The Animation Pimp

There was a time when animation features were a rarity. That has changed dramatically in the last ten years. Here’s a guide to some of the jewels and junk of animation feature history.

Jewels

The Iron Giant, 1999, Dir: Brad Bird
Iron Giant tells the tale of a giant robot that crashes to earth and is befriended by a lonely boy. Thanks to Warner Bros. complete neglect of this film, Iron Giant went virtually unnoticed in cinemas. It’s a shame because this engaging story features fantastic 1950s inspired designs, no songs, and, surprisingly, a bit of a critique of the U.S. government and military.

Bambi, 1942, Dir: David Hand
The animation is lovingly and meticulously crafted and this is one of the few animation films that deals with death in a mature manner. Unlike so many films that depict violence without consequences, Bambi shows us that death is a part of life that we all must confront.

Yellow Submarine, 1968, Dir: George Dunning
The Beatles travel to Pepperland in their yellow submarine to save the people from the dastardly Blue Meanies. What makes this film so important in the history of animation is Heinz Edelman’s wildly imaginative psychedelic design, which released animation from the shackles of Disney and brought it crashing into the world of pop art.

Fritz the Cat, 1972 Dir: Ralph Baski
If Yellow Submarine unlocked the door of the possibilities of animation features, Fritz the Cat busted it down. Based on comics by Robert Crumb, the X rated film follows the life of Fritz, a college student, as he experiences sex, drugs, race riots in late sixties America. The first animation feature to attempt to tackle serious and relevant social themes.

Akira, 1989 Dir: Katsuhiro Otomo
In this landmark film that introduced the world Japanese anime to American audiences. A gang of teens living in post-apocalyptic Neo-Toyko try to save one of their members after he becomes a telekinetic psychopath. Like Baskhi’s work, Akira addresses themes of social unrest, youth culture, and the prevailing fear of nuclear power and technology.

Waking Life (2001) Dir: Richard Linkletter/Bob Sabiston
A young adult drifts through a dream-like existence encountering many characters who discuss philosophy. Sabiston’s unique digital rotoscope technique enchances Linkletter’s philosophical/existential themes, giving the film a disturbing state of instability, as though one is caught between life and death.

Grave of the Fireflies, 1988, Dir: Isao Takahata
It’s rare to recommend a movie you never want to see again, but that’s how many people feel about this absolutely gut twisting film about the two Japanese children forced to fend for themselves during World War II.

Spirited Away, 2001, Dir: Hisao Miyazaki
A whiny young girl sees her parents turn into pigs. To save them, she must enter a bizarre world filled with an assortment of good and bad characters. What’s remarkable about the film is not only Miyazaki’s rich imagination that fuses fairy tales, myth and ancient history, but his refusal to divide the world into simplistic notions of good and bad.

Mind Game, 2005 Dir: Masaaki Yuasa
A young man (Nishi) runs into his ex-girlfriend and they go to her family’s restaurant. While they talk, gangsters bust into the place and kill Nishi. From here on, the story goes nutty. Nishi goes to heaven, argues with God, escapes back to earth and gets swallowed by a whale. This remarkable film is a celebration of life with all it’s surreal, violent, absurd, smutty and wonderful moments.

Raining Cats and Frogs 2003, Dir. Jacques-Remy Girerd
A family’s peaceful life is disrupted by a huge flood that threatens to destroy the planet. As the family rushes to save themselves and the animals, they learn that if the world is to survive, the animals and humans must learn to live together. A mesmerizing family film that is beautifully animated with striking character designs, likeable characters and songs that aren’t annoying.

Junk

A Goofy Movie, 1995, dir, Kevin Lima
Remember when The Simpsons had that episode where the producers of Itchy and Scratchy added the dog named Poochie to make the show more hip to younger viewers? Well, Goofy has a son named Max. Enough said?

Anastasia, 1997, Dir: Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Set in the days of the last Tsar (Nicholas II) of Russia, an orphan named Anya, hoping to find out her true identity. Littered with bad songs and historical inaccuracies, it’s probably best that the real Anastasia didn’t survive her family’s slaying.

A Shark Tale, 2004, Dir: Bibo Bergeron, Vicky Jenson, Rob Letterman
This tepid Finding Nemo inspired film follows a bit city fish who is mistaken for a shark killer, gets in trouble with the mob and meets his runaway son. Like Sharks, it’s probably best that you avoid this embarrassment of fishes.

The Trumpet of the Swan, 2001 Dir: Richard Rich & Terry L. Noss. A mute Swan learns to read and write, and finds success with a trumpet. Gee, I didn’t know Swans were supposed to read and write.

A Man Called Flintstone, 1966 Dir: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Long before their offspring The Simpsons made the jump to features, The Flintstones made a rather bungled attempt in this parody of spy films. Can’t really remember what happens because I was sleeping after about 10 minutes.

Ice Age, 2002, Dir: Chris Wedge/Carlos Saldanha
The opening pre-credit sequence is the best thing in this dull and rather bland looking film about a sloth, mammoth and a sabretooth tiger that trek across the frozen tundra to return a child to his tribe.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron
Some nifty background design is destroyed by awful writing and a lame plot about horses. Sure, to their credit the producers don’t make the horse speak, but everything else about this jingoistic ‘just like us’ syndrome reeks of horse manure.

Looney Tunes: Back in Action, 2003, D: Joe Dante/Eric Goldberg
Just when thought Warner Bros. had hit rock bottom with Space Jam, they released this live action/animation feature. It’s bad enough that these once respectable characters are being forced through this muck, but what’s Steve Martin’s excuse?

The Polar Express, 2004, Dir: Robert Zemeckis
This film scares me and reveals everything wrong with most computer and motion capture animation. It’s in the eyes. No matter how realistic the landscape and characters are, there’s something dead in the eyes, like zombies walking among us. But, hey, if you’re looking to creep your kids out or punish them then this is your kinda movie.

Rock A Doodle, 1992, Dir: Don Bluth
I can’t really find the words to describe the pain so let me just give you the synopsis: an Elvis-like rooster moves to the city and becomes a star. Without the rooster, the farm falls under the control of an evil owl. A little boy, transformed into a cat, leads the farm animals to the city to bring the rooster back.

Originally appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, July 2007

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