The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Review)

A minimalistic and emotionally charged film from an animation master.

Director: Isao Takahata 

Company: Studio Ghibli

Year: 2013

Country: Japan

Isao Takahata is an unusual director, especially for an anime director, given that he was never trained as an animator. Takahata's films tend to be focused around mundane everyday experiences, where as his close friend and collaborator, Hayao Miyazaki, tends to make larger scale epics or family fantasy movies. (Perhaps this is the reason that Miyazaki tends to be better known than Takahada, as his films are more accessible to most audiences. Outside of the morbidly depressing, but excellent, Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Takahada's movies are often overlooked in the West.)

After an absence of 14 years, Takahada officially returned to the big screen with The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Initially, Kaguya was supposed to be released as double bill alongside Miyazaki's The Wind Rises (2013), but was released several months later due to falling behind schedule. Princess Kaguya is based on the Japanese folktale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which is about an old couple who find a baby girl inside a bamboo stalk and decide to raise her as their own. 

Does Kaguya bring a miracle into her family's life, an extra burden, or an opportunity to grow?

The Tale of Princess Kaguya has a relatively small cast of characters. We get to know Kaguya and her family quite well, along with her childhood friend, Satemaru, and her stern governess, Lady Sagami. Other characters such as the various suitors that try to win Kaguya's hand aren't given much development, but this actually works largely in the film's favor. Kaguya herself is a quiet, often inquisitive child. She grows unusually fast, earning the nickname Takeneko ("Little Bamboo") from the other children in her village. Kaguya loves playing outdoors and is more interested in playing with her peers than material pursuits.

As she grows older, however, her adoptive father becomes increasingly convinced that his daughter deserves the best. After finding gold and some cloth in the bamboo grove, the Bamboo Cutter convinces himself that is a sign that Kaguya should be wed to a wealthy suitor. Believing that Kaguya is divine royalty, he moves his small family to the city. Kaguya is trained to be a 'proper lady,' but after the glamor of her new life wears off, she begins to miss her previous home terribly. Her life of royalty has become a cage, and she feels that she can no longer express herself as freely she used to.

It's better to live poor but happy than to live surrounded by wealth and misery.

If this isn't symbolic, I don't know what is. 

Thoughts on This Year's Oscars

Let's all agree to disagree.

Another year, another of the same... Well, not entirely. I'll admit I was pleasantly surprised that Birdman won Best Picture, and that it was tied with Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel with its number of nominations: nine total. Both were great films and I highly recommend checking them out if you already haven't seen them.

There is only one true Birdman.

In terms of animation however, the Oscars have delivered yet another predictable, non-deserving win. As with last year, several of the voters on the board admitted to not even seeing most of the nominees outside of a couple of mainstream movies. (The same also goes for the Shorts categories and Best Foreign Language Film.) As a result, Big Hero 6 won. I have nothing against Big Hero 6, in fact I favorably reviewed it earlier this year. It is a fun movie, but nothing out of the ordinary or outside of Disney's comfort zone. It's infuriating that either Pixar or Disney win each year just because they are Pixar/Disney. Personally, I would have either chosen The Song of the Sea or The Tale of Princess Kaguya as the best film. Both moved me in ways that none of the other nominees did and have gorgeous artwork to boot. At any rate, I digress. What did you think of this year's Oscars?*

Two trailers for the two best animated films of the year.

* PS: I will get to reviewing Kaguya and The Song of the Sea, asap. The local theatre will finally be showing them, and I have been waiting to properly see them on the big screen.

The Best Environmental Epic: The Case for Princess Mononoke

Can a film be both entertaining and enlightening at once?

The film Princess Mononoke, has many similarities to other environmental fantasies. As in Avatar, Ferngully: The Last Rainforest and Pocahontas, the protagonist, Ashitaka, is a young man who becomes drawn into a conflict between the forces of nature and humans who are clear-cutting a large forest. The protagonist also meets a woman of another culture (in this case, San, a girl raised by wolves) whom he falls in love with. This plot structure is by no means a new one, as several people have noted that Avatar, might as well have been titled 'Dances with Smurfs' or 'Blue Pocahontas.' Due to their heavy reliance on this formula, films of this kind are often criticized for their reduction of environmental themes and failure to look at tangible solutions. However, Princess Mononoke differs from the three other mentioned films in the way it represents humanity’s relationship with nature, and the protagonist’s relationship with other cultures and minorities. 

