Most underrated animated movie

Post by **Ben** » September 12th, 2008, 9:16 am

That's almost pretty neat! But it loses the feeling of sync a little way in.

But I like the original take they took with Oliver & Company, and remember being wowed by the computer assisted animation in the film. Maybe not a first-rate release, but O&C is underrated in my view.

Post by **Josh** » September 12th, 2008, 12:14 pm

I likewise feel Oliver & Company is an underrated movie.

By the way, I noticed that Titan A.E. has been mentioned several times in this thread. For those of you who still haven't seen the film, you can view it online legally at Hulu.com.

Post by **GRUNT** » September 15th, 2008, 5:46 am

Ben wrote:Yep Jeroen...I refuse to buy the R2 Swan Princess for the poor transfer and lack of features.

We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story is a great little film and I'm glad to have the widescreen LaserDisc of that. I don't know if a soundtrack was released...it was sure hard to find the Balto soundtrack too.

We're Back! Oh my goodness - I can't believe I'd forgotten all about that - that's a great call!

It's an incredibly memorable movie. I watched it again and again when I was a kid (because you know how when you're a kid you just watch the same thing over and over again

).

I remember the way that bad guy died at the end with all those crows or something swarming over him. And when those dinosaurs turned feral - great stuff. Then there was that parade when bystanders realised that the dinosaurs were real....ahhhhh

I know I'm repeating stuff you'd know - let me enjoy my moment of reminisce, please

.

Man, I've got to grab the DVD of that flick now. I also have it on widescreen laserdisk, but our laserdisk player broke a long time ago

. Strangely enough, I've never seen the film on DVD, although a trip to google told me that it DOES exist. Next time I'm in town, I'll be actively hunting for this flick. :]

Post by **Ben** » September 15th, 2008, 8:34 am

I think it's only cropped on DVD. Might be wrong there, but that's from memory.

Post by **Neal** » December 7th, 2008, 6:01 pm

I was searching for info. on a movie here and this thread popped up in the results so I thought I'd chime in.

Well, here are some animated films I don't think enough people have seen/know about:

The Princess and the Pea (2002) - Had some of the same crew as An American Tail. It looks faded, almost like it's older than it is, and really I'm sure if a little kid sees it they could easily mistake it for Disney. A nice, old-school animation, fairy tale musical. I'd definitely find it suspenseful if I was little (okay, I found it suspenseful even now) - and Princess Daria's moment of desperation as her only sanctuary burns down is pretty emotional.

Nocturna - This may not be 'underrated' as much as 'hard to get a hold of' - but this film seems to combine some of the best traits of Miyazaki and Disney. Really imaginative characters, delves into a world that children know all too well but reveals more about it, and great music. I was contacted my an animation major the other day about how to get this film and I was happy to help. I kind of advocate for it. I'm looking forward to their next film - Mr. Collieu

Tekkon Kinkreet - An anime by one of the directors of The Animatrix. It starts off as a sort of sweet childhood story about two brothers struggling to survive as orphans but quickly becomes twisted with Yakuza and the climax has this scary sequence with one of the boys manifested inner demons - this giant minotaur creature. The first time I watched it I was scared by it but after two more viewings love the things White says and love the airy music.

Howl's Moving Castle - Everyone cites Spirited Away as being Miyazaki's best film yet. I do love SA but like HMC even better. Too many people overlook it. I like the characters more and find even more 'cuteness factor' in it and the music is amazing. The scene with the living comets always gives me chills.

The Iron Giant - Kind of an old standby for 'overlooked animated films' , but this is one of my top five favorite animated films. I got it on VHS as a kid and really loved it the first time I watched it. It's a very moving film.

Finally, I totally agree about Once Upon a Forest. As a kid, I loved that and rented it several times from the library. I never knew the name of it, only memorized the VHS cover. So about a year ago I wanted to buy it but couldn't remember what it was called and got Nimh by mistake. Finally I got it on VHS at Goodwill.

I'm sure I have more but these are my top selections for underrated animated films.

Post by **Darkblade** » December 7th, 2008, 10:53 pm

Just a question what do you guys mean by "Underrated"?

Post by **Ben** » December 8th, 2008, 8:16 am

<B><I>WATERSHIP DOWN</I></B>, plain and simple. There is no other more underrated film out there.

I'll agree (somewhat) on Princess And The Pea. I wouldn't call it underrated as much as overlooked, but there were some nice things in it, even if it was a bit sub-Disney knock-off in other spots.

Post by **Neal** » December 8th, 2008, 5:23 pm

Darkblade - I think what we mean is that either too many people knock on it when it isn't as bad as they say, or it gets overlooked or pushed aside for a different animated film and therefore doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Ben - I saw WD at my library on VHS yesterday. They had it on a sort of 'you should check these out' shelf. I'm going to pick it up. Your emphatics convinced me. I've always thought it looked interesting but haven't seen it anywhere until I did yesterday so never bothered seeking it out.

Post by **Darkblade** » January 23rd, 2009, 10:02 pm

Now I know what your talking about in this topic Neal...so anyways here's my list of Underrated films.

Cool World- People treated this movie like it was "adult take on Roger Rabbit" but however this movie does entertain me. The animation is alright but however Holli's voice kills me, I don't like it how she sounds. This movie is different than Roger Rabbit in a totally different way, different characters etc plus the music in this movie is cool. Speaking of characters I like some of the backround characters in this movie, I can see Bakshi has some influence on Tex Avery and Dave Fleischer.

