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RE: The Empire Animation Countdown

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RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 10:39:32 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 64. The Sandman



1991
Director: Paul Berry

Incredibly creepy animated short inspired by the classic Hoffmann story. As the night creeps along, a nervous child is sent to bed by his mother. As the boy shrinks from every shadow and tries to hide under the blankets from the night, a strange bird-like figure, The Sandman, begins to make its way to his room. But this isn't a gentle figure, come to help the boy sleep, he's come to take something. Amazing animation from Berry, who would later go on to work on Nightmare Before Christmas, makes the short linger long in the mind. Sadly Berry died at a young age, one can only imagine the kind of impact he'd have had on animated cinema if he'd lived longer.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 181
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:06:42 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 63. A Scanner Darkly



2006
Director: Richard Linklater

Adapted from Philip Dick's sci-fi novel, Linklater used rotoscope animation to create animation as trippy and unsettling as the film itself. The best film yet of a Dick novel. Yeah, you read that right.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 182
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:07:17 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 62. Millennium Actress



2001
Director: Satoshi Kon

As the famous Ginei Studio is torn down, bickering television documentarians Tachibana and Eiko hike to the house of the famous and reclusive Chiyoko Fujiwara. Once the actress that kept the studio afloat, Chiyoko has long since retired from acting, but as Tachibana and Eiko conduct their rare interview with her, they get much more than they bargained for - a recounted of a love story so universal as to be told across people and generations, and yet so individual as to be Chiyoko's own. Kon's innovative approach to Chiyoko's biopic sees her neverending pursuit of an artist and revolutionary told through her own films - be they Kurosawa-inspired chambaras, historical epics, Ozu-esque family dramas, sci-fis, post-war dramas, even a Godzilla-lite monster movie. Meanwhile, our two intrepid interviewers are given first-hand experience of Chiyoko's story as it's told, to the point that Tachibana even starts inserting himself into the story in all sorts of ways, some humourous, some poignant. It's an approach that blurs reality and fiction together and is at once visually arresting and hugely emotional. Even as Chiyoko's object of desire becomes more and more unattainable, we can't help but be swept along in her all-encompassing chase, particularly when it's as good-looking and seamless as what Kon does here. It's unreal and yet totally believable; filled with humour that alleviates many an intense situation and yet never prone to undermining its own emotional core. Millennium Actress is a beautiful, stunning piece of work, and proof positive that Satoshi Kon is one of the best producers of anime currently working.

Pigeon Army

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 183
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:10:03 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 61. You Only Move Twice



1996
Director: Mike B. Anderson

Homer finds himself poached away from the Nuclear Power Plant by Globex Corporation, simply because Smithers turned them down and Homer was next in line in terms of length of employment. The family leave Springfield for what seems like an ideal new life, but Bart is placed in remedial class at school, Lisa is allergic to the wildlife and Marge has nothing to do with her time. Oh, and Homer is working for a Bond villain. The best Simpsons episode of all time, with Albert Brooks giving the single greatest Simpsons guest performance ever.

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

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I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 184
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:12:28 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 60. Robin Hood



1973
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman

Excellent songs, charming animation and loveable characters, but it's still only Disney's second greatest feature.

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 185
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:14:54 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 59. Mary and Max



2009
Director: Adam Elliot

Mary is a young, friendless Australian girl. She lives with an alcoholic, kleptomaniac mother and a distant father who seems more interested in taxidermy than his family. On an impulse one day, she decides to write to someone in America to find out where American babies come from. She picks a penfriend by choosing a name at random from the phonebook. She gets Max, an overweight Asperger's sufferer with a love of chocolate hotdogs and an unfortunate habit of killing his pet goldfish. Over the years the two form an unlikely and touching friendship, despite Mary's questions inducing extreme anxiety attacks in Max. Based somewhat on the true correspondence between director Elliot and a real New Yorker named Max, the material could have been played for its more upbeat qualities, the tale of two loners who find a connection. Instead it's gritty and downbeat for much of the running time. Death is an ever present feature of the film and at times you wonder if either character will make it to the end alive. But Elliot finds joy in small places and stops it becoming a depressing experience. The choice to present this in Claymation was a brilliant one. It would have been easy to make this film as live-action, but it would have lost much of the quirkiness and individuality that Elliot brings to it. With superb voice acting (especially from PS Hoffman as Max) and a witty screenplay.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 186
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:15:20 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 58. Blitz Wolf