Issues Common to Environmental Epics

Is it man vs nature or nature versus man? 

The main problem with many of these ‘ecologically aware’ films is that they tend to over simplify the complex relationship between man and the environment. They seem to state that nature is inherently good and superior to humanity, and that the means used to aid development are inherently bad. These movies often fail to take into account that humans, like other species, are motivated by their own survival. Although clearing land certainly has negative effects on trees and displaces other populations, it is often done to avoid issues such as human overcrowding and to feed growing settlements. Since the environment is rarely altered by a sole force, people are not often displaced by a single aggressor’s selfish actions. Realistically, people won’t suddenly stop all actives that harm the environment, because we depend on its resources. However, we can try to use technology in ways that are less detrimental to our surrounding environment.

Another issue common to environmental epics that portray native peoples are the archetypes of the white savior and the noble savage. The white savior is commonly defined as a white man who learns the ways of a primitive, nature-oriented tribe and decides to help them fight off his own people's colonialism, recognizing that the cause of the natives is just and the conquerors are the villains. This implies that, despite the hero’s apparently good intentions, people of Anglo-Saxon decent are superior to ingenious peoples. Without the help of the white man the minorities remain disempowered. The noble savage is a stock character who serves as an idealized individual who symbolizes the innate goodness of one unexposed to civilization and its corrupting influences. Noble savages are heavily romanticized and are often depicted as being more ‘pure’ and in tune with the natural world. This thinking is problematic, because it does not portray tribal peoples in contemporary reality. Instead, they are viewed as being trapped in a uncontaminated realm of nature which likely never existed.

The Environment in James Cameron’s Avatar

Avatar is largely a visual experience and relies on many plot cliches.

In James Cameron’s 2009 film, Avatar, The Resources Development Administration (RDA) is mining on the planet of Pandora to search for a rare fuel substance. RDA’s private security force is led by Colonel Miles Quaritch. Quaritch has absolutely no regard for any of the lifeforms on Pandora. He is given no backstory, save for mentioning that he received the large scars on his face on the first day he arrived on Pandora. The movie’s message is profoundly simplified by Quaritch’s unrealistic dialogue, which includes lines such as, “I can do it with minimal casualties to the indigenous,” and “We'll clear them out with gas first. It'll be humane. More or less.” The movie opts for peaceful solutions in order to find a way in which humankind and the Na’vi people of Pandora can coexist. However, Avatar quickly dissolves into a number of flashy battle sequences and explosions to show off the film’s special effects. 

Guess which one is the bad guy.

Avatar’s protagonist, Jack Sully, arrives on Pandora as an ungainly military recruit. However, over the course of the film, Jack gains the trust of the Na’vi and becomes mates with chieftain’s the daughter, Neytiri. Jack tames a Toruk, a large dragon-like creature, then leads the Na’vi into battle, thus fulfilling his role as the white savior. Likewise, the computer generated Na’vi are idealized portrayals of native peoples. They are depicted with lean, muscular bodies that are largely unclothed, and can communicate directly with nature via their braid-like sensory organs.

The Environment in Fox’s Ferngully

Hot male lead? Check. Exotic Chick? Check. Native Aborigines? Screw that, we've got fairies!

Like Avatar, Ferngully’s antagonists are similarly unrealistic. In 20th Century Fox’s 1992 film, the malefactor is Hexxus. Hexxus is an ancient being that was sealed away in a tree by the fairies of the rainforest. After being accidentally released when some loggers cut down the tree, Hexxus proceeds to take revenge for his imprisonment by manipulating two of the loggers controlling a bulldozer. Portraying deforestation and pollution in this manner is problematic because it takes the blame of environmental issues off of humanity and places it on a nonexistent deity. By the end of the movie, the hero, Zak, returns to the human world and leaves the fairies alone. However, in a real world situation, the humans would undoubtedly return to the rainforest in order to harvest its scarce resources.

