The Animated Movie Guide

Going beyond the box-office hits of Disney and Dreamworks, this guide to every animated movie ever released in the United States covers more than 300 films over the course of nearly 80 years of film history. Well-known films such as Finding Nemo and Shrek are profiled and hundreds of other films, many of them rarely discussed, are analyzed, compared, and catalogued. The origin of the genre and what it takes to make a great animated feature are discussed, and the influence of Japanese animation, computer graphics, and stop-motion puppet techniques are brought into perspective. Every film analysis includes reviews, four-star ratings, background information, plot synopses, accurate running times, consumer tips, and MPAA ratings. Brief guides to made-for-TV movies, direct-to-video releases, foreign films that were never theatrically released in the U.S., and live-action films with significant animation round out the volume.

The phenomenally popular "Power Rangers", the most mainstream offshoot of "anime", or Japanese animation, is just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of these virtually astonishing films, appealing to people of all ages and tastes. This guide features detailed listings of feature films and direct-to-video features, arranged by title, year of release, and subject, that have been released since 1983. Illustrations throughout.

Twenty years ago, animated features were widely perceived as cartoons for children. Today, though, they encompass an astonishing range of films, styles and techniques. There is the powerful adult drama of Waltz with Bashir; the Gallic sophistication of Belleville Rendez-Vous; the eye-popping violence of Japan's Akira; and the stop-motion whimsy of Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Andrew Osmond provides an entertaining and illuminating guide to the endlessly diverse world of animated features, with entries on 100 of the most interesting and important animated films from around the world, from the 1920s to the present day. There are key studio brands such as Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks, but there are also recognised auteur directors such as America's Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and Japan's Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away). Technologies such as motion-capture, used in films such as Avatar, blur the distinctions between live-action and animation. Meanwhile, lone artists such as Nina Paley (Sita Sings the Blues) and Bill Plympton (Idiots and Angels) make entire films by themselves. Blending in-depth history and criticism, 100 Animated Feature Films balances the blockbusters with local success stories from Eastern Europe to Hong Kong. There are entries on Dreamworks' Shrek, Pixar's Toy Story, and Disney's The Jungle Book, but you will also find pieces on Germany's silhouette-based The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the oldest surviving animated feature; on the thirty year production of Richard Williams' legendary opus, The Thief and the Cobbler; and on the lost work of Argentina's Quirino Cristiani, who reputedly made the first animated feature in 1917.

Revised and updated - includes Miyazaki's new masterpiece, The Boy and the Heron. Explore the films of magical Japanese animation masters Studio Ghibli in this film-by-film celebration for newcomers and long-time fans alike. Ghibliotheque reviews each Studio Ghibli movie in turn, in the voice of expert and newcomer. The lively text delves into production details, themes, key scenes and general reviews, as well as Ghibli-specific information. It's beautifully illustrated with stills and posters from each movie. Written by the hosts of the acclaimed Ghibliotheque podcast, this is the first and last word on the films of Studio Ghibli.

Anime Japanese animation is hugely popular throughout the world. TV stations screen it dubbed into languages from Arabic to Russian, Catalan to Chinese. Diehard fans, or otaku, download it from the internet. New titles appear every week. But before you drown in the tidal wave of new releases, look inside this book. Here youll find expert reviews of all the most significant standalone titlesthe core of any English-speaking fans anime library. 500 Essential Anime Movies reveals the huge range of titles available in English, making them accessible to everyone from newcomers to experts. Divided into chapters by genre, so you can easily find the kind of story you like, and with advisory icons to warn you of sexual or violent content, the book also has details of directors, writers, designers and English-language release labels. Reviews from a leading anime expert are sure to provoke debate, as well as helping you find the anime you want, quickly and easily.

This survey of the annual Spike & Mike Festival of Animation is illustrated with frame grabs, rare production stills, original artwork and behind-the-scenes photographs, and features interviews with a number of the top underground animators.

Everything you always wanted to know about Warner Bros. cartoons but were afraid to ask, this complete and indispensable reference will delight adults, children, and audiences all over the world.

Sadly the days of the traditional studio apprenticeship in animation are long gone but this book enables the reader to find the next best thing, watching and observing a Master Animator at work. Become Tony White's personal animation apprentice, and experience the golden era of the great Disney and Warner Brothers studios right in your own home or studio. Tony White's Animation Master Class is uniquely designed to cover the core principles of animated movement comprehensively. It offers a DVD with animated movies and filmed excerpts of the author at his drawing board to illustrate the concepts as the work is being created. Tony White's Animation Master Class offers secrets and unique approaches only a Master Animator could share. The book comes out of the author's six years of real-world professional experience teaching animation, and 30 years of professional experience. Whether you want to become a qualified animator of 2D, 3D, Flash or any other form of animation, Tony White's foundations bring you closer to that goal. The DVD is invaluable, in that readers are not only taught principles and concepts in the book, they are able to see them demonstrated in action in the movies on the DVD.