Jesse Mills writes:
I know this is not your 'best-of', just a recommendation list, but I find it sort of crazy that you include a movie that's in theaters right NOW (Frozen), when I feel like re-watching & revisiting a film over time- to dissuade the wisps of excitement and hype- is almost totally necessary for critical analysis. I can't count the amount of times I've left the theater whooping, only to re-watch something months later and ask "what the hell was I thinking?"
Also- not to be a nebbish dick- but since you're the cat who heroically restored The Thief and the Cobbler, I'm amazed that you would include so much...how do I put this... mall/multiplex animation, like The Lion King, and no Miyazaki, no Last Unicorn or Rankin/Bass Hobbit...or even the Rescuers (It's true that I'm biased towards late 70's and early 80's animation, and against the suburban soccer Mom cutesyness of most CGI, just in full disclosure.) Not trying to be an asshole, just genuinely surprised at your picks here. Cheers.
Hi Jesse. I'm not the sort who rewatches films. I tend to watch them and stick to my original analysis. Actually, these days I don't watch a ton of films. I consider myself much more of a television guy, and my list of television recommendations would be full of cult/obscure/unusual choices that would baffle most readers. Other people are like that about feature films. I've gotten to the point where I feel that most movies are all the same.
But this is intended as a general recommendation list for someone who hasn't watched very many films at all. I don't have the benefit of excluding "mall" sort of films. In fact, that's largely the point of this list. I want to make this fun for the viewer, who for some reason hasn't watched the movies most of us grew up with. I don't have the luxury of leaving out "Jurassic Park" or "T2" or so on. These wouldn't be on my actual list of favorites but it's strange if someone hasn't seen them, and they're going to have a good time with that.
In high school there were a handful of films that I held very close to my heart, such as Terry Gilliam's Brazil. And for the most part I've put them on here somewhere. But for the most part, think of this as a list of "I'm surprised if you haven't seen …"
I find as well that it's dangerous championing "obscure" animation. When you go outside of Disney, at least in feature films, production values tend to be pretty poor. In the 70s it was mostly Ralph Bakshi. In the 80s it was the often strangely disappointing films of Don Bluth - I really admire his style as an animator, but the films themselves weren't blockbusters. In the 90s we suffer a lot of Quest For Camelots to get one Prince of Egypt. In the CGI days we suffer a lot of Bee Movies to get one How To Train Your Dragon.
I am hugely inspired by the shortform and commercial work of independent animators, and always have been. I'd certainly include Richard's work in that, as well as his peers of the time like Tony White and Oscar Grillo.
As an animation enthusiast, of COURSE the xeroxed films of the 60s and 70s should be in there, and should be studied like mad. But would you really argue that they're of more interest to the casual viewer of today than "The Lion King?" The Lion King sold a lot more tickets, and it's a favorite Disney film of mine. The list is long already and hardly all-encompassing.
I like the Rankin-Bass Hobbit, but it's hardly as famous as The Lion King either. I've never seen The Last Unicorn (though I've been asked to draw something based on it). I'm not big on Miyazaki either. I've seen Princess Mononoke. He's probably the most respected and praised animator working today, and I respect his artistry and imagination. He hardly needs me to praise or recommend him. I dislike Japanese animation in general - the low frame rates and various cliches about the way characters' faces are drawn, and stories are constructed. Even Miyazaki falls into these traps to an extent, though I recognize I'm missing out by not getting into his work and worlds.
Jesse Mills asks:
Have you ever thought of restoring the film print of the Plague Dogs that's out there?? I've heard that the one that's floating around on torrent sites is from the director's own collection, and includes the stuff they cut out on later video releases. I really wish someone would rescue that print. That film doesn't deserve to be as obscure as it is.
I haven't seen Plague Dogs but it sounds like a very worthwhile project. I wonder if the rights could be gotten, and we could do it through Steve Stanchfield's Thunderbean label. I've been trying to do that with the Raggedy Ann film.
If you've been following my work at orangecow.org/board, I've got a huge backlog of Muppet stuff I intend to finish restoring, as well as other Dick Williams material. It's been difficult since I've spent 2014 so far in a state of financial panic. If you want to support my restoration efforts you could always become a $5 patron --
http://www.patreon.com/GarrettGilchrist