Additionally, Zak Young is introduced as a fit, smooth-talking character. He is shown to be superior to the other lower-class workers, who are depicted as greedy and lazy by visual references to over-consumption of junk food and their littering of their work areas, as well as the fairies who live in the Ferngully Rainforest. The fairies are impressed by Zac’s mastery of technology, as demonstrated when Zac brings the fairies together with music generated from his giant cassette player. The fairies conveniently replace the Aboriginal Australians as ‘noble savages’, perhaps in an attempt to be more politically correct. Although neither the humans and fairies initially believe that the other exists, the truly mythologized beings in Ferngully are indigenous people who are fantasized as extinct and indicated only by the remnant rock paintings. Like the Na’vi, the fairies are depicted as an ideal ‘other’, living in complete harmony with nature via extraordinary, magical means. For instance, Crysta (the fairy female lead and romantic interest to Zac) is is able to make a seed grow into a towering tree by pressing a seed in her hand and the fairies can fly trough the rainforest at impossibly fast speeds.

Still this movie manages to be pretty entertaining due to its hilariously outdated dialogue and bad '90s pop music.

The Environment in Disney’s Pocahontas

"Let's keep quiet about this film's less glamorous, real life basis."

In Disney’s Pocahontas (1995), the story takes place in a fictionalized timeline during 1607 where the British settlers of the Virginia Company arrive in the New World. They are led by Governor John Ratcliffe, who desires to obtain one thing beyond anything else: gold. Unlike the other antagonists from Avatar and Ferngully, Ratcliffe is based on a real person, as Pocahontas is loosely adapted from a historic event. This is where the film’s problems arise. The movie attempts to promote understanding between the colonists and the Native Americans. However, it also makes history easier for American audiences to swallow by glossing over the less attractive aspects of European settlement of Native American lands. 

 John Smith is the film’s white savior. Pocahontas risks her life to save Smith because she essentially falls in love with the first white man she sees.The movie’s underlying message, which extolls cultural understanding and the respect for others and the environment, is downplayed by the film’s focus on romantic fantasy. The Native Americans in Pocahontas are similarly fantasized, even though they are an actual group of people, not a fictional race. Along with demonstrating her care for the natural world by singing songs and having adorable animal sidekicks, Pocahontas is shown to be very attractive and voluptuous, with tan long legs, silky black hair, and almond shaped eyes. By focusing on such superficial details, however, Pocahontas, as with Avatar and Ferngully, skips over the uglier aspects of human nature and history. The plot is altered, avoiding Pocahontas’s passage to England, her separation from her people, conversion to Christianity, marriage to John Rolfe, and her death at age 21 from tuberculosis in England.

The Environment in Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke

Nature is beautiful and terrifying. 

Even though Princess Mononoke is set between the 14th and 16th century in Japan, it addresses several of the issues that are simplified or ignored in the previously mentioned films. There are no stereotypical ‘villains’ in Princess Mononoke as each side is shown to have their own needs and justifications. Lady Eboshi of Irontown is seemingly cold-hearted when she is introduced. After all, she drove the boars out of the forest to mine for iron-sand. She shot the boar god, Nago, causing him to become a demon and later pass his curse onto the protagonist, Ashitaka. However, Eboshi is shown to be compassionate. She offers prostitutes employment as bellows workers, and she secretly hires lepers to manufacture firearms. Despite that many of Eboshi’s actions are questionable it is easy to sympathize with her, especially when one considers that she is part of a traditionally marginalized group herself because she is a woman.  

Lady Eboshi: Both ruthless and kind.

Nature is shown to be divine and otherworldly in places, demanding one’s respect. The forest of the Shishigami is considered to be a scared place and the Emishi are one of the few people left who respect nature and worship animistic gods. Although it is easy to be impressed at the beautifully rendered landscapes in Princess Mononoke and feel sympathy for the animals who are being driven from their homes, it is also easy to be frightened or disgusted by them. The animals are not hapless victims of cruel humans, they fight back viciously to the death. They are large and imposing, and not as cute or as marketable as the fairies in Ferngully or Pocahontas’s pet raccoon, Meeko. The deer god, the Shishigami, is also portrayed as being a rather ambiguous figure. He gives and takes away life, acting primarily as the caretaker of natural causes. The Shishigami does not become actively involved in the struggle between human development and the nature, until he is beheaded by Lady Eboshi. He then threatens to wipe out both humanity and the entire forest, as he becomes lost in madness searching for his head. 

The Shishigami, giver of life and death. 

