Animated Films Worth Watching (Again and Again)
By If I’m being honest with myself, there have only been a handful of animated films that have really captured my attention, then kept it. Don’t get me wrong– in the past decade or so many excellent animated films have been released. Some of these films were beautifully-animated and beautifully-acted. Some of them had clever, intriguing plots. But there were only a few that I really, really liked and that I wanted to revisit.
“Frozen” will now be in that pantheon for me–wow, what a treat!! It’s beautiful to look at (especially if you’re nuts about winter wonderlands like I am), the voice acting is superb, the songs are engaging (a rarity), and it’s the first animated film in a long time that really tickled my funny bone. This may seem weird to some people considering some of the high-quality humorous offerings that have come down the pike since “The Little Mermaid” came out in 1989. But “Up” was not funny; it was just poignant to me. I bawled during the first few minutes of the film…and inside I never really stopped bawling. It was not light viewing for me. The same goes for the terrific “WALL-E.” It was hard for me to get past the movie’s poignance; I’m not sure I ever cracked a smile. And, then there were films like “A Bug’s Life” and “Monster’s Inc,” which were good, but didn’t really stay with me.
Then along came “Frozen,” a film which has rekindled my love affair with animation. I can’t recommend it highly enough. The acting by Kristen Bell and Josh Gad is just phenomenal (and they’re phenomenally funny), the film is consistently hilarious, and it strikes the right balance between tension/poignance and humorousness. It’s just…well, I kind of just want to scream things like “whoopee!” and “amazeballs!” I feel like Disney got its groove back with this one. I’d be curious to know if any of you agree.
Also, if you haven’t seen “Surf’s Up,” please see it. Everything I said about “Frozen” applies to it, though it is not a musical. It is, however, criminally under-appreciated, a true hidden gem of the animated world. I pretty much have it memorized, because I–a full-grown woman–find it sweet and at times laugh-out-loud funny.
Also…THE INCREDIBLES!
What are your favorite animated films?