While I like “Bruno Bozzetto’s” stuff (Opera is a hoot), I find him overall depressing, despite the bright colors – The “Afternoon of a Faun” section, the bit with the kitten in the destroyed house. The ancient orchestra and captive artist. Yeesh!
Where can you get or see the uncut Italian version?
I watch Transformers:The Movie evey month or so. It may have been a huge marketing ploy, but there is something to be said for killing the most recognisable character in a toy line to add drama.
Batman:Mask of the Phantasm was a major release in theatres, and had one of the best scripts for a Batman (not hard, I know) movie ever.
How about Cool World?
From Disney, I’d say the best animated feature was Pinocchio: an absolutely beautiful film.
I liked Watership Down, Gulliver’s Travels, and several of the others mentioned.
But the most visually interesting animated film was The Theif and the Cobbler (also known as Arabian Knight). If you can find a copy of it somewhere, it’s worth seeing just for the visual effects.
Light Years is one of my favorite movies, as is ** Wizards**. Good stuff.
I looooved Our Neighbor Totoro. However, I couldn’t get my seven year old son interested in it, for the life of me. I guess that shows who the baby is in our family:).
All I’ve seen recently is the English-dubbed version (just about everywhere)
I have a 1985 VHS from RCA/Columbia Pictures in Italian.
The cuts are mainly in the live-action portions - don’t remember if the “find me an ending” sequence was cut - if you like Opera, you should see that bit.
[sub]and I like the campy live-action sthick[/sub]
I guess my uninterest in Totoro was solely the subject matter. I don’t question the animator’s talent, I have indeed seen Princess Mononoke. Still, putting great animated talent, especially with backgrounds, into a children’s story…well, it’s like having Roger Deakins do the cinematography for Teletubbies. One can appreciate the beauty in such a picture, but the subject matter inevitably renders the picture no more than a novelty.
Fantasia. I’ve always loved that one… all of the little clips kind of tied together, and the music. The hippos and ostriches dancing and the little unicorns flying, and mickey doing the little dance thingie with the broom.
Or maybe I’m imagining some of that - I haven’t watched it for years, but it was very ace 
“Still, putting great animated talent, especially with backgrounds, into a children’s story…”
Totoro is not really about the “story”. It’s about the characters and themes which are by no means childish. It’s about families sticking it out together in tough times, about Nature as a mysterious but essentially benign force, about how children can,through their imagination, create a wonderful world of their own .
I was quite skeptical myself that I would like it but I loved it and obviously there are many adults who feel the same way.
Historical inaccuracies??? You mean Rasputin didn’t really do all those things they showed?
Well, okay, then.
What about the bat?
It’s been said before, but I’d have to say The Last Unicorn. It’s based on a fantastic novel, and they did justice to it. Usually the book is butchered. It’s worth watching over and over, though I could have done without Farrow’s singing.
** American Pop.
Fantasia.
the short film “Closed Mondays”.
The Point.
The Phantom Tollbooth.
Heavy Metal.
Fantasia II - a lovely offering.**
Hmmm, it’s been a while since I last saw “The Last Unicorn”, but I did enjoy it. I wasn’t aware there was a book that preceeded the movie- who wrote it? Was it good?- I mean by reading standards not movie to film translation…
Is the orignal written in German? I ask this because the soundtrack is in German and I could only order it through a German friend of mine.
The book The Last Unicorn was originally in English, written by Peter S. Beagle.
Never could get into either the book or movie myself. A me a big fan of unicorns.