Animated

This week I had the pleasure of watching The Secret of Kells, the fanciful story of an Irish boy's attempt to protect an illustrated manuscript from Vikings. This is the film that provoked a lot of huh?s when it got an Oscar nomination for animated feature, simply because few people had heard of it. And in the U.S., few ever did. When it finished its theatrical run this July, its total U.S. gross was under $700,000; it never played on more than 36 American screens at the same time.

This is a pity, because it really is a beautiful, delightful film. Maybe DVD sales and rentals will make a bit more money for the movie's backers. I would urge anyone who isn't averse to animation to check it out.

These are good times for animation. The two behemoths, Disney/Pixar and DreamWorks, produce high-quality work; I'm looking forward to catching How to Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3 on DVD later this year. (The latter is predicted by some to get a Best Picture Oscar nomination.) These movies are always well-promoted, as are, usually, offerings from Fox (Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Simpsons Movie) and Focus (Coraline). Disney also distributes features from Studio Ghibli (Ponyo).

But movies like The Secret of Kells are particularly delightful. They are usually in a more venturesome style, and because they're not well-known, they are discoveries, of a sort. Here are a few more:

9 (from Focus Features, but not given a lot of promotion) features a handful of doll-like creatures made of burlap, trying to survive (and trying to understand the meaning of their existence) in a post-Apocalyptic landscape. Very well done.

Sita Sings the Blues tells the story of the Hindu epic, "The Ramayana," accompanied by blues music from the 1920s. It's a gas, and I believe it's still available for free viewing on the Internet.

Waltz with Bashir came out early last year. It uses animation to tackle a tough subject (especially with respect to box office appeal): the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The movie builds to a heart-stopping climax.

Persepolis tells the story of a free-spirited Iranian girl who grew up while Iran was succumbing to rule by intolerant religious leaders.

Igor has a more mainstream look, but it is an independent production (and therefore obscure) about a world where a hunchback dares to dream of a career jump from Lab Assistant to Evil Scientist. If Oscars were given out for voice performances, Jennifer Coolidge would have a statuette on her mantlepiece.

Going back a little further, The Triplets of Belleville is the wonderful, comic story of cyclists on the Tour de France being used for sinister purposes.


And this year there are other promising animated feature films not yet released on DVD.

Idiots and Angels is by the wonderful, eccentric cartoonist Bill Plympton. He's had a few other feature films, but he's best known for his shorts, including the delightful Dog series (Guard Dog, Guide Dog, Hot Dog, and Horn Dog). This latest is the story of a selfish man who grows wings one night and finds himself compulsively doing good deeds.

My Dog Tulip is the animated version of a beloved book and is said to be spectacular to watch.

The Illusionist is based on a never-filmed Jacques Tati screenplay, and is directed by Sylvain Chomet, who also directed The Triplets of Belleville.