Academic

Animated Films

By Gordon Smith, Christine, Hurt, Vic Fleischer, Fred Tung, Lisa Fairfax, David Zaring

Next month my oldest daughter will be leaving on a Mormon mission for Samara, Russia. Given that my oldest son is planning to commence his mission prior to my daughter's return, chances are quite good that we will not be together again as a family for at least three years. And by that time, things will be drastically different, with another child in college and two more in high school. So this is it: the last chance to make family memories while our children are still (arguably) children. (Sheesh! When you say it that way ... sniff, sniff.)

So we have been trying to figure out what we should do. Our younger children are still in school for several weeks, and then there is my son's high school graduation and various other more-or-less mandatory events. So a long trip is out of the question.

When we asked our daughter what we should do, she had a (typically) off-beat suggestion: we should watch animated films together. This may not be as strange as it sounds, once you understand that she is a junior in BYU's animation program. Though I am not a big film watcher, I admit to having a weakness for good animation. Plus, it's a lot more fun to watch animated films when Laura is available to answer questions.

So we started yesterday with Sleeping Beauty, which I had not seen in years and years. Gorgeous film. The 1959 NYT reviewer wrote (after complaining about the "scanty" humor and, of all things, the musical score, which was nominated for an Academy Award): "it all comes out nicely in a crisply stylized fairyland, where the colors are rich, the sounds are luscious and magic sparkles spurt charmingly from wands."

Next up -- and obviously in no particular order -- was Madagascar 2. Which got better reviews than the original. I had never seen either one, but I think this movie was a lot funnier surrounded by five "teenagers" than if I had been watching it alone.

We won't have time to work through the Top 50 animated films (Sleeping Beauty ranked only #45 on that list and didn't make this list at all) but I am lobbying to catch up on some missed movies. Most notably, WALL-E. And maybe some Japanese films, like Miyazaki's Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke. Or the French film, Persepolis.

By the way, my favorite animated film of all time: Toy Story. That movie was just stunning, unlike anything I had ever seen. And it was great fun, too.

Finally, the film that without question should have been included in Rotten Tomatoes Top 50: Ratatouille. That would certainly make my Top 10. As would my sleeper Top 10 pick: Iron Giant.

Full post as published by Conglomerate on May 12, 2009 (boomark / email).