"Best Cartoon of All Times and Nations" - how many saw it?
Joshua Kreitzer
>
> "Hedgehog in the Fog" by Yuri Norshtein has received the palm of an
> absolute superiority among the cartoons of all times and nations. The
> organizers of "Laputa Cartoon festival", which opened in Tokyo on May
> 25, have announced about it.
>
> According to NEWSru.com, the festival organization committee has
> addressed with a demand to 140 multipliers and cinema critics from
> different world countries with a demand to name the best 20 cartoons,
> which they like most, and, basing on the answers, they have made public
> a list of 150 best animated cartoon films.
>
> Specialists put on the second place another cartoon of Yu.Norshtein -
> "The Tale of Tales", which also was created in 70ies. The place was
> occupied, with a large break from the leaders, by 120-minutes American
> cartoon "Fantasy", produced in 1940.
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Any comments? What is "Laputa Cartoon festival"? - googling it does not
> give any hits...
The Laputa Animation Festival is on the web at:
http://www.laputa-jp.com/laputa/program/bestanime/index.shtml
(Note: site is mostly in Japanese)
If anyone out there can locate the list of the 150 best cartoons at
that site, and translate it into English, I'm sure their efforts would
be greatly appreciated.
Joshua Kreitzer
grom...@hotmail.com
John C. Watson
<no.e...@thanks.to.spam.net> wrote:
> In article <196aebc5.0305...@posting.google.com>,
> grom...@hotmail.com (Joshua Kreitzer) wrote:
>>
>> The Laputa Animation Festival is on the web at:
>> http://www.laputa-jp.com/laputa/program/bestanime/index.shtml
>> (Note: site is mostly in Japanese)
>>
>> If anyone out there can locate the list of the 150 best cartoons at
>> that site, and translate it into English, I'm sure their efforts would
>> be greatly appreciated.
>
> I have asked my Japanese friend to translate. FWIW, her reply:
> ----------------------------------------------
> The site doesn't have a complete list of films, but they have
> several programs for short and long films. Each program contains
> several films. I'll try to translate each title from word to word,
> but I'm not sure if it'll be any better than Babelfish... According
> to their ranking listed:
> 14. Walace and Glumit - watch out for penguin - England
"Wallace and Grommet"
> 51. Jumping - Japan
By Osamu Tezuka
> 69. Shabby film - Japan
"Broken Down Film"--Tezuka
> 77. Walace (sp?) and Glumit (sp?) - cheese holiday - England
"Wallace and Grommet"
Ciao,
John
--
John C. Watson
World Otakunization Project, Amherst Division
"Shuraku-tai--hasshin!"
Andrew Hollingbury
"John C. Watson" <johnc...@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:BAFEA6BF.1112C%johnc...@attbi.com...
> 14. Walace and Glumit - watch out for penguin - England
>
> "Wallace and Grommet"
Gromit ^_^;
This one's The Wrong Trousers.
> > 77. Walace (sp?) and Glumit (sp?) - cheese holiday - England
A Grand Day Out.
Obviously, A Close Shave didn't make it in. Wonder if The Great Vegetable
Plot will when it's finished.
Andrew H
Joshua Kreitzer
directors' names and dates, below. (Thanks to John Watson for
identifying the Tezuka titles.)
D.K. wrote:
>In article <196aebc5.0305...@posting.google.com>,
>grom...@hotmail.com (Joshua Kreitzer) wrote:
>>
>>The Laputa Animation Festival is on the web at:
>>http://www.laputa-jp.com/laputa/program/bestanime/index.shtml
>>(Note: site is mostly in Japanese)
>>
>>If anyone out there can locate the list of the 150 best cartoons at
>>that site, and translate it into English, I'm sure their efforts
would
>>be greatly appreciated.
>
>I have asked my Japanese friend to translate. FWIW, her reply:
>----------------------------------------------
>The site doesn't have a complete list of films, but they have
>several programs for short and long films. Each program contains
>several films. I'll try to translate each title from word to word,
>but I'm not sure if it'll be any better than Babelfish... According
>to their ranking listed:
>
>1. A hedgehog in a fog - Russia
>2. A tale of tales - Russia
The original article indicated that #3 was "Fantasia" (well, it said
"Fantasy," but that was after translation from Japanese to Russian to
English).
