Dan Harlow

(Image still from the film Ego Sum Alpha Et Omega : Jan-Peter Meier : 2005)

 

In honor of four animated films being released this year (Paprika, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie and Beowulf), I’ve decided to put together a feature devoted to animated films. This particular post is my list of what I consider to be the very best animated films made between 1997 and 2006 (the majority of the current CGI era).

 

I am a firm believer in the power of storytelling. The cultural impact of fables, myths and fairy tales cannot be overstated. The stories we tell our children and each other are a way for us to make sense of a chaotic world, pass down important information and entertain one another. I would then like to focus on a particular type of storytelling, one that is often overlooked or seen as irrelevant in todays world - animation.

Animation has always carried with it the stigma of being a child’s art form, be it Saturday morning cartoons, comic books or many Disney films. Real art, or so they say, is supposed to be serious people doing serious things, and usually with a thick British accent too. Recently, Japanese animation has done little to convert the adults either thanks to such trite cartoons like Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh (along with their merchandising), yet when one digs under the candy coated surface of animation, a new world opens up - an adult world filled with fresh ideas, fears, intelligence and sometimes a little sex too.

When a person reaches a certain age, they are expected to become an adult and fill their lives with the daily rituals of modern living. A car replaces the bicycle and skateboard, the office (replete with pictures of the family) replaces the messy bedroom and supplies from the Home Depot replace the Lego’s and video games of youth. Imagination too is replaced by adult ambitions such as marriage, sex and retirement and only for a week or two a year do we adults leave home for the canned adventures of the Princess Cruise Line or Hawaiian islands. There is no room for imagination and dreaming in the board room because an adult must go along to get along. Fairy tales are read as bedtime stories to our children and we take the kids to the Harry Potter films because they ask us to, not because we really want to.

Yet animation - good animation, understands that there is a real dilemma in reconciling grown up behavior with childlike imagination. Since most modern cultures envy youth, even worship it to one degree or another, there is an obvious disconnect between what we imagined adulthood to be like as a child and what our lives actually turned out to be. Animation then is the only art form which attempts to bridge these gaps and is a vitally important theme to explore.

Note to the nit-pickers: Many of the films on this list are either American, Japanese or French. I understand there is some wonderful work being done in other countries, but their (legal) availability is quite limited and thus I have narrowed down the list to features any general audience can easily pick up and view at home.

 

NUMBER 10

Tokyo Godfathers

Satoshi Kon
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Japan
2004

Normally when we think of Japanese animation, the phrase ‘hot chicks and robots’ comes to mind. The typical commercial appeal of anime usually consists of scantly clad girls with big, wet eyes who have a penchant for shooting enormously large weapons while giggling in a high pitched meow. Because of this stereotype, anime has had a difficult time finding a mass audience in America and when a film comes along that breaks this mold, it is usually only played in very limited release to a few hard core fans of animation.

Tokyo Godfathers is just such a film which completely parts tradition with typical anime. In fact Tokyo Godfathers is quite unlike pretty much any animated film with the exception of Grave of the Fireflies. The story is not an epic tale of hero worship, but rather a simple tale of three homeless people who discover a newborn infant in the garbage. This discovery brings these three characters together in a way that is so completely believable you pretty much forget you are watching an animated movie. In fact, aside from the finale, this film could have been made live action and nobody would have known the difference.

The director, Satoshi Kon, is considered one of the two masters of Japanese animation - the other being Hayao Miyazaki, and has found some decent success in America with his anime ‘Paranoia Agent‘ and the upcoming feature length film Paprika. If there is any chance of Japanese animation becoming a mainstay in the American cultural mainstream, Satoshi Kon and Hayao Miyazaki will be the reason.

 

NUMBER 9

Lilo & Stitch

Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders
Walt Disney Pictures
United States
2002

The influence Disney has had on animation can’t be overstated enough. Without Disney, animation would probably not exist to the extent it does today. Countless artists and producers have drawn inspiration from the classic Disney films and the box office appeal of the movies (for kids and adults alike) is huge. The main criticism of Disney films really boils down to subject matter because since Disney is interested in entertaining kids first and adults second, the films tend to be simplistic and not very controversial (with a few exceptions, of course).

