The American Film Institute did another list of 100 best movies as chosen by them. This time, they separated it as top ten films of ten genres. Of course, some of the "genres" chosen were not true genres, but rather popular setting. Westerns and works of science fiction are settings, not genres. But still, they had some pretty good choices.
Except in one "genre", one I happen to be an expert in; animation. Okay, it's not like I work in animation, but when I was a kid, all my parents ever let me watch were old Disney movies and Looney Tunes shorts. And, as I got older, I came to appreciate animated shows like Simpsons, Futurama, the Boondocks, and more recently, Death Note, Trinity Blood, and even Cardcaptor Sakura. And I still like many Disney movies.
However, I'm not too pleased with their choices for top ten cartoon films. This is what the AFI chose:
1: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
2: Pinocchio.
3: Bambi.
4: The Lion King.
5: Fantasia.
6: Toy Story.
7: Beauty and the Beast.
8: Shrek.
9: Cinderella.
10: Finding Nemo.
Now, some of these films, I like. I like Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella, and Finding Nemo, but I wouldn't consider them good enough to place on a top ten list. Consequently, Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story were not rated high enough. Also, WTF! Bambi!? Shrek!? These movies aren't any good! Bambi put me to sleep when I was a kid, and I consider the Shrek movies to be highly overrated.
Then again, as my parents reminded me this morning, this list was probably chosen by, in their words, old people. But they were satisfied with the list. Mom's favorite cartoon movie is Snow White, and Dad's favorite cartoon movie is Pinocchio. Surprised? I think not.
But I was not satisfied. This is what the list of top ten animated films should read:
1: Beauty and the Beast.
2: Castle in the Sky.
3: Toy Story.
4: The Lion King. (Hey! Still 4th place. They got this one right!)
5: Aladdin.
6: The Incredibles.
7: 101 Dalmations.
8: Sleeping Beauty.
9: Monster's Inc.
10: Steamboy.
"Oh. Your favorite animated film of all time is Beauty and the Beast? I had no idea." Hey, what can I say? I love it when Angela Lansbury sings "Beauty and the Beast." Can you really blame me?
Also, this list does not include sequels, (otherwise, Toy Story 2 would've been on there.) and no movies based off tv shows either, so no Simpsons movie or Cowboy Bebop movie either. Is it a perfect list? No. Is it a good list, for me anyways? Oh yeah.
Of course, if the list was longer, I would've included films like The Little Mermaid, Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, and A Bug's Life, but this isn't a top 20 list, so that will have to wait another day.
