It's so hard for me to choose ONE
Each of my favorites had different aspects.
Secret of NIMH is the closest to the top. First off, I love rats, so right away, that movie just makes me love it. Another thing, both the book and the movie came out at a time when single motherhood was not something high in the media. Not like today. Mrs. Brisby (Frisby in the book), is widowed. You can compare the family aspect of the movie to a human family's life. The father goes off to war, dies, and the mother and left behind to take care of the children and struggles to keep her head above water. But instead of money, it is literal. She is literally struggling for her children's lives. And the devotion and self sacrifice, no matter what the danger or pain, a mother can show. Mrs. Brisby is by far the best animated mother I have ever seen. Dumbo and Bambi's mothers come to mind as well. But once locked up, Dumbo's mother went into depression and stopped fighting. In all truth, an elephant can break a chain easily if they put their mind to, but the story did not call for it. Bambi's mother didn't seem to actually sacrifice herself. She was just running for her life, hoping he'd make it. If perhaps she veered off from the same path he took to distract the hunters, then I could see that being as more a self-sacrifice. But Mrs. Brisby faces unbelievable dangers to save her children. The Rats of NIMH, The Great Owl, and Dragon the cat. Even facing her fear of flying. All to save her kids. God, I need to watch that movie again.
The Great Owl sequence was some of the most superior animation EVER, IMO. And the scenes of the rats and mice in NIMH were emotional and intense. Nicodemous was a fantasic character. And the Stone added a fairytale, magical quality to what otherwise, was a semi-realistic story.
Let's see....
Titan A.E. would be a second. Though I couldn't go nearly as deep into this as NIMH, this was just a very cool movie. Not many movies start by blowing up the earth. Most movies are about saving it from being blown up. I enjoyed the Akima character. No matter what drifter colony (which I guess was compared to a slum or ghetto), she lived in, she always had faith and hope that the human race would have a foothold again.
Cale had a great character evolution through the movie as well. I didn't see the betrayl by Korso coming at all. The music was fantastic. The 3D animation with the 2D was flat, but the ice crystals scene was superb. I loved the Stith character, she was a new and interesting design And of course...Planet Bob
What I also liked was the 2 companion books to the movies. Both were prequels. One about Cale and one on Akima. I read those before I saw the movie. GREAT stories. Wish some of it was included in the movie.
Anastasia...See Anasatia thread for my comments on that
Land Before Time was another fantastic movie and story by Bluth. Abour friendship, prejudice, and faith. LBT was what Disney lost several times. The animation was so beautiful. And that scene when Littlefoot asked his mother something like, "If you haven't seen the Great Valley, how do you know it's there?"...And his mother cranes her neck around, and for a bit, you head is out of range of the screen and then it appears on the right side. When I first saw that was a kid was like
. The thought process on that. To have this small area, this small detail, to show you how MASSIVE these animals were. It was fantastic! And ever since LBT, so many movies and tv shows have come out that have obviously either been inspired by LBT or simply ripped it off.
An American Tail. This was one I loved at first, but it wore off later. It is a great story, beautiful animation, and wonderful songs, but I just kinda got over it. One thing I noticed and asked Bluth about once....Take note that Anastasia and Fieval wear the same types of hats. I wasn't sure if this was like a nod to American Tail when Anastasia had that hat or if it was a common Russian hat. Turns out it was a common Russian hat
And Bluth deffinetly seems to have a soft spot for orphans. Pete's Dragon, Rescuers, Banjo, Land Before Time, Anastasia, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Titan A.E....the list goes on and on.
I love Bluth's work though. There is nothing I haven't liked from him.