Lilo & Stitch certainly contains many of the standard elements found in a Disney picture. We have a cute talking animal (alien actually), a story centered around family, and a happy ending. Yet where most other Disney pictures fail, Lilo & Stitch excels. First of all is how the family (’ohana in Hawaiian) is portrayed. Disney has chosen to represent a very non traditional family consisting only of two sisters. We never get to meet the parents, though their fate is implied during the course of the movie. The characters are all people who struggle with each other, and though they do love each other, they have their issues too. Lilo, the little girl, is not the typical cute little princess, but rather an obnoxious, pudgy and often quite strange person. The older sister too is non traditional in that she is not even drawn as the “ideal” woman, but rather looks like someone R. Crumb would have illustrated. Basically, even given the extraordinary circumstances of the film, these characters seem more real than any other Disney creation because they represent reality more closely than films like ‘Beauty and the Beast‘.

The overall artistic style of the film is also something of a throwback in that most of the backgrounds are done in the old pastel, watercolor style of the older Disney films. Yes, there is some nice CG work in the film too, but not to the extent one would usually expect. Basically, Lilo & Stitch is probably going to be the last great example of the old style of American Disney animation and it is a fitting tribute to all the classic films which came before it.

 

NUMBER 8

Ghost in the Shell 2 - Innocence

Mamoru Oshii
Go Fish Pictures
Japan
2004

Typically sequels never live up to the expectations of the original film, especially when the first is considered to be a true classic, yet Ghost in the Shell 2, I believe, not only equals it\’s predecessor, but surpasses it as well.

Upon first viewing, the story may be somewhat confusing (a complaint of many anime epics), so a viewer has to let this one grow on them. There are allot of subtle themes at play here (to many to real go into detail here on), most importantly the idea of robots being created as prostitutes who then commit suicide because of their lot in life.

The other striking aspect of this film is just how damn pretty it is. Though I do not base by decision on liking something just because it looks nice, Ghost in the Shell 2 is such a wonder, and the artistic detail so integrated into the story itself, that this is one of the rare exceptions where beauty really does go a long way.

I have to admit, the first time I saw this movie I didn’t like it as much as the first one, but on repeated viewings, Ghost 2 has become my favorite so far. It is a marvelous film that is incredibly smart, atmospheric and challenging.

 

NUMBER 7

Shrek

Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson
Dreamworks SKG
United States
2001

The past 15 years have seen animation studios come and go with varying degrees of success but none have had the lasting impact of Dreamworks SKG and their Shrek franchise. Part of the success of Shrek has to do with the top notch performances of Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy as well as some beautiful animation, but what sets Shrek apart is it’s subject matter. Though this is a family film, it has the good sense to stand the long standing tradition of fairy tale worlds on their head. Nothing here is sacred and nearly every frame of the film seems to be rebelling against the holiness of traditional Disney fare. Everyone from the fantastic Ginger Bread Man and his “torture” scene, to the Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White bitch slapping each other is playing against type and forcing the viewer to understand that fairy tales can still be relevant if only we choose to see them in a different light.

I will stop myself from going as far as to compare Shrek to a modern day Canterbury Tales, but I’m pretty sure if Geoffery Chauser were alive today, this is pretty close to what I think he would have written (minus all the graphic bawdiness).

 

NUMBER 6

A Scanner Darkly

Richard Linklater
Warner Independent
United States
2006

What exactly is reality anyway?

Some people may not see A Scanner Darkly as a true animated film because its animation was done over live action. The animation was handled using a process known as interpolated rotoscoping by a software program called Rotoshop which was invented by Bob Sabiston for use by his production studio Flat Black Films. Basically, live action sequences are filmed with real actors and sets and then ‘painted’ over using the software. The process has been used in another of Linklater’s films “Waking Life” and in the Charles Schwab series of commercials titled “Talk To Chuck“. The effect of the process however is striking and succeeds where ‘Waking Life’ and (especially) “Talk to Chuck” come up short.

First of all this film is an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story and anyone familiar with his work knows they are going to be in for a real mind bender of a tale. Typically Dick’s stories do not translate well into film (Blade Runner being the very obvious exception) because of the deep subject matter usually dealing with drug use or psychosis (or both).

