Top 10 Animated Features of the 2000s
When we humans look back over a ten-year span, we are compelled to do two things -- make and/or read lists. They give us a chance to reminisce and complain -- two of our most beloved pastimes. AWN has looked over the 2000s and compiled what we believe are the most significant animated features. We encourage debate and your suggestions on why we're right and why we have no clue what we're talking about. So without further ado, here is your top ten.
Special Jury Prize: Fantasia/2000 (2000)
Festivals always award a special jury prize and we felt Fantasia/2000 deserved some recognition. Walt Disney always wanted to add on to the original Fantasia on a regular basis. Championed by his nephew Roy Disney, that vision finally came true in 2000 with the landmark IMAX presentation of Fantasia/2000. In segments like Eric Goldberg's "Rhapsody in Blue" to Gaëtan and Paul Brizzi's "The Firebird Suite," the film captures much of the spirit of the 1940 masterpiece.
Sylvain Chomet's visual stylish and inventive tale of a determined grandmother who sets out to save her kidnapped grandson has universal appeal. Through is infectious music timed brilliantly to the animation, the film crosses cultural boundaries while skewering American and French stereotypes in the process. For it's success the Academy Awards nominated it for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for "Belleville Rendez-Vous."
Aardman Animations' Chicken Run was one of the best animated features of the 1990s. In 2005, with the help of co-director Steve Box, Nick Park brought his enormously charming duo of hapless inventor Wallace and his brilliant pooch Gromit into a feature length adventure, which has fun with the horror genre. Filled with the series's signature wit, the plasticine pair made their jump to the big screen with ease, earning an Oscar for Best Animated Feature in the process and leading the 2000s' stop-motion charge for other remarkable productions like Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox.
2009 was a watershed year for animated features. There were more quality productions than ever before. Pixar, of course, provided one of the premiere editions. Daring to put a 70-year-old man at the center of a family film, director/writer Peter Docter and co-director/writer Bob Peterson once again pushed the expectations of American animation. The famed "Married Life" montage is one of the most emotionally effective pieces of moviemaking you might ever see. Pixar takes its precisely defined characters and places them into one of their funniest films for the adventure of an old man, a young scout and a house tied to balloons floating to South America. They're visuals that have already become classic.
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"their " in this context is spelled "their" not "they're." How can we take this article seriously?
Oh and I forgot to state that the French film on the list is garbage and there is some very good films that belong. Not Bolt. Are you serious Bolt? Anyway. Finding Nemo was a fantastic film as was Cars and Cars was not on this list. Also the Miyazaki film heads are right. Ponyo is not on the list. If we are taking the list seriosly then surely you can take Princess and the frog off the list, but Kung Fu Panda is great and yet still not deserving of the list. Coraline was a great film and stands as a solid candidate but even Shaun the Sheep films or a rather awesome film called the Corpse Bride are better and more deserving of applause than The Frog film or half of these films. Flushed Away is also a better film that another Dreamworks film Kung Fu Panda. Aardmann Studios, the stop motion projects of Tim Burton, and Pixar are all going to outlast any films by Dreamworks or even many of the others that even made the lists that we are discussing. I am embarrassed to be part of the culture that ignores films like Miyazaki while embrassing films the likes of Meatballs. I believe that the Madagascar series is solid but only can be placed in the top 20. Films like The wild, nine, Ice Age, Robots, Chicken Run, and Bolt only scrape the top 20. Even more irratating is that a fantastic film has not been mentioned at all. How about The Tales of Despereaux. This was a very curious film but a great story and very original.
Maybe a better list would have been 20 long. top ten though....
1) Spirited Away
2) Ratatioulle
3) Corpse Bride
4) Walle
5) Up
6) Wallace and Gromit Curse of the Ware Rabbit
7) Flushed Away
8) Meet the Robinson's
9) Tales 0f Despereaux
10) Incredibles
Obviously Pixar has the most great films on everyones list so we can all at least agree that they win the top studio award.
These comments are as weak as the intellects that gave birth to them. Wall-E and Up are very engaging and rich stories that involve a level of attention span that goes well beyond the fart jokes style of Cloudy meatballs. Ok I admit that the Meatballs film was decent but not in a million years a shake better than any of the films that you mention. Shrek? Really. For any person who loved the humor in Cloudy they must therefore worship the Mike Meyers crazy humor of the Shrek series. Not to mention on star power alone Shrek brings much more to the table than Cloudy. Anna Faris is great and the SNL cast is ok but Shrek is a much more complete story and at least in its fantasy plot has more reality than water turning into food. Honestly its rediculous. Food falling in Rainstorms from a single cloud that begins covering massive amounts of the sky and dropping tons of food coming from minor amounts of H2O. I like food and water but Its not a great plot for a solid film worthy of being idealized and awarded as even a top 20 film. Shor memory and attention spand obviously rules the day when deciding which films are really great. I hope that is not really the case. Good Luck on your future in value sizing everything and being narrow minded. Pixar should be one of several studios including Ghibli that will transend a ten year period and become classics. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is simply just cannon fodder for the under-educated masses. This is another sign that America is leaving its people behind. Money should be thrown at education and the arts in the US not dropping bombs are building walls.
u shold whach up is a grate movie
Kung Fu Panda - If McDonalds made a film, this would be it.
Are you serious? Its utterly hollow, vacuous drivel with the message that if your a lazy fat slob and do nothing to gain your dreams other than rely on luck you will get everything, and someone who works hard on their dreams wont.
Wall*E, Up and Ratatouille are entertaining but ultimately forgettable. Princess and the Frog was a lame throw-back to the Disney hits of the '90's - and wasn't nearly as good as the best of those.
My list would be:
1. Spirited Away
2. Monsters Inc.
3. Shrek
4. The Incredibles
5. Astro Boy (don't knock it if you haven't seen it)
6. Up
7. Kung Fu Panda
8. Bolt
9. Ponyo
10. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
Wally and Up are overrated. Princess and The Frog is a weak story. Where is Ponyo, Kung Fu Panda and Coraline? Heck, I'd pick Cloudy W/ Meatballs over Up, Wall-e or Shrek.
Oh yes, forgot to mention.
Shrek is a very good choice. While many people did not like the film, it was probobly THE most influential one of the decade. Just see how it had influenced American animation with its unique brand of humor, celebrity voices, and mockery tone.
I did not think UP or Wall-e deserve the praise they received. Don't get me wrong, they were good. Just not Pixar's best.
I don't think Princess and the Frog should be on the list because it paled in comparison to the classic 90's Disney musicals, which were constructed much better in my opinion.
In my TOP TEN for the decade, I would have included more Japanese anime films. Has anybody except me seen Paprika, Ponyo On A Cliff, or The Girl Who Leapt Through Time???
Shrek,as a movie,is garbage.
If we where taking to a business class about successful,profitable licenses I can see it being on the list. But from an animation and storytelling point of view,to have this POS on the list of 10 best is nothing short of a joke.
The movie has no story,no writing of its own,all it does is parody everything the writers could come up with to juice out some cheap laughs out of the audience.This works great as a moneymaker but to compare it to truly excellent visual stories like the incredibles or spirited away is a sorry ass joke. The only good movie dreamworks ever made was Kung Fu panda,this list is worthless.
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