# BOTTOM ten animated films? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 4, 2003, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314 "2003-11-04T08:35:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/21 "2003-11-04T18:08:54Z")
**dropzone** , I was trying to think of the name of the cartoon Krusty played when Itchy and Scratchy were replaced. Good call. šŸ˜‰ Hanna Barbera produced some awful stuff. I remember liking Bakshiā€™s LOTR, but I was 10 when I saw it. And I still remember liking ā€œWizardsā€ an awful lot, so I take come exception with those claiming these are the worst. His work since then has not been the best, but my fond childhood memories are surely accurate, arenā€™t they? And I do **not** get Japanese animation. Iā€™ve watched some on Adult Swim and Tech TV, and i just do not understand it. So Iā€™m going to put the whole of anime on my top 10 worst. So there. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/22 "2003-11-04T18:10:57Z")
**dropzone** , I was trying to think of the name of the cartoon Krusty played when Itchy and Scratchy were replaced. Good call. šŸ˜‰ Hanna Barbera produced some awful stuff. I remember liking Bakshiā€™s LOTR, but I was 10 when I saw it. And I still remember liking ā€œWizardsā€ an awful lot, so I take come exception with those claiming these are the worst. His work since then has not been the best, but my fond childhood memories are surely accurate, arenā€™t they? And I do **not** get Japanese animation. Iā€™ve watched some on Adult Swim and Tech TV, and I just do not get it. So Iā€™m going to put the whole of anime on my top 10 worst. So there. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/23 "2003-11-04T18:14:45Z")
OK, somehow I got two IE windows open and I posted twice. I wondered where my little edits went after I previewedā€¦ At least itā€™s a commendably interesting and insightful post. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/24 "2003-11-04T18:25:53Z")
Well, I thought so! šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/25 "2003-11-04T19:53:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > \*\*[Krusty] > > ā€œWhat the hell was THAT?ā€ > > [/Krusty] \*\* _Worker and Parasite_? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/26 "2003-11-04T20:35:04Z")
Stuff like **Titan AE** and **Final Fantasy** deserves a mention. Theyā€™re not intrinsically bad, but there was an obvious potential for them to be a lot better and the filmmakers just didnā€™t bother. In **Titanā€™s** case, they had an interesting script and likable characters. But when you have mind-blowing backgrounds and Hanna-Barbera characters, youā€™re setting up an unfortunate comparison between the artists on top of their game and the artists who arenā€™t. **Final Fantasy** was torpedoed by having figures that looked hyper-realistic, but didnā€™t move in a way that matched. They had these exquisitely-rendered commandos who ran like they had a load in their Depends. As for Eastern-bloc animation: Iā€™ve read about it but havenā€™t seen much of it. Was Gene Dietch, on balance, a good thing for them or a bad thing? I have fond memories of ā€œGerald McBoing Boingā€ and that thing he did with Jules Feiffer. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/27 "2003-11-04T20:55:59Z")
Does **The Incredible Mr. Limpitt** count? ---
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/28 "2003-11-04T21:15:32Z")
Land Before Time 2 Land Before Time 3 Land Before Time 4 Land Before Time 5 Land Before Time 6 Land Before Time 7 Land Before Time 8 Land Before Time 9 Land Before Time 10 Eight Crazy Nights ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/29 "2003-11-04T21:23:04Z")
Why Wizards? Wizards doesnā€™t have awesome animation, but itā€™s a fun, inventive story. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/30 "2003-11-04T21:32:11Z")
All these posts and nobody has nominated ā€œIce Ageā€?? Lord Jesus, what a dreadful, dreadful movie. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/31 "2003-11-04T21:42:52Z")
I canā€™t believe a reference hasnā€™t been made yet to the Simpsonsā€™, ā€œThe Happy Little Elves.ā€ Or, its real life equivalent, ā€œLensman.ā€ Blech. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/32 "2003-11-04T21:45:20Z")
Donā€™t get me wrong, I _loved_ those movies as a kid. I think that one of the reasons that they seem so poor in retrospect is that the material they were both working from was of such high quality. _Heavy Metal_ magazine delivered fantastic art every month. Sure, it was increasingly ā€œBoobies! Boobies! Boobies!ā€ but they were generally beautifully rendered boobies. It really hurt to see them cheap out with the limited animation and inept rotoscoping. That whole business of not bothering to secure licensing for that rocking soundtrack underlines a miserly philosophy that permeated the whole project. Similarly, _Yellow Submarine_ was done for the freaking _Beatles_ at the height of their popularity. Itā€™s unexcusable that it comes off looking like an art-school dropoutā€™s basement project. My strong sense of Canadian nationalism (uh, just go with me on that one,) makes me really _want_ to say nice things about these projects, but they just stink too darned much. I lay most of the blame at the feet of my compatriot [Gerald Potterton](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0693376/maindetails). Youā€™ll note that, in addition to, (or apart from, if you insist,) _Heavy Metal_ and _Yellow Submarine_, every single thing heā€™s laid his hands on has been a big stinking heap of mediocrity. Iā€™m sure that there were high hopes that _The Real Story of ā€œHappy Birthday to Youā€_ was going to turn it all around for him, butā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_the\_CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_the\_CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_the_CC)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/33 "2003-11-05T00:19:38Z")
