This recent discussion may have left the impression that I was some kind of crank with regards to animation (or as I like to call it, “cartoons”), so I just wanted to reiterate that I do indeed love about the art form. All are invited to play, and no kind of animation is excluded (yes, even barf 3D animation).
My top five, as of this particular moment:
Watership Down
Batman: The Animated Series Yes, the entire series. If I needed to pick just one, I would, of course, pick Heart of Ice.
The original Looney Toons shorts, but if I could only pick one, I’d pick Duck Amuck.
The Iron Giant
Futurama. If I could pick only one – I couldn’t do it.
Castle of Cagliostro is still my favourite “cartoon style” animated movie. I loved The Secret of Nimh too, although it’s been a long while since I’ve seen it. Shrek is a great family favourite. I’d have to round out my six with the usual suspects: The Simpsons, Futurama and Family Guy.
Here’s my list, in order. I couldn’t limit myself to five. My only criteria was pure animation quality – just the drawing (or rendering) – largely ignoring the voice acting and story.
Pinocchio
Castle in the Sky
Spirited Away
101 Dalmatians
Wings of Honneamise
The Incredibles
FLCL
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The Iron Giant
Ghost in the Shell
Shrek? Good God, no! The art direction is atrocious and the characters move like bad marionettes.
And, as amusing as I find Family Guy, Futurama and *the Simpsons *, they’re much better written than they are drawn.
Oh, the animation on Family Guy is terrible! The Simpsons has become a rather well-drawn in spots, but it’ll always be more about the writing. Futurama can also be quite pretty at times.
I always loved Duckman. It wasn’t beautiful but it was certainly unique. Plus, the quality didn’t reallly go up or down between episodes.
I second Waking Life as a fringe possibility.
Yeah, with rotoscoping Waking Life is a definite winner, without it:
Cowboy Bebop
Reign
Vampire Hunter D
Akira
Batman the animated series (the good one)
Gargoyles (the first two seasons)
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Futurama
Venture Brothers
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Sealab 2021
Big O (Big O, Big O, Big OOOOOOOOOOOOO!)
Foolie Coolie
Akira
Jin-roh
Wings of Honeamise
Revolutionary Girl Utena (TV and Movie)
Key: The Metal Idol
Evangelion
Beauty and the Beast
Grave of the Fireflies
Vampire Hunter D (2nd Movie)
The Hakkenden
Mononoke-hime
Thats fine, but my interpretation of the OP was the best movies and TV shows that are animated, not the best animation in a movie or TV show. I’m happy to accept that from a pure animation stand point, none of my selections make the grade
I’ll second Clone High. That show was so good, they even made Marilyn Manson funny when he guested.
As I’m a fan of the classics, I’ll nominate Looney Tunes. Good animation. Best gags and characters. It’s top of my list.
Batman: The Animated Series is next, followed closely by the futuristic Batman Beyond. I was worried when the show first came out, but it was pretty durn close to the original series as far as quality of animation, story, etc. All in all, it was a worthy successor and much better than the new The Batman. Blecch
The Rocky Show/Rocky and His Friends/The Bullwinkle Show (All hail Jay Ward! The animation sucked, but there’s a reason why Bart Simpson’s middle initial is “J.”)
The Incredibles
Castle of Cagliostro
Futurama
Cowboy Bebop
Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamoto
Pinnochio (The Disney craftsmanship here is astounding!)
Metropolis
