My Top 25

Time Magazine recently unleashed its Top 25 Animated Movies of All Time. Suffice to say, the list sucked. There were too many “mandatory movies” (Prince Achmed, for example, was chosen to represent the oldest movies), and too many movies that were chosen apparently because the represented a particular genre. There were even some titles that made little to no sense (such as “The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie”, which was just a compilation of cartoons). Worse, Ralph Bakshi and Brad Bird were noticeably missing from the list.

Because of this, I've compiled my own Top 25 list. I have tried to allow for movies that have had some impact on the animation business, or have been at least interesting. There is a definite bias towards re-watchability, as well as those that created some interesting waves. It should be noted that the list is skewed towards American and Japanese animation; this should not be taken as an affront to other countries, especially as those two countries have dominated the animation world.

Some movies did present some problems. “Yellow Submarine” was on the Times list; although an interesting picture, it's only reason for even a mention is that it pretty much encapsulated the decade it was created in. “The Triplets of Belleville” was a fun call; although I highly recommend watching it, it's one of those kind of films that is really only of interest to students of animation. It has a great plot, and some incredible characters, but the pacing would drive anyone else insane. “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” posed an interesting quandary; ultimately, I knocked it off not only because it wasn't fully animated, but because it was too much of a send-up of animation, and there were better choices.

Some honorable mentions: Animation is best when the animators have some fun. For those interested in some historical films, I believe the following are worthy of at least a mention. “Black Cauldron” is the first major motion picture to incorporate computer graphics into the movie; although not one of Disney's best, it is worth looking at for that incorporation. “Fire & Ice” had some serious story problems, but its use of Rotoscope techniques make it worthy of note. “Rock & Rule” and “Heavy Metal” are personal guilty pleasure; there are fun movies to watch with no real relevance, but work mostly as memorials to the time and music that they spring from.