My Top 10 Animated Films

I'd never claim to be any sort of authority on animated films (I've only seen one of the 86 Shrek movies, for instance) but I know a good one when I see one, and I've seen quite a few. So here is the list of my Top Ten Animated Films.

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10. A Bug's Life

(1998)

The Disney/Pixar output is prolific in recent years but I count this one as the best of the bunch. I saw it when it came out, and not only was the animation amazing but the little touches (such as a water droplet in a rolled-up leaf used as a telescope) drew you into the ants' world more. The rendering of shadows and wind movement was done really well too.

9. Hotaru No Haka

(Grave Of The Fireflies)

(1988)

Teenaged Seita and his young sister Setsuko try to survive in a small village after their mother is killed in a World War II bombing raid. The film is based on a book by Akiyuki Nosaka about a boy and his sister dying of starvation just days before Japan's surrender in 1945. Nosaka wrote the book to come to terms with his sister's death, because he blamed himself for it.

The film depicts a dangerous reality but doesn't overdo the sentimentality, although it has to be said this is an intensely moving film. If it doesn't at least bring a tear to your eye you are not human.

8. Project A-Ko

(1986)

I saw this at the start of my "I'll watch any anime no matter what it's about" period (1998–2001). It inspired me to do comics/graphic novels with unlikely protagonists. It's got plenty of elements that people like about anime: the main character's a girl, it's set in a school, it's got massive robots that explode and some great rubbery animation, with facial expressions you never knew existed. Old-school anime that still matches up to the visually-sophisticated '90s/'00s stuff. The first anime film I saw, and a good introduction to anime, looking back.

7. The Lion King

(1994)

Many consider the 1990s to be a 'gold' era for Disney, and this film had dramatic scenery complemented by its soundtrack. I saw this at the movies when it came out and the "Circle Of Life" sequence had everyone amazed, no one said a word when the film's title came up with that big thumping drum beat sound. Impressive.

6. Ranma ½: Kessen Togenkyou! Hanayome O Tomoridose!!

(Ranma ½ The Movie 2: Nihao My Concubine)

(1992)

I doubt this was shown in theatres as it was a movie-length episode of the anime series. If it had been, I'm sure they would have given it a snappier title. Many fans like this for its beach scenes (I don't think I need to spell that out), but I like it for its tropical setting, colour styling, over-the-top comedy and visual gags. And, get this – the English dub is really funny, and I like the actors' voices a lot.

5. Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro No Shiro

(Lupin III: The Castle Of Cagliostro)

(1979)

An early Hayao Miyazaki feature, based on a manga by Monkey Punch, with goofy slapstick animation and a freewheeling, melodramatic style. Action mixed with screwball comedy is a genre better suited to animation, as Miyazaki himself said. Visually incredible – check out the auto-gyro in the climax of the second act – but the definite highlight is the car chase near the beginning, where Lupin's Fiat 500 does everything you wouldn't expect a tiny car to do.

4. The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie

(1981)

(1981 only refers to the year this was compiled – the cartoons themselves date back much earlier.)

Now, this is how real cartoons are done. These Warner Bros cartoons had a sense of comic timing, and storyline pacing that just gets more frenzied as it builds to the climax, that 'zany™' 'toons in recent times can't replicate. Friz Freleng had a style that cannot be imitated and his best work is showcased brilliantly here. And if you've seen the shorts in their original form, so much the better.

3. Chicken Run

(2000)

Aardman Animation's classic, which I also saw when it came out, and the work that went into making it is staggering. I remember reading something like the animators would work for a full day and only end up with 3 seconds of footage at the end. I used to use Flash in design class, so I know how they feel. The wide banana-mouths of the characters (an Aardman signature) makes the mouth movements much more realistic. I also like the way the characters interact with other objects, such as sets and props. It's very hard for me to watch this without thinking 'I wonder how they did that' every 2 seconds, but I'll keep trying anyway.

2. Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers

(1993)

I don't think anyone does 'claymation' better than Aardman and Nick Park, and this is my personal favourite of the Wallace & Gromit short films. Aside from the stunning animation this film also uses sound effects and music to maximum dramatic effect. People always mention that Gromit doesn't talk. Why should he? We know how he feels just by looking at him. If only more people were like that, eh? The train chase scene at the end is one of the most beautiful things to see in animation (in particular Gromit laying down spare track at lightning speed). To be honest, that scene is one of the finest things committed to film, ever.

1. Kurenai No Buta

(Porco Rosso)

(1992)

There are plenty of top Miyazaki films which might be tough for the Studio Ghibli enthusiast to rank. I haven't seen that many, but this is my solid favourite. The scenery is depicted so realistically that the opening pan shot of Porco's secluded bay may fool you into thinking it's live-action. The film's Mediterranean backgrounds are very detailed, with dramatic use of light and shade. The animation of course is of an amazingly high standard and the aerial combat scenes are incredible, the animation and camera angles capture the sense of speed perfectly, not to mention the designs of the planes themselves. The aeroplanes in this film are based on actual 1920s aircraft, when plane designs were more freeform. Miyazaki himself used to sketch WWII fighter planes as a teenager.

As the 20th century turned to the 21st, Studio Ghibli would no doubt go on to produce more groundbreaking work but the visuals in this film blow me away every time – which ensured its no.1 place on this list.

Honourable Mention: Urotsukidoji

(1987)

It's only an OVA and didn't get a theatrical release, so it misses out on the list, but it'll take a couple of hours to watch and it's made of drawings on acetate sheets, so it's an animated movie as far as I'm concerned.

If you were into anime in the early 1990s before every Tom, Dick and Harry started watching Naruto, this was the one that was off-limits to under 18s. The term 'tentacle porn' sums this up admirably. But it has lots more: humour, dark perversions, climactic battles, exploding bodies, and this, possibly the best "let's introduce a major female character with a pervy vertical pan shot" ever done.

Any questions?