FusedFilm’s Favorite 9 Animated Films of All Time!

By Kevin Coll • December 23, 2009 • View Comments

So its been awhile since we have done an animated top ten or favorites list, in fact I think we have only done one since we have been in existence. Throughout cinematic history there has been many animated films from so many walks of life harping on different genres and different tones from children’s tales to more adult tastes. I have decided to take a look at what I consider the top 9 animated films of all time. I think it is safe to say that Walt Disney/Pixar are the standard and have been the standard for animation for sometime. However films like 9, Ponyo and other international forms of animation like Waltz With Bashir, are quickly hitting the mainstream and capturing the attention of moviegoers everywhere. New Media and Social Media are helping these lesser animated jaunts get noticed by many more people also its becoming more increasingly favored in film festivals like Sundance.

#9 – Spirited Away

From the brilliant mind and creativity of Hayao Miyazaki, this wonderful story takes us into the life of a young girl. “Chihiro and her family are on their way to their new house in the suburbs when her father decides to take a shortcut along a lonely-looking dirt road. After getting out of the car and walking along a path for a while, they discover an open-air restaurant filled with food but with no workers or customers present. Mom and Dad don’t hesitate to sit down and dig in, but Chihiro senses danger and refuses. As night falls, she is terrified to see the area fill with faceless spirits, but when she runs to find her parents, she discovers that they have been turned into pigs. She is found by a mysterious boy named Haku, who promises to help her. He gets her a job working in a nearby building, which turns out to be a bathhouse for the thousands of Japan’s gods and spirits. Though the work is hard and the people strange, she does as well as she can. Her parents, however, are still waiting in the hotel’s stockyard, and Chihiro must find a way to break the spell on them before they end up as the main course of some guest’s dinner.”

#8 – Grave of the Fireflies

From Japanes director Takahata this animated film follows Setsuko and Seita. “A brother and sister living in wartime Japan. After their mother is killed in an air raid they find a temporary home with relatives. Having quarreled with their aunt they leave the city and make their home in an abandoned shelter. While their father’s destiny who was a soldier is unknown the two must depend on each other to somehow keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. When everything is in short supply, they gradually succumb to hunger and their only entertainment is the light of the fireflies.”

#7 – The Nightmare Before Christmas

A true gem in the evolution of animation. This film came from the mind of Tim Burton as he was a young Disney animator. Combining wonderful go-motion and claymation with stellar voices and music, this movie is one of a kind. We meet,” Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, is bored with doing the same thing every year for Halloween. One day he stumbles into Christmas Town, and is so taken with the idea of Christmas that he tries to get the resident bats, ghouls, and goblins of Halloween town to help him put on Christmas instead of Halloween — but alas, they can’t get it quite right.”

#6 – Fantasia

“Walt Disney’s animated masterpiece of the 1940s grew from a short-subject cartoon picturization of the Paul Dukas musical piece, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice to eight different musical pieces. Innovative and revolutionary this animated classic combines Western classical music masterpieces with imaginative visuals, presented with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The eight animation sequences are colorful, impressive, free-flowing, abstract, and often surrealistic pieces.  Included are J.S. Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor”; Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite”; dinosaurs and volcanoes in Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”; the delightful “Dance of the Hours” by Ponchielli with dancing hippos, crocodiles, ostriches, and elephants; and Mussorgsky’s darkly apocalyptic “Night on Bald Mountain.”

#5 – Toy Story

No one can deny how awesome this movie was for the time and still is. Recently it was released in Digital 3D. Toy Story was a feat in animated filmmaking that paved the way for Pixar dominance. A great voice cast this is the film that makes us want to be a kid again. “A little boy named Andy loves to be in his room, playing with his toys, especially his doll named “Woody”. But, what do the toys do when Andy is not with them, they come to life. Woody believes that he has life (as a toy) good. However, he must worry about Andy’s family moving, and what Woody does not know is about Andy’s birthday party. Woody does not realize that Andy’s mother gave him an action figure known as Buzz Lightyear, who does not believe that he is a toy, and quickly becomes Andy’s new favorite toy. Woody, who is now consumed with jealousy, tries to get rid of Buzz. Then, both Woody and Buzz are now lost. They must find a way to get back to Andy before he moves without them, but they will have to pass through a ruthless toy killer, Sid Phillips.”

