AFI's Top 10 American Animated Films

MagicMirror · Post by **MagicMirror** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 5:11 pm

These 'greatest' (what does 'greatest' even mean) lists seem to have been cropping up at an alarming rate recently!

http://www.afi.com/10top10/animation.html

Disney dominates, taking all but one place in the top 10.

I certainly agree with the top 3, but probably would move 'Fantasia' further up. It's nice to see 'Cinderella' make the list.

It would have been nice for 'Dumbo', 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians', 'The Iron Giant' and the 'Incredibles' to make the list (I would choose 'The Iron Giant' over 'Shrek' any day), but I suppose there are only 10 places.

BUT, to concur with Brad Bird, why must so many refer to animation incorrectly as a 'genre'?

Disney's Divinity · Post by **Disney's Divinity** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:01 pm

I was actually surprised that the list wasn't that bad (if you omit Shrek), but of course only amounts to a grain of salt. Maybe they only take into account 'cultural relevance' when making these lists, which could explain why great (but seemingly unpopular) films are overlooked. But, then, Fantasia wouldn't have made the list if that were the case. There's an inconsistency there.

Frankly, I was irritated that the animated list only got, what, five minutes? While everything else seemed to go on for 15-20 minutes a piece.

Widdi · Post by **Widdi** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:45 pm

It was a decent list though I disagree with half the titles that made it (Shrek, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Cinderella and The Lion King) and the positions of the other five are all wrong.

Snow White should not have been number one. I am adamant on the fact that just because it was the first animated film, that does not make it the best. There have been many a film that were better animated, written and acted than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

I also think Toy Story 2 should have taken the original's place for pretty much the same three reasons Snow White should not have been number 1.

If I were to compose a list of the ten best American Animated Films of all time it would look something like this:

10. Dumbo
9. Beauty and the Beast
8. The Nightmare Before Christmas
7. Bambi
6. One Hundred and One Dalmatians
5. Toy Story 2
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
3. Sleeping Beauty
2. Fantasia
1. Pinocchio

But I suppose I am not as qualified to make a list as the AFI.

SleepingBeautyAurora · Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:33 pm

In my opinion, Shrek and Finding Nemo shouldn't be on there.

tsom · Post by **tsom** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:37 pm

I'm happy Cinderella made the list!

But I'm very surprised that "Mary Poppins" didn't make the Fantasy list.

drfsupercenter · Post by **drfsupercenter** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:47 pm

Shrek is a good movie, yes, but I agree it isn't one of the top 10.

Though I defend Toy Story being on there, it was the first 100% CGI film and still looks great today... possibly my favorite of all of Pixar's movies.

Simba3 · Post by **Simba3** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:14 pm

I'm pleased with the list, for the most part. I feel that all of the films on the list are deserving of being on there. I'm especially happy to see The Lion King so high on there. Take that TLK haters. LOL. I would have liked to see 101 Dalmatians on the list, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Siren · Post by **Siren** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:01 am

I think Land Before Time deserved being on the list more than Shrek.

The Little Merboy · Post by **The Little Merboy** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 1:09 am

I think The Little Mermaid should have made the list, before Beauty and the Beast would.

MerXAN · Post by **MerXAN** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:34 am

The Little Merboy wrote:I think The Little Mermaid should have made the list, before Beauty and the Beast would.

Well said.

Harbinger · Post by **Harbinger** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:14 am

Notable Omissions:

The Nightmare Before Christmas
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Monsters, Inc.
The Incredibles
Lady & The Tramp
101 Dalmatians
Aladdin
Princess Mononoke*
Spirited Away*
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
The Iron Giant

*not sure these are eligible

yukitora · Post by **yukitora** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:32 am

^they wouldn't be eligible, but on a worldwide list, they definitely should be!

I don't think all of Walt's first 5 movies (minus Dumbo) should be ranked so high. Shrek should be replaced with Shrek 2. Beauty and the Beast should be much higher and if I had things my way, Sleeping Beauty would replace Cinderella, but that's never going to happen

and The Land Before Time (and possibly An American Tale) should definitely be on there somewhere.

