strong a contender to win, but I’m glad it got a nomination so I could catch it.

Lots and lots of people have seen my second-favorite of the bunch (and my choice to win the category), Pixar’s Day and Night. Not to be confused with the pretty shitty Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz action flick from earlier this year, this short film tells the story of two very different creatures. Day has a bright, sunny disposition. Night is his opposite, and when the two meet, they clash. They eventually learn to appreciate each other, and though it sounds trite and silly here, it’s actually quite charming—no surprise, I guess, since it’s the Pixar entry. They’ve been making quality shorts for years, and this one is no different.

The Lost Thing is one of the longer entries in the field, and I found myself a bit underwhelmed by it. It tells the story of a man who stumbles across this, for lack of a better word, thing. It’s enormous and looks a bit like the kraken in a red suit of armor. He’s harmless, though, a bit like a lost puppy, really, and the man decides to care for him. It’s sweet, but the conclusion is a little weak, so I doubt it will do much, but who knows.

The final film, which I think has absolutely no shot, is Let’s Pollute. It’s modeled after those cheesy educational videos of the 1950s, and though it’s quite funny, it leaves no impact at all. The animation is clever, as is the writing, but it’s far too slight to do anything on Oscar night.

"La Maison en Petits Cubes" best animated short film

2011-10-07T23:52:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy about the choice of the Best animated short film that today won the Oscar award. Because it's deeply water-related, and so I've the chance to speak about it here, and moreover it's a wonderful little jewel. After having won the festivals of Annecy and Milan, contrary to the expectations that were all for "Presto" by Pixar (that rarely let slip this Oscar), it won also the most prestigious of the awards. I'm speaking about "La Maison en Petits Cubes" (Tsumiki no ie), by Kunio Kato.

Obviously it is protected by copyright, therefore I cannot show it here, the only thing is a short clip at the end of this post, but believe me it simply doesn't give you an idea of how intense and delicate is this short film. So purchase it as soon as possible and you won't be disappointed.

This is the story of an old man living alone in a town that has become submerged. His answer to the slowly rising water is to keep building on to his original home--like placing cubes on top of cubes to keep out the water. When he loses his favorite pipe, he wears a scuba wetsuit to retrieve it. As he descends and sees the earlier, now submerged, levels of his home he relives in his mind his life and loves. The idea is great and thanks also to an incidental music particularly on the beam it's all very sweet and sentimental.

The scuba diving in particular is a great plot device. The metaphorical aspects are the real strength of the film: Building your own life block after block each one on top of the previous one to escape to a sea that never stops to rise... and then descending in your own life, stage after stage, and looking at your own memories and to other houses that no more reach the surface...
I wondered if the whole story of the rising sea level is also an attempt to draw attention to global warming.

This short masterpiece has been written and directed by Kunio Katô, and the following are the full credits:

Directed by: Kunio KATO
Country: Japan
Year: 2008
Running time: 12 mn 03 s
Techniques used:Drawing on paper, 2D computer
Process: Colour
Category: 2008 Short films
Target public: All audiences
Directed by: Kunio KATO
Producer: Kusakabe MASANORI, Yuko SHIN
Produced by: ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Script: Kunio KATO
Graphics: Kunio KATO
Storyboard: Kunio KATO
Layout: Kunio KATO
Scenery: Kunio KATO
Animation: Kunio KATO
Camera: Kunio KATO
Music: Kenji KONDO
Compositing: Kunio KATO