Hi Deadsplinter peeps! I haven’t been able to put a lot of effort into today’s post because I’m dealing with a lot of house repair/roofing and insurance issues this week. So, let’s have a fun topic and chat about everyone’s favorite animated movies.
Disney/Pixar dominates most of the American market at least. I love The Jungle Book because of all of the great music and A Bug’s Life for the sole reason of Dennis Leary as a ladybug. For non Disney – The Triplets of Belleville because it is excellent and Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown because it was one of my favorites as a kid. And, even though it’s not cartoon animation – The Fantastic Mr. Fox is absolutely hands down Wes Anderson’s best in my humble opinion and my most favorite of all.
So, what say you dear Deadsplintalorians – to Disney or not to Disney? – that is the question. Thanks for you support and for stopping by.
The answer to last week’s poll is A) Max Von Sydow – I mentioned in the comments that he gave me a very expensive bottle of champagne as a wrap gift and signed my The Exorcist dvd – normally I don’t do that sort of thing, but he was a very cool dude. All of the others were pretty nice pleasant people. Billy Zane was a little crazy and had a weird codependent relationship with his girlfriend but he wasn’t a jerk.
This week’s poll:
Which actor loved to play Scrabble on set in between shots? And, told me I couldn’t play anymore because I was too into making a great word and not using enough strategy. Although, I finally beat him one day with the word czars on a triple word score.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Toy Story
Porco Rosso
Not going anywhere near Bambi, still traumatized all these years.
It really is amazing how many people were traumatized by Bambi as children.
This is interesting about the author of the book that Bambi was based on –
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/if-you-think-bambi-seems-too-mature-kids-youre-not-wrong-180964450/
My great aunt used to take me to see Disney movies as a kid.
One of the times Bambi was back in the theaters was during my dad’s annual goin deer huntin. Which typically was him and his buddies drunk as shit in the woods all weekend, with like maybe a few hours total of actual deer hunting.
So, I’m told (since I was about 4 and don’t remember), I sobbed for most of the movie and wouldn’t stop screaming “why did Bambi’s mommy have to die???”
And we get home from the movie, my mom finally gets me settled down and in bed, and my dad calls all excited because he shot a doe.
Needless to say, my mom told him he had to take it to a processer and come home with sausage or whatever because after that movie she was not about to have Bambi’s dead mother at the house.
the aristocats is probably my favourite disney…tho i enjoy most of the old disneys….they just have fantastic sound tracks
non disney…i really liked titan A.E
its probably the reason i vote for calling things bob…..tho i may have been doing that before *shrugs*
I second Titan A.E.
I third Titan A.E.
Definitely not Disney. It was fine growing up and all, but I actually sort of delighted in the odd Don Bluth animated film that would come out and challenge it (hello, All Dogs Go To Heaven).
For all-time and all-ages, Studio Ghibli (the originals with subtitles, fook the Disney dubbing). And filmmakers in the vein of Sylvain Chomet are also wonderful for fare that is more for older children/adults.
Yes, The Illusionist is another fave.
I’m not sure why, but Will Smith just strikes me as a hard core Scrabble player.
Never saw Bambi, and never really cared to. From what I knew about the story line it just never interested me.
For me I’d say the first one that pops to mind is Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but I’m also a huge fan of Wall-E. Fun fact: Ben Burtt, who made his fame with George Lucas, did the sound design for Wall-E–including voicing the titular character himself.
I saw Bambi once as a kid – and was scarred for life. My grandmother bought a set of Disney movie records that had the full audio from the movies – so I would listen to the Bambi one and it was less traumatic. I still have some of them – The Jungle Book one is really warped.
Bambi was too sad but oddly, I loved Bambi vs Godzilla!
Haha – yes, Bambi vs Godzilla is indeed a classic.
Have you seen The Rock as Bambi?
Awesome!
You know what the real joke is here, yes?
That the film is made by Marv Newland or that Tokyo let him use Godzilla?
…I liked the “marv newland produced by mr & mrs newland” line…but I’m assimg it’s a reference/homage to monty python/terry gilliam?
The whole thing is a riff on how movies used to show a whole shitload of credits at the beginning, before the story would even start.
…the credits being (or at least including) a joke made me think of the beginning of the holy grail
…& the finale with the foot is how the credits for the flying circus show ended
…but that could just be me, I guess?
Same. I think I chose Will Smith because, not only could I see him disqualifying someone on that technicality, but I had in my head the episode of Fresh Prince in which he rapidly solves the Rubik’s Cube in the school admissions office. I sort of thought at the time he must actually be able to do that in real life.
I love Miyazaki. Especially My Neighbor Totoro,Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, and Ponyo.
Studio Ghibli is on a whole different plane of storytelling than Disney. I think Kiki’s Delivery Service is my fave.
