2023 so far, has been an interesting year for animation. There’s been plenty of highs like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and a few lows like Elemental and Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken. Time will tell if the year’s later releases, like Wish and Migration, will end it with a bang or a whimper.
Looking back through history, a fair few influential animated movies are celebrating milestones this year. Some were loved instantly upon release, while others have acquired cult followings in the many decades since.
11 ‘Melody Time’ (1948)
After Fantasia underperformed, Walt Disney looked for less costly ways to indulge his experimental concept of blending animation with music. Following the success of Make Mine Music, Disney followed it up with Melody Time. Like its predecessor, it combined numerous shorts with contemporary music and folk songs to create a visual and musical delight.
Since the shorts lack a connecting story, they can be enjoyed separately from the whole. For story-driven segments, the adaptations of Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill stand out for their catchy songs and Ward Kimball’s phenomenal animation on Pecos. For musically-driven segments, Bumble Boogie has the best music, while Blame It on the Samba re-unites Donald Duck, José Carioca, and the Aracuan Bird.
10 ‘The Sword in the Stone’ (1963)
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While wandering through the woods, a young boy named Arthur (Rickie Sorensen, Robert Reitherman, and Richard Reitherman) falls into the home of the wizard, Merlin (Karl Swenson). Thanks to his ability to see into the future, Merlin knows Arthur will be someone of importance and takes it upon himself to be his tutor. His magic makes for dazzling lessons but does cause some friction with Arthur’s adopted family.
Arthur and Merlin’s relationship elevates The Sword in the Stone above its poor animation quality. Arthur’s wide-eyed enthusiasm for learning couples well with Merlin’s eccentric teaching methods. Said methods involve turning Arthur into different animals to give him a new perspective on life.
9 ‘Robin Hood’ (1973)
In a world of anthropomorphic animals, Robin Hood (Brian Bedford) and his Merry Men fight against the tyranny of Prince John (Peter Ustinov). They steal John’s gold, evade his Sherif of Nottingham (Pat Buttram), and distribute the loot to the poor. He also begins a romance with John’s niece, Maid Marian (Monica Evans).
While the animation in Robin Hood is some of Disney’s laziest via tracing over sequences from previous films, there’s still a lot of fun adventure to be had. The characters are simplistic but very entertaining, thanks in no small part to the talented voice cast. It also boasts one of Disney’s most action-packed climaxes.
8 ‘Treasure Island’ (1983)
Jim Hawkins (Valeriy Bessarab) works at his parent’s establishment, the Admiral Benbow Inn, until the night he receives a pirate treasure map. With his friends Dr. Livesey (Evgeniy Papernyy) and Squire Trewlany (Borys Voznyuk), they hire a ship and crew to collect the treasure. However, Jim overhears that the crew are pirates serving under Long John Silver (Armen Dzhigarkhanyan).
This Soviet-Ukrainian adaptation of Treasure Island has to be one of the most creative. It sticks closely to the plot of the book while taking full advantage of its animated medium to create impressive camera angles and hilarious action scenes. In 2022, its version of Livesey also became an internet meme.
7 ‘Peter Pan’ (1953)
Frustrated by his children’s antics, George Darling (Hans Conried) decides it is time for his eldest child, Wendy (Kathryn Beaumont), to have her own room. That night, Peter Pan (Bobby Driscoll) arrives to retrieve his shadow, which he lost the previous night. When he learns of Wendy’s plight, he lets her and her brothers come with him to Neverland so they will never have to grow up.
Peter Pan remains one of the highlights of Disney’s Silver Age. The animators did a phenomenal job of capturing the weightlessness of the flight scenes, and there’s plenty of fun action and adventure around every corner. It also boasts one of Disney’s funniest villains in Captain Hook (Hans Conried).
6 ‘Fire & Ice’ (1983)
After the last ice age, the witch Juliana (Susan Tyrrell) and her son, Necron (Stephen Mendel), wage war on humanity by pushing glaciers southward. Only the city of Firekeep stands against them, but Juliana plans to force their surrender by kidnapping Princess Teegra (Maggie Roswell). Fortunately, Teegra escapes and finds allies in a young tribesman named Larn (William Ostrander) and a mysterious warrior named Darkwolf (Steve Sandor).
Fire and Ice is a highly underrated fantasy film. While its story and characters are very paint-by-numbers for the swords and sorcery genera, the worldbuilding is engaging, and the voice-acting perfectly captures the gravitas of the situation. The animation was completed using rotoscoping, giving the characters very realistic movements that lend themselves well to action.
5 ‘Watership Down’ (1978)
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Fiver (Richard Briers), a young rabbit living in a warren with his brother, Hazel (John Hurt), has a premonition that death will come unless they flee to a place called Watership Down. When their chief refuses to heed his warning, Hazel and Fiver leave with a small group of rabbits. The journey is a perilous one as they are beset by everything from predators, humans, and even rival warrens.
Watership Down is infamous for how brutal and scary it is. The rabbits are subjected to all manner of injury and peril, which helps make the world feel like a true representation of nature despite the anthropomorphism. Speaking of, the film sets itself apart from other animal-led stories by creating a religion, creation myth, and language for the rabbits.
4 ‘Heavy Traffic’ (1973)
Tired of his parent’s never-ending attempts to kill each other, cartoonist Michael Corleone (Joseph Kaufmann) goes for a walk around town. He hooks up with a bartender named Carol (Beverly Hope Atkinson), who encourages Michael to plan for the future. Their attempts to earn money don’t go so well, with each failure having disastrous consequences.
This is one of the best movies by independent adult animator Ralph Bakshi. It paints a down-to-earth and gritty look at life in the big city, with themes of racial inequality and disassociation being most prominent. In true Bakshi fashion, it also delves into moments of surrealism, with plenty of creative visuals to leave audiences pondering the meaning for days.
3 ‘Fantastic Planet’ (1973)
On the planet Ygam, humanity’s descendants, called Oms, live as pets and vermin to gargantuan blue psychic beings called Draag. One of them, Terr (Eric Baugin/Mark Gruner and Jean Valmont/Barry Bostwick), manages to learn the Draag language and history. When he escapes from his owner, Terr shares this knowledge with a tribe of Oms so they can improve their chances of survival.
This French/Czech film is one of the strangest animated movies ever made. It tackles mature themes such as civil rights, animal rights, and the idea of a superior species using science-fiction allegories. The landscape of Ygam is made up of surreal imagery that blends biology and geology, and any demonstration of the Draag’s psychic abilities must be seen to be believed.
2 ‘Yellow Submarine’ (1968)
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The music-loving Pepperland comes under attack by a grumpy army of music-haters known as the Blue Meanies. During the invasion, a sailor named Fred (Lance Percival) manages to escape in a yellow submarine. Fred arrives in Liverpool, England, and enlists the help of The Beatles in restoring peace and harmony to Pepperland.
Yellow Submarine remains perhaps the greatest example of the ’60s psychedelic culture. Along with its trippy visuals set to some of the Beatles’ best works, it captures the themes of the time, such as peace, love, and unity. The Blue Meanies steal the show thanks to their eye-catching designs and the phenomenal vocal work by Paul Angelis as their chief, which has inspired the performances of Mark Hamill‘s Joker and HIM from The Powerpuff Girls.