Yet A Scanner Darkly would not have worked so brilliantly without this animation technique because it gives the audience a very unsettling feeling of distorted reality that represents the main characters drug addition to the highly dangerous Substance D. Every time the camera moves, backgrounds and sets seem to wobble in and out of normal perception because we are seeing a 2D representation of a 3D world. Basically everything looks like it is just about to fly off into space and when seen on a big screen the effect can actually give you a headache (it did for me at least). The technique also allowed the Linklater to show the Substance D hallucinations of the characters in a way just as effective as in Naked Lunch or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but in a much more terrifying (even personal) way. The audience is literally transfixed into believing this alternate world of “seven years from now” and is one of the most memorable films you will ever see.

 

NUMBER 5

The Triplets of Belleville

Sylvain Chomet
Sony Pictures Classics
France
2003

The Triplets of Belleville is by far the most unusual film on this list. The story is simple enough - nerdy French boy gets a bike, becomes a professional cyclist, gets kidnapped by American gangsters who hook him up to a machine which simulates racing for an audience, grandmother pedals a row boat across the Atlantic with her dog to rescue boy, grandmother meets 3 retired vaudeville performers who catch frogs with German stick grenades for dinner, all four mount a rescue of boy, hilarity ensues.

Okay, so the plot is a bit out there, but this film has Charm and Style. The Triplets of Belleville is also quite subversive too. Take, for example, the scene where the grandmother arrives in New York (a very stylized New York). All the citizens are grossly overweight and children wear shirts that say “I love big”. The statue of liberty is a fat woman holding a cheeseburger and everyone is rude, dirty and obnoxious. All these stereotypes are juxtaposed with the cyclist who is fit, thin and only wants to ride his bike in the Tour de France.

One of the best scenes is when the grandmother is training the boy and when he comes home she used everyday household appliances to massage his tired body. The boy even has to sit on a scale when he eats so that he does not eat too much, a routine the fat dog eagerly awaits because there is always too much food for the boy which the dog gets to eat.

All in all, The Triplets of Belleville is constantly reminding the audience that the hectic, fast pace of life with all its creature comforts are useless in the face of someone who, though poor, is also determined and has a good heart. Just because a person must live in a house with a highway practically running through it, or must be content to live in a shanty where frogs are the only source of food, does not mean they can be satisfied with life and find joy too. Some may say Triplets is a bit sentimental, but I disagree mainly because the sentimentality being shown is a good kind, a type that values life over materialism and family over desire.

One more striking aspect of the film is the nearly total lack of spoken dialog. For an animated film this is quite unusual, but Triplets revels in the quiet moments of life and the film understands that animation is the most purely visual medium film will allow. Even without voices, the personality of every single last character is crystal clear and you really feel for the grandmother, the dog and the triplets too. The artistic style too is quite unlike anything I have seen before. Everything is exaggerated to such a degree that the artists seem at times to be pushing the limits of what is possible with the human and material form, yet it completely works - one is reminded of old New Yorker covers from the 1930’s and 40’s.

This is a film that with each repeated viewing just gets better and better.

 

NUMBER 4

The Iron Giant

Brad Bird
Warner Brothers Feature Animation
United States
1999

One of my motivations for writing this list is because right now in the world of animation there are three masters currently making feature films. The first is Satoshi Kon who I already spoke about with Tokyo Godfathers. The second is Hayao Miyazaki (who we will get to in a moment) and the third is Brad Bird.

Though not many people are familiar with the name Brad Bird, nearly every living American is familiar with his work - The Simpsons. Bird was originally hired to develop the Simpsons from a short subject on the Tracy Ulman show into the half hour comedy on the new Fox network. Bird stayed on for many more seasons as an executive consultant and was partly responsible for some of the most famous Simpsons episodes of all time. After leaving the show he worked for a time on King of the Hill (another very good and long running show for Fox) before finally turning to feature animated films.

The Iron Giant is his first feature animated film and is such an extraordinary movie that The Cartoon Network has been known to show 24 hour marathons of it. Set against the backdrop of the 1950’s cold war era, the film manages to squeeze every last ounce out of “Americana” without being controversial or sarcastic. This is one of Bird\’s strengths too because he understands how to satirize without going too far - he understands balance, something many artists fail to comprehend.

