Blog Talkback: Toons of the 2000s: Top 5 Animated Features

A overall great list of animated features who make this decade (minus to Wall-E i never want to rewatch it again) especially the luck to see indepedent films instead to the same Disney/Don Bluth films we endured since many years. (Here where i live, they don't give many respects to indepedent artists.)

Sita Sings the Blues is a logic choice for #1 rank. The animation is alive, the different art styles of this movie is purely magic and the fact that it's inspired by a real-life experience make the movie much real. Without forget the Hanneth Hanshaw's beautiful songs. Great article!
 
WALL-E and Spirited Away are the only two movies that I have seen. I like WALL-E, but Spirited Away was just to darn freaky for me.
 
No offence, but i rather choosed Persepolis. But i know that Wall-E having a important impact when it shown in theaters last year.

But great list BTW Harley! I can't wait to see more! :)
 
The movies on this list almost appear to be the opinion of just one person. Where's 2007's TMNT, or 2008's Star Wars:The Clone Wars? I haven't even heard of about 40% of the movies on this list. This is exactly why awards like the oscars mean absolutely nothing to me.
 
I haven't seen almost any of the Top 5, but I can imagine that there a ton of great obscure movies. I do like the long list of honorable mentions though because there were a lot of great movies that deserved to at least be recognized. Personally, my favorite movies of the 2000's were Finding Nemo and Shrek. Overall, I may have shown a little more diversity than 4 anime movies but they all sound great so I'm sure that their selection was justified.
 
Six people, actually. If you haven't seen the movies on the list, consider that post our hearty recommendation for viewing them at least once.
 
Great article!

I can't comment much on the actual movies chosen - I've only seen 2 movies on the list (Wall-E and Spirited Away) but the opinions on all the movies were well-said and explained.

I espically liked the Surf's Up honorable mention - IMHO it was a horribly underrated gem of a movie. You'd think it'd get more attention since 2 Disney alums directed it - Ash Brannon of Pixar and Chris Buck of Disney proper. Oh well, it's one of my top 5 favorites if it's anything :)
 
Well these people see the movies that the average Joe might miss. Then we can search for that movie. I know I'm going to look for the movie that got the number one spot.

I have not heard of Sita Sings the Blues before and now I want to.
 
Nice list, even though out of the top 5, I only saw WALL-E and Spirited Away, I am thinking about watching Waltz with Bashir, Sita Sings the Blues, and Idiots & Angels, though giving the means, I think I can only watch Waltz and Sita at the moment.
 
Wow, I've only seen ONE of those, though I have been meaning to watch WALL-E. Spirited Away, eh, I'm kinda lukewarm on it, honestly - it's a great movie, no doubt, but I don't think it's anywhere NEAR Miyazaki's best. Though it's probably the best of this decade.

I've heard of Waltz with Bashir, but never got around to seeing it - I'd like to, but I'm a tad skittish... so, y'know, still mulling that over. Sita Sings the Blues, well, no excuse there; I'll be checking that out as soon as possible. Idiots and Angels, too. Well, as soon as that ends up on DVD, at least.

So, I can't really speak for the accuracy of it as a Top 5 list... there's some stuff to look for, y'know?
 
I've seen quite a few of those movies, heh... but I have not seen the #1 movie. It does look good, though, and I definitely want to watch it one day.

Personally, I'm not a big WALL-E fan - sure, he's cute, and him and Eva are an adorable couple... if we're comparing it to other Pixar movies from the 2000's, I would say Ratatouille is much better than WALL-E.

There's a lot of great movies on this list, and I would like to go and rewatch some (such as the Fullmetal Alchemist and Cowboy Bebop movies).
 
I have to say I was shocked that The Incredibles wasn't in the top five.

A great story with honest, believable characters. Plot consistency that hundreds of other movies would kill for, humor, drama and fun all wrapped up in the best animation of the decade ( the mind-boggling way they got the water to look is a visual treat in and of itself!) and it doesn't make the final cut?

Nothing against the final 5 that are listed, but not having Incredibles was a real disappoitment.
 
I'll admit it, I hadn't even heard of three of the movies that made this list. I feel less bad about this knowing that I have some company. But now I really, really want to watch Idiots and Angels and Sita Sings the Blues. It's always gratifying to find out about a great work out of nowhere. Sometimes you can just fall into the delusion that you've seen it all, but no.

Out of the many movies that I have seen, Wall-E is one that I'm 100% behind for a list like this. The Incredibles is fantastic and fun and well written, but to me Wall-E is about as entertaining and about as substantive a film despite (because of?) its unusual narrative approach. By its nature the entire movie has to be mostly driven and expressed by what one sees on the screen, and this was accomplished marvelously.
 
For those interested, I did review Idiots & Angels when it screened at the Tribeca Film Festival (and also got to interview Bill Plympton about it, who is an incredibly nice guy). I'm not sure I would have placed it in the top 5 (not that I didn't like the movie or think it was one of the best animated films this decade, but my personal vote for the top 5 was for Persepolis). Wasn't able to get to see Waltz With Bashir at the NY Film Festival, but it's on my "to do" list (along with a stack of other stuff).

I would have also put The Incredibles or Monsters Inc. instead of WALL-E, but really the only Pixar films released this decade that I wouldn't have put in the top 5 would have been Cars and Finding Nemo. Both are fun, eminently watchable movies, but I don't think they pushed it over the top the way I think Monsters Inc. or The Incredibles did.

Also really mean to get to Sita Sings the Blues, since it hits a bunch of intersecting interests (animation, Indian mythology, and old time blues).


If you haven't heard of them or seen them, how do you know they're not better than TMNT or Clone Wars?

Regardless, if the Clone Wars movie was anything at all like the first season of the TV show, it was deservedly ignored in the face of far, far better movies.
 
Actually, only one of the top five movies is an anime - Spirited Away.... the rest are either American or, in Bashir's case, Isreali (Isralean?).



Incredibles was a very heavy contender, but in the end, I thought there was a pretty heavy disconnection between it being a superhero movie, a superhero parody, and a movie. I also thought some of the characters, like Violet, Dash, and Frozone, were given shockingly little attention and end up not being much more then they're defining traits (awkward teenage girl, annoying younger brother, and old friend).

For those who it concerns, Persepolis was another heavy contender - in fact, if this was a top six list, it would've been the sixth movie.

Also, I can't say this enough, or in big enough font: WATCH SITA SINGS THE BLUES. I can understand the public's shunning of Bashir and Idiots, - neither of them are exactly what you'd call mainstream - but Nina Paley and Sita deserve to be household names.
 
Back
Top