Symbolically, this could represent the destructive nature of war, and the consequences it has for both sides of the battle. Ultimately, this is what Princess Mononoke is about and what Avatar, Ferngully and Pocahontas fail to address. If Eboshi and Irontown win the battle, then the forest and its gods and animals disappear. However, if nature wins, Irontown and its inhabitants will cease to exist. There are no simple answers, and the differing factions of humanity and nature can only hope to come to a solution by attempting to understand one another. The only true villain in Princess Mononoke is hate. Ashitaka combats with it throughout the film, between others and within himself, as represented by the curse which will kill him if he cannot find a cure. It is not until the end of Princess Mononoke that the curse is finally lifted, after both nature and the warring sides of humanity come to realize that they have nearly destroyed each other.

Although Princess Mononoke has an attractive male lead, he is not the typical Hollywood hero nor is he a typical Japanese hero. As opposed to being a white, or in this case a Yamato Japanese, man, Ashitaka is a member of a traditionally marginalized (and now extinct) cultural group, the Emishi. Ashitaka is initially a reluctant hero. He does not want to leave his homeland but is forced to do so after he becomes cursed by Nago. Unlike many of the samurai protagonists seen in Japanese period dramas, Ashitaka is a pacifist who struggles with his own anger. When his cursed right hand nearly strikes Eboshi, Ashitaka remarks, “If it would lift the curse, I'd let it tear you apart. But even that wouldn't end the killing now, would it?” He is torn between siding with the outcast people in Irontown and San and the animals who are being driven out of the forest, as he can relate to both groups.

Ashitaka, the cursed, othered protagonist.

San, the Princess Mononoke, is the closet thing the film offers us to a ‘noble savage’ or an ‘Indian princess.’ But like nature, San is not overly idealized in Princes Mononoke. San is a young woman, but does not wear a revealing dress. She is depicted with blood smeared across her face the first time Ashitaka sees her, after sucking at a bullet wound in Moro’s chest. She is kind to most animals of the forest, her adoptive mother, Moro, and her wolf brothers. On the other hand, her hatred towards Lady Eboshi and humans is so pronounced that she is willing to throw away her life in order to defend the forest and avenge the death of its animals. Unlike a conventional Disney princess, San does not ‘fall for the first man she sees.’ At first, she hates Ashitaka because he is human and simply tells him to, “Go away.” When Ashitaka saves San from harm in Irontown and returns her to the woods, San is furious with him because Ashitaka has ruined her opportunity to kill Eboshi. In a sense, the gender roles are somewhat reversed as Ashitaka (the man) pleads for both women, San and Eboshi, to put down their knives and talk. 

As with Eboshi, San is another complex female character.

It is only when Ashitaka’s gun wound is healed by the Shishigami, that San ponders over Ashitaka’s behavior, and develops feelings for him. This causes her to go through denial at several points in the film. Moro tells Ashitaka that his desire to live with San is futile because, “My poor, ugly, beautiful daughter is neither wolf nor human. She lives with the forest, and so she too will die with the forest.” True to her mother’s words, San does not return back to the human world with Ashitaka at the end of the movie. Even though she loves Ashitaka and helps him return the Shishigami’s head, her mistrust toward humans never fully disappears. If San had gone with Ashitaka, she would have being denying an important part of her own nature. 

Because of Princess Mononoke’s complex themes and refusal to rely on conventional clichés and stock characters, the relationship between man and nature are more throughly explored than in most environmental epics, even if it does not offer a definitive answer to society’s problems. Princess Mononoke does, however, suggest that the first step in solving such problems is to build understanding between people with differing opinions. 

"Life is suffering. Life is hard. The world is cursed. But still you find reasons to keep living."

The Most Iconic (and Beautiful) Animation Movie Posters

Over the years, collecting film posters has become an increasingly popular hobby. Original printings for certain posters of famous movies can go for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. (In 2005, an original poster for Metropolis [1927]) broke all records by selling for $690,000 to... Leonardo DiCaprio!?) Prior to the 1990s, most posters and flyers were illustrated by hand. Today, posters are primarily made in Photoshop or similarly altered from movie stills or existing pictures, unless, of course, they are for animated films.

Inspired by similar lists on the internet, here are 25 of the most intriguing posters for famous animated films from over the years in chronological order. (Note: All posters listed here are from the original film release, not reissues, except for the Alice in Wonderland one. Foreign release posters may be listed, however. Also, the quality of the poster does not always reflect the quality of the film itself.)