What really sets The Iron Giant so far above the pack is its characters. Just like in Tokyo Godfathers, we get characters who seem real and that we can care about but unlike Tokyo Godfathers, these characters are also brilliant charactiures of “typical” American families and individuals. There is the cool “beat” artist, the government suit and the hardworking single mother - something you don\’t hear much about from the 1950’s. The film plays with these types and examines the fears of nuclear war and communism that Americans had in that era and much like Dr. Strangelove, it makes fun of them without sacrificing the real menace of the situation either. In fact, after Dr. Strangelove, this is probably the greatest comedy ever made about war and the two films could be watched one right after the other (then maybe watch WarGames too).

 

NUMBER 3

South Park - Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Trey Parker
Paramount Pictures
United States
1999

This movie never should have happened, at least not as well as it turned out. Honestly, when popular television shows try to make the jump to the big screen the results are usually mixed at best. Yet somehow the South Park movie not only made the transition seamlessly, it pretty much became the single greatest South Park moment ever. Instead of trying to cash in on the popularity of the show by making the movie more accessible to kids (an audience the show is NOT intended for anyway), Trey Parker and Matt Stone decided to see just how far they could push the limits of what is acceptable in a multi-plex.

Unlike The Iron Giant which takes a lightweight approach towards its satire, this film literally shits on everyone and everything it can get its hands around. There are no punches pulled here and it goes so far over the top, that instead of becoming a self indulgent joke, it become a true work of art. Had the film makers decided to hold anything back, audiences would have called “bull shit” on them, but like good comedy, this stuff goes right for the jugular. The very nature of the film draws our attention to the fact subtlety is completely lost on most audiences and that only people who yell and scream get noticed anymore. In fact, one could analyze pretty much every frame and line of dialog and relate it to some form of modern, American culture - it’s that good.

What allot of people forget about this movie though, is that Bigger, Longer & Uncut is also a fairly typical musical at heart and it is because of that that the movie will age well. Everyone who has seen this film will always remember the Satan character because of not only how funny he is, but also because the song “Up There” is, in some ways, really quite beautiful and resonates with a true understanding of the subject matter at hand. That one song also proves that Parker and Stone are no mere hacks just screwing around and getting lucky - they are very, very smart writers who take South Park quite seriously and because of their comedic talent, make it look effortless (just like the animation).

All in all, there will probably never be a finer example of biting satire ever made again and the funniest irony is that even people who are supposed to hate this sort of entertainment (religious leaders, conservatives and most parents) are forced to recognize just how brilliant it truly is. South Park is literally the greatest slam dunk and fuck you ever made because it gets away with everything and leaves people wanting even more.

 

NUMBER 2

The Incredibles

Brad Bird
Buena Vista Pictures
United States
2004

“Remember the bad guys on the shows you used to watch on Saturday mornings? Well, these guys aren’t like those guys. They won’t exercise restraint because you are children. They *will* kill you if they get the chance. Do *not* give them that chance.”

-Helen (Elastigirl) speaking to her children

I included the above quote because it is probably the most important piece of writing ever done for an American animated feature. Brad Bird, the director of The Incredibles, included this line specifically to subvert the false danger seen in typical kids cartoons. Bird understands that it is okay to scare children once and awhile because kids are not dumb and because these are things kids need to hear. Of course this one line also created a bit of controversy when the film was first released because parents thought it was too dark, especially for a Disney / Pixar film.

The controversy over this line of dialog, though blown out of proportion, reveals the deep seated attitude allot of “grown ups” have about animation and other things their kids may be into. Many parents go well out of their way to shelter their kids because they just want them to live in a happy, safe world. Yet all this sheltering makes kids naive and ill equipped to deal with the real world later in life. The most common way for kids to learn about how to be an adult is through popular media, yet when cartoons and movies aimed at kids never bother to give any good advice and present danger and even killing as non-threating, the kids grow up with a false sense of reality. One then should not wonder why more and more we hear about kids committing violent acts because they don\’t perceive violence as actually dangerous and harmful to another human being. Kids have been numbed to the terror of violence because nobody ever bothers to tell them how terrible death can be.

