There is something mesmerising about animation films. Watching them always takes me back to being a kid watching the roadrunner cartoons on a Saturday morning and things like that. There is an innocence in animation that comes so naturally to the art form you can't help but love it.
As I write this I'm watching Up, not for the first time yet still that opening has left me with a tear in my eye - and a few on the floor but who's counting! What a truly magnificent start to a film. The way it just floors you in minutes, animation shouldn't make you cry!
Or should it? After all there are scores of animation films that have been known for their sad scenes. When Mufasa dies in The Lion King - since the invention of DVD I have skipped that scene and will continue to do so because that is bloody upsetting!
Bambi's mother dying is another such tearjerker. All Dogs Go To Heaven again is ridiculously depressing at times.
Right let's move away from admitting that animation upsets me because that is not a good look nor why I wanted to talk about animation.
Disney animation is of course brilliant and since the creation of Pixar, animation has gone to a whole new level but for me the two types of animation that draw me in most are Anime and stop motion.
Studio Ghibli has produced some of the most beautiful examples of anime in history and Spirited Away is up there in my list of greatest movies of all time. This film is spellbinding. The vision of director Hayao Miyazaki is awe-inspiring. You can't help but be immersed in the fantastical world that Chihiro finds herself sucked into and some of the other worldly creations are sublime. The talent to make a film like this is mind blowing considering every single scene is hand drawn and if you have never seen a Studio Ghibli film then start with Spirited Away and I recommend Howls Moving Castle and the moving Princes Mononoke.
Stop motion animation is an altogether different type of creation but equally as stunning as anime. The Nightmare Before Christmas was the first time I'd seen a stop motion animation and I just fell in love with the whole look and atmosphere of the film. Yes I do love Tim Burton but that's not why I love this film. The painstaking patience it takes to make a movie like this is amazing. It's not just what's going on centre frame that is amazing it's the background and scenery of the entire film that is magnificently created. Christmas town is a place I would love to visit!
Animation allows you to envisage a story that is not possible to create in the real world. It's escapism in the truest sense of the word. Sometimes we all need to just get away from the reality we live our lives in and submerge ourselves in Halloween Town or mythical Japan.
I could really go on about animation for hours, I will be coming back to this magnificent art form on many occasions here at The Armchair Director.
I've decided the next time I throw a party it will have an animation theme. So fans I ask you this, which animation character would you be?
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