Sheenah's Animated Movie A-List

Cartoons never get old.

In no particular order, I give you a list of my best-seen animated movies.

1. Iron Giant (1999)

Surprisingly, Vin Diesel did Iron Giant’s voice.

The Iron Giant is about a boy who makes friends with a piece of alien metal. However, the government is against it. The boy becomes the alien’s friend and…

You know what I love with this movie? The lines and the way a giant alien is pictured without causing much intimidation.

Iron Giant: “Hogarth, you stay. I go. No following.”

I cried. The movie stirred my emotions. After finishing the movie I so much wanted to make an iron friend out of scrap metal. Yes, seriously.

How I wish the Iron Giant were real. The movie proves that not all friendly creatures are cuddly; sometimes they rust.

2. Monsters Vs Aliens (2009)

Who wouldn’t love these monsters?

Monsters vs Aliens was shown right in time, a few days/weeks after the horrible Know1ng was shown nationwide. This animated movie wiped off all my anger brought by Nick.

What happens when an alien squid tries to destroy our planet? We seek the help of monsters, including Ginormica. She became a monster during her wedding day. Yebah.

This movie made me respect cockroaches for about five minutes. The movie made me laugh a lot, without thinking why I was doing it. I just can’t take my eyes off B.O.B.

What’s cute is, Monsters Vs Aliens has a pinch of twisted romance between Susan/Ginormica and a douchebag. The revenge is sweet at the ending.

This movie has an excellent animation too.

3. The Simpsons Movie (2007)

We all love the Simpsons since the time our parents were still preventing us from watching its episodes. We love the Simpsons more when they appeared on a movie.

Everything is classic in this full-length animated movie. The opening caught my interest because of Bart’s chalkboard gag that says “I will not download this movie illegally”. Springfield is shown and voila, my eyes widened.

There were many gags. I can’t name them all in one blog but I have a list of my favorites:

- Spider-pig

- Green Day/Titanic

- American Idiot Funeral Version

- Bart’s Weener

- That Nome incident

- Bountiful Penis and Satan’s Curly Hair

I still hope Maggie’s first word would be real. “Sequel?”

4. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999)
I watched this full-length movie before I completed all South Park episodes.

This movie isn’t for children. We all understand that these construction paper cutouts are cute but nasty, just the way we like it. If you’re the close-minded type of person, five minutes of this movie will make you sick.

I love South Park. I love the way Matt and Trey brutally hit icons (Saddam Hussein, Satan, Clinton, Canadians and the Baldwins) which is just for fun. Amid all these gags, can you squeeze some lesson from the movie? I can.

- Don’t star in a scheize movie because your kid can see you on the internet.

- Fart jokes are not funny…  except when Terrance and Phillip do them.

- Satan is gay.

- Blame Canada when you have no one else to blame.

5. Coraline (2009)

Coraline is based on Neil Gaiman’s best-selling novel of the same title.

Unlike the other animated movies I’ve seen, this one is a bit dark and wicked. What is so special about this movie is that it is beyond my imagination. The director and the author’s creative minds were combined to make a marriage between the dark side and the otherwise colorful and playful world.

Coraline is a young girl, who’s apparently deprived of parents’ attention. She seeks love and caring through another world but she ought to turn back…

I wish I have read the book, but it’s okay; the movie can stand alone.

One more thing: the music maybe is disturbing, but it’s clever. You should listen to it during the movie for you to appreciate.

6. Rugrats in Paris (2000)

Two words: cute babies.

This movie is sweet. I can’t forget spoiled Angelica’s antics and the voices of the other babies.

This time in France. Chuckie finds a mother to take care of him and his dad. Everything else is pretty predictable, except Angelica, who’s too spoiled to handle.

I can’t forget the scene where Angelica was in the plane, listening to the remix of T-Boz’ My Getaway, and the scene where does karaoke dance with some Japanese men.

Rugrats in Paris is a movie for all ages. I recommend this if you’re in for some cute Nickelodeon shenanigans.

Them babies are so cute.

7. Mulan (1998)

Wow, an Asian heroine in a Disney movie! Surely no pun intended.

Mulan is great in many ways. She doesn’t adhere to the Chinese traditions and she is klutzy.

Disney’s version of this Chinese tale (or is this historical?) shows a graceful Fa Mulan having deep love and respect for her father. Instead of bringing honor by marriage, she disguises herself as a boy to be qualified in the army. She learns how to fight and uses her resourcefulness to beat the Huns.

Mulan is a proof that women can do more than cooking and staying in the house. I don’t know if this has something to do with feministic approaches, but it’s a beautiful message.

I love the songs in the movie, especially the one that asks “how can I make a man out of you?”

I didn’t like its sequel that much, but it’s not that bad anyway.

8. Shrek (2001)

This first installment of Shrek made me cry. Don’t ask if I’m emotionally unstable while watching because I’m not. I was touched.

What do creatures usually do when they see an ogre in the forest? They scram. Ogres are ment to be nasty and wild but Shrek here isn’t.

He was given a choice on whom to save among damsels in distress. He chooses Princess Fiona. He eventually finds out that she is too good to be true, but the story doesn’t end there.

This tale disproves the fact that all heroes and princesses are beautiful. Some of them are green and ugly.

The second and third installations are awesome too.

9. The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Stop-motion movies are not that easy to make. I give this movie a thumbs up for that.

Plus Meryl Streep voiced Mrs. Fox.

The movie makes a lot of sense: foxes are meant to be wild, which is why Mr. Fox couldn’t resist stealing chickens and risking his life for his family. However, because of this he and his family were put into deep trouble. He then finds a way to get back on those cruel farmers and redeem his reputation as a father, uncle and wife.

He wants to be fantastic and truly, he is. He loses his tail but never loses his family.

This is a movie about marriage and family. Of foxes.

I wonder how those ciders taste like. I’d love to swim in those.

10. The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Tiana  is the first-ever African-American Disney princess.

Disney did a great job in setting this movie in the jazz era, plus showcasing other Disney princesses at the beginning.

I thought it’s another fairytale consisting of a very handsome and bloody rich prince but no, The Princess and the Frog veers away from that traditional thought simply by changing the story. Here, Prince Naveen is broke and is a frog.

I love the songs. It matches the jazz era, plus the trademark of African-American singers (having a really strong voice) is well-showcased.