We're fast approaching the end of the year, folks. Alarmingly, this has been a fantastic year for film in general and theatrical animation in particular. There were a lot of animated films that I didn't see for various reasons (I have not had the opportunity to see My Dog Tulip or The Secret of Kells, though I have heard good things about both), but the ones I did see? Uncommonly wonderful.
Wonder what you missed? I'm cataloguing the best of it for you, in roughly chronological order. You should see all of these. They are all both good and important.
Coraline
This film, adapted from a Neil Gaiman novella, hails the return of stop-motion hero Henry Selick, whose beautiful direction can also be seen in The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. I saw it in theaters in 3D, and it is both beautiful and terrifying.
Ponyo
The latest Miyazaki picture to appear in theaters stateside, aimed squarely at a preschool audience. I'm convinced that it's impossible for Miyazaki to make anything that is not charming, but Ponyo is one of his weaker films. Nonetheless, it is easily the most adorable movie of the year.
Up
Funny thing about Pixar movies: I like them a lot less in retrospect than I do right after I see them. Up is Pixar's best film to date, and I loved it when I saw it, but looking back, it feels like much less of a standout.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Two stop-motion films in a year? Holy crap. It must be an animation renaissance. And Fantastic Mr. Fox has Wes Anderson's mark all over it. It's a humorous, charming and visually beautiful adaptation of a Roald Dahl book. I think this is my favorite animated film of the year.
The Princess and the Frog
Ten years ago, I probably wouldn't have mentioned this one at all. It's a 1990s Disney fairy tale throwback, but there are more daring aspects of it that never would have made it into a Disney cartoon in the 1990s (things that feel like the influence of Pixar's hand). The animation is beautiful. The jazz soundtrack is a pleasure. It is flawed, certainly, but I'd like to see more films like this.
And, as honorable mentions, I'd like to point out a couple of very good live-action films with significant use of animation:
District 9
Pseudo-documentary set in Johannesburg after an alien craft crashes there and the (intelligent but buglike) aliens are kept in refugee camps that are more like ghettos. The apartheid parallel is obviously hard to ignore, but it never felt heavy-handed. Of note: the aliens were created entirely using computer animation.
Where the Wild Things Are
It is rare that there is a film for children that doesn't talk down to them. This Spike Jonze picture actually manages it, being instead a sort of grown-up Sesame Street. It explores that strange misery and loneliness of childhood that comes with being "that kind of kid." If you were that kind, you understand. The animation work in this one comes in on the faces of the Wild Things--the faces were computer generated on the giant muppet suits worn by puppeteers. They look amazing.
I would include Avatar on this list, except I haven't seen it yet. The visuals on that one look pretty swell, too. But even if it's crap, this has been a great year. I hope it keeps up in the next year--I'd like animation besides Pixar flicks to look forward to in 2010.