…hmm…big fan of the jungle book…& although the songs aren’t as good also robin hood for disney animations
…was underwhelmed by the translation/dub/subtitles but princess mononoke was good…& I might claim to like howl’s moving castle more than spirited away
…akira I still think of as pretty great…but as a film I think ghost in the shell worked better
…I think there may have been feature length versions of stuff like blade of the immortal & what have you but I think of most anime stuff as being series rather than movies
…all in all I guess for that sort I’d probably say ninja scrolls was a favorite
…stuff like resistance or a scanner darkly (loved the book) is maybe cheating but waking life & waltz with bashir were interesting as was persepolis
…the asterix movies are fun…because I guess I never really grew up where those are concerned…& I feel like there was a french one with kind of puppet things with buttons for eyes that I can’t remember the name of…but I feel like that’s already too many & I’m in danger of just starting to build steam…so, I probably ought to quit
…but not without putting in a vote for kubo & the two strings?
I actually prefer Linklater’s animated stuff better than his non animated.
…fair enough…but I have a soft spot for dazed & confused…mostly just because I enjoyed it a lot…but also a bit because I remember bringing up a few times that it had ben affleck in it when a lot of people seemed to think he was “dreamy” & several such fans swore blind they would have remembered that…apparently the fact he played an asshole who gets something of a comeuppance had blinded them to who played that part?
…also…didn’t he do one with laurence fishburne, bryan cranston & steve carrell?
…pretty sure I liked that one, too…but I’d have to look it up to be sure it’s the one I’m thinking of
These are some great mentions.
Waltz with Bashir was so unique its soundtrack was great–it singlehandedly inspired me to dig back into PiL.
[Not French, but] Coraline? Or possibly My Life as a Courgette?
…that one was bugging me…I think what had me confused was the first time I saw it it was dubbed into french…I must have been on holiday or something…oddly enough that’s how I first saw the little mermaid, too
…anyway…the film I was thinking of is called 9…& not french at all
…another one I was reminded of while trying to track it down was arrietty but I probably need to watch that again to remember what I thought of it…same goes for the red turtle?
this one?:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472033/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_10
I vaguely remember that, and thinking the trailers made it look more interesting than I found the actual movie. Not bad or anything, I just went in expecting more.
…yup…not sure if it was the french dub thing or just not having seen either the trailer or the original short but it won me over as I recall?
“although the songs aren’t as good also robin hood…”
What is this blasphemy?!?!???
Robin Hood only needed one song, Rip– just ONE… the BEST, most terrible earworm *ever!*
😉
(I maaaaay have gotten it stuck in my head for days at a time, then shared the misery with the current girl-roomie a half-a-bazillion times, back when we were roommates *before* in the early 00’s😉😂🤣💖)
If you were allowed enough letters in Scrabble to form “sugartits” I would have gone with Mel Gibson. I happened to be in LA when that all went down and it received wall-to-wall coverage. Every network carried hours and hours of coverage. I can just imagine what LA must have been like during the OJ circus. I used to like reading the LA Times real estate listings for this reason. They couldn’t just say, “San Fernando Valley ranch built in 1957, three bedrooms, $649,000.” No. “Matthew Crawley, who appeared in several episodes of ‘My Favorite Martian’, lived here from 1966 to 1968, and later Ed Whosis, who was the junior lighting grip during two seasons of ‘Fantasy Island’, called this ranch home from 1978 until his premature death in 1983.”
I just thought of a good entry for my truth, truth, lie profile. Perhaps my favorite animated film of all time is “The Little Mermaid.” I have seen it at least a dozen times.
When I was in college – I took my youngest sister to see The Little Mermaid – she was 5. When Ursula and the eels came out – she jumped up and ran out of the theater. I thought she had to go to the bathroom – but when I found her in the lobby – she wouldn’t go back in until she knew they weren’t on the screen anymore. She thought she could be brave if they came on again but – nope. Hopped right up and ran out again. We ended up going home at that point. When it came out on video though – it became her favorite movie – she could fast forward through the Ursula bits.
I saw The Little Mermaid ON BROADWAY! Tickets $200+. Cast on rollerblades (to simulate underwater movement.) I would do it again. My excuse was I had two little girl visitors (and their Mom, my sister) planning to visit me, and I said to the girls, “Now think of something you’d like to do. The Met is doing a Matisse retrospective, or, I know, we could see The Little Mermaid…”
I’m ice cold toward Disney’s over-sweet disposition, though I’m around the right age to like their ’90s revival (Little Mermaid through Lion King). Pixar movies are wonderful achievements that seem increasingly designed to break your heart. I have no real interest in watching any of the recent ones a second time (or even a first time in a few cases). Tho, Wall-E bangs. So who knows.
Studio Ghibli stuff is good, I really liked “Into The Spider-Verse” … but in general, I guess I’m just not a huge fan of animated films. Now if we’re talking shows, I’m totally in, but for some reason, I just don’t get as invested in the movies.
…into the spider-verse was great…can’t believe that slipped my mind
Me too. It’s my fave of all the Spidermen movies I’ve seen.
Coraline, Monsters Inc., Chicken Run, Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.
…I saw coraline in 3D with some friends who do (maybe did in one case) graphics stuff on films & I think it might have been the best use of 3D I’ve come across?