#4 – UP

A fitting film to follow Toy Story, this movie is just fantastic on every level. Its story, its animation, its characters. Its just as memorable as any Pixar film but what sets it apart is its ability to make you love and care so much for the characters. “Carl Fredrickson, a little boy and a dreamer who idolizes the adventurer Charles Munts. When he meets Ellie, who also worships Munts, they become close friends. However Charles Munts falls into disgrace, accused of forging the skeleton of the monster of Paradise Falls. He travels in his blimp to South America to bring the monster back alive but is never seen again. Eventually he Carl grows up and marries Ellie. They promise each other that they would travel together to Paradise Falls and build a house there. Many years later, Ellie dies and Carl, who’s lonely, refuses to move from their house despite the offers of the owner of a construction company. When Carl accidentally hits a worker that damaged his mailbox, he is sentenced to move to a retirement home. However, he uses many balloons to float his house in order to travel to Paradise Falls. Adventure ensues.”

#3- Aladdin

No one can deny the classic masterpiece cred this film has in the animation world. Its classic action scenes with the magic carpet flying through the Cave of Wonders to its brilliant music and voice casting. Robin Williams made the film with his genius personifying the lovable and unforgettable Genie. “Aladdin is a street-urchin who lives in a large and busy town long ago with his faithful monkey friend Abu. When Princess Jasmine gets tired of being forced to remain in the palace that overlooks the city, she sneaks out to the marketplace, where she accidentally meets Aladdin. Under the orders of the evil Jafar (the sultan’s advisor), Aladdin is thrown in jail and becomes caught up in Jafar’s plot to rule the land with the aid of a mysterious lamp. Legend has it that only a person who is a “diamond in the rough” can retrieve the lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin might fight that description, but that’s not enough to marry the princess, who must (by law) marry a prince.”

#2- Beauty and the Beast

Yes, another Disney classic, but this film is nothing short of magical and embodies the Disney tradition. Why do you think they are readapting it for 3D? Unforgettable music and characters this is the only animated film to ever win a Best Picture Academy Award. The voice talent of Angela Lansbury and classic “Tale as Old as Time” line is classic. “Belle is a girl who is dissatisfied with life in a small provincial French town, constantly trying to fend off the misplaced “affections” of conceited Gaston. The Beast is a prince who was placed under a spell because he could not love. A wrong turn taken by Maurice, Belle’s father, causes the two to meet.”

#1- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

No doubt this is the top of the list. The first full-length cell-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full color, the first to be produced by Walt Disney, and the first in the Walt Disney Animated Classics canon. Naturally its first on our list. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs may have been superseded technically by many of the films that followed it. But its simple story of a charming little princess saved from the evil deeds of her wicked step-mother, the queen, by a group of seven adorable dwarfs made history when it was first released in December, 1937 and has since become an incomparable screen classic.”

If you liked this list than check out the “9 Days of” 9. Brought to you by 9, a film from visionary filmmakers Tim Burton (The Night Before Christmas) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) directed by Shane Acker. Own it on Blu-ray™, DVD, & Digital Download. For more 9 click here.

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About the Author

Kevin Coll

Kevin is a film freak, just ask him something movie related and he lights up like a Christmas tree. Originally his destiny was to go to film school, hit LA and try and become the next big thing. Circumstances change but in college, he fell in love with writing. After several failed attempts in starting a legit and hip school online magazine for his university Kevin moved into the blogosphere for himself and began Kevin’s Rant which in 2007 morphed into Fused Film. Kevin has contributed articles on other sites like Geeks of Doom and FilmShaft, he has also been a guest on podcasts for MovieViral and The Film Feed at FS.Net. His favorite movie of all time is Empire Strikes Back, he loves his Chucks, he is an avid Stargate fan and classic rock is his music scene. Email him at: kcoll@fusedfilm.com Follow His Twitter: FusedFilm