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A Desert Island Reunion

Since Animation World Magazine's inception, we've conducted a monthly column called "Desert Island." This regular installment provides a fascinating peek into the minds of animation artists and others involved in the industry by asking them what ten films they would choose to take with them if they had to spend their remaining years on a desert island. Having surveyed nearly 120 people, we decided it was time to compile all the answers and see what interesting trends and similarities we ...

Since Animation World Magazine's inception, we've conducted a monthly column called "Desert Island." This regular installment provides a fascinating peek into the minds of animation artists and others involved in the industry by asking them what ten films they would choose to take with them if they had to spend their remaining years on a desert island. Having surveyed nearly 120 people, we decided it was time to compile all the answers and see what interesting trends and similarities we could find...

Top 10 Animated Features of All-Time:

Pinocchio - Disney (22) Fantasia - Disney (19) Bambi - Disney (12) Dumbo - Disney (11) The Nightmare Before Christmas - Tim Burton (9) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Disney (8) Toy Story - Pixar (8) Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo (8) The Jungle Book - Disney (7) The Yellow Submarine - George Dunning (7) Allegro Non Troppo - Bruno Bozzetto (6)

Top Live-Action Films of All-Time:

Star Wars Trilogy - George Lucas (8) The Godfather Trilogy - Francis Ford Coppola (5) The Wizard of Oz - Victor Fleming (4) It's a Wonderful Life - Frank Capra (4)

Five Most Popular Artists:

desertdisney.jpgWalt Disney (81) Chuck Jones (31) Nick Park (28) Tex Avery (27) Frédéric Back (24)

Top Five Short Films:

The Wrong Trousers - Nick Park (14) The Man Who Planted Trees - Frédéric Back (13) The Big Snit - Richard Condie (10) Creature Comforts - Nick Park (9) What's Opera Doc? - Chuck Jones (8)

Top TV Show:

The Simpsons (11)

The Oddest Choices and Biggest List:

Both of these awards go to Kevin Altieri, a director on Batman: The Animated Series and of Gen 13: The Movie. Altieri chose twenty films to fill his island. The picks included such titles as Scaramouche, Kumokiri nizaemon, Blood on Satan's Claw, The Four Musketeers and The War Lord.

Respect for Live-Action:

If any single fact stood out, it was that most people involved in animation hold live-action films in high regard as well. Classic comedians like Charlie Chaplin (City Lights), Laurel & Hardy (Sons of the Desert), and Buster Keaton (The General) were all chosen as essentials. Dramatic live-action films were also abundant with choices from such respected live-action directors as Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange), Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons), Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai), Alfred Hitchcock (North by Northwest, Rear Window, Foreign Correspondent), John Ford (How Green Was My Valley), David Lean (Great Expectations, Lawrence of Arabia) and Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind)