THE ANIMATED MOVIE GUIDE Jerry Beck Contributing Writers Martin Goodman Andrew Leal W. R. Miller Fred Patten An A Cappella Book Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Beck, Jerry. The animated movie guide / Jerry Beck.— 1st ed. p. cm. “An A Cappella book.” Includes index. ISBN 1-55652-591-5 1. Animated films—Catalogs. I. Title. NC1765.B367 2005 016.79143’75—dc22 2005008629 Front cover design: Leslie Cabarga Interior design: Rattray Design All images courtesy of Cartoon Research Inc. Front cover images (clockwise from top left): Photograph from the motion picture Shrek ™ & © 2001 DreamWorks L.L.C. and PDI, reprinted with permission by DreamWorks Animation; Photograph from the motion picture Ghost in the Shell 2 ™ & © 2004 DreamWorks L.L.C. and PDI, reprinted with permission by DreamWorks Animation; Mutant Aliens © Bill Plympton; Gulliver’s Travels. Back cover images (left to right): Johnny the Giant Killer, Gulliver’s Travels, The Snow Queen © 2005 by Jerry Beck All rights reserved First edition Published by A Cappella Books An Imprint of Chicago Review Press, Incorporated 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, Illinois 60610 ISBN 1-55652-591-5 Printed in the United States of America 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction ix About the Author and Contributors’ Biographies xiii Chronological List of Animated Features xv Alphabetical Entries 1 Appendix 1: Limited Release Animated Features 325 Appendix 2: Top 60 Animated Features Never Theatrically Released in the United States 327 Appendix 3: Top 20 Live-Action Films Featuring Great Animation 333 Index 335 A a ro n ’s Magic V i l l age (9/19/97) Avalanche Re l e a s- ing. 83 mins. Director: Albert Hanan Kaminski. Pro- ducers: Dora Benousilio, Peter Volke. Voices: Fyvush Finkel (Narrator), Tommy Michaels (Aaron), Tova h Feldshuh (Aynt Sarah, Zlatch the Goat, Ma t c h m a k e r ) , Ronn Carroll (Uncle Shlemiel), Harry Goz (Gronam Ox), Ivy Austin (The Lantuch). Consumer Tips: ✰✰ MPAA Rating: G. Jewish folk- tale based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Story: Orphan boy Aaron is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in the tiny village of Chelm, a town blessed with an overdose of foolishness. When a jealous sor- cerer, using a Book of Marvels he stole from Chelm, conjures a destructive Golem to destroy the town, it’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad up to Aaron to use his wits to save his family and (10/5/49) Di s n e y - R KO. 68 mins. Di rectors: Jack Kin- friends. ney, Clyde Geronimi, James Algar. Production super- visor: Ben Sharpsteen. Voices: Bing Crosby (Ichabod), Comments: Aaron’s Magic Village is an adaptation of Basil Rathbone (Narrator), Eric Blore (Mr. Toad), Pat four fables from Isaac Bashevis Si n g e r’s Stories for Chil- O ’ Malley (Cyril), Claud Allister (Water Rat), John Pl o- dren and was put into production under the title The y a rdt (Prosecutor), Collin Campbell (Mole), Campbell Real Schlemiel. The resulting film is sincere and has its Grant (Angus MacBadger), Ollie Wallace (Winky). good moments but is not a great work. Or i g i n a l l y, Aaron’s Magic Village was produced in France as a tel- Consumer T i p s : ✰✰✰ Based on The Legend of Sl e e py evision project. Ho l l ow by Washington Irving and The Wind in the To enhance the production, director Kaminski Willows by Kenneth Grahame. b rought in some notable talents, including actors Tova h Feldshuh, Ha r ry Goz, and Fyvush Finkel, we l l - k n ow n Story: Two classic stories told in vintage Disney style. composer Michel Legrand (The Um b rellas of Cherbourg, Basil Rathbone narrates the whimsical adve n t u res of Summer of ’42), and lyricist Sheldon Ha rnick (Fiddler Mr. Toad, an eccentric character with a motor mania, on the Roof ). U.S. animation veteran Buzz Potamkin who is put on trial for stealing a car. Bing Cro s by (Be renstain Be a r s, Ha n n a - Barbera) provided special ani- relates the tale of Ichabod Crane, a New En g l a n d mation sequences that enliven the rather pedestrian school teacher, and his encounter with a legendary script and directorial pace. Sadly, the Golem sequence Headless Horseman. poorly combines computer