The Year of the Cartoon: A 2009 Year in Review

Before we get started, here's a brief timeline of animation in cinema:

November 18, 1928: The world is introduced to Mickey Mouse as he stars in Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie."

December 21, 1937: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuts, becoming the first full-length animated motion picture released in the United States.

February 7, 1940: Pinocchio wishes upon a star, spawning endless influences on pop culture.

November 13, 1940: Fantasia sets animation to classical music and makes Mickey Mouse a household name.

August 13, 1942: Bambi's mom gets shot the day before my dad is born.

The 1950s: We meet classic characters like Cinderella, Alice (in Wonderland), Peter Pan, Hansel and Gretel, Lady and the Tramp, and a sleeping beauty. We're also invited into an adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

The 1960s: More classic characters, such as Cruella DeVil (101 Dalmatians), a young King Arthur (The Sword in the Stone), Fred Flintstone, The Grinch, Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and the Beatles (Yellow Submarine). We also saw the emergence of Japanese animation, with Magic Boy, Alakazam the Great, Sinbad the Sailor, and the mythological The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon.

The 1970s: The 70's pretty much sucked. R-rated and X-rated features brought drug-induced and pornographic influences that challenged the way audiences approached animated features. While many claim these films "expanded our minds" and "explored social commentary," these films aren't even appreciated in recent conversations I've had about the history of animation. If we're still uncomfortable talking about them 30 years later, I do believe these films have made a major impact; and I do not believe it's a good one. The only reason I choose to bring these film up at all is to highlight the "dark ages" of animation, which started in late '67 after The Jungle Book and - with few exceptions - lasted until 1986 when an onslaught of decent-to-good films put the spotlight back on cartoons (The Great Mouse Detective, Transformers, My Little Pony, and An American Tail).

Top 10 Animated Films of the 1980s:
10. Heavy Metal (1981)
9. Transformers the Movie (1986)
8. Akira (1989)
7. All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
6. The Brave Little Toaster (1986)
5. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
4. The Fox and the Hound (1981)
3. An American Tail (1986)
2. The Little Mermaid (1989)
1. The Land Before Time (1987)

February 20, 1992: Beauty and the Beast becomes the first animated film nominated for Best Picture. Even today, it remains the only animated feature to receive a Best Picture nomination.

1992: Aladdin becomes highest-grossing film of the year. This happens only 2 more times: 1995 (Toy Story) and 2004 (Shrek 2).

1993: Tim Burton becomes the first mainstream director to successfully take on animation. As only Tim Burton can, he redefines animation though the stop-motion holiday classic, A Nightmare Before Christmas.

6/14/1994: The Lion King earns $1,586,000 its opening weekend. Not bad for only playing in 2 theatres. Its $793,000 per-theatre average remains the highest per-screen average in film history.

9/29/1994: Nick Park's The Wrong Trousers opens in Germany and introduces the world to Wallace and Gromit and clay-mation.

October, 1994: Jeffrey Katzenberg, an executive recently forced out of Disney, co-founds DreamWorks SKG with Stephen Spielberg and David Geffen. While they do not achieve immediate success, DreamWorks later becomes the main rival of Pixar with the release of The Prince of Egypt (1998), Antz (1998), and the Shrek franchise (2001 - present).

11/22/1995: Toy Story debuts, opening a new door in animation. Classic animation has never recovered.

11/19/1999: Toy Story 2 becomes the first CGI sequel, and arguably the only animated sequel to live up to the original source material (I say "arguably" because I only know the 19,000 Land Before Time sequels... and they sucked.)

Top 10 Animated Films of the 1990s:
10. A Bug's Life (1998)
9. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
8. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999)
7. The Iron Giant (1999)
6. Antz (1998)
5. Aladdin (1992)
4. Toy Story 2 (1999)
3. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
2. Toy Story (1995)
1. The Lion King (1994)

6/23/2000: Chicken Run becomes the first wide-released clay-mation motion picture to gross $100 million.

3/15/2002: The release of Fox Animation Studios' Ice Age proves that Hollywood has now switched from traditional animation to CGI, and that three major distributors are in competition for computer-animated box office domination (Fox, Disney/Pixar, and DreamWorks). This fact is evident in 2004 when Walt Disney Animation abandons hand-drawn animation altogether in favor of CGI.

3/24/2002: Shrek wins the first Best Animated Feature Oscar, beating out Monster's Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and showing that DreamWorks Animation is here to stay.

2004: Shrek 2 becomes the 3rd highest grossing movie of all time. It will drop to#4 in 2008 thanks to The Dark Knight.

11/4/2005: Chicken Little debuts in 3D. Foreshadowing, anyone?

2008: WALL-E receives Best Picture buzz, but does not receive a nomination. Not to worry, because things are looking "Up" in 2009! (God that was corny)

Top 11 Animated Films of the 2000s:
11. Lilo & Stitch (2002)
10. WALL-E (2008)
9. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
8. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
7. Shrek (2001)
6. Ratatouille (2007)
5. Up (2009)
4. The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
3. The Incredibles (2004)
2. Monster's Inc. (2001)
1. Finding Nemo (2003)


This brings us to 2009: The Year of the Cartoon.

First there's box office acclaim. Perhaps you already know why this is such a different year for the Animated Arts. With six animated features grossing over $100 million at the box-office this year (Up, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, A Christmas Carol, and G-Force), you've probably seen a few of them already. Three others (Princess and the Frog, Planet 51, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel) are knocking down the $100 million door, but haven't been out long enough to eclipse the mark. That's nine animated films grossing $100 million in the same calendar year.

