Okay, this list is by request... and because I'm a coward and I haven't revisited those classic Disney cartoons (Bambi, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone, etc.) since I was a child, I chose to keep it to contemporary films. I've chosen to define "contemporary" as from your own personal date of birth until the present... so those younger than me will miss out on the glory of Smurfs and the Magic Flute whereas I will miss out on The Last Unicorn myself (yeah... I've seen neither of those as well). Anyways, without further hesitation, my own "Film Script's Top 7." January 29th, 1983 until the present. I'll come back with more detail in the comments section.
7. Ratatouille (2007)
6. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
7. Ratatouille (2007) 6. Beauty and the Beast (1991) 5. Toy Story (1995)
4. Aladdin (1992)
3. The Lion King (1994)
2. Finding Nemo (2003)
1. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
2 comments:
My list would probably look very similar to yours Mulligan, with a few exceptions. If I were to create a list of my absolute faves, Toy Story 2 would top the list along with Ratatouille, Nemo, Incredibles, Aladdin, Lion King, and maybe Emperor's new Groove may have found a spot (my god that film is among the most underrated ever...I laugh my ass off every time Kronk is on screen.) I've never been a big Beauty and the Beast fan. It is a gorgeous film, well executed in every sense, but I'm not big on the ugly guy turning into the cute prince ending that so many stories end with. Shrek turned it around, but wouldn't it have been cooler to have Fiona stay hot and Shrek still be an Ogre. The films try to have their cake and eat it too, but it just comes off as somewhat hypocritical. That's one thing I loved in Hellboy was that he doesn't turn into some hot prince, but remains a beast and yet still finds love.
Anyways, in the spirit of being different, I compiled another list full of films that you didn't mention. Many of these films would have made the grade too, so thankfully you took all the Pixar films, otherwise my final list of all things animated would have made me go insane trying to figure out what are the best of the best of all time.
7. Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Wererabbit- you have to be among the most cold hearted people of all time to not love these two characters that Nick Park so wonderfully created. Quirky, whimsical, and the imagination is wonderful. Throw in some British humor, movie homages, and the cutest damn rabbits this side of Watership Down, and you got one of my favorite films of 2006? I believe.
6. Spirited Away- the films introduced me to the wonderful and brilliant animation of Hayao Miyazaki. The man is a genius and along with Brad Bird, may be the best man in the medium. He creates the most glorious universes in which his stories take place. Yet he still keeps it grounded with relevant topics that we can relate to like the environment and family. This one is his masterpiece. It is in a class of its own.
5. Nightmare before Christmas- Best thing Burton has ever been affiliated with including Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Batman, and Big Fish. Once again, a wonderfully unique vision unlike anything else (except for Corpse Bride now) with some truly memorable songs and characters. A holiday classic.
4. Triplets of Belleville- talk about unique. A French animated film that nearly has no spoken dialogue. Sounds and images permeate the screen as we learn the tale of a grandson forced to do the Tour de France for the mob, while his grandma and the old singing trio try to help rescue him. Weird plot, odd animation, ambitious concept, absoultely brilliant. Would have won the academy award, but it was up against Nemo. Poor fella never had a chance.
3. Iron Giant- perhaps the most underrated film of all time. Nobody knows this film, yet it is truly a masterpiece. Sincere and honest moral dilemmas arise with arrival of a alien robot that the Army wants to nuke. Cold war setting, holocaust paranoia, Vin Diesel,..no wonder it tanked. But still it is truly worth a visit. Three films under his belt...Iron Giant, Incredibles, and Ratatouille. This man clearly is a god.
2. South Park- oddly enough perhaps both the dumbest and smartest film on this list. Amazing satire along with some of the funniest images, songs and concepts ever put on film. This is when I think South Park really figured out just how damn smart it could be. The show only got better from here on out. My favorite musical ever with perhaps only Rocky Horror ahead of it.
1. Grave of the Fireflies- saddest most heart wrenching film ever drawn by man. Yet sometimes it shows just how triumphant the human spirit can be in the face of the worst. The story of two orphans in Japan during the bombings of WWII and how they try to survive. Not one I want to revisit any time so, but certainly a film everyone should see.
Honorable mentions...Spongebob Squarepants Movie, Team America, Space Jam, Mary Poppins, Roger Rabbit (left those three off since involve a lot of real people, but still worth a mention). Due to when they came out I was unable to list Secret of Nimh, Rikki Tikki Tavi, and my personla fave, Flight of the Dragons (screw Last Unicorn). And the film that was perhaps the hardest to keep off my list......The Brave Little Toaster.
I admit that my list isn't filled with the most inspired of choices, but animated films are not my forte and well, the best are the best.
I do think you undervalue Beauty and the Beast though. Purely from a storyline standpoint, I feel that Beauty is probably the best story on the list, and possibly the best story Disney has done. It’s not really about the Beast becoming a man again (and since he was already a “cute prince” before he was turned into the Beast I don’t really think it’s fair to take issue with that ending), besides that’s just the aftereffects. As we all know, the curse was imposed on him to make his exterior look as abhorrent as his old personality had been. He had to change as a person in order for Beauty to fall in love with him. And she does fall in love with the Beast, regardless of whether or not he’d turn back into the “prince.”
And while I like Shrek, I do think you’re right that turning Fiona into an Ogre towards the end just seems superfluous and unnecessary (and I feel added to making the sequels less interesting).
Anyways, I’m not going to go film by film and dissect why they made my list. Most everybody has seen all the films on the list anyway and they’re generally pretty highly regarded films on a whole. Aladdin and The Lion King are films I used to be able to watch time and again and look forward to passing onto my children someday. Meanwhile, Pixar is just ranking up the notches on my list. Monsters, Inc., Toy Story 2 and The Incredibles were close to earning spots as well. But I still prefer the original Toy Story, feel that Nemo has been their highest point yet and Ratatouille was a lovely save from when Cars had me worried about the future creative plans of the company.
Then there’s The Emperor’s New Groove. Maybe not the strongest story of the bunch, but easily the flat-out funniest. Kronk is my favorite animated character perhaps of all-time (even getting me to watch Kronk’s New Groove just to see if they kept any of the wit… unfortunately they didn’t). But this little 80-minute story was largely ignored, tossed aside and I honestly still have no idea how I wound up watching the thing in the first place, but it’s a great little riff of a movie. Something Disney managed to churn out while its 2-D animated division was heading towards shutdown (in a perfect world this film would have been enough to keep it open). It’s self-referential and constantly winking at the camera but it plays wonderfully and works because it’s just so damn funny.
Oh and “Boom Baby!” has been a catchphrase I’ve stolen countless times.
As for Ty’s list… Wallace & Gromit would be another runner-up for me, along with The Nightmare Before Christmas, Team America, The Simpsons Movie, The Iron Giant, South Park and probably countless others I’m not remembering at this time.
And as for the rest? Well, unfortunately I have not seen any Miyazaki (or anime films for that matter), The Triplets of Belleville nor the much-praised Filmspotting pick The Grave of the Fireflies. I’ve got some watching to do obviously…
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