There are a few rules: It must be a feature-length film, up to two entries per animator, it must be hand-drawn. The following are, in reverse order, my top five 2D animated movies I feel don't get as much credit as they really should, for whatever reason. I could rattle off a million Miyazaki films or Disney Classics I love, but that wouldn't make for interesting diversity, would it?
UNDERRATED 2D ANIMATED MOVIE NUMBER FIVE: KAI DOH MARU
Where the story may not be mindblowing, it's definitely attractive to someone who likes a bit of asskickery. It involves a Feudal Japanese setting where a young noble girl has been disguised as a boy to protect her from her cruel uncle's ambitions to have a forced marriage within the family (despite her secret, yet rightful place as head of the family). She is saved when the truth is realised... by a group of warriors who train her in the art of battle. She and her new warrior friends return to the broken family she left behind to seek revenge on her cruel uncle.
The REAL reason to watch this is the gorgeous pastel art style and beautiful animation which at times borders on moving watercolour painting. The animation often plays wonderful inky tricks too which only reinforces this, and despite a short running time - not even an hour long - this is well worth a spot on this list.
UNDERRATED 2D ANIMATED MOVIE NUMBER FIVE: OLIVER AND COMPANY
Sure, I flip flopped which Disney entries should make way onto this list - underrated gems like Black Cauldron just don't get enough chitchat. But this charming adaptation of Oliver - with Oliver as a little ginger cat and a lovable hound, Dodger as... well, the Artful Dodger. Fancy that.
Taking place in the 1980s, Oliver winds up away from his rich owner and on the streets, relying on his new street-dwelling buddies to get back, all the while learning "street savoir faire".
This movie is also the origin of one of my daily-used phrases, "Absotively Posolutely." Which is irrelevant, but then again, so is this entire blog really.
UNDERRATED 2D ANIMATED MOVIE NUMBER THREE: FERNGULLY
Effectively an eco-scare film, Ferngully was nonetheless a beautiful little film about Fairykind and their rediscovery of humans (who, as one of the elder fairies states, became extinct after embracing "Hexxus" - a thinly-veiled metaphor for pollution and corruption). Accidentally shrinking one of the humans, it triggers a series of events which includes men coming to fell the rainforest (the titular Ferngully) and accidentally releasing the actual physical form of Hexxus, a tar-like manifestation voiced by Tim Curry.
Being voiced by Tim Curry instantly makes me like him.
Up until, of course, he starts singing "You know you want my Toxic Love."
No, Tim Curry. I'd rather do without. Cheers.
UNDERRATED 2D ANIMATED FILM NUMBER TWO: THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE
Sometimes pigeonholed in the lower echelon of Disney films (looking at you, Pocahontas), The Emperor's New Groove is a genuinely brilliant animated feature film with a sense of humour both quirky and clever. With an exceptional voice cast and a unique twist on the story "The Emperor's New Clothes" (I mean, the emperor gets turned into a Llama? What's not to love about that?!), The Emperor's New Groove stands as my single number one underrated Disney production, full-stop.
And Bruce Campbell's in it. 'Nuff said.
UNDERRATED 2D ANIMATED FILM NUMBER ONE: TITAN AE
Unlike other big-budget animated productions that were critically well-received such as the exceptional Iron Giant, Titan AE (abbreviated from Titan After Earth) was a financial disaster. Alongside Final Fantasy Spirits Within it stands as one of the single biggest financial box office losses for an animated feature... but I still cannot fathom why.
An advanced alien civilisation fears the human race's rapid technological advances just upon the human mastery of space travel. Launching an attack on earth, the lead scientist on a secret project (voiced by gorilla-face Ron Perlman) sends his son in an evacuation pod with a seemingly innocuous ring just as Earth is annihilated. Years later the son, Cale, realises the ring houses a secret map projected into his palm; the location of "Titan", a machine capable of creating a new Earth.
What ensues is a race between humans, the evil alien race (known as the Drej) and various other alien species with personal agendas, to find the Titan, the single piece of technology in the galaxy capable of rebuilding our world.
What makes this my number one selection above the others is that this actually has it all - an absolutely beautiful, cutting-edge animation and art style (merging numerous animation styles contemporary and traditional), an all-star voice cast (Matt Damon, Nathan Lane, Bill Pullman, Ron Perlman, Drew Barrymore, John Leguizamo Janeane Garafalo, the list goes on and on), and a genuinely engaging story (not to mention a menacing enemy and a genuine sense of character tension not usually found in an animated movie). If you love sci-fi... no, if you love animation... hell, no...
if you just love watching GOOD FILMS, watch this, and ponder, like me, why this didn't do better commercially!
Well, I hope you agreed with my suggestions. Heck, if you didn't, feel free to comment. Some obvious choices didn't make the list - like I said, Ghibli etc because they're generally ALWAYS well-rated and received... other classics such as Land Before Time is always remembered fondly... there was a LOT to choose from. But I had to choose my favourite animated 2D underdogs.
Please comment as you feel free and tune in for tomorrow's Turbo Toto's Top Five of Everything!
I completely agree on the Titan AE front, though you neglected to mention that it was partly written by one "J. Whedon", and was made all the better by Don Bluth's involvement.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I do love Emperor's New Groove, I don't remember Bruce Campbell being in it?