Interesting ... especially considering Toy Story 2 is actually the better film.

rbt | June 19, 17:43 CET

Really? I think the first one is better.

Simon | June 19, 17:47 CET

Nah. Second one's funnier AND more emotionally engaging. (Seriously, who doesn't tear up when Jessie sings "When She Loved Me"?)

rbt | June 19, 18:01 CET

Wow. That is so not my list, and I grew up during the Disney animation Renaissance. Toy Story does belong on the list though. It was the first movie that convinced me that the computer animation people weren't just all enamored with the technology itself. Did they ever prove me wrong with that movie.

Sunfire | June 19, 18:18 CET

Is this one of those "best of" lists that's actually only American films ? Because 'Finding Nemo' rather than e.g. 'Akira' ? Banoonoos.

Unusually for this sort of thing, I think they've slewed too heavily towards the "classics". I'd put 'The Incredibles' on there f'rinstance. And possibly 'Mask of the Phantasm'.

Saje | June 19, 18:27 CET

Yeah the lack of anime on this list is rather striking. I guess it makes sense since this is the American Film Institute. Still you think they'd say "Best American Animated Films."

Sunfire | June 19, 18:29 CET

Wow, does that list blow. Why doesn't it just say "Brought to you by The Walt Disney Corporation"? I mean, c'mon. CINDER-gorram-ELLA? FANTASIA??? No, no, no, and no. Whoever says that those 2 movies belong in the Top 10 has only SEEN 10 movies. Those don't even belong in the top 100 list. CINDERELLA deserves to be cut up and made into ukelele picks.

Even if they're going to stick with American animation features (which automatically makes the list worthless because it skews it right towards Disney), what about ROGER RABBIT? What about THE IRON GIANT? And like Saje said, FINDING NEMO over THE INCREDIBLES?!?

Grrr. Aargh.

However, they did interview Isabella Rossalini, so that's good. Whatever she says, I automatically agree with.

mr_shemp | June 19, 20:13 CET

If your mad about the Animation list, just go take a look at the Fantasy list.

Big, Groundhog Day, Harvey?!?!?!?! As Fantasy?!?!?!?!? Yes there is the fantasy element, but where are Dark Crystal, Labrynth, Willow, Princess Bride, even a Harry Potter on that list?

Ok, rant over, back to topic... Joss is my Master, all hail Joss.

TiffintheOK | June 19, 23:59 CET

*grumble*
I too think this list is bollocks, especially with inclusions such as Fantasia (which I could only watch when I was very sick and weak with the flu) and Finding Nemo (which is good, but not great, let alone top 10).

Where's Aladdin? And why is the Lion King on there? And I'm with Saje that the Incredibles should be on there, at least over Finding Nemo.

I do agree with Toy Story, not only because it's Joss, but also because it was quite revolutionary in terms of animated films.

BandofBuggered | June 20, 01:10 CET

Where's Aladdin?

Nowhere without Robin Williams. (ba-dum-chssss.)

Casira | June 20, 03:02 CET

I disagree. I think that all* movies during the "Mauschvitz" era (1984-1994)were fantastic. That's Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. They were great stories, they had fantastic music thanks to the Menken-Schwartz team, and they just rocked. (Also Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which came out the year I was born.)

Though Robin Williams in Aladdin was truly masterful. I heard that they basically gave him a flexible script and just let him loose in a room with a mic.

Although a small disclaimer: the fact that those are movies that came out during my childhood may lead to my being slightly biased.

But I just noticed : why the hell isn't the Little Mermaid on this list???

*Excluding the Lion King, which was just good.

BandofBuggered | June 20, 03:31 CET

To see how people can have different opinions, BandofBuggered, Lion King, is still my all time favorite Animation Movie, so much that I even list it in the my overall favorite movies list. ON the other hand I consider the other just good (with Beauty and the Beast faring better than some of the others).
But of course have to agree with The Incredibles deserving the spot much more than the just okay (which is whatsover fun, for Pixar standards) Finding Nemo.

Numfar PTB | June 20, 05:08 CET

Of course, the horror genre is completely ignored by AFI... sigh.

J Linc | June 20, 06:25 CET

Nah, Finding Nemo was better than The Incredibles. Nemos gripped you, while I found myself not caring about the Incredibles.

korkster | June 20, 06:34 CET

Tastes differ indeed. I thought, and think, The Incredibles was the best film of its year, non-animated features included. Love Fantasia. And I prefer The Lion King to Aladdin, which was great fun, but too much a Robin Williams-vehicle. Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast are both wonderful, of course. I'd drop Shrek, which I've always thought vastly overrated (the same year's Monsters, Inc. was much better, IMO), and Nemo. Ahh, The Iron Giant - that is an underwatched gem.

