Fantastic Planet – 1973

A remnant of a very odd time, this film is bizarre. The concept of the film focuses on hundred-foot tall blue aliens who keep tiny humans as pets. One of the pets begins to learn like the aliens and escapes to join a rebellion against the aliens. There are a number of striking things about […]

Akira – 1988

Anime is a form of animation that originates from Japan. It isn’t my favorite animation style, but it is fairly realistic. Akira turns Tokyo into a nuclear wasteland, where motorcycle gangs battle each other nightly and the police shoot resistance members daily. The film also explores the concept of human evolution as scientist experiment on […]

The Illusionist – 2010

Jacques Tati was a revolutionary in the world of comedy and there are numerous tributes to him in films and television. None is more significant than The Illusionist, a film written by Tati towards the end of his career. This film pays tribute to Tati in a number of ways, chiefly the relationship the title […]

Spirited Away – 2001

No list of great animated films is complete without Hayao Miyazaki. A master of creating fantastical world and amazing creatures, the imagination of Miyazaki is perfectly illustrated by animation. And while any number of his films could make a list of greats, there is one stand out in his repertoire and that film is Spirited […]

The Adventures of Prince Achmed – 1926

Well that was weird. The oldest surviving animated film was a passion project by Lotte Reiniger, who was one of the first female directors of a feature-length film. The film took three years and handmade cardboard cutouts to create this work of originality. The painstaking detail that went into this film is the most important […]

Kubo and the Two Strings – 2016

Laika has been on an upswing for the past few years; they started with Coraline and have been on the rise ever since. Their most recent effort, Kubo, is a tale that plays like an ancient Japanese folktale, but has the spirit of a modern adventure story. The animation is impressive and I am constantly […]