Could someone please educate me on what rotoscoping is? Iā€™ve never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/34 "2003-11-05T00:23:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earl of the CC \* > Could someone please educate me on what rotoscoping is? Iā€™ve never heard of it. 1. Film a real person moving about. 2. Project the film to celluloid size. 3. Draw animated figure over real person from film. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/35 "2003-11-05T00:33:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earl of the CC \* > \*\*Could someone please educate me on what rotoscoping is? Iā€™ve never heard of it. \*\* Rotoscoping, I believe, is making a film of a live actor, then drawing each frame directly on top of a printout of the frame from the live-action film. Examples of rotoscoping can be found in Bashkiā€™s _Lord of The Rings_ and Fleicherā€™s ā€œOut of the Inkwellā€/ā€œKoko The Clownā€ series. Regarding what **Bosda** said, the Lion King thing is up in the air. Weā€™re not really sure. For a fair and baā€¦um, view from both sides, hereā€™s [Cecilā€™s opinion](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a991224.html). I donā€™t know which side is correct, but the debacle lead to a great _Simpsons_ line. ā€œYou must avenge my death, Kimbaā€¦I mean, Simba.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Sketch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Sketch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sketch)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/36 "2003-11-05T00:33:35Z")
Heavy Metal 2000 definitely belongs up there, I watched like half of it because I heard Heavy Metal was good, but man was this crap. Kind of disappointing because there were some pretty big names on the credits. ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/37 "2003-11-05T01:00:31Z")
Iā€™ll weigh in on the anti \*Heavy Metal \* camp. Several of the pieces were good but the whole as just one long crapshoot with an awesome soundtrack. \*The Black Cauldron \* was pretty awful as well. Quite a few of these movies I likedā€¦ dunno what it say about me:D ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/38 "2003-11-05T01:10:32Z")
Heyā€¦ _Heavy Metal 2000_ rocked! I liked it more than the first one. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/39 "2003-11-05T01:20:18Z")
Rotoscoping, when introduced by Fleischer in the 30s, was a great technical advancement, but too often the artist/animator will end up depending on it as a crutch and overusing ā€“ the properties of real-world physical motion will look ā€œunnaturalā€ in an animated drawing if you just trace them straight out (specially if soem parts of the final shot are NOT rotoscoped). BTW, some of the old Eastern-Bloc animated shorts were astounding stuff. Alas, then youā€™d get the hyper-ā€œartisticā€ obtuse crap thrown in, and some of the political stuff that was necessary so that the studio remained open. As for Yellow Sub looking like art-school-dropout material, well, IIRC a few of those involved WERE art-school dropouts. But it really was a time in the whole Beatles phenom when things were getting done w/o much pondering ā€“ their prior ā€œcreativeā€ film project was the trainwreck known as Magical Mystery Tour, a slapped-together collage of song clips; at least Yellow Sub had a sort of continuing visual theme. ---
**Author:** ![CAndersen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@CAndersen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CAndersen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314/40 "2003-11-05T02:54:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mobo85 \* > Regarding what **Bosda** said, the Lion King thing is up in the air. Weā€™re not really sure. For a fair and baā€¦um, view from both sides, hereā€™s [Cecilā€™s opinion](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a991224.html). What I could never understand is that Cecilā€™s article depends on the word of the animatorsā€™ union, who starts out by saying he has no vested interest in defending Disney. Um, who employed most of his people at that time? But with the quote from Roy Disney now found, [http://www.kimbawlion.com/transcript.htm](http://www.kimbawlion.com/transcript.htm) , in which he refers to the character in the Lion King as Kimba, the ā€œLion King was intended to be a remake of Kimbaā€ theory seems to hold more water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bottom-ten-animated-films/211314.md?page=3)