Animation has been a consistent medium of visual storytelling and performance. Some of the best movies of the year are animated movies, yet they lack respect as a genre in the movie award industry.
With the recent interest in movies like “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” “Zootopia 2” and “Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse,” there is an eye on animation and its unique ability to tell poignant and expressive stories. For those who are new to the animated genre, here are some animated movies that deserve more hype.
Disney’s “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” set the tone for the CGI x 2D genre
“Atlantis: The Lost Empire” (2001) follows Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox), a linguist whose grandfather was an explorer who searched for Atlantis before his death. When given a proposition by Preston B. Whitmore (John Mahoney) to go on a secret expedition, led by Commander Rourke (James Garner), to use his grandfather’s journal to locate the underwater civilization, he takes it.
Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and produced by Don Hahn, Disney’s “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” proved traditional animation could successfully coexist with emerging computer-generated imagery without losing its visual imagery.
In the 2001 animated movie, 2D animation was the focus in creating unique and diverse characters and landscapes. The underground city of Atlantis was inspired by New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns, as the creators visited the site's subterranean trails and wanted to get away from the usual Greek ruins that propagate the narrative of Atlantis.
The film used CGI to enhance the expansive environments, vehicles and action sequences, most notably the submarines and the collapse of Atlantis. It doesn’t take away from the art style, helping to create an advanced ancient civilisation that was still more futuristic and advanced than the modern early 20th century in which the story takes place.
RATING: 5/5
Focus Features' “9” taught people how to have hope in hopeless times
“9” (2009) is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has been wiped out by machines created during a past war. The story follows 9 (Elijah Wood), a small sentient ragdoll brought to life by a scientist who transfers his soul into nine creations to preserve human knowledge.
As 9 explores the ruined world, he joins the other dolls and learns a powerful machine, the Fabrication Machine, is still active and harvesting their life energy. Despite internal conflict and fear among the group, 9 pushes them to confront the threat rather than hide.
Focus Features’ “9” presents hope as an act of courage in a world that appears as a wasteland beyond saving. Humanity is destroyed and the last hope is in small, fragile creations who carry the last remnants of the human spirit and knowledge.
Using 9’s curiosity and determination as a catalyst for many of the events and discoveries in the film, the audience is introduced to hope as not a belief of certainty or absence of fear, but a willingness to question fear and take action even when the odds are overwhelming.
Instead of hiding in fear, 9 and the other dolls show hope is a force of resistance. Even faced with their mortality, death is a real outcome for 9 and his people, with numerous deaths in the film.
RATING: 4.5/5
“The Prince of Egypt” is religious propaganda done right
“The Prince of Egypt” (1998) retells the biblical story of Moses, following his journey from adopted Egyptian prince to the liberator of the Hebrew people. Raised as the brother of Pharaoh Ramses (Ralph Fiennes), Moses (Val Kilmer) lives a life of privilege until he discovers his true Hebrew heritage and is forced into exile after killing an Egyptian overseer.
While in the desert, Moses encounters God, who commands him to return to Egypt and demand the freedom of his people. Moses confronts Ramses, leading to the plagues that devastate Egypt and test their brotherhood. The film concludes with Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt and parting the Red Sea, securing their freedom.
A religious story, “The Prince of Egypt,” is a beautiful story about coming of age. We watch Moses figure out his identity, both as an individual and his background. The story focuses on identity, freedom, brotherhood and responsibility; focusing on Moses’ internal struggles and his deeply complex relationship with Pharaoh Ramses, the film’s religious message is rooted deeply personal to Moses’s journey.
Visually and musically, we are watching a beautifully produced story. The creators of the film made sure to tell the story as accurately as possible. According to the looper, The Los Angeles Times, The Tampa Bay Times and The New York Times reported during the time that 300+ cultural and religious consultants were used to create the film. Consulting both conservative and liberal experts in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths, as well as archeologists, scholars and Arab American groups.
The film, directed by Brenda Chapman, is the first American animated feature film to be directed by a woman, a fact that Chapman got to reflect on in 2023, when speaking with the Oscars about the film's 25th anniversary.
"I never looked at my position as being a milestone," Chapman said. "I was just doing what I loved to do, but I became aware of it as a moment in time for women."
RATING: 3.5/5
