The Greatest Animated Film Ever?

A new poll has named TOY STORY as the greatest animated film ever. Click on the link to see the full list and an accompanying newspaper article.

The poll is interesting reading, but it is FLAT OUT WRONG... there is NO MENTION of THE IRON GIANT! What kind of ignoramus would put ICE AGE ahead of Brad Bird's masterpiece?

(And, for the record, TOY STORY 2 trumps the first movie in my book.)

Your thoughts, folks? Any glaring omissions or bizarre inclusions?

22 comments:

Sam said...

And Shrek as number two? You might prefer the Rotten Tomatoes list of the top 50 animated films. It's based on an aggregate of actual critics' reviews, and you'll be happy to hear that Toy Story 2 took out the top spot.

http://au.rottentomatoes.com/guides/best_animated_films/

Their top ten:
1. Toy Story 2
2. Snow White
3. Pinocchio
4. Toy Story
5. Wall-E
6. Finding Nemo
7. Fantasia
8. Chicken Run
9. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
10. Nightmare Before Christmas

Iron Giant came in at number 14. Shrek was down around 30 (I think Cars was the only Pixar film that scored lower). Justice prevails.

Kristi said...

What kind of ignoramus? The average person, who has never heard of The Iron Giant. (Actually, I'm kind of impressed that the average person remembers Watership Down at all, never mind remembers it fondly. It must be extra-special to the English.)

This is a great topic for discussion, but I don't like to see you getting upset at the results of worthless online polls.

Cheers!

Frank said...

Alexey Alexeev's KJFG No.5 is not only the greatest animated film ever, it is the best animation ever seen in the galaxy. I am blind now from gazing in awe of it's greatness so much.

Which gets down to the subjectivity of these polls. What were the criteria?

Where was Sylvain Chomet's "Triplets of Belville"? Where is anything by Studio Ghibli (there's a top 20 all on its own)? Where was "Kiwi"? "Kung Fu Panda", "Meet the Robinsons", "up" would be preety well up there, "Bambi", "Aristocats", Wallace and Gromit in "The Curse of the Wererabbit", "Horton...", "Lady and the Trap", "Madagascar"..., "The Old Man and the Sea"... so many memeorable posts on the ARC.

"The Incredibles" hasn't been mentioned.

Bring out the bottles of red wine and 6 hour cooked juicy beef roast. It is time to set up this debate properly.

Frank said...

so many typos...

Lady and the Tramp; Up

Frank said...

I think Terry has been a reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes, I wonder what he has to say on this topic?

Kristi said...

Oh Frank, I hope that your choices are based entirely on animation quality and not characters/story. Aristocats, indeed! Cute songs, recycled story, worst supporting characters I can think of...

And Madagascar... which was at least a very entertaining film, but not exactly one to last the ages. If you were going to include Madagascar then I would have to include Over The Hedge (similar style, and just as much fun).

But I'm totally with you on The Incredibles, Triplets of Belleville, and Spirited Away. And Kung Fu Panda, even.

Kristi said...

Much as I love Who Framed Roger Rabbit, I doubt it would be classified as an animated film by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"An animated feature film is defined as a motion picture with a running time of at least 70 minutes, in which movement and characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture’s running time."

Frank said...

Hey Kristi, astute as always. You must have a web cam link to my thought centre.

Aristocats is about cats. That's a rocket to the top. There are other cat films, I know, but this one is slinking around the sediment of my psyche. When I saw it as but a wee bairn, I found it magical and was Thomas O'Malley for days afterward, much to the amusement of my mother (who favours Lady and the Tramp). Some of that magic still persists today, but I don't eat as many cat biscuits.

Madagascar made me laugh, quite often. To be honest, I don't remember much about the plot or the animation, I remember laughing and empathising. Same with the Donkey in Shrek 1, and Bowler Hat Guy in Meeth The Robinsons, just seemed to be a meeting of minds.

I disliked Cars as I couldn't empathise. Nemo, the film, was saved by Dory.

That is why I think this is a poll about associated memories. Remembering an empathetic involvement with a character but maybe not objectively assessing a film based on the quality of the animation.

It's a vox pop straw poll and very interesting in terms of how an animator, or a scriptwriter more likely, should think while creating.

I can see many different potential discussions supa nova-ing out of this.

"Superman!" (I tear up every time)

Jess said...

Animal Farm?

Danielli said...

Blue Harvest!!!

i await your flamings with glee.

Jess said...

Paprika.

Terry said...

Thanks Sam, that Rotten Tomatoes poll is much more to my liking.

Yer right Kristi, it is silly to get worked up over a silly online poll... but it makes a good discussion-starter!

I just found out it is the tenth anniversary of THE IRON GIANT this year!

Frank, good call... no list is complete without THE INCREDIBLES!

Terry said...

Blue Harvest? Daniel Goodman, you disgust me with your appalling taste.

Anonymous said...

Wow really? I mean it broke A LOT of ground when it first came out but I would've figured one of the old Disney movies to be no 1! Like Snow White or The Little Mermaid.

And what about the Studio Ghibli films, like Princess Mononoke?

*sigh* I must have it all backwards.

At least Nightmare before Christmas is there... ALL THE WAY AT THE BOTTOM! And come on, Alice is last?? Pft.

Tiffany said...

This is all very subjective. While there are some Disney movies I do like, I mostly favourite the Anime ones. But I must say, Disney does have some great acting put into their animations.

Cassie said...

Defiantly, IRON GIANT
and THE INCREDIBLES,
LILO and STITCH,
JUNGLE BOOK and
101 DALMATIANS,
and NOCTURNA,
Last One one my list of favorites would be MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO :)
Who agrees with me that they are the best animated movies of all time?
:P

Rachel Archbold said...

I can not believe they did not put down The Incredibles, it is an outrage! Also why the heck is Alice in Wonderland only number 20!? It deserves more than that. Aristocats deserves a mention and Horton Hears a Who.

Frank said...

Blue... what the hell are you on about Dan!?

Yes, Al, the Ghibli's, with Totoro at the top. You do have it the right way round. The poll was of the general public who don't have the depth of your viewing knowledge.

Lilo and Stitch, Jungle Book, so true Cassie. And I do like that you said "Defiantly", it is the best Freudian typographical error in this whole discussion, if it is one? Defiant Iron Giant; has a ring to it!

CassO said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CassO said...

I'm just glad The Lion King is up there!

Easily my favourite.

Kristi said...

Yet another Best Animated Films list here, and this one has many of the movies that we've been mentioning. But then, it's not an online poll but the opinion of an EW journalist, who obviously knows animation.

Entertainment Weekly 20 Best Animated Movies Ever

Kristi said...

Having claimed that Who Framed Roger Rabbit? doesn't have enough animation to be an animated film, I have discovered that among the 20 films submitted for consideration by the Academy this year is Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel. I am pretty sure that's another live-action film with animation, isn't it? (Nobody seriously expects it to be nominated, at least I hope not, but its presence could push the number of nominations up to 5, instead of the usual 3. That's a good thing, right?)