Author Topic: Should the Animation Marathon option win out...  (Read 15435 times)

Nijhazer

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #20 on: July 10, 2006, 08:25:27 PM »
Guys,

   If you can find it, please consider including The Thief and the Cobbler. On first seeing the box art, many have written this off as generic and haven't watched it-- when in fact it took twenty-six years to make and is one of the most impressive works of animation ever created. If nothing else, read the Wikipedia entry for this movie to get some of the backstory behind its fascinating production.

   Thanks!

Nijhazer

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #21 on: July 10, 2006, 09:21:04 PM »
I'm still surprised at the dearth of recommendations for American animation. Though I'll be the first to admit that the American animation industry has gone down the tubes in recent years, the history of classic animated films is paved with American works. Most of them are still well-remembered and Sam and Adam have likely seen them at one point or another, but whether this one falls under that category or not, one animated film that must be seen is:

The Brave Little Toaster -- Today, animation fans laud The Iron Giant for its character development, but in 1987 The Brave Little Toaster had already bested it. Putting aside that Toaster is one of the most gorgeous, most impressive works of animation ever created, it also features storyline and character development that went farther than viewers would have expected from an animated film and was all the more effective for it. After The Thief and the Cobbler, this is the animated film that must be shown in Filmspotting 101's animation curriculum.

Don't get me wrong, though-- there are many great anime films available as well. Unfortunately I don't see most of the ones mentioned in this thread having much appeal to Sam and Adam (with the exception of Grave of the Fireflies, which I agree, is a must-see)-- how about instead we go with an anime that seems tailor made for Sam Hallgren:

Hoshi no Koe: Voices of a Distant Star -- One man, a Mac, and incredible artistic talent; and a year later, we have Voices of a Distant Star. At thirty minutes, it isn't particularly long, but is an incredibly poignant and beautifully done feature about a pair of lovers separated by the vast distance of space due to military service. Their only method of communication is to send emails back and forth-- emails which take increasingly longer to arrive as the two move further apart... until eventually, they take years to arrive. It's short, perhaps too short for Sam and Adam to spend a full episode on, but I cannot recommend any anime above this to the Filmspotting crew. I recommend watching it in the original Japanese, though.

And from the mainstream category:

Lilo and Stitch -- Disney responded to this film's critical acclaim and commercial success by firing nearly everyone that worked on it and shutting down the Florida studio where it was created. Watch this movie with that in mind to get an understanding of how far off track that company has gone. Despite Disney's continued whoring out of this franchise in the years since, Lilo and Stitch is one of the best films Disney has produced in the past twenty years. Its use of watercolor combined with Chris Sanders's penchant for curved lines and distaste for corners results in a film that's more pleasing to the eye than almost anything else I could recommend, but it's also a good story in its own right, with the most interesting cast of characters in any Disney film since Beauty and the Beast. (Though if you haven't seen Beauty and the Beast, go see that film instead-- it may be my favorite Disney film.)

I'd have to recommend against the recommendation of Hertzfeldt's Rejected from earlier in this thread. The sardonic will find it amusing, at least at first-- I certainly laughed at it a few times-- but overall it's crude, childish, and in my opinion, a waste of time. If you'd like to see it anyway, I'm sure it's up on YouTube somewhere.

dieitachi

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #22 on: July 10, 2006, 11:05:04 PM »
I also made an account just to suggest anime. :roll: And I don't even listen to podcasts, my mother listens to Cinecast and pointed me towards this thread~

If you only watch one anime movie, I would say make it Princess Mononoke or Metropolis. Those are what I always suggest to people who aren't anime fans, because they're easy to like even if you aren't into anime. (Some are only likeable if you have an acquired taste for it... like the Utena movie. I wouldn't recommend that one. :shock:) Some other good ones are Macross Plus, Akira (mmm violence), and the Escaflowne movie.

And for the love of God, don't watch all Miyazaki movies. His movies don't have much variety in my opinion. (Yeah yeah, the stories are all completely different, but you always get the same warm, fuzzy feeling at the end. Blegh.)