The Swan Princess- I like some non Disney animated films{Such as An American tale, and All dogs go to heaven} I like this one because this movie was made during the 90's when some the animated films were good at the time and this was directed by Richard Rich{who directed "The Fox and the Hound" and the black cauldron at Disney} To this day I love this movie... I don't see nothing wrong with an animated film that's a original or based on a fairy tale that was made by a Disney director...I mean look at Don Bluth for example... Two of his movies were based on books{Secret of Nimh, and Thumbelina} I dont see anything wrong with that do you? Plus this movie has one of my favorite actors John Cleese, the songs are good "For Longer than forever" is my favorite song in that movie.

The Chipmunk Adventure- When I was babysitting someone I know's kid she wanted to watch the "2007 chipmunks" and not this one, her parents didnt like this movie...I mean who doesnt like good old fanishoned animated movies like this? Plus the animation in this was animated by former animators who worked for Disney... In my opinion this is better than that CGI movie of the chipmunks{Lord I cannot stand the way the chipmunks look in CGI to terrible}. And this was made in the 80's during the time the chipmunks had the cartoon show during the time when this came into the theaters....

Ferngully The Last Rain Forest- Although the bad guy in this movie creeped me when I was a kid I still find this enjoyable for an animated film....Ferngully is one of the movies that I found cool and sometimes scared me but however some parts of it where funny, Robin Williams cracks me up...But however I am shocked to see that this movie is rated G.{They seriously got away with ALOT of stuff in a G rated film} Maybe it wouldve been better as an PG13 movie or with your average PG rating. This was one of the animated films that was made by Fox animation {Which also released movies such as "The Pagemaster", Once Upon a forest, and two of Don bluth's films Anastasia, and Titan AE}

and finally
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride- I dont think anyone has mentioned this movie... But I however enjoy it, has got a good cast and everything... Tim shouldve won an Oscar for this movie, saddening that he didnt.

I got more but however I dont have the time to think to give out infomation of why and etc.

Post by **Bill1978** » January 31st, 2009, 8:15 pm

This list could be endless especially if I based it upon my friends perceptions. I'm viewing the term underrated as referring to the general public and not by critics and animation enthusaists. To start with I would say:

The Iron Giant - absolutely breathtaking and a wonderful story. I never fail to get choked up at the 'I am Superman' line. I make a habit of using the film to demonstrate the concepts of Robots to my students just to help expose more people to the movie.

Spirited Away - this is the movie that made me begin to appreciate the world of anime. I have a friend who finds it too disneyfied for his liking but I argue with him that if it helps expose more people to anime isn't that a good thing?

The Black Cauldron - unfairly treated and ignored.

A Bug's Life - I often feel like this is the neglected stepchild of Pixar. I think Monsters Inc is the only Pixar film to mention Bug's Life when they talk about the stuido who made the film. Before WALL-E came along this would be my favourite Pixar film.

And one that I'm going to try and explain why I think it is underrated. Beauty And The Beast. I know it's the only animated film to be nominated for Best Picture but in today's age of animation I feel like it gets neglected way too much. Ask the folks on the street to name the best animated film and you'll get Shrek, Finding Nemo and The Lion King. It seems that people have forgotten about Beauty And The Beast. And that's why I mention it in my preliminary list. I think if more people were exposed to this fantastic film they'll realise how crappy some of the more big name films truly are.

Post by **Zach** » January 31st, 2009, 10:52 pm

Bill1978 wrote:A Bug's Life - I often feel like this is the neglected stepchild of Pixar. I think Monsters Inc is the only Pixar film to mention Bug's Life when they talk about the stuido who made the film. Before WALL-E came along this would be my favourite Pixar film.

I know. It seems like it is never recognized, except when advertising Monsters Inc. of course. But there weren't many Pixar films back then to choose from. But now I guess they have to pick the movies that make the most money to stand behind the company.

Post by **Sunday** » February 1st, 2009, 10:37 am

Although highly regarded elsewhere, the films of Michel Ocelot are virtually unheard of in the Western hemisphere.

Post by **Ben** » February 1st, 2009, 5:35 pm

There are tons of European animators and films that don't get any wider respect.

This topic is pretty open ended debate. One could say a film like Horton Hears A Who! is underrated because it has gone unmentioned by AMPAS.

Unfortunately, we now live in a content rich society where the next big thing is always going to be the next best thing. We chew it up and spit it out. Look at the TV listings...it's hard to find, apart from niche channels or weird hours, anything classic or minor from pre-, say, the 1970s or even the 80s in terms of films. They're all late 80s and 90s onwards, as if hardly anything existed before and we're not supposed to remember them. I remember a time when channels used to run mini-festivals on TV...a series of films with a theme, a star or director...now we just get the last five years' worth of films to pick from.

Seriously, we have a channel here now which may as well be called the Bourne channel. At least once a month they run the first two movies for three/four days in a row. I joke that if I'm in the mood for a Bourne all we need do is switch to that channel...it's always on. I'm sure there can't be anyone left who hasn't seen the first two Bournes in the UK!

Post by **Rodney** » February 2nd, 2009, 11:58 am

Someone may have mentioned this one already, but many people don't even know about Cats Don't Dance. That was a great animated comedy by Mark Dindal (Emperor's New Groove, Chicken Little). Sadly, the only DVD release of this film was cropped, but it's still worth checking out. It's about a cat who wants to go to Hollywood to make it into movies. His main foe is a bratty movie star named Darla Dimple who threatens his rise to the top. It's cute. You should check it out.

Post by **eddievalient** » February 2nd, 2009, 4:35 pm

It's got a fantastic soundtrack too.