>4. A man who planted a tree - Canada
"The Man Who Planted Trees," Frederic Back (1987)
>5. Beginning of a day - Canada
>12. Clack! - Canada
Probably "Crac," Frederic Back (1987)
>14. Walace and Glumit - watch out for penguin - England
"Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers," Nick Park (1993)
>15. Spider and tulip - Japan
>17. Snow queen - Russia
>18. Impromptu of lines and colors - Canada
>21. Possibility of conversation - Czech
Perhaps "Dimensions of Dialogue," Jan Svankmajer (1982)?
>22. Hand - Czech
>27. Fantastic planet - Czech
directed by Rene Laloux (1973)
>44. Sand castle - Canada
"The Sand Castle," Co Hoedeman (1977)
>48. Street - Canada
>51. Jumping - Japan
directed by Osamu Tezuka (1984)
>52. Heron and crane - Russia
>65. There was a dog (No. 65) - Russia
>67. The Flute - China
>69. Shabby film - Japan
"Broken Down Film," Osamu Tezuka (1985)
>70. A fox and a rabbit - Russia
>77. Walace (sp?) and Glumit (sp?) - cheese holiday - England
"Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out," Nick Park (1991)
>77. A story of a city corner - Japan
>93. Color imagination - Canada
>95. Alice - Czech
directed by Jan Svankmajer (1988)
>95. Ivan's horse - Russia
>105. Man's game - Czech
>105. Harpia (sp?) - Belgium
>109. Transformation of Mr. Zamuza(sp?) - Canada
>110. Neighbor - Canada
>115. A restaurant with many orders (No. 115) - Japan
>115. Canon - Canada
directed by Norman McLaren & Grant Munro (1964)
>118. Night butterfly - Belgium
>119. Street music - Canada
>122. Beads game - Canada
"The Bead Game," Ishu Patel (1977)
>133. Walking - Canada
>155. A man drank one glass too much (I don't know how to translate
>this...) - Czech
>
>The rest of the films are under "special exhibition"
Thanks to D.K. and D.K.'s friend for the information.
Joshua Kreitzer
grom...@hotmail.com
Sea Wasp
>
> In article <196aebc5.0305...@posting.google.com>, grom...@hotmail.com (Joshua Kreitzer) wrote:
> >
> >http://www.laputa-jp.com/laputa/program/bestanime/index.shtml
> >(Note: site is mostly in Japanese)
> >
> >If anyone out there can locate the list of the 150 best cartoons at
> >that site, and translate it into English, I'm sure their efforts would
> >be greatly appreciated.
>
> ----------------------------------------------
> The site doesn't have a complete list of films, but they have
> several programs for short and long films. Each program contains
> several films. I'll try to translate each title from word to word,
> but I'm not sure if it'll be any better than Babelfish... According
> to their ranking listed:
> 14. Walace and Glumit - watch out for penguin - England
Wallace and Grommit -- "The Wrong Trousers".
> 77. Walace (sp?) and Glumit (sp?) - cheese holiday - England
Wallace and Grommit -- "A Nice Day Out".
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
http://www.wizvax.net/seawasp/index.htm
Jonathan Weeks
>15. Spider and tulip - Japan
I've seen this. It dates from the early 1940s. An early milestone in the
development of anime. Goggle 'Kenzo Masaoka' for details.
--
Jonathan Weeks
j...@animejin.org.uk
http://www.animejin.org.uk
Chris Sobieniak
(D.K.) wrote:
>>I have asked my Japanese friend to translate.
>>FWIW, her reply:
>>----------------------------------------------
>>The site doesn't have a complete list of films, but
>>they have several programs for short and long
>>films. Each program contains several films. I'll try
>>to translate each title from word to word, but I'm
>>not sure if it'll be any better than Babelfish...
>>According to their ranking listed:
>2. A tale of tales - Russia
"The Man Who Planted Trees" (Frederic Back/Societe-Radio Canada, 1987)
One of Frederic Back's prolific and beautiful films produced. Based on
a true story by Jean Giono, about a shepherd's long and successful
attempt at singlehandly re-forest a desolate valley. I have yet to see
this one myself, but I heard both Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are
heavy admirers of Back's work in both this and "Crac!" When Miyazaki
saw "Crac!" at an American animation festival, he compared it to what he
was doing at the time, and felt depressed at his work and was shocked at
how well Back used his style (colored pencil on frosted cels) to convey
a message about the environment.
