Ramble: Non-Disney Animated Movies

shrek 2 is infinitely better than shrek and i think it’s watched more alone than the original 😭

em

I love Laika, but I can tell you that the reason some of their stories fall flat even tho the artistry is there is absolutely due to nepotism. Laika’s studio and Nike’s headquarters are both located just outside of Portland, Oregon, and Nike’s founder, Phil Knight, basically bought Laika for his son, Travis Knight, when it was still Will Vinton Studios (the makers of those dancing raisin commercials in the 80’s). Nepo baby Travis has directed and/or produced every Laika film that came after Coraline (which was directed by Henry Selick) and it really shows. I’m optimistic about their 2025 film, Wildwood, tho because like Coraline it’s based on a children’s book that already has a strong story.

Cami

Damn, you didn't mention Ghibli at all

Sing is OK but not great, too many characters, an over-familiar plot. Sing 2 is a distinct improvement with more contemporary songs and more poignancy: a B compared to the original's C- for me.

Paul Bloomfield

I completely forgot about We’re Back and I also watched it like a ton as a kid so I guess my brain tucked it away for some reason and you unearthed it.

nina ♡

i would enjoy a ghibli studios rating

Aimee W

I paused and watched HTTYD. Now, I'm back to finish the video.

-Enoch Ku

just watched this vid from the master post and had to scroll down just to say that shrek 2 is good on its own merit and is, in fact, better than the first.

Titan A.E. was soooooo underrated. The movie is beautiful and the soundtrack is still one of my favorites

I'm 7:35 minutes in and in fact I *would* watch Shrek 2 by itself, often, I loved prince Arthur in it, I think kind of teenage boy characters like that (Hiccup, Hercules, Arthur, Jim) who had a thirst for adventure and purpose appealed to me a lot as a kid. We had the VHS of it and I absolutely loved how it was set in high school and I loved how that girl unapologetically had a crush on the ogre because of his disgustingness **Scratch that, that was Shrek the 3rd

Lupa Wick

I very much think you should watch Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was directed by Wes Anderson so it has a unique vibe to it. It’s very funny and charming in a strange way and I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

mango

sinbad is so special to me, very nostalgic and worth the watch i think. sinbad and his little prince friend are so in love no question

Kubo and the two strings was SO good you should watch it. I’m always sad it didn’t do very well

Marcella

Spirit Stallion of the Cimmaron is definitely a damn good non disney animated film 🔥😭😭😭 i still get shocked that hardly no ones seen it or remembers it, just us horse girls lol Im probably the only person who likes both the original and the reboot lol in the show she keeps the horse but I remember they changed it for the movie and it ends with them saying goodbye, so sweet but the original is far better, i still get chills with the ending scene. “Cats dont dance, i think alot of furries like this movie” personally attacked lolol its so good i still have the vhs tape of that movie thats how much i love it, Balto is also a top for me 😭😭 Im noticing now i have a pattern lolol The first Swan Princess is another childhood favorite, but rewatching it as an adult and realizing how horrible the main love interest it lolol the sequels are terrible.

Torie Gatti

A glaring Last Unicorn omission!

Hellvetika

As a non-furry, I feel I can say Cats Don't Dance is really good. Great songs, and I think real rotoscoped dancing?

Robin

I recognize that I'm commenting on this months after and that you're definitely not still checking the notes on this, but you should definitely check out the Irish company Cartoon Saloon because they're films are absolute works of art that I think you'd enjoy. Song of the Sea is genuinely so beautiful and it makes me cry every time.

O

We're Back was my favourite movie as a kid. Also Rockadoodle fucked me up with nightmares cause the Grand Owl turns the main kid into a kitten and tries to eat him. Also there's Rooster Elvis.

Nos4ay2

its been a while since I've seen kubo, so I may feel that way now too. but I'm just going off the vibes I remember, and a lot of the visuals are stamped on my brain because of how beautiful they were.

Marisa Leon

I get that they might have wanted a "nicer" ending where the villain didn't die and the hero didn't have to kill for Kubo, but it ultimately just felt unsatisfying and the reconciliation was too far in the other direction because like you said, Kubo's grandfather (? It's been a long time, I don't remember how they're related exactly but I think it was maternal grandfather) killed a bunch of his family so the peaceful ending feels weird and undeserved. Not saying Kubo had to kill him, but...do something that makes sense.

Markus D

I would guess, not unlike Zootopia, it started out with a good and strong message, and as production went on, producers and often ppl in corporate positions want to make stories more "generalized" for money and dont want to rock the boat, so a good story and message about racism gets turned into a generic "everyone was wrong" story

completely agree on all counts. I could never figure out exactly why I never connected with Kubo as a movie, and this is why. Plus, the conclusion at the end to just lie to this old man that killed a great deal of Kubo's family ended up seeming almost comically sinister and not the sweet metaphor about storytelling the creators clearly wanted to convey. the story wasn't cohesive enough to be about stories - so the ending becomes about telling lies.

