Hello Towelites!

With the recent Academy Awards and the big win of the movie Big Hero 6, I wanted to take a look at some of my favorite animated movies. This could be quite a long list and is certainly difficult especially when trying to avoid the dominance of Disney/Pixar. Here we go (in no particular order).

Princess Mononoke

  • Princess Mononoke – One of a series of movies produced from Studio Ghibli and helmed by Hayao Miyazaki. This movie appealed to me the most because of the compelling characters and really interesting plot. This film also features brilliant animation and has a lot of the whimsical fantasy that is a requirement for a Ghibli film. However, what sets this movie apart for me was the compelling plot line and the character development that drew you in.

akira mondo

  • Akira – Considered THE film that likely brought the most familiarity of Japanese Animation to the west. Akira is a great cyberpunk movie that has awesome animation a great plot and overall is just plain cool.

the lion king

  • The Lion King – Right in the middle of Disney’s Animation Heyday in 1994, The Lion King had the perfect combination of great music (Thanks to Elton John/Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer) as well as a phenomenal voice cast. The animation was also excellent for this movie and the cultural relevance of this movie to this day is a testament to just how good it really is.

Wreck-It-Ralph-post3

  • Wreck It Ralph – One of Disney Animation’s more recent movies, Wreck It Ralph just brings back a ton of nostalgia for all gamers young and old. It is movies like this in particular that have started the on-going trend of having animation provide “winks” to the older audience which has really broadened the appeal of the genre to all ages.

AvatarKcPoster2

  • Avatar – One of the recent (2009) movies to bring a unique combination of live-action and animation together into a major movie release. Avatar is an unique example of how the west viewed animated movies at the time, as something that would need to be presented in this way in order to be considered mainstream. I think in the past six years this view has begun to change as the writing and subject matter in animated movies has certainly started to shift.

What are your thoughts Towelites? Any major misses here, let us know over on Facebook or on Twitter!