Underappreciated Traditionally Animated Movies

V

Vanilla Gorilla

New member
As the title says, what traditionally animated (hand-drawn) cartoon movies do you feel are underappreciated? Are there any that you enjoy that would not be considered "mainstream"?

At the top of my list would be Prince of Egypt: I remember seeing this Dreamworks movie in theaters as a kid, then picked it up again a few years ago and realized that I loved it. This movie has beautiful artwork. The songs (such as "Deliver Us" and "Let My People Go") are intense and, in my humble opinion, carry more emotion than a lot of Disney's songs--and this is coming from a major Disney fanboy. If there's a reason why this movie isn't too popular (I haven't seen it aired on television; I haven't seen it on DVD except in a set with another movie) it would probably be that its a biblical story, and religion is something most corporations don't like to touch. Also, I can see where Prince of Egypt would be considered too dark for little kids.
 
I first saw Prince of Egypt when I was about 7 or so when my parents bought it on VHS. I loved it and that along with How to Train Your Dragon remain my favorite Dreamworks movies. You're right when calling it intense. I'm not very religious, but the movie did make me shed some tears when I first saw it, and the soundtrack stays among my favorite soundtrack from an animated movie (I sung "When You Believe" for a chorus final).

Another favorite of mine from when I was young that I don't see mentioned a lot is Balto. I first saw that on Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theater (man I miss that). As an outcast I sympathized with him, I even liked how horrible the main villain was (it was a "i love to hate you" type thing). But what won my heart was the little girl, I remember thinking she was actually going to die. Even the sequel wasn't that bad (the daughter reminded me a little of Kiara from Lion King II). I don't remember when these were out in theater so I'm curious as to how popular they were.
 
Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland =/ Fun movie, excellent animation, and great cast of voices. The movie had a great adventuresome feel to it but it failed in theaters...It's something of a cult classic now though so it worked out.
 
There's been a few mini-masterpieces of hand-drawn animation in the past several years, mostly foreign ones: The Triplets of Belleville, Tokyo Godfathers, Persepolis. They've gotten critical acclaim but are definitely underappreciated by the mainstream.
 
For me, its An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. Even though its not as dramatic or dark as the first one, its really fun and has incredibly smooth animation. Its also alot funnier and creative. John Cleese also gives out a memorable performance as Cat R. Waoul (FYI, he turned down Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast to be in this one). Its too bad its not as recognized today, because its really worth watching.
 
I'm going to second Tokyo Godfathers. I recently saw it and thought it was amazing, and yet, I have at least four friends who are all hardcore anime watchers who have never once mentioned it to me, and two of which have never seen it.

Shame, because I think the artwork and animation in that movie is some of the best I've seen in anime, even surpassing Spirited Away (in terms of looks) in my opinion.
 
I remember first seeing Balto on Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theater as well and I really love that movie. I sympathized with Balto for being treated like an outcast and I liked how he grew to accept being part wolf during the course of the movie. The ending is always pretty sweet too, along with the ending theme song played during the credits. While I don't think the sequel was as good as the first movie, it was still pretty enjoyable and one of the better direct to DVD sequels I've seen. I think that Balto was released in theaters around the same time as the first Toy Story movie, so I don't think it did as well in the box office as it could have given its release date. Still, I think its a really enjoyable movie.

I think that Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron is an underappreciated movie. Despite the horses not talking, I thought that their faces and behavior captured their emotions and personalities pretty well. The story feels engaging as we see Spirit's struggles to return to his home and see how he grows along the way. The music is really nice too. I remember watching the movie in theaters with my Mom and we had a really fun time watching it. I also agree that The Prince of Egypt is underappreciated. Both Moses and Rameses are sympathetic characters, especially when they have to basically fight each other, the artwork is great, the music is beautiful and the story flows quite nicely. I do know that the movie has aired on television though. I first saw it on Cartoon Network and I'm pretty sure that a few years ago they even aired it all day for Thanksgiving. It is a really fun movie to watch.
 
I remember watching that movie in Church when I was younger. From what I remember it was pretty intense.

Balto used to come on every year around Christmas on either YTV or Teletoon, don't remember which. But it was one of my favourite movies at the time. I remember owning the VHS for the first sequel, and I eventually saw the second sequel as well. Unfortunately with every sequel the quality just got worse and worse.
 
There was a second sequel? Has it ever aired on tv anywhere? Haven't heard of it.

This is a good thread for recommendations. I really want to check out Tokyo Godfathers now.
 
It's at least aired here in Canada. It mostly focuses on one of Balto's sons who wants to be a mail dog, at the same time mail by air is being introduced. His daughter isn't at all featured.
 
I know that it aired on Cartoon Network in the U.S. shortly before or after the movie was released on DVD, but I think they only aired it once. The title is Balto III: Wings of Change. Like suss2it said, it mainly centers on Balto's son, Kodai, who wants to be a mail dog just when air mail is being introduced. Balto is in the movie, but he doesn't play as big of a role as he did in the last sequel. Aleu isn't mentioned, but she is seen during a couple of scenes in a flashback sequence. I do think it is the weakest Balto movie due to how the story is handled, but I think it's still watchable and at least worth renting. I did end up liking the ending to this movie more than the ending to Wolf Quest, if only because it actually felt like an ending instead of the movie just choosing to stop.
 
One movie in which I had pleasure of rematching is "Ralph Bakshi's Wizards", It was pretty ahead of its time, the use of magic and technology is used pretty well without really taking either side, the tone throughout the entire movie is pretty grim and gray, and the animation is gritty and pretty scary at times. I really wish Bakshi would make another movie soon, but as far as I know his newest project is in Limbo.:sad:
​
 
The Iron Giant. It is such a good movie but hardly anyone knows about it. I caught it on Cartoon Network (I think) a while ago and was amazed that it wasn't more popular.
 
I am going to have to say Balto. I think that it is every bit as good as the Disney movies of the time. I am sad that it bombed at the box-office and it is mostly forgotten by non-animation fans today.

Another one would be Spirit:Stallion of the Cimarron. I never watched it from start to finish until a few months ago but it had some great animation.
 
I saw 'The Illusionist' about two weeks before the Academy Awards and I was willing to bet that it would've won Best Animated Feature. I also thought it would be every theater after the awards.

Somehow, it disappeared...


Phil
 
Cats Don't Dance is one of my favorites. A unique little film with a wonderful style of its own. It should have done way better than it did.
 
The Animated Hobbit-

This film is heavily criticized for so much and never seems to get any proper recognition for how beautiful it is. The animation may be clunky, but the art is suitable for such and really helps to create a fantastical atmosphere for the film and the land of Middle-Earth prior to the Lord of the Rings.
What some people like to get their bristles all about though is the singing! The singing! People seem to forget that the Hobbit was a children's story first and foremost and that RankinBass was properly portraying that.
This film is almost never appreciated for bringing Tolkien's work to the screen and I honestly wish it got that recognition at least.
(Granted the wood elves are hideous...)
 
Only Yesterday/Omohide Poro Poro. Yes, it's a little more adult themed than it's Ghibli sisters, but it's a very good story with a lot of laughs.

It's also one of the few anime that recorded the dialogue before animating, so the production quality is stellar. Too bad Disney refuses to release it (it was part of the Ghibli deal, and only aired subtitled on US tv once).
 
Back
Top