Best animated features fondly recalled

“FROZEN” AND “WALL-E.” Full-length cartoons that can stand the test of time.

We’re so glad that animated feature films have staged a big comeback in the last two decades. It was a real pity when the popular film type faded from view before the year 2000, due to a diminished sense of wonder and obvious cross-cutting measures.

This time around, as new generations of children (and adults!) discover the joys of animation, producers have learned that they shouldn’t scrimp on the time, care, inspiration and budgets needed to come up with an animated feature that will stand the test of time.

After all, the best animated features can be reissued every five or 10 years, and producers are able to earn additional millions each time their exceptional production is released anew.

Having said which, we have to admit that the 2013 film year wasn’t a particularly bountiful time for outstanding animated features, with too many new productions lacking in imagination, inventiveness and inspiration.

Even 2014 hasn’t produced enough exceptional productions—so, it’s time for us to hark back to the best full-length animated features ever made, to remind ourselves and our filmmakers what the difficult film type is truly capable of achieving.

Looking back at more than 70 years of film animation, we can cite these great productions that we enjoyed watching as a child—and after:

“Pinocchio,” the film Walt Disney made after “Snow White,” was exceptional because it told the unusual and yet instructive story of a puppet who aspired to become a real boy.

Human kids could relate fully to the “wooden” protagonist, because he was given the ability to feel and fear and dream. The film  also tickled the young viewer’s imagination because it had fantastic and even terrifying scenes, like the ones in which Pinocchio was swallowed by a huge whale.

And, it had “moral lessons” to communicate, especially when the puppet-turned-boy acquired a puffed-up view of his power and importance, and got himself into scrapes that almost resulted in his premature perdition.

In the distant future

Also remembered with great fondness, even if we viewed it already in adulthood, was “Wall-E,” a sci-fi animation set in the distant and dismal future, when planet Earth had been reduced to a huge garbage heap.

“FROZEN” AND “WALL-E.” Full-length cartoons that can stand the test of time.

The title character was a tiny robot who was changed with clearing up the huge mess, to at least putting it in some sort or order.

Although Wall-E is a robot, he’s given emotions like loneliness and love to make him “accessible” to human viewers—and the film’s elements end up as a truly winning combination!

Another full-length animated feature that stands out in our memory banks is “Up,” about an old man who attaches 20,000 balloons to his house, to be able to achieve his and his late wife’s dream of going to beautiful Paradise Falls in South America.

Unexpectedly, he has a young wilderness ranger for unwelcome company—and, while they keep feuding and fighting, they end up learning from each other, and become  fast friends.

New animated features should aspire to rise up to the inspiring level of these exceptional productions. Thus far, only “Frozen” and the “How To Train Your Dragon” sequel have passed muster this year, so we hope that animation studios have big and yummy surprises in store for us before the film year ends—to make up for the slack!