1. Snow White (1937)

Although not the first animated feature ever made, Snow White was certainly the earliest cartoon film to reach international success. It was the also one of the earliest animated films to feature sound and the first to be released in full color. It continues to be a pop-culture icon today, and established the 'fairytale formula' that many Disney films still follow. Even before Snow White was released, Walt's name was already huge. How many other posters can get away with the tagline, "His first feature length production" ?   

2. Bambi (1942)

This lovely Italian poster is far more interesting than the typical over-glossy, saturated box art that Americans audiences have become so accustomed to seeing. Bambi was the most complexly animated film of its time and required a far greater attention to detail than any other Disney production before it. Live animals were even brought in to the studio to allow for more life-like drawings and a sense of realism. Because of this and the fact that that Bambi took the risk of killing off the protagonist's mother, it was reputably the film that Walt was most proud of. 

3. Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Despite popular belief, Lewis Carroll's story was never supposed to be about drug use. (This mindset did not arise until, surprise, the counterculture movement of the late 1960s.) Ironically, this wonderfully colorful and 'trippy' poster seems to suggest it might though. Alice was one of Walt Disney's favorite children's books. He had long tried to make a film of it before, but did not get the chance until later into his career. Interestingly enough, Alice in Wonderland fared poorly when first released. Critics dismissed it for being too Americanized and it did modestly at the box office. Today, it is regarded as a classic due to its surreal and inspired imagery and art direction by Mary Blair. 

4. Watership Down (1978)

Watership Down is about as similar to a Disney film as Psycho is to Wizard of Oz. It remains a testament that just because something is animated, it is not necessarily for children. This flyer, depicting a rabbit caught in a snare, is made immortally haunting by the quote from the folktale of El-ahrairah. Watership Down can be best described as a allegorical epic dealing with themes such as tyranny, governmental corruption, and the violation of individual rights. (Yes, and it also happens to be about rabbits.) It remains a landmark in British film and is considered to be one of the greatest cartoons ever made.

5. Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1978) 

Even the most causal anime fan is aware of the works of the great Hayao Miyazaki, who is as just as famous as Disney or Pixar to those in the animation field. After years of working in television, Miyazaki released The Castle of Cagliostro, the first film he ever directed. Even though it is based off a popular franchise, Cagliostro manages to be very entertaining and is widely regarded as one of the best adventure films to ever be produced, receiving praise from the likes of Steven Spielberg and John Lasseter. This poster is hilariously nutty. It looks like something made for a Where's Waldo? book. Several things going on in the background, like a topless lady floating away in a bathtub, don't even happen in the movie!

6. The Lord of the Rings (1978)

First off, this movie is terrible. It's too bad that the poster was a lot cooler than the movie was itself! But the animated version of Lord of the Rings, for all of its shoddy animation and its poor adaptation of JR Tolkien's novels, remains an interesting piece of film history. Directed by Ralph Bashki, infamous for creating the first X-rated cartoon film Fritz the Cat (1972), this version of LOTR represented the growing field of animators who left the studio system to make films of their own. Many of the artists in the 1970s and 1980s in particular, were growing tired of the regime of Saturday mourning, uh... morning, cartoons being cheaply produced and sanitized for young childern.  

7. The Secret of NIMH (1982)

What an appropriately dark yet intriguing poster for the film debut of Don Bluth. The Secret of NIMH was created by Bluth and a small group of other frustrated ex-Disney animators. It was the first animated film since the late 1950s to have such complex and beautiful animation and featured a somewhat darker and more mature storyline for family audiences to boot. Although NIMH still remains overlooked by many average film goers, it was very important for preserving and reviving interest in creating fine animated features. Competition from Bluth's later films would force larger studios, like Disney, to pull their act together at by the end of the 1980s. 

8. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Nausicaa is another example of an intelligent film aimed for a somewhat older audience than what most American cartoons are accustomed to. Based of the first third of Miyazaki's epic manga of the same name, it is about a princess living in a post-apocalyptic world were people are constantly fighting amongst themselves and with the forces of nature. Nausicaa was so successful it allowed for the establishment of Studio Ghibli, now world famous for its high quality anime films. This poster is highly valued among avid collectors, as it was drawn by Miyazaki himself in vivid watercolors.   

9. Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

Speaking of Studio Ghibli, the first film to be released by the studio was Laputa: Castle in Sky. Loosely based off his TV series Future Boy Conan, Miyazaki directed a wonderfully imaginative steam-punk style fantasy about a girl with a mysterious crystal necklace being pursued by the military and a gang of air pirates. Although not initially a hit, Laputa has become a beloved film ever since Miyazaki grudgingly gave into merchandising his characters after the release of Kiki's Delivery Service (1989). The best thing about this poster? Its usage of perspective and complimentary colors. 