Oh and I almost forgot to mention, pleeeease don't watch anything dubbed! Regular movie dubs suck, but animated dubs suck even WORSE. Can you imagine?!

Anonymous

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #23 on: July 11, 2006, 08:55:42 AM »
I'm amazed that American animation is taking such a beating here.  While I agree that anime could, and probably should be its own marathon, American animation also deserves its place.

For instance, I'm amazed that no one has mentioned Bakshi.  Sure...his work is an acquired taste but he is also one of the single most influential animators to come out of the 60's.

And where is mention of Will Vinton's "The Adventures of Mark Twain?"  The movie is a thing of beauty and rather dark in tone.

I'd like to put the following list of films from around the world out for consideration:

Yellow Submarine
The Thief and the Cobbler (Re-cobbled Cut only)
Watership Down
The Iron Giant
Howl's Moving Castle
Grave of the Fireflies
Akira
The Adventures of Mark Twain
Twice Upon a Time (though it may be hard to acquire copies..which is a darn shame)
Heavy Traffic
Rock 'n Rule
Lilo and Stitch
Faust (Jan Svankmajer)
My Neighbor Totoro (the rainy bus stop scene may be the most beautiful in all of animation)
Animal Farm
Spirited Away
The Secret of NIMH
The Emporer's New Groove
The Nighmare Before Christmas
James and Giant Peach
The Prince of Egypt
Batman:  Mask of the Phantasm
A Boy Named Charlie Brown
The Triplettes of Belleville
The hunchback of Notre Dame (highly underrated Disney)
Allegro Non Troppo (the "Bolero" scene tops anything in Fantasia, IMHO)
The Brave Little Toaster
When the Wind Blows
Beavis and Butthead Do America
Fantastic Planet

Yes, I left about ten very deserving Miyazaki films off.  But I included the ones I felt were most accessible.

If I were to weed down that list, I'd probably go with the following:

Yellow Submarine
Howl's Moving Castle
Heavy Traffic
The Secret of NIMH
The Iron Giant
Faust

And would boot NIMH if Twice Upon a Time was easily accessible.

Just my take on it.

Anonymous

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #24 on: July 11, 2006, 10:11:06 AM »
Dont forget South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut easily my favorite musical of all time.

winrit

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #25 on: July 11, 2006, 12:01:07 PM »
Watership Down - Watching this was one of the most terrifying events of my childhood.  I saw it in an elementary school class and  I still haven't gotten over it.  I came home from school in tears, followed by nightmares.  I can't even imagine watching this as an adult.
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StandAloneMatt

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #26 on: July 11, 2006, 03:36:33 PM »
I think the reason people are not mentioning a lot of American animation is because they are so widely seen - even the classics.  The Sam and Adam (or Adam and Sam) marathons usually include movies that at least one of them haven't seen, but usually neither of them have.  Its hard to mention Snow White or Fantasia or any of the Pixar films because most everyone has seen them multiple times.

StandAloneMatt

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #27 on: July 11, 2006, 03:38:17 PM »
Grave of the Fireflies is one that should be on the list ... this films inclusion shouldn't even be a discussion

Reaver

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #28 on: July 11, 2006, 04:12:06 PM »
Quote from: "dieitachi"
If you only watch one anime movie, I would say make it Princess Mononoke or Metropolis.


I think Spirited Away is better than either of those two films, and easily more digestible to folks who've not watched much anime, than either of those two. Then again, I never liked Princess Mononke much, and can't see why others do.

Quote
Oh and I almost forgot to mention, pleeeease don't watch anything dubbed! Regular movie dubs suck, but animated dubs suck even WORSE. Can you imagine?!


That's what we call a generalization, and those aren't always true. Yes, some dubs are bad, but not all.

annette_not_the_actress

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Should the Animation Marathon option win out...
« Reply #29 on: July 12, 2006, 12:55:33 AM »
Quote from: "cinecast"
Our experience is basically zero. I'm sure we'll have a ton of insight to share. (No, I'm not nervous at all.)

 

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