1942
Director: Tex Avery

Nominated for an Academy award for Best Animated Short Film in 1942, and losing out to the not quite as good propaganda film Der Fuehrer’s Face, is Tex Avery’s war themed retelling of the 3 little pigs story. The film follows the usual story format of the story as the 3 little pigs build their houses out of Straw and Wood, even keeping their usual innocence intact, with the third pig being even more prepared than normal. The other pigs even make a point of mocking him for digging a ditch, before pausing so that the viewer can realise just how naive the comment is. Straight after this though, all of the innocence is lost from the 2 pigs with their treaty being ignored (a nice touch) and the propaganda starting with the third pig telling how the viewers should be buying Bonds for defence (something which continues throughout the film). The small jokes are what makes the film stand above Avery’s other films for me, with things like the newspaper having the Nazi symbol replaced with 2 sausages, or the wolfs tank which has the motto ‘Der Fewer, Der Better’ written on the side. Also, the characterisation of the Wolf as Hitler is excellent with special care given to mocking the Goosestep and just how sneaky and underhand he is throughout. Tex makes a point of not apologising for this likeness, despite apparently being warned by the films producer Quimby not to make the likeness too real because “After all, we don't know who's going to win the war".

Blitz wolf is just a brilliant piece of propaganda and shows just how desperate the US were at this stage to make sure the public realised exactly what they were up against.

TRM

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I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 187
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:19:44 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 57. The Simpsons: Cape Feare



1993
Director: Rich Moore

Another classic from Moore, a parody of Cape Fear, with Sideshow Bob taking the De Niro role.

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 188
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:20:54 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 56. Fantasia



1940
Director: A whole lotta people

Disney's most ambitious feature, a series of animated shorts set to the backdrop of classical music. Not as good as Allegro non Troppo.

< Message edited by rawlinson -- 27/2/2013 11:21:15 PM >

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Post #: 189
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:22:14 PM   
rawlinson


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 55. Coraline



2009
Director: Henry Selick

Pretty but shallow adaptation of Gaiman's excellent novel.

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Post #: 190
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:23:09 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 54. Porco Rosso



1992
Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Porco Rosso is one of Miyazaki's most frequently underrated films. It doesn't have the epic scale of the likes of Mononoke or the sweetness of a Totoro, so it's often regarded as a lesser entry. But for me it's always been one of his finer films.

The crimson pig of the title is Marco, an Italian flying ace in pre-WW2 Italy. So ashamed by the rise of fascism in his native country, along with a sense of survivor's guilt following the deaths of many of his squadron, he cursed himself to become a humanoid pig. He now lives on a private island, taking on cases battling air pirates. Frustrated with constantly being beaten, the pirates hire a cocky American pirate who thinks he can defeat Marco. After a sneak attack leaves Marco grounded, he has to seek the help of old friend to repair his plane, and he gains the services of a talented young mechanic, Fio, along the way as he seeks a return fight with Curtis.

Miyazaki puts great effort into the evocation of the period and it's one of the only of his films to recreate a specific time and place. The breathtaking animation is among the finest of Miyazaki's work, especially in some of the aerial battles and Marco's daring return to the air, flying his plane down a series of canals. But the real joy of the film is in the bonds between the characters. The friendship that develops between Marco and Fio is surprisingly touching and the would-be romance with Gina, the beautiful owner of a pilot's bar is unexpectedly complex.

Critics have called the film naive, but ultimately the film is a fairytale with all of the simplicity that comes with it. You can watch it on the level of a fairytale. You can watch it as a display of the beauty that Miyazaki finds in humanity. And also the cruelty that we can be capable of. Or you can see just see it as an old-fashioned mixture of romance and wartime espionage that puts Casablanca in the shade. Whatever you take from Porco Rosso, it's one of Miyazaki's most accomplished works, even if it's not always treated as such.

