Kubo and the Two Strings continues a proud tradition of full-length animated films that have redefined the expressive capabilities of the medium. We’ve come a long way from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Fire up the DVD player and explore these innovative features that were drawn (entirely) from the wild imaginations of their creators.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Although cineastes mark 1989’s The Little Mermaid as the beginning of the Disney animation renaissance, it was Beauty and the Beast that became the first animated feature to receive an Oscar nomination as Best Picture. And little wonder: the classic French fairy tale is fleshed out into a compelling story of love and acceptance, bolstered by delightful music written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman (“Be Our Guest,” “Gaston,” and the title song).
Spirited Away (2001)
Hayao Miyazaki has crafted some of the most fanciful and profound animation of the last 20 years in such films as Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro, but his imagination takes full flight in this Oscar-winner. A sullen young girl finds herself alone in a world populated by strange beasts and ethereal spirits. But forget any conventions of story and let the transcendent graphics wash over you. A visual wonder!
The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
French grand-mere searches for her missing cyclist grandson, aided by her loyal pooch and three fading singing sisters in this delightful but incredibly weird story by Sylvain Chomet. What makes this movie distinctive, however, is that the entire tale is conveyed with virtually no words of dialogue; there are occasional sounds and snatches of melody but no words. Chomet’s uncompromising vision is alternately charming and brusque, humorous and yet creepy. This film is a true original.
The Incredibles (2004)
Toy Story established John Lasseter’s Pixar Studio as an animation force to acknowledge, but The Incredibles, a CGI homage to both the superheroes and super-spy genres, took the Pixar magic to another, more sophisticated realm. The animation is top drawer, as is the voice work and Academy Award-winning script by director Brad Bird. But what really brings the movie together is the fresh-yet-oh-so-familiar soundtrack by Michael Giacchino, a coy pastiche of every James Bond and Mission Impossible musical theme ever written.
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Filmmaker Nick Park created the inimitable Wallace and Gromit, a cheese-loving British man and his long-suffering dog lovingly animated in the stop motion format. First introduced in several shorts (including the hysterical heist caper, The Wrong Trousers), pooch and pal were given feature film treatment in this charming mystery-horror-comedy. The quirks of these two characters are hard to sustain over 85 minutes, but the painstakingly detailed animation still captivates, as does the droll English humor.
Waltz with Bashir (2008)
Writer-director Ari Folman, a former Israeli soldier, uses animation to tell a horrifying story of the Israel invasion of Lebanon and atrocities that occurred during that conflict. It is, unlikely as it seems, an animated documentary. Folman, whose self-investigation was prompted by a friend’s disturbing dream, interviews his former buddies to reconstruct what happened years ago. Rashomon-like, the stories and their implications vary based on who is telling the story. The choice of animation frees Folman to depict not only the personal accounts but also the nightmares they still prompt. A fascinating indictment of war.
