Animation is my favorite visual medium, and I have watched an incredible amount of it in my life, but these five movies are without any doubt ones that each represent a major turning point in the art form.One could easily do a top 100 list too, given the near-century of animation to choose from, but for my money, these are the key titles.Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Still unsurpassed This isn't just the movie that put Disney on the map; it's also the movie that showed the world that animation could be more than silly little cartoons.
Animation could be high art.It could be beautiful and haunting.This is the first feature-length animation project in history, and Walt Disney bet the farm on it.
This movie established animation as a viable industry, not just in America but across the globe.It kicked off decades of Disney dominance and pushed the technical envelope with techniques like rotoscoping (an early manual form of motion capture) and the multiplane animation capture method.But what about the movie itself? Despite being the first of its kind, is still worth watching today.
It's a handcrafted masterpiece, and the story is perfectly presented.It might "only" be a retelling of a well-known fairy tale, but it's absolutely iconic.Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs G Fantasy Animation Family Release Date January 14, 1938 Where to watch Close WHERE TO WATCH Streaming RENT BUY Cast Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, Harry Stockwell, Roy Atwell, Pinto Colvig, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw, Billy Gilbert, Eddie Collins, Moroni Olsen, Marion Darlington, Purv Pullen, June Foray, Candy Candido Runtime 83 minutes Director Ben Sharpsteen, Larry Morey, David Hand, Perce Pearce, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson Writers Ferdinand Horvath, Dorothy Ann Blank, Ted Sears, Merrill De Maris, Webb Smith, Richard Creedon, Otto Englander, Dick Rickard, Earl Hurd Producers Walt Disney Franchise(s) Disney Main Genre Animation Budget $1.5 Million Studio(s) Walt Disney Productions Distributor(s) RKO Pictures Powered by Expand Collapse Akira A generational film writ large in neon is one of the key films that helped popularize Japanese animation (anime) in the West.
Adapted from the manga of the same name, this was one of the first things I bought on DVD alongside , and for much the same reason.It's an incredible, boundary-pushing cyberpunk story that's worth reading the original material for, but the animation and sound design still haven't been surpassed.It is what the creators of this film were able to pull off with little or no computer graphics.
Watching Akira on a modern OLED TV is still one of my favorite things to do; with the crisp and detailed art and glowing neon lights, it's a visual feast.The soundtrack, too, is peerless.You want the system cranked for this one.
Akira R Anime Action Drama Sci-Fi Release Date July 16, 1988 Where to watch Close WHERE TO WATCH RENT BUY Cast Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Taro Ishida, Tesshô Genda, Mizuho Suzuki, Tatsuhiko Nakamura, Fukue Itō, Kazuhiro Shindō Runtime 124 Minutes Director Katsuhiro Otomo Writers Katsuhiro Otomo, Izô Hashimoto Budget $5.7 Million Studio(s) Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co.Ltd Distributor(s) Toho Based On Manga by Katsuhiro Otomo Streaming Service(s) Amazon Prime Video MyAnimeList Score 8.16 Powered by Expand Collapse Spirited Away It sure spirited me away is the first anime to win an Oscar, nabbing the 2003 prize for best animated feature.It was also the first-ever anime I saw in theaters and a film that introduced millions of people across the world to the incredible filmography of Studio Ghibli.
My wife has a tattoo of a character from the film, so you can tell it had quite an impact.The movie is like lightning in a bottle, perfectly balanced to appeal to both young and adult viewers.It's visually arresting, and the quality of the art and animation is something you just don't see from animated features in the West these days either, especially since Disney seems to be largely uninterested in making anything other than live-action movies nowadays.
is Studio Ghibli's most successful film both critically and financially, so it should be on any animation fan's list of movies to watch.However, in my opinion, it's nowhere near being Ghibli's best movie.However, if it helps more people discover Japan's answer to the House of Mouse, then I won't complain.
Spirited Away PG Animation Family Fantasy Release Date July 20, 2001 Where to watch Close WHERE TO WATCH Streaming RENT BUY Cast Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takashi Naitô, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Tsunehiko Kamijô, Takehiko Ono, Bunta Sugawara Runtime 125 minutes Director Hayao Miyazaki Writers Hayao Miyazaki Main Genre Animation Studio Studio Ghibli Budget $19 Million Studio(s) Studio Ghibli Distributor(s) Toho Powered by Expand Collapse The Lion King Still the king despite the pretenders If you weren't around in 1994, you can never know how absolutely the whole world went with fever.This was the animated blockbuster to end all blockbusters.Yes, the following year's would give it a run for its money in terms of hype, but has aged far better than Toy Story for sure.
This is another movie I love to rewatch on Blu-ray using modern TV technology, but even back in the '90s on home VHS, this colorful and expertly animated movie shone through.The plot of the movie is basically a retelling of Shakespeare's but with wild animals, yet I'd go as far as saying it's the superior version.The animation is so good that anyone would still stop in their tracks to watch today, and even Disney's terrible and misguided attempt at a "realistic" CG remake can't take any shine off the original.
The Lion King G Family Animation Drama Adventure Release Date June 15, 1994 Where to watch Close WHERE TO WATCH Streaming RENT BUY Cast Matthew Broderick, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Niketa Calame-Harris, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings, Madge Sinclair, Zoe Leader, Frank Welker, Cathy Cavadini, Judi M.Durand, Daamen J.Krall, David McCharen, Mary Linda Phillips, Phil Proctor, David J.
Randolph, Brian Tochi, Roger Allers Runtime 89 minutes Director Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff Writers Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, Linda Woolverton, Rick Maki, Jorgen Klubien, Chris Sanders, Joe Ranft, Thom Enriquez, Larry Leker, Barry Johnson, Francis Glebas, Burny Mattinson, Andrew Gaskill, Gary Trousdale, Lorna Cook, Tom Sito, Mark Kausler, Kevin Harkey, Ed Gombert, Jim Capobianco Producers Don Hahn Main Genre Animation Budget 45000000.0 Studio(s) Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Feature Animation IMDb ID tt0110357 TMDB User Rating 8 .256 Executive Producer(s) Sarah McArthur, Thomas Schumacher Powered by Expand Collapse Princess Mononoke Dark and delightful I said before that wasn't Ghibli's best work, and I stand by that.After all, who could agree with that after seeing ? Years before the studio would snag an Oscar, this dark fantasy film showed Western audiences that an animated film didn't need a plot with simple morals that shied away from violence or being philosophical.Visually, it's every bit as beautiful as later Ghibli movies without leaning on CGI.
Thematically, the mix of Eastern supernatural lore and Western industrial and environmental elements makes it fresh to this day.Princess Mononoke PG-13 Animated Epic Historical Fantasy Release Date July 12, 1997 Where to watch Close WHERE TO WATCH Streaming RENT BUY Cast Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijô, Akihiro Miwa, Mitsuko Mori, Hisaya Morishige Runtime 133 Minutes Director Hayao Miyazaki Writers Hayao Miyazaki Main Genre Historical Fantasy Studio(s) Studio Ghibli Distributor(s) Toho Streaming Service(s) MAX MyAnimeList Score 8.66 Powered by Expand Collapse Despite the rise of pure 3D CG animation, I feel like 2D animation (or at least something that looks like it these days) will never lose its spot in the pantheon of media.These are, to my mind, some of the biggest landmark animated films in history, but I don't think they'll be the last.
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