Animation

Introduce yourself to the community or chat with other users about whatever is on your mind
Ocelot
Posts: 130
2307 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:14 pm

Animation

Post by Ocelot »

Any fans of animation out there? No, I don't mean anime, though some of that's good too (not Naruto/Bleach/etc, stuff like Gainax/IG/Ghibli), but animation in general. I think animated films can be great because it allows filmmakers to delve into the surreal far more than they can with live action films. However, it seems with the influx of special effects, 2D animation seems to be on the decline here in America. How do you guys feel about this?

ShogunRua
Posts: 3449
0 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 3:18 am

Re: Animation

Post by ShogunRua »

Even though I hate most anime, I have two films in the genre among my top 12 films ever, and 12 in Tier 10. There's definite quality being produced there, regardless of one's tastes or maturity level.

As for the rest of animation, I'm a big fan of Wallace and Gromit as well as 1980's Heavy Metal. Don't care for Pixar, however. Not really sure what the focus of this topic is, anyways. Just list one's favorite examples of animation? I doubt there's anyone here who dislikes every example of the genre.

Jeb
Posts: 253
2387 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 3:20 pm

Re: Animation

Post by Jeb »

Animation IMO, is one of the greatest common art forms ever conceived together. It's a surreal way of expressing one-self both artistically and technically. The only computer-generated animated films I really care for however are Pixar. I have yet to see a work of there's that is mediocre (with the exception of Cars). Stop-motion is probably the best style of animation one can find. There's the Wallace and Gromit shorts and feature-length movie of course, and then there's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Chicken Run and Coraline which are all on a league of their own.

On another note, I actually admire Anime. It has gave me a whole new perspective on animation and art in general, and even introduced me to some classic movies (Grave of the Fireflies, Spirited Away, Princess Monoke, Ghost in the Shell etc.)

Ocelot
Posts: 130
2307 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:14 pm

Re: Animation

Post by Ocelot »

ShogunRua wrote:Even though I hate most anime, I have two films in the genre among my top 12 films ever, and 12 in Tier 10. There's definite quality being produced there, regardless of one's tastes or maturity level.

As for the rest of animation, I'm a big fan of Wallace and Gromit as well as 1980's Heavy Metal. Don't care for Pixar, however. Not really sure what the focus of this topic is, anyways. Just list one's favorite examples of animation? I doubt there's anyone here who dislikes every example of the genre.

Yeah I guess, just list your favorites. I'm sure there are people on here who don't watch that much of this, so I'd hope this topic could change their minds.

ShogunRua
Posts: 3449
0 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 3:18 am

Re: Animation

Post by ShogunRua »

Jeb wrote:On another note, I actually admire Anime. It has gave me a whole new perspective on animation and art in general, and even introduced me to some classic movies (Grave of the Fireflies, Spirited Away, Princess Monoke, Ghost in the Shell etc.)


That's the neat part of the genre. I consider the first three films you mentioned to be mediocre, poorly written, wonderfully animated, overhyped messes. (Ghost in the Shell rocks, however)

Despite this, there's no shortage of movies that I do like there. Satoshi Kon's "Perfect Blue", "Tokyo Godfathers", and "Millenium Actress" all rock, there's a bunch of great action fare ("Ninja Scroll", "Golgo 13- The Professional", "Afro Samurai"), and some truly amazing, innovative stuff. (Cowboy Bebop film, "Vampire Hunter D- Bloodlust")

Let's be honest; the majority of the really original, quality Japanese creative people go into live action. But because of its lower barrier to entry, the animation side has a number of motivated, brilliant upstarts as well.

Gregzilla
Posts: 219
2114 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:44 pm

Re: Animation

Post by Gregzilla »

I tend more toward the shorter, older stuff. Ya know, Warner bros. & Fleischer. I have some sort of huge bias agianst Disney so I keep away from those. But I should really watch some of their old shorts.

For newer stuff I'd mention things like Ren & Stimpy, Reboot and the first couple of seasons of Adult Swim stuff.

Likewise most of my favorite animes are episodic. FLCL, Serial Experiments Lain, Boogiepop Phantom.

Spunkie
Posts: 473
5477 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:47 am

Re: Animation

Post by Spunkie »

Animation always receives extra credits for me. This is probably because I'm in love with every dimension of the form, the creation process and the way of thinking it takes to construct. Nowadays animation is going more towards live action concepts. I'm not too thrilled with it, most of the time this shift obstructs animation's unique qualities and workings out of the picture. Still there are many examples that has it bothways like Coraline, Ghost in the Shell and Mind Game.

I'm ok with all purpose, general audience animation. What gives me the buzz are cell animations -sometimes strenghtened with 3D- and stop motion. Experimental animation is sometimes life altering for me since I can make use of the ideas programming live-visuals. Norman McLaren is the great master of that field imo, followed by Svankmajer.

Anime is also a two edged sword. There are elements like dramatization crushing Chibi use, oversimplifying use of great ideas I tend to avoid. I watch most of the feature lenghts I come across and digest about 5 series every year.

318 out of 3212 of my ratings are animations which makes %10, I'm positive if animations were major in the cinema industry that number would have gone upto %30-%40 of my appetite. 21 feature lenghts are in my Tier 10. I try to write short reviews for every animation I watch. I don't like making lists for namesdropping, but if someone's interested in new titles to go for, you can just filter my ratings.

Melvin Smif
Posts: 482
1132 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:09 am

Re: Animation

Post by Melvin Smif »

I have always been a fan of animation in many forms. If the plot of a story is gripping I see no reason why it cannot be told in an animated form. There are just things one can do with animation (visually) that cannot be done with live action.

paulofilmo
Posts: 2586
2428 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:40 pm

Re: Animation

Post by paulofilmo »

Ocelot wrote:Any fans of animation out there? No, I don't mean anime, though some of that's good too (not Naruto/Bleach/etc, stuff like Gainax/IG/Ghibli), but animation in general. I think animated films can be great because it allows filmmakers to delve into the surreal far more than they can with live action films. However, it seems with the influx of special effects, 2D animation seems to be on the decline here in America. How do you guys feel about this?


Image


Have you seen the Quay Brothers' stop-action shorts? There's one on just about every other day in the UK. Here's an article I seemed to have considered worth bookmarking. You can probably find many of their films online, but I don't recommend settling for substandard quality as they often change the depth of focus, which requires a sharp image. After coming out of one of their surreal and often grotesque subconscious dreamscapes, the world looks completely different until you're able to reorient yourself to reality.
---

Image


I love The Periwig-Maker. You can watch it in inadequate quality in two.parts on youtube. The fourteen minute short uses the same puppet guys as many of the Tim Burton movies, but I find TPM much more intelligent and compelling.


Image


I have a deep respect for Frédéric Back; more for the themes than anything else. But the warm and charmingly simple style of animation does add a lot. Hopefully a DVD collection of his short films will become available, but for the meantime the excellent The Man Who Planted Trees is readily available online.

Excelsior
Posts: 11
1623 Ratings
Your TCI: na
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:14 am

Re: Animation

Post by Excelsior »

The only anime films I've ever liked were La Maison en Petits Cubes, Metropolis, and work by Studio Ghibli. And as far as series go, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Monster and Cowboy Bebop were good. 95% of anime sucks though.

Post Reply