Here are two more brilliant animated movies. One is an acknowledged classic, and the other should be. This list is in no particular order, and all comments are in my far-from-humble opinion.
8) Fantasia (1940, dir: James Algar and 10 others): It's hard to believe that this movie initially flopped when it hit theatres; it's generally considered the best of Disney's classic era. By now everyone knows the concept: Fantasia is a series of vignettes set to the music of various classical composers, as interpreted by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Some of the vignettes work better than others, it's highly dated (a black centaur polishes a white centaur's hooves in one sequence), the first vignette (Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor") will put smaller kids to sleep, and there are some questionable artistic decisions (translating Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria" into English, for one). But this glorious failure still casts a spell. Fantasia is possibly the finest marriage of music and image; it's a shame the 2000 sequel didn't live up to expectations.
Fun fact: When Disney remastered Fantasia in 1982, they used Modest Mussorgsky's original score for "Night on Bald Mountain" since it was considered fiercer than Stokowski's version.
7) Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005, dir: Steve Box & Nick Park): Five years in the making, Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a stop-motion movie that's not afraid to show its lo-fi roots (you can see animators' fingerprints on some of the characters). Plot: cheese-obsessed inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit (the true brains of the operation) must save the town's fruits and vegetables from the mysterious Were-Rabbit, while Wallace romances the lovely Lady Campanula Tottington. Cute, mischievous bunnies delight the kids, while the occasional sly joke (watch how Lady Tottington holds her melons) tickle adult funny bones. This film has a very British sensibility but that's an essential part of its charm. Repeated viewings are recommended to catch all the gags in this movie, but it's well worth it.
Typical Hollywood: Dreamworks wanted Park and Box to replace Peter Sallis (the voice of Wallace) with someone who American audiences would recognize. They refused, but compromised by casting Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes as the love interest and villain respectively.
Stick around for #6 and #5.