Then there's critical acclaim. Now that the Academy has expanded the Best Picture category to 10 films, we will definitely see one animated Best Picture nominee (Up), a possible second (The Fantastic Mr. Fox), and the most heated race for Best Animated Feature since the category's inception in 2002. This year, 20 films have been submitted for Best Animated Feature, which are by far the most entries the Academy has seen. My bet for the 5 nominees: Up, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, Coraline, and Ponyo. Take another look at those nominees and you'll see five different types of animation represented: CGI, puppet stop/motion, hand-drawn animation, clay-mation (in 3D, no less), and anime. There has never been a year where such diversity has shaped the animated genre; and I expect the Academy to recognize it in February (if not, you'll definitely see something in the Sullivan-Gooley Awards).

The truth is, animated pictures have reached a new peak. With the increased quality of storylines, decreased production costs, the ability to transcend standard filmmaking techniques through animation, and given the "all-ages" appeal of cartoons, demand for animated pictures has done nothing but skyrocket in recent years. Also taking into effect the competition between three major distributors, there is a constant pressure to release profitable, quality films on a yearly basis.

Without animated films, this year would have been in a lot of trouble, both financially and critically. As time passes, we may look back at 2009 and discover a few classics hidden within the webs of mediocrity; but until that day, I'll be looking back at 2009 with little excitement. The only films with hope of a bright future are Avatar, The White Ribbon, Up, and (500) Days of Summer. These aren't necessarily my Top 5 Films of the Year; however, these films have the ingredients to make a lasting effect on how movies are made from here on out.

Avatar, which was so epic in scope, revolutionized visual effects the moment we started to get de-sensitized to them. Walking into the theatre, so many people (including myself) thought, "there's just no way this movie can be as visually breathtaking as the critics are saying. I mean, we've seen everything already. I saw Star Wars; I saw Jurassic Park; I saw The Matrix Trilogy; and I saw The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. There is absolutely nothing left that my eyes can feast on." Walking out of the theatre, so many people (including myself) thought, "I gotta see that again." And so many people DID see it again. Week 1: $77 million. Week 2: $75 million. Everyone freakin' saw it again! This is like Star Wars-meets-Titanic.

I know you've never heard of The White Ribbon. It hasn't come out yet - not even in New York until December 30th - but I got to see it in flawless condition from the convenience of a sure-to-be-illegal website. One critic said, "It feels like a classic, even as you watch it for the first time;" and they couldn't be more right. Everything just ... works. I don't know how else to explain it. The symbolism is so thick, that you almost want the characters to shut up so that they don't spoil the filmmaking of Michael Haneke. Every shot is so crisp, so precise, expressing so much, that visions of Citizen Kane keep popping up in my head. Is this film Citizen Kane? No. But you can its influence all over the screen. It's not about a person, it's about a small village; a small village that seems refined to its own world, its own ways, its own customs ... by choice. While at first, everyone seems truly concerned about the sudden accidents that occur around the city. When nobody steps forward to accept blame, we see paranoia slowly engulf the town and turn an elitist town into a set of elitist households. For the average viewer, this may be an excruciatingly boring movie. Nothing happens on the surface - there aren't any car chases, exotic sex scenes, courtroom meltdowns, or epic fights to carry on the story. All the tension is just below the surface, all bubbled up and ready to burst. Haneke says so much by showing us so little, but you doesn't have to look deep to realize that something truly tragic is about it happen in this town; and over the next 20 years, this town will see a new generation arise that will surely to go down in history.

Up is a sure-fire Best Picture nominee, and sits behind Up in the Air and The Hurt Locker as front-runners to win. If Disney has ever had a contender with a fighter's chance, this is the year. If it does win, this will truly be the Year of the Cartoon, and this article will go down as prophesy :)

(500) Days of Summer has been called Generation-Y's Annie Hall. Unfortunately, Oscar labels these films more appropriately, and nobody will remember (500) Days of Summer unless it's at least recognized with a Best Picture nomination. What will make for a lasting impact is its appreciation from a male audience. Dudes don't like romantic comedies; but dudes like (500) Days of Summer. Will dudes remember to rent this flick when they have a date, or will they try to impress their girl by going after "safeties" like When Harry Met Sally or Sleepless in Seattle? (Don't rent The Notebook; that's gay). How dudes answer this question will determine the legacy of this movie. Dudes. Buy it now.

As mentioned before, these four films aren't necessarily in my Top 5, however stand chances at making their long-term mark. We'll just see how they evolve...

As for the best films of the year, I'll reward you for paying attention for this long. Here are my Top 20 Films of 2009 ... in alphabetical order:

(500) Days of Summer
Avatar
Coraline
District 9
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Funny People
The Hangover
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
I Love You, Man
Inglourious Basterds
Knowing
Star Trek
State of Play
Up
Up in the Air
Where the Wild Things Are
The White Ribbon
World's Greatest Dad
Zombieland

There are still a couple films out there that have a shot at making the Top 20 (Crazy Heart, A Single Man, and Nine), so you'll get the opportunity to see the official draft next month.

To all my readers out there, thank you very much for tuning in. I hope you all have had a Merry Christmas, and I wish you a very happy new year.
-Sully