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 191
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:23:29 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 53. Rabbit of Seville



1950
Director: Chuck Jones

Bugs and Elmer's other great operatic cartoon was actually created seven years before the magnificent What's Opera, Doc? Elmer is in pursuit of Bugs and he chases him into a theatre. They soon find they're on-stage, in front of an audience. From there their manic chase reaches operatic proportions as their battle becomes a rapid-fire routine set to Rossini's music for The Barber of Seville. Much of the production has Bugs acting out the role of a barber, introducing himself with the unforgettable 'Welcome to my shop, let me cut your mop, let me shave your crop. Daintily, daintily' and Elmer his nervous customer, Bugs cuts, shaves and massages Elmer's scalp to the rhythm of the glorious music. Rabbit of Seville is an amazing creation, the task of choreographing this action and making it seem like the music was created to fit the on-screen mayhem, rather than the other way around, tells you all you need to know about the talented people who worked at Termite Terrace.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 192
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:27:30 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 52. A Town Called Panic



2009
Director: Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar

Ingenious and insane animated fantasy that not only uses the contents of a child's toybox for its characters but also seems to use a child's logic to drive its plot. It's Horse's birthday and his friends Cowboy and Indian decide to build him a barbecue for his present. Through a series of mishaps, they order too many bricks and end up destroying their house. Using the leftover bricks to rebuild their home, every morning they wake up to find the walls they'd built the night before have been stolen. The film then follows their quest to find their missing walls, taking in sea creatures, mad scientists and a giant robot penguin that throws snowballs along the way. A brilliant piece of animated anarchy that owes much to fellow Gallic animated classic, The Magic Roundabout. It's charming, inventive and hilarious, what else would you expect from a film where a donkey plays the drums, sheep take off their wool to sleep at night and the policeman's tiny hut can double as a maximum security jail?

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 193
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:29:01 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 51. The Fantastic Planet



1973
Director: Rene Laloux

The planet Ygam is inhabited by the Draags, a race of giant humanoid creatures. They take mastery over a smaller, wilder race called Oms. The treat the Oms as pets, domesticating some, but exterminating the wild ones as vermin. One of the Oms, Terr, is given to a young Draag, Tiwa, as a pet. He listens to Tiwa's information headset, a device used for learning, and gains knowledge of the Draags plan for 'De-Omisation', a plan to exterminate all Oms. He escapes to join his wild Oms and help them form a rebellion against the Draags.

Laloux created this film alongside one of his fellow Panic Movement artists, the writer Roland Topor. They turned to a sci-fi novel by Stefan Wul for the basis of their film. Oms is of course a wordplay on the French term hommes. And the film puts man in the subjugated position we often put other races in. We decide what animals to keep as pets, which ones to eat, which ones are vermin. The theme of the Draags thoughtlessly killing Oms thoughtlessly is established in the opening scenes of the film. The treatment of the Oms has been used to draw all kinds of political allegories, but I think the strongest allegory is the Nazi parallels. The Draags believe themselves to be superior to the Oms and have no problem in creating a final solution to exterminate them by the use of gas.

Visually the film is astonishing, every bit as surrealist and mindbending as you'd expect from members of the Panic Movement. Both Topor and Laloux allowing their imagination to run wild to create the bizarre world and life forms in the film. In fact, as much as I've talked about the plot, Fantastic Planet would be just as enjoyable if it was watched without dialogue and just appreciated for the savage but beautiful world that Topor and Laloux have created.

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 194
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:29:28 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 50. The Cat Concerto



1944
Director: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera

Tom, a concert pianist, is performing by Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Sleeping within the piano is Jerry, and sure enough it isn't long before havoc breaks out. This is one of the cartoons that confirms my belief that Jerry is pure evil, as he substitutes to keys for a mousetrap, shortly after he's failed to snip Tom's finger off with a pair of scissors and then steals the limelight after wearing Tom out during the finale.

Oscar was kind to Tom and Jerry during the forties. The pair won five of the awards in the decade overall and this gave them their fourth consecutive win. Overall, it's a perfect 7 minutes of hilarity, and it's enough of a variation on the "cat chases mouse” plot, which sustained the team for over 100 classic shorts, to make it feel like one of their freshest shorts, ever after multiple viewings. It's also immeasurably better than the very similar Bugs Bunny 'toon from the same year, Rhapsody Rabbit, in which Bugs, playing Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 on stage, is troubled by a mouse.