graphics with traditional hand-drawn cartooning, distracting our attention fro m Comments: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad the story’s continuity. was Di s n e y’s final package movie of the 1940s. It com- The film was coproduced by Columbia Tr i St a r bines two we l l - k n own stories under the theme of “Tw o Home Video, and given a billboard release in the Fabulous Characters,” which was the original working United States by Avalanche Releasing (a division of title of the feature. Both stories reinforce the Disney Cinepix Film Pro p e rties, which later became Lion’s studio’s leadership at the time, in the skills of anima- Gate Films). (JB) tion, storytelling, and character animation. The Wind in the Willows segment contains some of the funniest Additional Cre d i t s : S c reen play: Albert Hanan Kaminski, bits of cartoon acting and exaggeration—as To a d’s Jacqueline Galia Be n o u s i l i o. Music: Michel Legrand. Ly r i c s : motor mania has him going insane with the idea of a Sheldon Harnick. wild ride on a road to “n ow h e re in part i c u l a r.” T h e 1 2 T h e A d v e n t u r e s o f I c h a b o d a n d M r. To a d Sl e e py Ho l l ow segment is rich with atmosphere and Consumer Tips: ✰✰✰ MPAA Rating: G. Based on nuance. Ichabod’s encounter with the Headless Horse- Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain and several of his man (animated by Frank Thomas and John Sibley) is short stories. ranked among the finest Disney animation sequences in the studio’s history. S t o r y : Ma rk Twain takes off for his final adve n t u re, in The studio was gearing up to tackle a full-length a riverboat propelled by a balloon, to intercept Ha l l e y’s narrative again with its subsequent production of Cin- Comet and reunite with his late wife. Tom Sa w ye r, d e re l l a (1950). These two half-hour-length tales cer- Becky Thatcher, and Huckleberry Finn stow away and tainly proved the studio was up for the task. The two are soon enchanted by Twain’s most beloved stories. stories we re later released separately as theatrical short s , as The Legend of Sl e e py Ho l l owa n d The Madcap Ad ve n- C o m m e n t s : The Ad ve n t u res of Ma rk Tw a i n was an tures of Mr. Toad. (JB) ambitious feature-length film by Will Vinton, using his trademark stop-motion Claymation process. T h e Additional Cre d i t s : Di recting animators: Frank T h o m a s , film was three and a half years in the making and was Ol i ver Johnson, Wolfgang Reitherman, Milt Kahl, John Louns- self-financed using profits from his studio’s commerc i a l berry, Ward Kimball. Background artists: Ray Huffine, Merle work. C ox, Art Riley, Brice Mack. Layout artists: Charles Ph i l i p p i , Vinton staked a claim in the industry when his first Tom Codderick, Thor Putnam, Hugh Hennessy, Lance Nolley, film, Closed Mondays (1974, codirected by Bob Gar- Al Zinnen. Effects animators: George Rowley, Jack Boyd. Ani- diner), won an Oscar for Best Animated Short. That mators: Fred Mo o re, John Si b l e y, Ma rc Davis, Hal Ambro, Ha r- was followed by several subsequent Oscar nominations vey Toombs, Hal King, Hugh Fr a s e r, Don Lusk. St o r y: Erd m a n (Rip Van Winkle, 1978, The Creation, 1981, The Great Pe n n e r, Winston Hi b l e r, Joe Rinaldi, Ted Sears, Homer Br i g h t - C o g n i t o, 1982) and several award-winning commerc i a l s man, Ha r ry Re e ves. Music/lyrics: Don Raye, Gene De Pa u l , (The California Raisins). Frank Churchill, Charles Wolcott, Larry Morey, Ray Gilbert. Vi n t o n’s wife, Susan Shadburne, re s e a rched Ma rk Twain extensively for the scre e n p l a y, using Tw a i n’s ow n w o rds from his autobiography for the character dialogue. Vinton and Shadburne adapted Tom Sa w yer Ab road as a d e p a rt u re point for the feature-length screenplay and incorporated into the narrative several Twain short sto- ries (“The Di a ry of Adam and Eve,” “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” “The My s t e r i o u s St r a n g e r”). A few of these we re created (and later released) as stand-alone shorts. These sequences we re undoubtedly produced first, in case funding for the fea- t u re-length project failed to materialize.