There’s really something incredible about how a group of artists can cause us to feel emotions, effectively by doing no more than flicking a series of illustrations before our eyes. It’s a technology that’s remained relatively unchanged for 120 years, since Emile Reynaud first screened ‘Pauvre Pierrot (Poor Peter)’ in 1892.
With this in mind, we asked our clients, staff and friends what their favourite animated film is…and this is what they said:
Fraser Wallace Production Assistant
“Right now I’d say my favourite animation is ‘Wreck It Ralph’. It was very nostalgic watching a film that featured lots of games I played as a child. Some beautiful animation, great characters and a brilliant storyline with some really cool scenes make it my favourite animated film … for now!”
“I love all the Toy Story films and have been a similar age to Andy at the time each one was released, but this was most significant in ‘Toy Story 3‘ as he is leaving for university. Not only that but as the most recent in the trilogy, Toy Story 3 trumps the previous two with its quality of animation. Comic touches such as Barbie and Ken, Mr ‘Tortilla’ Head and Buzz’s Spanish mode do not hurt my rating of it either!”
Terry Golding UK Voiceover 
“My favourite animated film has to be ‘Cars 2′. Simply put, my 4 year-old boy loves it, and resultantly we must have watched it a thousand times together. Quality Daddy/Son time…Love it!!!”
Tim Sanpher Animator
“Long term I always go back to the work of Oscar Fischinger, whose work I first came across back at film school – take your pick of any of his films but ‘Alegretto’ is pretty storming. I’ve always been fond of films that could ONLY have been made with animation – as opposed to talking animal stuff. And I also like that his films are more moving designs than anything to do with having a start middle and end. Animation in it’s purest form. For something more commercial then check out ‘Massive Swerve‘ by Robert Valley. It’s just technically excellent and done with such taste.”
Andy George NZ Voiceover
“My favourite animated film? I guess it’s a bit like asking me to choose from the four hot blondes in the line in front of me…you kinda want to choose them all! I’d have to go with the ‘Ice Age‘ movies. They are so well created and written, and they’re great for kids and adults alike. It’s the go-to movie when my daughter is sick of Dora the Expolorer! My reason for liking it is mainly for the prehistoric squirrel-rat called Scrat. He just brings the thing together – he’s always after that massive reward but it just keeps getting away from him!”
Glenn Elliott CEO, Asperity Employee Benefits
“Ice Age! I found it really funny!”
Jolyon Hennings Director, Box Bear Ltd
“I’d have to say ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’. It is effectively Studio Ghibli’s ‘Snow White’, being their first real film (I think it was before they actually existed as a studio). Great story of post apocalyptic earth, visually stunning and with their trade mark of strong, independent, believable characters regardless of age or sex, and no wimpy bumbling princess whose only wish is to get knocked up by her prince charming whilst singing at doe eyed rabbits here!”
Jordan Reynolds US Voiceover
“This is a very hard choice but I’d have to go with ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Everything about this film original, artistic, and created from passion. Thebrilliant music, composed and sung by Danny Elfman, drives the film. And, of course, the voice acting from the wide range of characters is top notch!”
Greg Matthews Animator
“For years it was Disney’s ‘Beauty And The Beast’ because it was SUCH a groundbreaking film, technically, musically and from an emotive point of view. No surprise that it was the first animated feature to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. With the advances in CGI we’re now seeing a whole new generation of animated features, although for me the shining diamond amongst them has to be ‘How To Train Your Dragon’. This was an incredible and often overlooked masterpiece of animation, and filmmaking in general. In addition to the fantastic vocal performances of the very well chosen actors, one of the lead characters is a dragon called Toothless who communicates entirely through body language and facial expressions. The artists and animators who worked on this extraordinary character managed to bring so many of the playful traits of domestic cats into a very touching performance. Making us the audience feel empathy, sympathy and compassion for a character that has no dialogue. Really quite brilliant.”
Kevin Aires Visual Media Services, IBM Inside Sales
“My favourite animated film of late is Disney’s ‘Brave’. The level of animation and detail the animators have put in is just astonishing. Watching the extras on the Blu-ray you can see how lots of their early sketches have made it into the film to create a lush and rich world for the characters. Plus my kids love it too!”
Tom Dheere US Voiceover
“The first movie that popped into my head was ‘WALL-E‘. This is a perfect film. It’s beautifully made, the music is gorgeous, and the characters are so compelling that THEY should have gotten Oscar nominations! The themes are broad yet simple, the action gripping but not gratuitous. Like I said, it’s a perfect film!”
Roland Harwood 100% Open
“My favourite animated film from when I was growing up was ‘Watership Down’, mainly because it terrified me and so made a deep impression. More recently I laughed hard all the way through ‘The Incredibles’ so that would also make the list. I guess I like animated films that take you into another world, have a good story and make an emotional connection.”
Guy Harris UK Voiceover
“Favourite Animated Film? ‘Despicable Me’. I am a huge Steve Carell fan and the accent he uses for Gru is just awesome. The animation is fantastic, Russell Brand plays a great character and the film looks stunning in 3D in our home cinema!”
Sam Dowswell Director, Dreaming Fish
“My favourites would be ‘Lost and Found‘ and the opening sequence to ‘Up‘. Animation is at its most powerful when it’s not narrated. You let go of reality and let your imagination take over, so the feeling is more potent. It moves you like music moves you.”
Well that’s what we had to say…so what’s your favourite?
Notes:
Dreaming Fish Productions creates fabulous corporate video and animation for a wide range of clients. We love what we do, and we love to talk about what we do, so why not get in touch to talk about your project.