Gimli The Dwarf


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I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 195
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:29:57 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 49. One Froggy Evening



1955
Director: Chuck Jones

The short tells the story of a construction worker demolishing a building. Inside a cornerstone he finds a box containing a top hat and cane wielding frog who, to his astonishment, sings and dances. The unnamed and unspeaking workman tries to exploit the frog, but he won't perform for anyone else. He becomes ever more frantic as he tries to prove the frog can sing and dance, but still he'll only perform in front of him. After spending all his money, becoming homeless and eventually being imprisoned, he finally has the chance to get rid of the frog that has ruined his life when he finds another building under construction Following his release he finds a building under construction. With no dialogue of any form, the cartoon relies on the visuals and the ragtime songs sung by Michigan, luckily he's one of the most wonderfully expressive characters Chuck Jones ever created. The short works as one of cinema's great morality tales, warning the audience of the dangers of greed and obsession, but it's also a hilarious and entertaining comedy, and you'd expect nothing less from Looney Tunes.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 196
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:31:31 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 48. South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut



1999
Director: Trey Parker

Simpsons, take note, this is how you do a feature length spin-off. High-point is Cartman's Magical Maestro inspired run through of Kyle's Mom's a Bitch.


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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 197
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:32:35 PM   
rawlinson


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From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 47. Paprika



2006
Director: Satoshi Kon

A device created to help people with psychological problems is abused to draw the world of dreams into reality.

When I said Tokyo Godfathers was my 2nd favourite Kon, I didn't intend at all to diss this. And for Dev – apart from the carnival music and Paprika fling I didn't really notice anything else. And the carnival music is really annoyingly catchy!

In some ways this film has as much going on at the margins as Spirited Away – some screens are just chock full of individual animations that you know you're probably missing something on each watch. Most people seem to spend their dreams in the childhood parade – even Kogawa's problems are rooted in his youth, although not so far back. The machines are supposed to replay these dreams and help the patient resolve their problems – but as the dreams merge with each other and reality trying to work out what is real and what isn't is a problem.

The main character is effectively an avatar of the lead scientist on the project – a powerful character on the dream side, and seemingly the dream women of the men whose dreams she inhabits. Her real world counterpart has just as strong an effect – and when one of the bad guys traps her the split between the 2 is one of the grossest things I've seen on screen this year. Her initial flits into the real world are the first sign that something is wrong (although unaware of what is happening at that point our first thought is for the sanity of her counterpart). Or are we supposed to consider how real the other side of our personality – the one we don't need to take real responsibility for – is?

There is a bit too much of what sounds like rather incongruous religion stuff but reassuringly we are presented with the normal strand of megalomania as time goes on. Just remember to ignore the rather skimmed over science parts (and annoyingly I was going to mention a term they use a couple of times that I'm pretty sure they don't get the meaning of!). And they carefully don't even try to explain how the merge happened – it isn't that kind of film and it isn't really relevant.

Quirky bits? Kon likes Monkey too. And the available films in the cinema at the end.

Elab49

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I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 198
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:33:02 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 46. The Secret Of Kells



2009
Director: Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey

Drawing on Celtic mythology to tell the story of the writing of The Book of Kells, the film focuses on young Irish novice Brendan who lives in a remote Abbey with the stern Abbot Cellach. They're visited by Brother Aidan, currently working on the final stages of the Book of Kells. He enlists Brendan's help in finding special items needed to finish the book, and exposes Brendan to the outside world of monsters and magic. There's some exquisite work here from artists who seem to thrive on the possibility of what they can do with colours and patterns. It also earns a lot of goodwill by its refusal to make itself cutesy or typical for the sake of a mass audience.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 199
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:34:59 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 45. The Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists



2012
Director: Peter Lord

The Pirate Captain is kinda useless but desperate to win the Pirate of the Year competition. An encounter with Charles Darwin might give him the opportunity.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)
Post #: 200
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:36:45 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 44. The Iron Giant



1999
Director: Brad Bird

Adapted from Ted Hughes' novel The Iron Man, this story about the friendship between a young boy and a giant metal man in Cold War America is director Brad Bird's best feature work to date.