…not sure what the technical terms are but generally it seems like the 3D element of stuff like avatar puts the third dimension “beyond” the screen which is a trick your eyes are already pretty good at but a bunch of stuff in coraline was actually in front of the screen, so to speak…not sure that’s a very good way to describe it but it’s a neat trick?
I’m a huge fan of animation and I’ve seen tons, but my favorite? The Iron Giant.
Others in no particular order: Toy Story (various), Incredibles (both), The Lego Movie (batshit craziness), The Lego Batman Movie (batshit craziness x 5), Aladdin, How To Train Your Dragon, The Little Mermaid, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse
…the incredibles I loved (“no capes”) & although the lego movie was fun the batman one has to be my favorite lego animation by a long way
The Lego movie is more fun than a giant commercial for Legos should be.
The original Lady and Tramp (of course it was the dog movie),
The Siamese cats in that are legit scary. My neighbor has two that he lets roam all around outside. Sometimes, when I’m shooing them away from my wildlife – I get a look from one that is like “If you weren’t so big, I would fuck you up.”
I really like The Brave Little Toaster too.
Yes! Blanky and his heating button nose are the cutest.
I have seen no animated movie more than Wizards.
Other favorites:
Heavy Metal, Roger Rabbit & The Hobbit.
This movie messed me up as a kid!
I loved the Hobbit animated film growing up. I couldn’t wait for it to air every year.
I have never seen Fantastic Planet – and I may be traumatized by that trailer as an adult – so I can only imagine what it was like seeing it as a kid.
I love cartoons and animated films. Everything listed above plus: A Goofy Movie, Anastasia, The Last Unicorn.
Do puppets count as animated? the Dark Crystal is one of my favorite movies.
Sure, why not?! I do like the Dark Crystal, but for me nothing beats the original Muppet Movie. For some reason – just listening to the beginning with the banjo makes me very emotional. Maybe because my grandmother took me to see it and I have always missed my grandmother terribly.
I haven’t seen any Disney/Pixar past a certain era. Basically late 90s early 00s. Not sure Pixar even existed yet. Alice in Wonderland was always my favorite tho.
Did anyone watch Saturday Anime on the SciFi channel back in the mid/late 90s? It came on Saturday morning. I’m not into anime now, it seems very complicated, but the movies I caught back then I still love. Dominion Tank Police, Vampire Hunter D, Project A-ko, 8 Man After, Casshan Robot Hunter…
All time favorite for the animation is Sleeping Beauty. The nerd in me (with the art history) loves the amount of detail that went in to the illustration and how they used gothic art elements throughout.
If you want to go with plot, it’s Lilo and Stitch. That movie I think is underappreciated and really deals with grief in a very approachable way for kids. Like in the beginning, Lilo is giving a sandwich to a fish, and then she’s late for dance class and tells the teacher it’s because she had to get the peanut butter for the sandwich for the fish… because that fish controls the weather. Later we learn her parents died in a car accident in a storm. There’s just layers of details like that in the film. Also great humor and fun scifi themes.
Most of my faves were already mentioned, but I want to say that my mind gets blown anew every time I see any kind of documentary about old school animators and stop-motion artists. Even the Isle of Dogs featurette was impressive.
I have an irrational aversion to Disney. so none of those.
I also rather like some anime, but I feel like that’s a bit unfair.
So, as far as things that haven’t already been mentioned that I enjoyed, The Secret of Kells, and Watership Down.
I’m totally a sucker for animated movies, and the Disney & Pixar stuff will probably always have spots that I adore, simply because I grew up with Disney, and then was in my early 20’s & working with kids when A Bug’s Life came out.
(Heimlich is the BEST, as are the pill-bugs Tuck & Roll!😉)
Up is one that hasn’t been mentioned, but that i adore.
And Cinderella is one of my favorite “background noise” movies, because I like Gus (Octavius) & Jaq–“Ever seen a catcat? Mean! Sneaky! Jump at you! Bite at you! Rawr!” Is something I quote at Lily alllll the time, when Rocket (our boycat) is being a butt… it’s also the reason I call him “CatCat” half the time😉💖
The first movie i saw in a theater–as some of y’all know, was The Fox & the Hound.
I was the sobbing child in the theater, who tried to storm out, when Tod & Copper couldn’t be friends anymore (i was going to go tell *someone* that they were VERY BAD, and VERY WRONG, for not letting them be friends anymore😉😂🤣)
Obviously, having been born less than a decade after the Civil Rights Act passed, being exposed to allllll sorts of PBS documentaries (gotta LOVE the fact that we only had three channels!😉😆), and living in the era when the Seuss classic The Sneetches** was in regular rotation on TV, meant that the Wee Em was well-versed in racism, bias, and injustice by the time she was 5.
I KNEW that Amos Slade was very much in the wrong, for trying to kill Tod, and for not letting Tod & Copper be friends anymore…. and this Wee Em was going to find *someone* and let them KNOW that Amos was being VERY bad & NAUGHTY!!!😆😂🤣
(**to this day, honestly, The Sneetches and Other Stories is one of my all-time favorite Seuss books, and The old Sneetches video IS something that I both adore still, and which definitely helped to shape my worldview from the time I was a preschooler😉💖)