Animation Celebration: Life Beyond Pixar

Since the first Toy Story film was released in 1995, Pixar have dominated the animation field both critically, winning six Best Animated Feature Academy Award, and commercially, with a combined worldwide gross of over $8.5 billion.  With last weeks announcement of a fourth Toy Story film set for release in 2017, their success is only set to continue.  With that in mind, we decided to look at four alternatives to remind ourselves that the ever-growing studio from Emeryvile, California isn’t the only game in town.

How To Train Your Dragon

DreamWorks is arguably Pixar’s greatest rival.  Although they haven’t had the same amount of critical success (they have only won two Best Animated Feature Academy Awards) they have certainly achieved commercial success, with their 29 feature films grossing $12 billion worldwide.   One of their biggest and best films is How To Train Your Dragon.

The film revolves around a young Viking named Hiccup, who aspires to become a dragon slayer like his father and fellow tribesmen.  However, when he eventually finds himself face-to-face with a dragon he finds he cannot kill it, and befriends the beast instead.  With a witty and intelligent script, beautiful animation (especially on Toothless, the befriended dragon), and thrilling action sequences this is a truly entertaining film, that can be enjoyed by adults and children.

Spirited Away

The Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli, has been making films since 1985, and since then has amassed millions of fans the world over.  Considered by many to be one of the greatest animators of all time, Hayao Miyazaki is responsible for some of the studio’s most critical and commercially successful films, such as My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Howl’s Moving Castle.  The most celebrated of which, Spirited Away, won the Best Animated Feature Academy Award.

Released in 2001, Spirited Away tells the story of ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino, and what happens after she and her parents walk through a tunnel to discover a world full of gods and monsters,  and where humans, including her parents, turn into animals.  Chihiro must work in a bathhouse where the other-worldly beasts relax, to try and save her parents who have been transformed into pigs.  The hand-drawn Spirited Away is a truly enchanting film, full of imagination and complexity that certainly warrants all the acclaim it receives.

A Cat in Paris

A Cat in Paris was one of the first foreign-language films to be nominated for a Best Animated Feature Academy Award in 2011 (Chico and Rita, a Spanish film, was also nominated the same year), and although it didn’t win (Rango did) it is still one of the most stylish and charming animated films of recent years.

By day Dino the cat lives with a little girl named Zoe, who hasn’t spoken since her father died, and by night he sneaks out to work with Nico, a cat burglar.  Dino’s two lives collide when Zoe follows him one night, and accidentally stumbles into the very gangster that killed her father. The old-school animation and jazzy soundtrack, make for a very fun and classy crime caper.

The Iron Giant

Based on a 1968 story called ‘Iron Man’, by British poet Ted Hughes, The Iron Giant wasn’t a big success when it was released in 1999, falling through the cracks of an over populated Summer release schedule.  Since then however, It has become somewhat of a cult film, with those who see it eager for others to experience the same heart-warming joy that they did upon seeing it for the first time.

The film deals with the events surrounding nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes, and his friendship with a giant robot.  Dropping from the sky into a small town in Maine, the arrival of the robot frightens many of the residents, and soon attracts the attention of the government who set out to destroy the giant.

Directed by a pre-Pixar, post-Simpsons, Brad Bird, The Iron Giant focuses on story rather than impressive visuals, and is more comparable to the hand drawn animations of Miyazki than his later Pixar work.  The film is humorous, compelling and simple yet intelligent, catering to both adults and children.

This is not intended as a definitive list of the best non-Pixar animations, there are of course many more excellent alternatives not mentioned here.  Let us know if you have any more suggestions in the comments below!