10. Akira (1988)

Akira is sometimes considered to be the first modern anime by certain people, but this is common misconception by western fans. (The first, in fact, was Horus: Prince of the Sun made twenty years earlier.) Akira was, however, the first mature anime to be widely successful with American audiences (and the first major anime to gain widespread attention overseas since the late 1960s- early 1970s). A very violent and unsettling film set in the dystopian future of Tokyo, Akira was sober warning about motorcycle gang violence common in Japan during the time and government funded research. Even the simple style of the poster comes off as eerie. It focuses on Kaneda's motorcycle, a symbol of status and power. The use of the color red and shades of black and grey emphasize that this is certainly not a cute cartoon to put in front of your kid as a babysitter.

11. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

The polar opposite of Akira, My Neighbor Totoro has charmed audiences worldwide since its release. It is a family movie that it is truly great for any age, as it does not belittle the intelligence of its audience. This poster is rather unusual. At first glance, it looks exactly like the iconic scene from the movie were sisters Satsuki and Mei wait with Totoro at the bus stop until their father comes home from work. But their is only one girl on the poster, resembling a cross between the two sisters. This was because Totoro was originally going to about one girl. The idea of having the film be about two sisters did not arise until later into production.   

12. Grave of Fireflies (1988)

Believe it or not, Grave of Fireflies was released as a double bill with My Neighbor Totoro. Grave is one of the saddest, but perhaps one of the most important films ever made. Its plot, revolving around two Japanese childern who starve during WWII, has often been compared to that of Schindler's List (1993). This poster does an excellent job of reflecting the themes of Isao Takahada's film. The way the children stare back at you and menacing shadow of the bomber plane bring up the question, "When is war necessary, and at what cost?"

13. The Little Mermaid (1989)

The Little Mermaid helped Disney recover from its financial and creative hiatus. Although the movie took several liberties from the original fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson, it continues to be an audience favorite. (Then again, can you imagine how people would react to Disney releasing a version close to the dark original with suicide and all?) Unlike this ugly and somewhat controversial poster, the flyer depicted here is quite nice. The simplicity and primary use of shades of blue of the image hint at Ariel's sense of longing. 

14. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1992)

Although The Nightmare Before Christmas is commonly misattributed to Tim Burton, it was actually directed by Henry Selick (the man behind James and the Giant Peach [1996] and Coraline [2009]). Nightmare was produced and co-written by Burton, however. At any rate, the film received lukewarm reception when first released, perhaps due to its unorthodox style for an American cartoon. But a cult following of the Nightmare grew, and it has been well received ever since then. This poster, thus, has become buried into many people's minds. Its opposing color scheme and twisted imagery make it particularly memorable. 

15. Aladdin (1992)

Aladdin is a very fun and goofy film. In some ways, it seems more like a Warner Bros. production than a Disney cartoon, which may explain why Chuck Jones considered it to be 'one of the funniest films ever made.' This makes Aladdin's original poster all the more curious. The poster has very simple, but appealing style to it and has a more serious feel about it. Perhaps this was because Disney decided to design it as 'Oscar bait' to appeal to the Academy after Beauty and the Beast (1991) was nominated for best feature? The Genie, arguably Aladdin's most memorable character, is not even on the poster. This might be because Robin Williams did not want his image to be overexploited by Disney. However, Disney would later break their agreement with Williams stating that his portrayal of Genie would not take up more than 25% of adverting space. 

16. Toy Story (1995)

The original Toy Story broke several records upon its release. It was the first fully CGI film to ever be released and was an example of the growing number of successful Non-Disney animated films. John Lasseter wisely made the decision to have the film star inanimate objects in order to avoid the issue of the uncanny valley, which happened previously in the Pixar short Tin Toy (1988). The poster depicted here is good example of how to use perspective for dramatic effect. 

17. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Alongside The Black Cauldron (1985), this film has become sort of the 'black sheep' of Disney movies. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is certainly not a perfect film, but it should be acknowledged for its effort to go outside of Disney's comfort zone. How many other G-rated films deal with issues such as corruption in the church, infanticide, lust, and social injustice? This appropriately somewhat solemn and lovingly illustrated poster was created by John Alvin. He was well known for also making flyer art for other Disney Renaissance films, The Gremlins, Alien, ET, and Blade Runner, just to name a few.

