Animated
My month long study of the animated genre has come to an end. There are a lot of different types of animation in film and each offers its own unique slice. The world of animation offers a lot of opportunities that the live-action medium can’t. One of the ways that animation differs from live-action is its ability to exist in a world where filming would be impossible, like the ocean in Finding Nemo or outer space in Wall-e or on the wings of dragons in How to Train your Dragon. Animation doesn’t suffer from the same limitations and the films I have chosen for my list represent some of the most important movies produced for this genre.
There are three main forms of animation used prominently today, the first is traditional animation. This is the one that has been around the longest and exists largely due to Walt Disney and Snow White. There are a lot of reasons to choose traditional animation, mostly it offers a two-dimensional feel which keeps the viewer at arms length. The other two forms of animation are both newer, but are more immersive for the viewer. First is stop-motion, which is a timely process, but it results in feature of a high quality and some of the most realistic scenery and characters since it is filmed using handmade puppets. The other newer style is digital animation, and this on is the most common form used today. This technique offers a more immersive experience and it allows the films to do more than traditional or stop-motion would allow.
I have selected my all-time favorite animated films, some of which I have chosen for their animation style over the quality since this genre is such a high-concept form of cinema. These are my top 25, but if you disagree with my analysis, feel free to sound off in the comments.
- The Lion King (1994) – Traditional
- Wall-e (2008) – Digital
- Spirited Away (2001) – Traditional
- Toy Story (1995) – Digital
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) – Traditional/Live-Action Hybrid
- The Ion Giant (1999) – Traditional
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) – Stop-Motion
- Up (2009) – Digital
- Zootopia (2016) – Digital
- Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) – Stop-Motion
- How to Train your Dragon (2010) – Digital
- Finding Nemo (2003) – Digital
- Fantastic Planet (1973) – Traditional
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – Traditional
- The Illusionist (2010) – Traditional
- Akira (1988) – Traditional
- Fantasia (1940) – Traditional/Live-Action Hybrid
- Cinderella (1950) – Traditional
- Watership Down (1978) – Traditional
- The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) – Precursor to Stop-Motion
- The Nightmare before Christmas (1993) – Stop-Motion
- Shrek (2001) – Digital
- Beauty and the Beast (1991) – Traditional
- Chicken Run (2000) – Stop-Motion
- The Incredibles (2004) – Digital
Movies 