Someday... · Post by **Someday...** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:53 am

very happy to see cinderella place, wonderful movie.

Snow white as number one...meh

MagicMirror · Post by **MagicMirror** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:45 pm

Widdi wrote:It was a decent list though I disagree with half the titles that made it (Shrek, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Cinderella and The Lion King) and the positions of the other five are all wrong.

Snow White should not have been number one. I am adamant on the fact that just because it was the first animated film, that does not make it the best. There have been many a film that were better animated, written and acted than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

10. Dumbo
9. Beauty and the Beast
8. The Nightmare Before Christmas
7. Bambi
6. One Hundred and One Dalmatians
5. Toy Story 2
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
3. Sleeping Beauty
2. Fantasia
1. Pinocchio

So you're saying that 'Sleeping Beauty' is better animated, acted and written than 'Snow White'? With animation and perhaps even acting you may have a case, but the writing? I think 'Sleeping Beauty', story-wise, is basically 'Snow White' with a lot of clumsy codswallop thrown in. I sha'n't go into this any more because I've bored people to death on the subject elsewhere on the forum. Bear in mind that a film's legacy is an important factor in a film's placement on the list, and 'Snow White' is probably the single most significant American animated film of all in that respect. But I do agree with you on 'Pinocchio' and 'Fantasia'.

I don't know about 'The Lion King' being on the AFI's list as, while it is a great film, it is extremely derivative of a number of sources, particularly 'Bambi' (which, thankfully, has a higher place on the list); I don't think it has stepped out of Bambi's shadow.

yukitora · Post by **yukitora** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:08 pm

I personally think Sleeping Beauty's script is superior to Snow White, but no far more.

Snow White's conflict was the queen trying to kill snow white. It was resolved by a Kiss from a Prince who only appears at the start to sing, then out of nowhere appears at the end, and in between theres some dancing and pie making. It's still a great film, but simpler times called for simpler storylines (plus it was hard to pull of some scenes back then)

Sleeping Beauty didn't do anything, not at all, but the themes and characters surrounding her did a lot more than the Dwarfs mining and dancing. The conflict/plot mirrors Snow White but with slightly more complex ideas; hiding the princess for 16 years, sacrificing resources (magic powers) for ones good, the prince's mystery girl is the same girl he's being forced to marry (similar to dramatic irony), the blacklash of lying to someone to protect them, the sadness in aurora's arranged marriage etc.

One of the lines that struck me the most was "we're living in the 14th century!". Yes it was a fairytale, but the fact they were able to pull off some social conscience of change was very interesting imo. But you know, I think Pinocchio still had the superior script out of all of Walt's own films.

I understand why Snow White's ranked so high. Remember how awesome it was when Toy Story came out? The first full length completely computer animated feature... but whilst Toy Story's importance has died down, Snow White legacy remains so faithful. I'm not comparing the two, but I don't think it should be so highly regarded, solely because it was the "first". It still has it's flaws (all movies do), but they are rarely acknowledged.

neurotic_Donald_Duck · Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:22 am

ALADDIN

Poody · Post by **Poody** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:28 am

I also thought The Little Mermaid would be on the list!

I saw a commercial for this, is it airing on TV?

UmbrellaFish · Post by **UmbrellaFish** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:36 am

Poody wrote:
I saw a commercial for this, is it airing on TV?

Depends on when you saw the commercial. It premiered this past weekend, I don't know if there's any repeat airings.

I was slightly disappointed. The animation part comes first, but it the shortest segment. I also think they could have found better chocies. But the worst part about the program overall is how they could remember "Courtroom Drama" as a genre and completely forget "Musicals". I mean, duh?

Dottie · Post by **Dottie** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:56 am

Didn't they already do a 100 best musicals some years ago? So that's probably why Musical was not one of the genres.

TheSequelOfDisney · Post by **TheSequelOfDisney** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:07 pm

Dottie wrote:Didn't they already do a 100 best musicals some years ago? So that's probably why Musical was not one of the genres.

AFI did a Top 25 movie musical list:

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/13859

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AFI's Top 10 American Animated Films

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