The Incredibles is, in my opinion, the greatest of the Pixar films - by a very wide margin too. Not only has Brad Bird crafted a very subtle and subversive film about America, but he also manages to have quite allot of fun doing it as well. The Incredibles pays homage not only to comic book heros, but also to the great Sean Connery James Bond films of the 60’s, The Fantastic Four (though some could say he ripped off F4) and our modern culture in general. In just under 2 hours we live with characters who have marital issues, job issues, teen issues and most important to any superhero story, identity issues. The whole idea of superheroes being “outlawed” is a very clever response to our cultures fascination with false heroes such as sports stars and music divas. Bird is telling us that the idea of the family as a child\’s hero has been lost in America, but instead of being pessimistic, Bird reveals that hiding just beneath the surface of our parents is a living, breathing human who will do absolutely anything to protect us and help us grow to be decent adults.

All theme issues aside, The Incredibles is a brilliant piece of film making in general too. The scene where Elastigirl gets trapped between the two doors is pure genius no matter what medium of film we are talking about. The animation is crisp, and the human characters have been animated in such a way that I would say The Incredibles reaches what is known as aesthetic completion. The story is also not vague or convoluted which is impressive given the amount of thematic attention to detail Bird gives the movie. A common mistake in many of the later CGI films is that the story lacks the necessary beats and plot points to carry the tale. The Incredibles does not worry about scenes where there is only conversation and no “action” because the filmmakers understand that to progress a story along you have to have high and low moments - think The Empire Strikes Back.

The Incredibles is also totally watchable for adults too. There are no animal sidekicks, there are hints of sex and infidelity, great action scenes that any Steve McQueen fan would be proud of and a good amount of ironic humor at the expense of modern culture. Though The Incredibles sits at number 2 on my list, I believe it is fair to say that it is the best American animated film on this list and I will even go as far to say that it is the greatest American animated film ever made. That’s how good I believe this movie is.

 

NUMBER 1

Spirited Away

Hayao Miyazaki
Studio Ghibli
Japan
2001

When compiling this list I seriously considered giving Spirited Away a one word critique - perfect. The word perfect captures every single aspect of Spirited Away from the animation, the story, the theme and the overall beauty of the film. Honestly, anyone who has ever seen this film probably knows what I am talking about too. My only regret about Spirited Away has nothing to do with the film itself, but because I was unable to include more of Hayao Miyazaki\’s film in my top 10.

Miyazaki has been (rightly) compared to Walt Disney, Hans Christian Anderson and Lewis Carroll (to a lesser degree) but really, to compare Miyazaki to anyone is unfair because he is a unique talent who deserves his very own pedestal with Spirited Away being his absolute masterpiece.

Spirited Away changed my attitude towards Japanese animation. Before 2001 (2002 in the US) I had really only watched a few “anime” films such as “Akira” and “Ghost in the Shell” and was really only aware of things like Pokemon as being the prime movers in animation from Japan. I had no idea there were real artists at work overseas who had a unique vision and were quietly supplanting the Americans as the greatest (or at least most original) animators in the world. My opinion of anime was that while very pretty, the stories seemed to be rehashing the vision Ridley Scott created for Blade Runner over and over and over again. I saw nothing truly unique about dystopian visions of the future where robots and humans are identical in too many ways. I also never understood (and still don\’t understand) why so many anime films need to have very young (even underage) looking girls running around completely naked and having near pornographic sex. I know some people get off on that sort of thing, but that creepy ephebophilic image of anime has really hurt it as a viable art form in much of the western world.

Spirited Away breaks from the mainstream perception of anime not by necessarily doing lots of things different, but by taking a cue from the master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa in marrying eastern and western sensibilities into one work of art. Remember, Kurosawa was not widely regarded as a master Japanese director during most of his career (Ran did much to change that though) - it was Yasujiro Ozu whom most Japanese considered the greatest and most “Japanese”. Kurosawa was seen as someone who sold out to the Hollywood, western style of film making (think John Ford) with all his action, thousands of extras and multiple cameras where as Ozu remained close to tradition and crafted very Japanese films. While Kurosawa was making the action packed “Seven Samurai“, Ozu preferred the calm sensibility of an anchored camera filming from the Japanese sitting mat position in films such as “Tokyo Story“.

