Top 25: #20-#16

#20: The Lion King (1994): One of the finer Disney movies, this is Shakespeare for the junior set. The music is fun, and there are a number of great characters. This is what Disney attempts to be, fun in spots but with solid storytelling and a lot of respect with regards to what it's doing. Although memories mat make it seem like just a small comedy, the fates of Mustafa and Scar remind us that this is not a movie to be taken lightly.



#19: Toy Story (1995): Sometimes you need to be reminded that dreams can be shattered for the illusions that they are to be supplanted by a richer, better reality, and this is the movie that does that. Toy Story is a fun movie, but the audience has enough at stake that the problems of its plastic protagonists are watched from the edge of the seat. This is also one of the few trilogies that delivers on its promise, and is worth watching time and time again.



#18: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999): The best movies are those that push the envelope, and this one enjoys tearing those boundaries away. This is as close to a blasphemous movie as I've seen, and yet it still manages to have fun doing so. It's nice to see a cartoon that doesn't steer away from controversy, and in fact rushes straight into it, daring any to stop it.



#17: Aladdin (1992): This is the cartoon that allowed us to see what Robin Williams could really do. Even had he not been part of the movie, there is a lot to recommend this movie; any movie that has a carpet showing emotion, and one without a face of any kind, and is able to combine computer and cel animation at this level, deserves a thousand kudos. This is a great fun movie, and shows us why rollicking adventure will always be with us.



#16: Grave of the Fireflies (1988): Animation doesn't always need to be fun. Every so often it needs to be serious, to make us remember some of the worst moments that humanity has lived through. It needs to remind us that we, as human, are not perfect and that the world is not always saved at the last moment from our mistakes. Although whimsical in spots, this movie serves as a reminder that nuclear war should remain in the past, and that we should fight for peace whenever we can.