Discuss: Are We in a Golden Age of Animation?
Filed under: Animation, Fandom
Are we in a golden age of animation? To start, Pixar just keeps getting better and better; critics almost unanimously voted WALL-E the best picture of 2008 -- not just the best animated film, but the best film. And their new Up has racked up nearly equal praise. So far two of the best films I've seen in 2009 are animated features, Henry Selick's Coraline and Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues. Coraline was filmed in stop-motion 3D, and Sita was mostly hand-drawn with some computer assist. Filmmakers seem to have perfected 3D this year, not only in live-action features, but in animated features like Coraline, Monsters vs. Aliens, Battle for Terra and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
Computer animation, which recently looked like it was going to take over for good, has now simply become one of the many tools an animator can use: Disney has gone back to hand-drawn this year with the upcoming The Princess and the Frog, and Hayao Miyazaki's hand-drawn Ponyo is also opening Stateside soon. And best of all, some animated features are being aimed at grown-ups, such as Sita Sings the Blues and Tatia Rosenthal's terrific $9.99. In recent years, even the Oscar-nominated short films have been released to theaters as a collection. And there are still at least half-a-dozen more big films coming out by the end of the year (including 9, Astro Boy, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, etc.)
That's a large selection, with a remarkable amount of variety and quality. The question I have to ask myself, however is, what would Disney think? Back in 1940, when he released Fantasia, he clearly envisioned something higher and more profound for this beloved art form that he helped to pioneer. Have we reached that zenith this year, or do we still have a ways to go? What, dear readers, are your thoughts on the animated movies of 2009?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-21-2009 @ 1:04PM
hiki said...
You forget the best animated movie in recent years. "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time." Anyone who is interested in animated movies should do themselves a favor and watch the movie. The story has been adapted many times over after it's first appearance with this being it's most successful. The duo who put it together are doing another movie "Summer Wars" to be released this year in Japan.
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7-21-2009 @ 3:13PM
C.A. said...
I actually clicked on the link to make the same very comment. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is SO good. I whole-heartedly agree and recommend this to everyone!
7-21-2009 @ 1:49PM
vegimorph said...
I think animation is hitting a pretty good stride in recent years so who knows. The only reservation that's really keeping it back is having pretty much every animated movie in 3-D because sooner or later that's going to scare people off cause its kind of expensive.
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7-21-2009 @ 3:42PM
benbligh said...
expensive to produce? or expensive tickets (due to glasses/3D projection). The cost is only going to reduce as these years go by because the demand is rising and driving innovation/smoother work flows making the production and exhibition cheaper.
7-21-2009 @ 2:22PM
Jake said...
I think it's a stretch. We'll see how "The Princess and the Frog" and "Ponyo" fare: hopefully well. Pixar may be the best in the industry TODAY, but their work still doesn't measure up to the best of Disney's offerings of the 40's, 50's, and 90's. Definitely looking forward to the return of traditional, hand-drawn animation.
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7-21-2009 @ 3:24PM
Gordon said...
Sita Sings the Blues was "mostly hand-drawn with some computer assist"? No, it was almost entirely done in Flash, with some After Effects and Final Cut Pro for the editing.
http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/faq.html (Scroll down to the first question in the "the film itself" section.)
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7-21-2009 @ 7:31PM
Matt said...
"some animated features are being aimed at grown-ups"
As was WALL-E and Up, no need to assume something isn't for adults just because kids can enjoy it too.
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7-21-2009 @ 9:15PM
Andy said...
I definitely think we are...and it sure is fun.
The progress that Pixar has made from 'kid's films that adults will like' to 'adult films kids will like' is really something amazing. The themes explored in 'UP' speak right to adults...but every kid in my showing had a great time. It's a milestone.
I do remember seeing Disney's 'Tarzan' ten years ago, and instead of being impressed by the emotion coming through in the animation, I was more aware of what they were TRYING to emote, but failing at. Whereas the subtlety that really great CG animators can achieve let you just sit back and feel.
I suppose 'Tarzan' isn't a great example and the end of the line for those movies, but I remember distinctly thinking that maybe it was ok that CG was taking over.
I also hope that Laika stays open and lets Henry Selick do his amazing thing for years and years. I will by Nike shoes if they do.
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7-22-2009 @ 1:03AM
Dr Huxtable said...
quick answer, nope.
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7-22-2009 @ 10:30AM
ML said...
I'd argue that it's a heck of a step up from the days of The Black Cauldron.
7-22-2009 @ 1:06PM
Pooja Kohil said...
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Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by email. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Indian epic Ramayana. Set to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as "the Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told." Played over 200 Film Festivals and winner of over 15 awards including Gotham awards, Berlinale, Annecy, Athens and more. Read what the New York Times has to say.
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7-23-2009 @ 4:30AM
Lumi said...
I'm so tired of people always hailing Pixar as the best in the industry. It may be the best, but only in the western film industry. I hold the firm belief that western animation has LOT of growing up to do. I loved Wall-e but people saying that is was 'cutting edge animation' made me cringe. There's this movie called Advent Children which was made like...4 years ago...go watch it and then we'll talk.
Western animation still clings to the idea that animated movies are mainly for children and therefore have to be cute and funny with a little extra thrown in so that the adults can watch them as well.
So to the question of whether we are in a golden age of animation....no, we aren't. Animation is better than it used to be and it gets more attention but that's about it.
And further, why is Hayao Miyazaki the only director that is well known in the west? Spirited Away wasn't even his best movie.
Also, I agree that The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was a fantastic movie.
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7-23-2009 @ 7:46AM
Ed said...
Isn't Advent Children that movie based off of the video game Final Fantasy VII?
I would say Wall-E is a much more meaningful and profound piece of animation than Advent Children, which was just a long series of meaningless video-game style battles with no real point.
7-23-2009 @ 2:12PM
Lumi said...
I was talking strictly animation wise.
7-23-2009 @ 9:16AM
Ty said...
Yeah, but all these animated movies will be put to shame when James Cameron's Avatar comes out in December. I've seen some pictures and you cannot believe how real the CGI looks.
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7-23-2009 @ 10:35AM
Number 127 said...
I think realism isn't a good standard to apply to computer animation. For visual effects in a live-action movie, sure, but I'm with Brad Bird: why in the world would you want to use animation to make something completely realistic, when you can use it to make something completely fantastic instead?
7-27-2009 @ 9:00AM
ML said...
Exactly. An animated film done in the style of impressionist painting or to bring a fantasy to life. (Note that I'm not saying that realistic CGI is useless.)
7-23-2009 @ 10:19AM
AnthonyN said...
You forgot to mention Sylvain Chomet's latest The Illusionist, which should be released later this year. Then there is also last year's Waltz With Bashir, Persepolis, and Fears in the Dark. There is even 2007's Paprika. I certainly is an exciting time for animation.
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7-23-2009 @ 2:33PM
Cliff said...
I think this decade has been a golden age for feature animation, for two reasons: the number of different media available and the number of different places that animation is cropping up.
In addition to the slough of Japanese and American talents, we've got animators from Britain, France, Scandinavia, India, South Korea, and Israel, (kudos to those above who mentioned Waltz with Bashir) working in media as gloriously diverse as cel-shaded hand animation, claymation, computer animation, motion-capture, collage, Flash animation, and rotoscoping! As long as we have so many different crews at work and artistic media to work with, the chances of great films will continue to multiply.
Anyone who wants to see the different things animation can do these days needs to check out
The Triplettes of Belleville
Tekkonkinkreet
WALL-E
Kirikou and the Sorceress
and Coraline (go LAIKA!)
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