If this wasn't an AFI list, Miyazaki's Spirited Away and, possibly, Princess Mononoke would both be right up there too.

SoddingNancyTribe | June 20, 06:48 CET

Yeah, I agree, The Iron Giant is a beauty. Oh, yeah, Spirited Away... was that the one where the parents turn into pigs and the girl has to fend for herself? My friends LOVE that flick, as do I (even if I'm fuzzy on it). Not sure what the Princess Mononoke is though.

And, SoddingNancyTribe, I'm tripping out that you're no longer in blue, my blue friend. How did such a turn come to be? Now that you're yellow (goldish, perhaps?), what is of the "blue" category that was so mysterious and yet held so much authority? Will someone else be knighted the blue title? Or has that come to pass? And if this is a promotion of sorts, Congratulations!

korkster | June 20, 07:30 CET

Mmm. My issue with Finding Nemo over the Incredibles is that Finding Nemo is what I call a "shit happens" story. Meaning, there is only one goal, and it never changes, and there are just events that happen along the way.

I like movies where the goals change during the movie based on the events. Such as in the Incredibles, where the characters' goals changed based on what the attitude towards superheroes was, and what was happening in terms of crime/villainy. Plus, Finding Nemo didn't have Samuel L. Jackson.

Aladdin was one of the first movies I remember seeing in the movie theatres when I was a kid. So it's a favorite for that reason, as well as the songs. But, I already said I'm biased. Although, I did watch the Lion King every Friday after school when I was in the second grade.
...Maybe I should watch it again. I used to love it, and I think that maybe my opinion of it is tarnished thanks to having to read Hamlet so much in high school.

I'm bummed that they didn't look at movies that were half animation, half live-action, like Mary Poppins or Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which is still one of my all-time favorite Disney movies. Angela Lansbury rocks, and I for some reason love the "Eglantine" song, and "Substitutiary Locomotion."

SNT, I agree with Monsters, Inc. being better than Shrek. That movie made me laugh so hard, so often, with pure childish glee. Also, congrats on the orangeness. I figure that it wasn't drinking lots of carrot juice, but rather awesomeness, that earned you such a color.

ps...I liked Fern Gully as a kid, and I kind of wish it was on the list instead of Bambi or Pinocchio. :)

BandofBuggered | June 20, 10:36 CET

Ooo. Fern Gully. Good one. I remember that being one of the first movies that made me care about trees. Eeesh. That black, sticky tar harming them! Makes me want to go plant a tree... and fly for some reason. :)

Which reminds me, what about "We're Back"? Remember, the dinosaurs that were in the Museum of Natural History? That was pretty cool. Non-Disney, right?

As for live action/animation, maybe that's why Roger Rabbit didn't make the cut. That would complete my top three, BoB.

And, true, Monsters, Inc. may be better than Shrek, but Shrek was the first "cartoon" I saw that parents really enjoyed too. It sort of mocked what kids drool over.

And, Aladdin was one of my favorites because it dealt with a male and a thief. It was always about princesses, and we finally got a "street rat". I loved it. Of course, Jasmine was a princess, but that's beside the point.

It probably because of my love for non-royalty that I dig Mulan so much. Talk about a nobody. It was perfect.

And, I'm sorry, but what about musical cats & dogs? No 101 Dalmations? No Oscar & Company? No All Dogs Go to Heaven? No Aristocats? What's up with that??

korkster | June 20, 21:05 CET

The Last Unicorn and The Little Mermaid should definitely be on there. Also The Sword in the Stone and Sleeping Beauty were two of my favorites as a kid. I always feel like I'm missing out by not liking Fantasia. I can't stay awake for the entire thing though. It's supremely boring.

ETA: Disney's version of Robin Hood also rocks.

[ edited by Sunfire on 2008-06-20 18:22 ]

Sunfire | June 20, 21:20 CET

The Last Unicorn is such a bafflingly weird flick that I feel I have a low-grade fever every time I watch it. Great, though. And the Red Bull is a truly scary villain.

SoddingNancyTribe | June 20, 21:48 CET

The book makes more sense. And by that I mean less sense in some places but more sense overall. You definitely get a clearer characterization of the unicorn and Schmendrick there. All of Peter Beagle's writing goes to some awesomely weird places though.

Sunfire | June 20, 21:54 CET