Miyazaki, like Kurosawa, understands that while at first glance the two styles are incompatible, at a deeper level they have much in common too. Most evident in Spirited Away of this marriage of east and west is the scene where Chihiro Ogino and No Face (along with two cute animal friends) are on a train. This entire scene contains no dialog - the characters just sit there quietly and calmly. Yet the scene is incredibly powerful because it gives the audience a chance to review what has already happened in the film and build the tension of the characters heading off into the unknown of the next scene. This one moment, or beat as it is called, is the sort of thing usually left on the cutting room floor of most Hollywood films because there is no “development” and might even be considered boring. At most, something funny would happen on the train if this were an American production, but in the hands of Miyazaki (and just like Brad Bird in The Incredibles), we are given the chance to catch our breath and through silence and stillness come to a deeper understanding of the fate of these characters.

I mentioned above that Miyazaki is sometimes compared to Lewis Carrol. This comparison is made chiefly because Spirited Away is a fairy tale in the “spirit” of Alice in Wonderland. The story is familiar enough too - young girl enters an alternate reality filled with magical creatures and must prove herself to the queen before being returned to the real world she came from. What allows Spirited Away to stand on its own though, is how it deals with this very simple idea. First of all, like Brad Bird, Miyazaki is not afraid to include a subtle yet biting touch of social commentary in his films. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (one of his early films) dealt with very strong environmental issues (long before that was the vogue thing to do, I might add) and Spirited Away takes a look at the consumer nature of modern living. In Spirited Away, the parents are turned into sloven, overweight pigs because they could not control their appetites at a “free” buffet. Chihiro Ogino is forced to work in a bath house which caters to wealthy client/spirits and must report to the greedy owner, a mother with an enormous baby she spoils and shelters to the point of absurdity.

Central to all the themes, is the idea of servitude towards a “master”. Some have suggested that the dust mite characters which toss coal into the furnace are an almost to blatant definition of African American slavery controlled by a multi armed task master. Though I disagree that the film makers are being racist, the comparison is fair given the theme of the movie. Chihiro Ogino herself is a literal slave whose name has been taken away from her (she is called Sen through much of the film) and she must fight to retain the memory of her parents and even of herself. Again, the comparison to slavery lies just beneath the surface but Miyazaki\’s intentions are much deeper because he is reminding the audience of all the material things we have become slaves to. I defend this position by saying that the car at the end of the movie is dusty and weeds have started to grow around it which implies that Chihiro Ogino\’s journey may really have happened.

Of course, since this is an animated film, the artwork must be talked about as well. As with Lilo & Stitch, much of the artwork is hand drawn with a only few elements of CGI thrown in. The attention to detail in every frame of Spirited Away is unlike anything I have ever seen before too. In scenes where Chihiro Ogino is running, she actually runs like a little girl with her elbows pointed in and her hands pointed out, the exterior and interior of the bath house is ornate and detailed right down to the floorboards. The characters are so unique and unforgettable that if Lewis Carroll were alive today, I am positive he would have asked Miyazaki to illustrate his books. Overall, Spirited Away is a master level course in animation that artists for generations to come will be drawing inspiration from.

Just as Brad Bird did with The Incredibles, Miyazaki is not afraid to scare kids either. There are some very potent scenes involving No Face, and even the atmosphere of the film is a touch dark and foreboding (even if the colors are vibrant and rich). I can imagine a small child wanting to cover their eyes during parts of this movie, but I doubt it would make them not want to watch it all together because there is real magic at work in this movie that kids will completely buy into and remain on the edges of their seats until the conclusion.

Overall, Spirited Away is probably the greatest animated film ever made - and not just in the past 10 years, but all time. The movie is so good, it literally transcends the medium of film to become a true literary achievement filled with themes and a beauty that kids and adults can each appreciate. Spirited Away is also, to date, the only anime ever to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and it did it in the only year, so far, where there were 5 films in competition - it beat out the wildly popular Ice Age and Lilo and Stitch movies, films which many thought had a better chance of winning. The film is also the highest grossing film of any kind all time in Japan, beating out Titanic.

Though popularity does not a great movie make, the success of Spirited Away is a sign of just how damn amazing it is. People from all over the world have proclaimed it to be one of the very best animated films ever made and I do not disagree either.

 

 

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