Top 25: #15 - #11

#15: Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): Stop-motion animation is one of those weird things about animation; it's not quite painted or drawn and is sort of live action. Nonetheless, it is unlikely that we will ever see it or its equivalent ever disappear from the catalog of animation. Nightmare Before Christmas is probably the best of this lot, especially if you ever got tired of those cheerful, perky Rankin-Bass holiday specials, or just wanted a Halloween movie that reminded you why Halloween is so cool before the politically-correct types got a hold of it and reduced it to “harvest festivals”.



#14: Wizards (1977): And now for something completely different. There is a lot of weirdness going on in this cartoon, ostensibly a World War II allegory with a decidedly post-apocalyptic and magical twist, where one wizard has found weapons of mass destruction and is using them to take over the world. The funny little magic trick at the end is worth the price of admission, as is the animation, which uses real stock footage to enhance the animation. Worth tracking down for anyone serious about animation.



#13: Shrek 2 (2004): I know it's weird to even mention a sequel, but this one is sort of special. The original turned fairy tales on their collective ear by having the usual monster become an unusual hero. The sequel, however, is superior to the original because it went after more fairy tales, and had a lot of fun doing it. It also had a little more fun slamming pop culture, and it can be watched be adults without much fear of insanity.



#12: Persepolis (2007): Sometimes animation can get away with being simple and elegant. Persepolis is also reasonably unique on this list as it is an autobiography; it's the story of a woman and her escape from repressive regime and her adventurers in Europe. This is a beautiful cartoon, and is fascinating to watch simply because it it such an elegant cartoon, without the details we are so used to in most cartoons today. It's a beautiful piece, and one that will take your breath away with its simplicity.



#11: Transformers: The Movie (1986): Although its theme song is among the most ridiculed out there, this movie nonetheless shows what epic scale a cartoon can be. There is death, destruction, and mayhem on a cosmic scale, and the antagonists are truly frightening; there is no question of who is on which side. This is a fun cartoon, especially for fans of space opera and giant robots, but there is enough pathos for even the die-hard Shakespeare fan.