What is your favorite bit of animation?

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I've been meaning to ask you all this question for awhile now. What is your favorite bit of animation? Why? What is it like... is it avant-garde, is it nostalgic, is it whimsical, does it make you laugh, does it move you, is it Disney, or Warner, or someone independent-minded? And what does it say about you?

I was happy to see that mine is now on YouTube: Eric and Susan Goldberg's tribute to Gershwin, Hirschfeld, and New York. Part one, part two.

I think I love it because it combines stylish line and beautifully well-developed story. It has characters that you not only feel for, but feel like. And it pays tribute to three people and things I adore.

[Capt Jack]

Im sure few would agree with me on this but

the original "Heavy Metal" movie is the first to come to mind

no, the animation isnt fantastic. no, not for the nekkid women aspects. yes, the stories were pretty mundane by current standards, but still. it was (as I recall) all hand drawn and animated, was pretty 'cutting edge' for the time and is more than a little into the realm of 'cult classic' than anything else.

since I saw it wayy back during its original screening, its just always been one of my faves. worked long and hard to snag a bootleg of that a few (ok, more than a few) years ago.

<shrug>

edit: oh yeah, and I still have the soundtrack I listen to quite a bit...

[Ghoulish Delight]

God, what an impossible question for me to answer.

Any animation that both has a good story to tell and uses the medium is good, no matter the particular style. Equally impressive to me are the technical mastery of Pixar and the crude simplicity of Don Herzfeldt. And anything in between that combines those two elements.

[Crazybirdman]

if by bit you mean short . . I really like Billy's Baloon and The Cat Came Back. They always make me smile, if not fall off the chair laughing.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I didn't necessarily mean shorts exclusively, but I did mean something specific that stood out to you. Thanks for the links, I'm off to check them out!

[wendybeth]

I'd have to say Snow White, even though it's a full length feature. (My favorite 'bits' were probably the Bugs Bunny ones from the Sixties). It's such a departure from any of the previous animation of that era, and still looks great. Besides cementing Walt's reputation (and financing his future endeavors), it legitimized animation in the film industry and had a huge influence on the quality of animation industry-wide. I loved the display they have in the Animators Workshop in DCA this year- it was cool to see all the early designs and cells from the movie. Strangely enough, it's not my favorite animated feature by far- the animals were too crudely drawn and the singing kind of gets on my nerves, but I respect it for what it represents and the standard it set for the studio with regards to later features.

[Chernabog]

I still like the artistry of Sleeping Beauty, can't wait for the BD to come out this year. The two sequences that always thrill me to pieces are when Aurora gets hypnotized by the glowing ball (mostly for the music though and the tension of the scene), and the dragon sequence. From the time Maleficent wakes up and starts cursing ("A forest of thorns shall be his tomb, borne through the skies in a fog of doom, now go with a curse and serve me well, round Stephen's castle cast my spell!"... I get chills) to when the fairies imbue the sword with power ("Sword of truth fly swift and sure, that evil die and good endure!"... I get all misty-eyed)... yeah I know it's silly, but that's my favorite!

But I also like scenes like Triplets of Belleville (the sequence on the boat is amazing), Princess Mononoke (when the forest spirit gets whacked), Sailor Moon season 1 (a (spoiler free moment) in the final episode had me literally bawling it was so emotionally powerful), Metropolis (the anime version, obviously, when the city gets exploded), and the opening sequence of Beauty and the Beast gives me chills.

[BDBopper]

As an enthusiast that is one impossible question to answer. Being legally blind also increases my difficulty. I'll have to think about this carefully. I'll be back with something that actualy resembles an intelligent answer later.

[CoasterMatt]

My favorite bit of animation would be the Auctioneer at Pirates of the Caribbean, followed closely by the Wicked Witch at Great Movie Ride.

[Snowflake]

I've been thinking and thinking and thinking on LSPE's question.

One of the first bits of animation I really, honestly and truly appreciated would have to have been some of the early Fleischer's, the Betty Boops and some fo the early Popeye cartoons. Although I'm not a Popeye fan, some of their b/w animation was lovely and the whole moving background process Fleischer invented is still a visual image I look back on with fondness. Pre-multiplane, it gave a depth that I still remember as remarkable for its time.

I think one of the most influential pieces for me creatively is a film by Saul Bass, Why Man Creates. It had everything in it, simple line drawing and great ping pong animation! Educational film it may have been, but I still loved it.

For sheer beauty of animation, I am drawn back to Disney 1940 for Fantasia. Not only did this film introduce me to classical music, it remains one of my favorite Disney features. The animation was superb and it allowed much wondeful creativity by the animators who worked on it, stylistically different in each episode. Harbinger of Steophonic Sound, this film was a ground breaker, too. If I had to pick only one section, jeez that would be tough, but I think the Nutcracker Suite is just fabulous in the use of multiplane and music and character (out of objects which had no character in real life). I can watch this over and over and it is ever fresh to me.