_____________________________

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 201
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:37:16 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 43. Akira



1988
Director: Katsushiro Otomo

If Akira has one thing going against it, it's the pacing. For a film that's two hours long, it certainly seems to drag at points, particularly in the final half, with Tetsuo's rampage through Neo-Tokyo a little stop-start and drawn out a little too much. That said, Akira is a nevertheless thrilling and deep piece of sci-fi excellence, with excellent character work, great setpieces and an unpredictable, twisty-turny storyline that, while oddly paced as mentioned before, is still gripping. However, the film's biggest asset is its art, with possibly the most satisfyingly well-realised dystopic environment I've seen put to film. It's a cliche to say it, but Neo-Tokyo feels like another character in the film, this dark, ugly presence whose malignant fingers loom over every frame, encroaching on every character moment and seemingly driving the story to the conclusion where it dies. It's an absolutely stunning-looking film, and it doesn't hurt that everything else is pretty excellent in it as well.

Pigeon Army.


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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 202
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:40:14 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 42. Watership Down



1978
Director: Martin Rosen

Those who think a film about bunny rabbits can't be traumatic obviously haven't been subjected to Watership Down. The 80s seemed to be the decade for parents thoughtlessly plopping their kid down in front of an animated film and not realising the horrors they would be subjected to - Watership Down, its equally disturbing companion piece, Plague Dogs, The Mouse and His Child, even When the Wind Blows for some. But then this is also the decade when parents would allow us to watch films like The Terminator or Nightmare on Elm Street without much of a fuss. They were happier times. Watership Down tells the story of a warren of bunnies who, following a psychic vision from one of the number predicting death and destruction, decide to leave their field to find a new place to live. The death and savagery in the film sent many of us into shock, a terror only deepened by the film's theme song, Bright Eyes.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 203
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:40:54 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 41. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind



1984
Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Nausicaa is the princess of the Valley of the Wind, a small, peaceful society situated in a valley where perpetual gales seem to blow. She lives in a time when the toxicity of the earth has become overwhelming, and the human race itself has become an endangered species. Creatures of the forest, including the massive Ohmu, often rampage against the surrounding cities and a war rages on between two neighbouring kingdoms. It's Nausicaa's job, somehow, to sort it all out. It's difficult to believe that this is only Miyazaki's second film, because he's already at a ridiculously high standard. Based on Miyazaki's own manga series, the high point here are – as always with Ghibli and, specifically, the director – the visuals. It's a beautifully drawn film, with several sequences that are nothing short of awe-inspiring, including the march of the Ohmu and the envisioning of the god-like "Giant Warrior". The story, too, is just about timeless, and silly quarrels between nations over things that are either unimportant or belong to neither of them will continue to the end of time, or at least the end of humanity. The music lets it down somewhat, but I guess it's typical of the 1980s, and it does become somewhat cluttered at times. However, there are moments when "Nausicaa" is up there with the very best of Miyazaki's work.

Piles.

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Post #: 204
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:42:15 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 40. The Incredibles



2004
Director:: Brad Bird

Pixar's worst film that doesn't have Cars in the title.

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I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 205
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:44:00 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 39. The Jungle Book



1967
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman

The Empire Hall of Fame is lacking something important – a Disney film. Even if you are a soulless, wretched shell of a human who scoffs at joy, you cannot deny that Disney are one of the most influential film studios of all time, and have produced some great films. And no Disney film deserves a Hall of Fame spot more so than The Jungle Book.

The Jungle Book is Disney at their best. Taking on the classic Kipling stories, the film is almost flawless - I suppose its main fault is that drippy girl at the end, but that's not big deal as the rest of the film is so amazing. The animation is gorgeous – the background of the Indian jungle scenery is just lush, whilst the monkeys' dance is wonderfully done.

The voice work is absolutely perfect. George Sanders as Shere Khan is quite possibly the greatest casting decision in animated history – every line is laced with such wonderful disdain, making him simultaneously loathsome and awesome. Disney regulars Phil Harris and Sebastian Cabot are fantastic as Baloo and Bagheera respectively, whilst Sterling Holloway is a great Kaa. The mop-top vultures are a stroke of genius.