18. Princess Mononoke (1997)

The spiritual successor to Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke was the first Studio Ghibli film to become widely available outside of Japan in an unaltered format. (Nausicaa had the unfortunate experience of being horrendously dubbed and having its length cut by half an hour to make it 'more marketable' to US audiences during the 1980s.) Mononoke's complex plot avoids many problems associated with other environmentally themed films such as Pocahontas and Avatar.  Neither side of the argument (San, the girl raised by wolves, and Lady Eboshi of Iron Town) is shown to be more right or wrong than the other. The protagonist Ashitaka and the audience is left torn between both parties. The lose of innocence and unclear answer to how humans and nature can coexist peacefully are at the heart of this film. The poster, with San angrily glaring at anyone happening to be passing by, also features the immortal quote "Ikiro!" ("We must try to live."), referencing back to Miyazaki's earlier films and own philosophy. 

19. Perfect Blue (1997)

Satoshi Kon was a very talented anime director known for his complex and confusing films that dealt with insanity, betrayal, and social injustice. His first, and perhaps most adult, film was Perfect Blue, about a retired pop-star who begins to lose her sense of reality as she is stalked by an over obsessive fan. It should be noted that this film has won wide spread acclaim, including from Terry Gilman. Perfect Blue also was a huge influence on the direction of Black Swan (2010) and both have very similar plot lines. So much so, in fact, that some question as to why director Darren Aronofsky bought rights to the film. This poster was made for French audiences. It really evokes the bizarreness of the film and the psychological horror that Mima faces. It refers to the scene where Mima hallucinates that someday broke into her home and her fish have all died.

20. The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Before switching entirely over to CGI, Dreamworks released several traditionally animated movies during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The best of these films was The Prince of Egypt. Although the film has been compared to The Ten Commandments (1956), it is uniquely its own and really should be seen by anyone who wants to enjoy a modern example of a large scale epic. This promo's use of heavy contrast and warm hues seem to hint that some great change is about to come. 

21. The Iron Giant (1999) 

The Iron Giant was one of those films that was ahead of its time. Directed by the now famous Brad Bird, The Iron Giant is about a smart but misfit boy, Hogarth, who happens to strike up a friendship with a large amnesiac robot that fell to Earth. Since the film is set during the Cold War, Hogarth must hide his new and unusual friend who is misunderstood by the paranoid world around him. The Iron Giant failed at the box office when first released, perhaps due to poor marketing or its unconventional plot, but has sense gone on to become a modern classic. Cartoon Network even used to play the film regularly as a Thanksgiving tradition. The simple silhouette style of this poster is really striking. The only color part of the giant is his large yellow eyes, which appear to be almost sad or lonely.    

22. Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

Tokyo Godfathers was the second to last film produced by the late Satoshi Kon and the most 'realistic' of his works. This US poster introduces the audience to the movie's rather unusual protagonists (a transvestite, runaway girl, and an alcoholic) all of whom are homeless. When the three happen to come across a baby in the dumpster on Christmas Eve, they decide that they must return her to her mother. This results in a sometimes hilarious, and sometimes rather sad or touching, journey of self-discovery for the protagonists as they uncover each other's pasts and meet many interesting people along the way. The warm colors of this poster sort of evoke that of Christmas movie, but the focus of the poster poster clearly remains on the ragtag protagonists. The baby is also depicted with a sort of glow around her, suggesting the 'miracles' she brings into the protagonists lives.  

23. Ratatouille (2007)

Another excellent film by the talented Brad Bird, this poster for Ratatouille really shows how far computer technology has come from making Toy Story over ten years prior. This poster has been used for many international promotions. (A clear copy of the English version is unavailable, so we will make do with this one.) The bright color scheme and realistic carrot are enough to make audiences hungry just by looking at it. Remy seems to be enjoying the smell of the food, but perhaps a bit too much. It almost looks like he is in love with the carrot! 

24. Waltz with Bashir (2008)

Waltz with Bashir is one of the most important and harrowing films to come from an indie studio recently. Filmed using a technique similar to rotoscoping, it deals with a Israeli man's post dramatic stress disorder following the Lebanon War. This poster's minimalist and bleak style are perfectly appropriate. The protagonist of this documentary, Ari Folman, seems to be desperately staring out into space as he searches for answers and tries to recollect his disturbing memories of war. 

