My Watch List - Animation

This is not a movie review.

During my stay in K, I had the chance to watch a couple of movies. Animation was top in my list and luckily I found quite a lot of them. :) Here is a list (not in any particular order) of some interesting animated movies that I came across. Not all of these are watched in K but I remember most of them are. I will skip the usual favorites of Toy Story, Lion King, etc but I cannot skip Wall E. 

Anybody with even the slightest interest in animation, must watch this.  I could tell you the summary but why spoil the fun, and anyways IMDB is always there for that. So it is the story of a lonely robot who falls in love and then moves across the universe (literally to find her). Now that plot itself would melt the heart of any romantic but that is not all. The movie is also about us and how we will have destroyed the earth. It is also about technology taking over us and about hope. But most of all I love it because there is so so much expressed in the movie with the minimum words.Lets start with the lighter ones now.

What do you think of when you think of fairy tales? I will tell you what comes to my mind - the damsel in distress or waiting for her prince charming. Once upon a time, they used to fascinate me but it has been some time since I moved on from them. The Princess and the Frog, as the name suggests is a fairy tale but with a twist. So there is a frog and there is a princess and there is a kiss that changes the story altogether. On the same lines of a fairy tale with a twist is the movie Tangled. A remake of Rapunzel with magical moments (literally). In my childhood I used to have those picture books where the characters moved when you turned the pages (like greeting cards) and I had such a book on Rapunzel. That might explain my bias for this story. 

The Tale Of Despereaux is a story of a mouse and a rat (the movie start by explaining how they are different). It is about breaking the rules and doing what is not expected. There is a lesson worth learning in the story and if you like Ratatouile for a reason other than the food, there are chances you will like this. Spirit - Stallion of Cimarron is a story of courage and love. When I say love, don't confine it to two people. You might want to watch the movie to know what I mean. The last in the 'lighter' list is Bolt. Imagine living in a make believe world which comes crashing down and you have no idea of distinguishing reality and imagination. What do you do then? Whom do you believe? Would you believe a stranger over those with whom you have lived your life?

Lets come to the heavier list now. The Illusionist also deals with make-believe life but in a different way. There was this line in the end which sums up reality in just 4 words. It may not be really a great movie, but see through it to understand why I have listed it here. 

The next movie can be scary. It was on a lazy day that I picked up a comics from a friend's room. Among other things, it led me to the movie Coraline. No, the comics was not about the movie. The authors were same. The lesson is something that we hear often, - be careful what you wish for, it just might come true. But the portrayal is more important. I was scared to dream for sometime after watching this. Dream as in the dream that you do when you sleep.

Once while I was discussing movies with someone, I was advised not to watch Waking Life because I already think too much. So what did I do? I watched it right away :D This is also about dreams, more realistic. It is a series of disjointed dreams of a person in which there are a lot of discussions. If you enjoy intellectual discussions, this is a must watch movie.

9 is an interesting movie about 9 dolls that start with the lines "We had such potential. Such promise. But we squandered our gifts." We as in the human beings not the dolls are. After you watch the movie, you have to appreciate the thought and imagination that went behind it. I mean animation itself needs so much imagination and then to come out with a concept like this is not something that you might want to pass.

The last two movies Persepolis and Grave of Fireflies are both foreign and war related. I thank Mathew Sir for the last one. You might not like them because the ideas are not the kind that you expect in an animated movie. Grave of Fireflies is a gem of a movie and must watch. Even if you blame me afterwards, I wouldn't mind. Give it a go. I don't have much to write about them because words are not enough.

Disclaimer: I am not a movie buff. But I do watch movies and like/dislike them. But any post in which I talk about movie is to be read casually.