20. “The Adventures of Tintin” (2011)
Originally prepared as the beginning of a trilogy, with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson handing off directorial duties, “The Adventures of Tintin” stands alone, the only fully animated feature Spielberg had ever directed (although, to be fair, “Ready Player One” comes close). Based on a series of Hergé comic books from the 1940s, Spielberg tapped into the escapist entertainment part of his brain, for a thrilling, adventurous ode to old school action, realized by Weta Digital through advanced performance capture techniques that, mercifully, put a premium on stylization over creepy, “Polar Express“-style realism. (It’s hard to imagine Daniel Craig getting into a mo-cap onesie, but it happened,) The film’s centerpiece, a dizzying single-shot chase sequence, is just as impressive today, and finds Spielberg tapping into the kind of “Indiana Jones“-style pop escapism in ways that the filmmaker hadn’t in decades. – DT
19. “ParaNorman” (2012)
Laika‘s greatest stop-motion triumph is the story of a young boy named Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who, like Bruce Willis in “The Sixth Sense,” can see dead people. He’s ostracized at his school and left out, until his visions help to save his small New England town from some undead pilgrims and a very powerful witch. “ParaNorman” is many things — a parable about the dangers of bullying, a rollicking supernatural adventure that you could imagine Steven Spielberg producing in the 1980s and a powerful lesson about how the history we celebrate might be much darker than we realize (it also features a terrific Jon Brion score). It’s also a testament to the power of Laika, how the inherent creepiness of stop-motion animation can be used to embellish and advance the narrative itself. (Does anything look better than the stop-motion zombies here?) Also worth noting that it had a prominent gay character years before mainstream animation would embrace LGBTQ issues. – DT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrFmJdnMdjg
18. “How to Train Your Dragon” (2010)
The lone DreamWorks Animation entry on this list is a thrilling, unexpected adventure that follows a young Viking named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) whose friendship with a dragon named Toothless is at odds with his dragon-hating tribe. It’s a story of acceptance, friendship, and grief, rendered in a style distinctly devoid of storytelling histrionics or maudlin melodrama. It even allows for a matter-of-fact depiction of a disability (can you imagine a Disney animated feature where the lead character loses a limb and is just as swashbuckling after-the-fact?) A troubled project that was eventually whipped into shape by “Lilo & Stitch” directed Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, “How to Train Your Dragon” led to a robust franchise for DreamWorks that it continues to exploit even after the third film in the franchise was released earlier this year (the series spin-off “Dragons” began in 2012). Still, this story of unlikely friendship is a delightful adventure that’s both touching, and in its best moments, exhiliarting.– DT
17. “The Illusionist” (2010)
Sylvain Chomet, the acclaimed animator behind the Oscar-nominated “Triplets of Belleville,” turned to the work of French filmmaking comedy genius Jacques Tati for his next feature, an adaptation of an unproduced work by Tati (the script was completed in 1956). Starring an animated version of Tati (who had intended to star in the live-action film), it’s a nearly silent comedic drama, meant to be an exaggerated portrait of Tati’s relationship with his own estranged daughter (he’d hoped the film would bring them together.) Largely wordless, the traditionally animated feature is one of the most heartbreaking animated films of the decade, one in which longing and regret can be felt in every achingly beautiful frame. The fact that Chomet hasn’t released another feature since “The Illusionist” is downright tragic and hopefully, the reminder of how great this movie is changes things a little. – DT
16. “Zootopia” (2016)
It feels pretty ballsy for Disney to have made a movie that offers a heartfelt and humorous examination of modern-day prejudice, but it’s another thing for that same movie, tackling sticky real-world issues, to make over $1 billion worldwide. But hey, it happened with “Zootopia,” Rich Moore and Byron Howard‘s whip-smart look at what happens when bigotry takes root in an animal-filled paradise (hence the title). Framed as a mismatched buddy comedy starring a go-getter rabbit policewoman (Ginnifer Goodwin) and a streetwise fox (Jason Bateman), who together investigate several animals who go “rabid” and thus threaten the delicate peace of Zootopia. But the detective story soon gives way to more pressing cultural and political concerns, a story about inclusivity, which is handled powerfully, while never losing its singularly fast and funny energy. – DT