I liked Coraline except for the friend character they added who wasn't in the book (having read the book I just thought he didn't add anything and was kind of annoying), and I liked Paranorman, but I thought that Kubo was super disappointing. I cry at like...all movies that are kind of sad/heartwarming at the end, but I just didn't really feel anything for the characters in that. It felt like they were RUNNING through the plot.

Markus D

I've seen a lot of people praise Kubo and the Two Strings for generally being good, but I thought that the plot moved way too quickly to get connected to any of the characters, plot twists that I could see a mile away, and it had the feel of a movie about Japan made by people who don't really know about the culture--like it was too much of a generic hero story with "JAPAN" painted over it.

Markus D

also, also, i love the lorax because i watched it high on pain meds from my wisdom teeth being taken out, definitely A tier.

Marisa Leon

I would say for Dreamworks, How to train your dragon 3 is a pretty good watch. I think it rounds out the trilogy nicely and one of the songs in it makes me sob every time i hear it. Also Bad Guys really surprised me. the animation was so fun to watch and the story line was pretty good. though if the story isn't up your alley, i would still recommend it for animation alone. For Laika, I liked coraline and paranorman, hated boxtrolls, and kubo i honestly think is on the same level as coraline. It's absolutely stunning and I sobbed through the entire last scene, it was very good. I have not seen missing link though, can't comment on that. ALSO, SHREK 2 IS THE BEST SHREK AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL

Marisa Leon

I think 2 felt a little less cynical? The first one was just Katzenberg's very impotent and petty rage at the company he just left, it lucked out that it aligned with the very postmodern cynicism towards Disney at the time.

Boxtrolls was also a very sloppy racism allegory, which is another kind of offensive. I'm eternally confused why so many kid's movies use that theming but fumble it so hard, feels way worse than if they just didn't bother.

Rugrats Gone Wild is okay. The main plot is that the babies get lost with Nigel, who has been hit on the head and is acting like a baby, so they have to take care of him while everybody else scrambles trying to find them. The big thing for me watching it for the first time a couple years ago was a scene where Spike the dog is running up to Eliza and I suddenly realized "wait, Eliza can talk to animals. OH MY GOD SPIKE IS ABOUT TO TALK". I don't know why that was so shocking to me but I was honestly not prepared for that concept. He's voiced by Bruce Willis, which is about as bad as most celebrity voice casting, it was mainly the idea of this character getting a new voice decades later (for me at least), kind of on par with the one Land Before Time where Spike actually says a word. Main highlight is a scene with the babies and Nigel (after he comes to) that does a great job of showing how passionate he is for nature and how well he can convey that to even very young kids. Really puts into perspective how he's able to secure funding for all of these expeditions despite being kind of bumbling.

put exactly my thoughts about Laika movies into words. I really do want to like their movies, but they haven't made any that impress me beyond "huh well they sure did work hard on that". also Boxtrolls was a unique case of being particularly shitty because they went hard with their advertising, and the advertising was extremely "lgbt family friendly", like, all the ads were about "some families have two moms or two dads or a bunch of trolls". and then they made the bad guy be a "man disguised as a woman" with extensive "that was a DUDE?? IM GONNA BARF" jokes. it was such a slap in the face. I never saw it but I remember thinking Laika didn't get as much flak as they deserved for a stunt like that.

RIP the Jelsa fans, Boss Baby has officially ranked higher than Guardians

Pterranodon

I thought everyone agreed that Shrek 2 was better than Shrek 1 and now I don’t know what to think!

Peanuts and Arthur Christmas are really good.

Chris Talerico

The original spongebob movie is amazing. i cry everytime i watch it

Kombucha Papi

I had the we're back video game on either nintendo 64 or super Nintendo

Kombucha Papi

>Movies you listed that I think you'd like: Arthur Christmas, Pirates! Band of Misfits, Peanuts Movie >Movies you listed that I think are sick but I don't think you'd like: Rango, Anomalisa (not for kids, why is that here?), Kubo and the Two Strings >Movies not on this list I think you'd like: The Last Unicorn (if you haven't already seen it), Moonman, Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers, Shaun the Sheep Movie, The Big Bad Fox and other Tales >Movies not on this list that I don't know how you'd feel: Book of Life, Mary & Max (not for kids, but think Aardman with a little more depression, fav film ever), Strange Magic, 9 (also not for kids. love it even tho it's mediocre), Watership Down/Plague Dogs/Cryptozoo (also not for kids, but fascinating) The thing that sucks abt Nostalgia Critic's 'judgement' of 'good' kids movies is I think it's better understood in reverse. I happen to love Brave Little Toaster and American Tail and what makes them appealing isn't that they're "childrens movies but sad and horrifying OMG!11!!" but that they're compeling, dark stories that happen to be for kids- which I didn't find then or now horrific but thrilling....sorry abt leaving so many comments on your post Jenny...

Franki Lew