25. The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) 

Studio Ghibli just seems to have a thing for making lovely promotional artwork. This is technically Arriety's French poster, but it is partially identical to the original Japanese film. (For some reason, the internet seems to be lacking a clear scan of the original poster.) It is a far cry from the poster designed for American audiences, which seems to suffer from over saturation and stiff poses. (Sho's eyes and disembodied head are also sort of creepy...) Very few films evoke such a grand sense of scale and attention to small detail as Arriety does, which is only fitting since the titular character is only a couple inches high.

5 Excellent Animated Music Videos

Synching animation or live footage to music has long been part of the filmmaking process. In fact, there are several well known early examples during the Golden Age of animation, like Fleischer's Betty Boop cartoons and Disney's Fantasia. However, it wasn't until the rise of MTV in the 1980s that the term music video came into use (The term used before was 'illustrated song'.) Since Youtube launched in 2005, it has become easier and easier for people to create and share their own material. (This can be a bit of a double-edged sword, though. Just about anybody can post whatever they please, which has led to a never ending plague of AMV and Vocaloid videos.) Some of the best and overlooked animated music videos are listed below by year.

On Your Mark (1995):

For those familiar with Hayao Miyazaki, it may seem surprising that he would animate a music video for a J-pop group. But he did just so at the request of the popular rock duo Chage & Aska. Whether your a fan of the music or not, the animation and nonlinear plot is hard not to be drawn in to. Miyazaki's drawings tell an intriguing story about two cops who discover a unconscious winged girl. They are pursued by military as they try to figure out what to do with her. This film largely references many of Miyazaki's works (especially his Nausicaa manga) and there are many implied different endings of the film. Do the cops and the girl live? Does the angel girl represent some sign of hope in a post-nuclear world? How can humanity survive in the future?

Youtube has removed the video. Click here to watch it on Dailymotion.

The Ghost of Stephan Foster (1999):

The Squirrel-Nut Zippers were a popular ska (gypsy jazz / swing fusion) group during the 1990s. Given the roots of their musical style, it only makes since that their music video is a tribute to the strange black-and-white cartoons of the Fleisher Brothers. There are a lot of great visual gags and some very creative old school animation. Overall, it's a blast. Likely one of the most memorable (and catchy) music videos out there. Who doesn't like watching cartoons about creepy haunted houses?

Destino (2003):

In 1945, Walt Disney wanted to make a collaborative project with Salvador Dali. However, their vision never got to see the light of day. Only about 17 seconds of animation was completed before the idea was canceled due to WWII. But 58 years later, a group animators at Disney Studios unearthed some storyboards from the film and decided to complete it. The result is far more comparable to Dali than it is to Disney. (If the studio even dared to show it on Disney Channel today, all of the tweens' heads would explode.) Destino is very bizarre and beautiful and is appropriately accompanied with a 1940s Spanish style song written by Armando Dominguez. It is about Chronos (the god of time) and his ill-fated love of a mortal woman. A must watch if you enjoyed Fantasia.

The Boy with the Cuckoo Clock Heart (2007):

This music video is based off a French book of the same name. It is performed by musician Mathias Malzieu (who was the book's author) and his band Dionysos. The story is about a boy named Jack who is not supposed to fall in love. This is because Jack's damaged heart was replaced by a clock when he was young. Any strong emotions will cause his new heart to break. However, that's exactly what happens when he meets Miss Acacia. The short film's style is distinctively steampunk and heavily resembles the stop-motion movies of Tim Burton, despite the fact that it is computer generated. Apparently, an animated film based off the book is in the works and should be out in a few years. (I apologize in advance for the lack of subtitles for this video.)

Copying is Not Theft (2009):

Nina Paley is probably one of the most famous independent animators of our time. She received much acclaim for her film, Sita Sings the Blues, which she directed and animated entirely on her own. However, she ran into legal issues regarding the usage of Annette Hanshaw's jazz recordings. Annoyed with the inefficiency of copyright laws, Paley made Copying is not Theft to express her frustration. Even if you don't agree with Paley's views, this video is pretty entertaining and has a certain quirky charm to it. (Nina Paley also made another video called Credit is Due, reminding people to credit their sources.)