# The top animated films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810 "2003-03-07T22:37:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/1 "2003-03-07T22:37:39Z")
The Online Film Critics Society, described on [this](http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com/pages/pr/top100animated) page as “_the international association of the leading Internet-based cinema journalists_” have voted on the best animated films. Their top 10 list is [list=1] [li]Toy Story (1995) [/li][li]Fantasia (1940) [/li][li]Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) [/li][li]Toy Story 2 (1999) [/li][li]Iron Giant, The (1999) [/li][li]Beauty and the Beast (1991) [/li][li]Nightmare Before Christmas, The (1993) [/li][li]Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) [/li][li]South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) [/li][li]Spirited Away (2002)[/li][/list=1] I find the omission of _Shrek_ (15) surprising. Which ones do you disagree with, on a broad basis? IOW, If you think Spirited Away should be 12 (as opposed to currently 10), that’s manageable. But, if you think _Antz_ should be in the 20s instead of its current position at 41. One exception is the top-spot. If you think something else should be the best animated film, voice it here. Short animated films are excluded from this list. ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/2 "2003-03-07T23:23:15Z")
All I can say is: “You mean to tell me they couldn’t find even _one_ more animated film to put on the list so _Black Cauldron_ could stay off it?” ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/3 "2003-03-08T00:16:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MilTan \* > \*\*All I can say is: “You mean to tell me they couldn’t find even _one_ more animated film to put on the list so _Black Cauldron_ could stay off it?” \*\* Uh-oh, you touched a raw nerve. I don’t remember much from _Black Cauldron_, but I saw it once when I was 8. All I remember is liking it. ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/4 "2003-03-08T00:27:06Z")
I think that there are a bunch of Studio Ghibli animes which deserve to be in the top ten along with Spirited Away. In particular Princess Mononoke, Grave of Fireflies and Only Yesterday which I would probably put 1,2, and 3. In general the list appears to be both kiddie-oriented and US-centric which is very surprising coming from a bunch of journalists. Don’t they know that there is brilliant animation out there aimed at older audiences especially from Japan? Ironically the IMDB list is more diverse featuring both GOTF and Mononoke in the top 10. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/5 "2003-03-08T00:36:44Z")
No list is in the least credible if it has _South Park_ anywhere on it. But I \* did\* like _The Black Cauldron_, except for the changed, Disneyfied ending. The quality of the animation itself was superb. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/6 "2003-03-08T00:38:14Z")
How in the hell did “Hercules” get on that list and “Rock and Rule” not make it? And “Snow White” is just the beneficiary of being the earliest feature-length. It is not a great movie. “Sleeping Beauty” is a lot better. So is “Cinderella.” So, for that matter, is “Lilo and Stitch.” Saying “Snow White” is one of the top 3 animated films of all time is like saying the Model A Ford is one of the best cars ever made. There should be different standards for technical achievement and quality. “Ice Age” is at 29!?! That was a pretty mediocre movie, animated or no. And “Lion King” is way too high on the list. Except for Jeremy Irons’ little fascist hyena army song, I really didn’t like it at all. “Ghost in the Shell” is also overrated. It has a cool look but only the barest shred of coherent plot. “Shrek” is way too high at 15. It didn’t deserve the Oscar (Monsters, Inc. is vastly superiror). ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/7 "2003-03-08T00:41:20Z")
I second \*\* CyberPundit \*\* opinion, Princess Monokoe and Grafe of Fireflies are vastly superior to any of the films in the top ten, with the exception of Spirited Away, and South Park, Bigger, Longer, & Uncut.(The song “Blame Canada” alone would get it into the top 10 on my list.) Snow White and Beauty & the Beast are just redone tired old fairly tales, Toy Story 1&2 probably got on their just because they computer animated, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, while a good movie, had just as much live action as animation, and I wouldn’t have included it on this list. Maybe Fantasia and Nightmare before Christmas would be at the bottom of my list. I haven’t see “The Iron Giant” so I will not comment on it. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/8 "2003-03-08T00:42:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baker \* > \*\*No list is in the least credible if it has _South Park_ anywhere on it. > \*\* I couldn’t disagree more. That was a great movie. And I think most of South Park is pretty stupid. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/9 "2003-03-08T00:46:19Z")
_Toy Story 2_’s way too high, and the omission of **Bambi, Dumbo** _and_ **Pinocchio** (my vote for Best Ever) from the Top 10 is criminal (haven’t had a chance to peruse beyond the OP); I like _South Park_ but there’s no contest between it and those 3 heavyweights. #10 seems very flavor-of-the-month; don’t get me wrong–it’s a fantastic film–but I suspect it’s the only anime a lot of them have even seen. Like most of these types of lists, it’s heavily skewed towards recent works (8/10 are post-1990). Here’s the Top 10 according to IMDB users (for features with at least 100 votes): 1. **Cat City** (Hungary; 1986) 2. **The King and the Mockingbird** (France; 1980) 3. **Memories** (Japan, 1996) - _Spirited Away_ - **Video Girl Ai** (Japan, 1992) 1. **Memories of Teardrops** (Japan, 1991) 2. **Kimagure Orange Road: The Movie** (Japan, 1988) - **Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer** (Japan, 1984) 1. **Princess Mononoke** (Japan, 1997) - _Toy Story 2_ How much you want to bet most of these haven’t been seen by the participants of this poll? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/10 "2003-03-08T00:52:26Z")
Cough cough, wheres **Akira**? ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/11 "2003-03-08T01:21:05Z")
Hmm I looked at the full list and it turns out that Mononoke and GOTF are there at 16 and 23. That means these people consider Lion King and Beauty and the Beast to be better films? Yeah whatever… I suppose the problem is that most of these critics haven’t seen too much animation and just picked the mainstream films that they have seen. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-animated-films/159810/12 "2003-03-08T02:24:08Z")
I’m shocked that Anastasia was only #75. I know it was overexposed with all the marketing angles but the way it was put together (with the rotoscoping of the dancers) and the scripting as if it were a stage musical was brilliant. And it had the best songs of any of them. Nuked anything Disney’s done since Aladdin.