Genre: Animated
Stories told in or about animation — works where the medium’s freedom from realism shapes the storytelling, from the fantastical to the deeply personal.
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Mulan (1998) — Review
Mulan is one of the substantial late Disney Renaissance productions and the studio's most successful engagement with Chinese cultural material. Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook directed. Rita Hsiao, Christopher Sanders, Philip LaZebnik, Raymond Singer, and Eugenia Bostwick-Singer wrote the screenplay.... -
The Jungle Book (1967 / 2016) — Contrast Review
The Jungle Book exists in two substantial Disney adaptations across nearly five decades. The 1967 animated production is one of the great classical Disney achievements and the last feature animation Walt Disney personally supervised before his death in December 1966. The 2016 photorealistic... -
The Lego Movie (2014) — Review
The Lego Movie is one of the great American animated films of the 2010s and one of the most substantial commercial cinema surprises of the decade. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directed and wrote the screenplay. The film was released in February 2014. It grossed approximately four hundred... -
The Little Mermaid (1989) — Review
The Little Mermaid is the film that started the Disney Renaissance. The film was released in November 1989 after the studio's animation division had been struggling commercially for over a decade. The film grossed approximately two hundred eleven million dollars worldwide on a production budget of... -
The Iron Giant (1999) — Review
The Iron Giant is one of the great American animated films of the late twentieth century and one of the more substantively thematic animated productions in commercial cinema history. Brad Bird directed. Tim McCanlies wrote the screenplay from a story treatment by Brad Bird. The film was released in... -
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) — Review
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the darkest films Disney has ever released and one of the most thematically ambitious animated features in the studio's history. The film was released in June 1996 during the late phase of the Disney Renaissance. It grossed approximately three hundred... -
Fantasia (1940) — Review
Fantasia is one of the great animated films in cinema history and one of the foundational documents of the entire American animation tradition. Multiple directors handled the various segments under Walt Disney's broader supervision. The film was released in November 1940. It grossed approximately... -
Dumbo (1941 / 2019) — Contrast Review
The Dumbo property exists in two substantial Disney adaptations across nearly eighty years. The 1941 animated production is one of the great classical Disney achievements and the production that financially saved Disney following the substantial commercial disappointment of Fantasia. The 2019 Tim... -
Cinderella (1950) — Review
Cinderella is the film that saved the Walt Disney Company. The studio had been struggling financially through the 1940s. The wartime production constraints had damaged the catalogue. The post-war return to feature production needed a commercial hit. Cinderella delivered. The film grossed... -
Chicken Run (2000) — Review
Chicken Run is one of the great British animated productions of the early twenty-first century and the feature debut of Aardman Animations as substantial feature production company. Peter Lord and Nick Park directed. Karey Kirkpatrick wrote the screenplay from story development by Lord and Park....