But if I had to choose one reason why The Jungle Book deserves a place in the HoF it would be, without a shadow of a doubt, the music. From the gloriously warm and comfortable The Bare Necessities to Louis Prima's pièce de résistance "I Wanna Be Like You", the music makes the film into something spectacular. These are Disney songs at their best – insanely catchy and every note is perfect. The instrumental score is pretty wicked too.
The Jungle Book is no intricately plotted thriller or three hour epic. Yet it is still a film worthy of the Hall of Fame. It's just so entertaining, so full of joy and humour and love, that it becomes something incredible – not just Disney's best film but a truly great film in its own right.

- MovieAddict247

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quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)
Post #: 206
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:44:55 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 38. Finding Nemo



2003
Director: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich

Charming Pixar about an over-protective father fish searching for his lost son. It has Albert Brooks. That's all you really need to know.

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quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)
Post #: 207
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:45:24 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 37. Presto



2008
Director: Doug Sweetland

This spectacular homage to classic cartoons sees a cute little bunny named Alec who desperately wants a carrot. The only problem is that he's due on stage as part of a magic act with Presto the magician. Presto needs Alec to perform the traditional 'rabbit out of a hat' trick, but Alec can see some carrots waiting in the wings and he's determined to get them. Presto's top hat is linked to another magic hat, and when he reaches into one, his hand appears through the other, no matter how far away, and when he tries to grab Alec it gives the crafty little bunny the opportunity to cause mayhem. Over the course of seven minutes, Presto is electrocuted, sucked into a vacuum, caught in a mouse trap, slammed into a ladder and maimed in any other way Alec can think of. The short becomes a running battle between a frustrated William Powell-esque magician and one ravenous rabbit.

An obvious tribute to not just Bugs Bunny cartoons, but also the shorts of Tex Avery. There's a definite hint of Magical Maestro about this. It also uses Avery's repetition and enhancement of a joke routine that he perfected in cartoons like Bad Luck Blackie. While it may never reach the same glorious heights as its inspirations, it's a hilarious and anarchic short and Alec and Presto have plenty of potential to appear in other shorts and even become a running double-act for Pixar.


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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)
Post #: 208
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:45:52 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 36. La maison en petits cubes



2008
Director: Kunio Kato

*sigh* I was quite right. Had I seen this before my Oscar choices I'd have been one more to the good. The drawing is superb, the colouring beautifully done. A poignant trip through the past for an old man living just above the waterline in an almost completely submerged town. As the water rises, he builds a new story to his house. Dropping his precious pipe he goes down through the levels, and back through his past, to a time when the town was whole, telling us why, unlike most everyone else, he never left. Simply wonderful - and kudos to, I think, someone called Kenjo Kodo for the music which is a perfect fit to the emotional feel of the piece.

Elab49


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quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

(in reply to rawlinson)
Post #: 209
RE: The Empire Animation Countdown - 27/2/2013 11:46:14 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40179
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 35. A Grand Day Out



1989
Director: Nick Park

A Grand Day Out introduced the world to the legendary pairing of Wallace and Gromit. Wallace is an eccentric Yorkshire inventor who lives with his far more intelligent dog, Gromit. Both master and dog love cheese and when they discover they've run out one night they do the only logical thing. They build a rocket to spend a day trip at the Moon, because everyone knows the moon is made of cheese. When setting up their picnic on the moon they discover a strange robotic creature who looks like a vending machine. They put a coin in the machine but nothing happens, but when they leave it springs to life. It gets agitated by the mess left by Wallace & Gromit, but displays longing when it discovers a skiing magazine. The machine then hatches a plan to get to earth to learn how to ski.

While it may seem slightly amateurish compared to later Wallace & Gromit efforts, A Grand Day Out is an effortlessly charming introduction to our beloved heroes. It may lack a little something by having a more sympathetic villain than later outings (you can't even call him a villain really, Wallace & Gromit do mess up his home, and all he really wants is to learn to ski) but it has the same laid-back dry wit and superb observation of details (such as the design of their rocket, complete with arm chairs) and it uses the same warped but understandable logic as the likes of Tex Avery. Top it all off with voice work from the excellent as ever Peter Sallis and you have a classic cartoon that started the greatest animation series ever to come from Britain.

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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



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ORIGINAL: matty_b

I desire MonsterCat to go down on me.

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Post #: 210
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