"Damn it's setting in now, cuz cartoons are turning into real life." - N*E*R*D, Wonderful Place [buy the album]
Cartoon Brew has been talking a lot about the creepiness of CG Humans and I'm in complete nod-your-head agreement. That Polar Express movie just looks screwy. I don't like an animated Tom Hanks staring at me or those freaky kids jumping around on an animated train.
I want my animation to be whimsical and wonderful. Animating or anthropomorphizing normally inanimate objects or animals is one thing. Toy Story and A Bug's Life are good times. But the humans are always creepy. That the kid is an important character in Monsters, Inc is probably why I don't enjoy it as much as I should.
Anyway, this is as good a time as any to look at the animated films up for consideration on my Big Post of Flicks (in no particular order).
- Princess Mononoke
- A Bug's Life
- Spirited Away
- Tokyo Godfathers
- Lady and the Tramp
- The Secret of Nimh
- Dark Crystal
- Beauty and the Beast
- Toy Story
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
I love cartoons but I'm not the biggest fan of animated films. I like superhero cartoons and those get made into live action rather than great animated big screen films. And, sue me, while I tend to find Disney stuff cute, I could go my whole life without seeing most of them again. I only needed to see The Lion King, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid once to get it. And, yeah, Finding Nemo is gorgeous but whatever, it didn't make my "best film of the year" list last year.