>5. Beginning of a day - Canada
>12. Clack! - Canada
"Crac!" (Frederic Back/Societe-Radio Canada, 1981)
A loving and touching tale of Canada's history and culture seen through
the eyes of a wooden chair. Frederic Back would win his first Oscar for
Best Animated Short for this film. I've saw this one and couldn't help
but feel so amazed at the work in it. I kinda wish there was a DVD of
all of Back's work this way.
>14. Walace and Glumit - watch out for penguin -
>England
Must be the Japanese title for "The Wrong Trousers", produced by Aardman
Animations for the BBC. Directed by W&G creator Nick Park, this film
went on to win the Oscar in '93 or '94 I think.
>15. Spider and tulip - Japan
>17. Snow queen - Russia
I've heard a lot about this film, but haven't watched it yet, it was
produced by Soyuzmultfilm in the former Soviet Union, and was dubbed
into English by an American company that made the odd use of a
live-action sequence featuring Art Linkletter who narrates the tale (I
think the Russian animators where never credited in this version). Jove
Films, a US distributor of Soyuzmultfilm's library offers a newer dub
produced by Ocean Studios in Vancouver on home video.
>18. Impromptu of lines and colors - Canada
>21. Possibility of conversation - Czech
>22. Hand - Czech
One of Jiri Trnka's last stop-motion films involving a puppet who is
order by a hand to carve an image of it'self in a cage. Trnka made the
use of a human hand as a sign of facist domination, and it amazes me how
films like this were able to be produced at a time when Eastern Europe
was under Communist Rule and a majority of film studios operating in the
Soviet Bloc (like Czechoslovakia's "Kratky Film", Hungary's "Pannonia
Filmstudio" or U.S.S.R.'s "Soyuzmultfilm") were meant to produce
animation especially for children or for propaganda purposes, but they
had neglected in how much power they had to the individual animators and
animation directors had in what they could do in their work that might
suggest a social or political message based on the situations many
people face during the period.
>27. Fantastic planet - Czech
I think this is Rene Laloux's first animated feature and it's quite a
dark and interesting sci-fi piece. For many years, the film had been
somewhat became Public Dormain in the US and had popped up numerious
times on TV or on home video in the '80s and '90s.
>44. Sand castle - Canada
I think this film won an Oscar for the National Film Board of Canada in
the '70s. A stop-motion piece concerning small creatures who build a
castle in the sand, yet it gets destroyed because of the waves of the
ocean nearby.
>48. Street - Canada
Caroline Leaf's stirring piece of one boy's life at the time of his
grandmother's final days. Produced using a type of paint-on-glass
technique, it would be nominated for an Oscar in '76. Too bad it didn't
win, one of a few films from the National Film Board of Canada that
always facinates me everytime I see it.
>51. Jumping - Japan
Osamu Tezuka's quite POV piece from 1984, of child's jump through
neighborhoods, forests, buildings, seas and nuclear war. Produced over
a period of 3 years and using almost 4,000 cels, it's a very unique,
pre-CGI use of 2D animation to follow through the perspectives one might
experience if he or she were to leap boldly beyond limitations.
>52. Heron and crane - Russia
>65. There was a dog (No. 65) - Russia
>67. The Flute - China
>69. Shabby film - Japan
"Broken Down Film" (Osamu Tezuka, 1984)
A very amusing and loving homage to American films of the early 20th
Century, complete with lines, scratches, and hairs in the film gate!
>70. A fox and a rabbit - Russia
>77. Walace (sp?) and Glumit (sp?) - cheese
>holiday - England
I'm guess this is "A Grand Day Out". Nick Park's original Wallace &
Gromit film from his days at the National Film & Television School in
the UK. Produced over a period of 6-7 years, he was only able to
produce about 10 minutes of the short at NFTS, and finished the film
while he began working at Aardman Animations in Bristol. The film went
on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short in '90,
but Nick Park's other film, "Creature Comforts" won the award instead.
>77. A story of a city corner - Japan
Osamu Tezuka's first experimental short film depicting, without words,
the life of a street corner featuring different characters (both animate
and inanimate) and their relationship to a the situations that occur
when an opposing political force dominates the corner, and war breaks
loose. Produced in 1962 through Tezuka's newly-established studio Mushi
Productions.
>93. Color imagination - Canada
>95. Alice - Czech
Jan Svankmeijer's dark and elaborate vision based on Lewis Carrol's
famous tale of one girl's curiosity and journey through a bizzare land.
>95. Ivan's horse - Russia
>105. Man's game - Czech
>105. Harpia (sp?) - Belgium
>109. Transformation of Mr. Zamuza(sp?) - Canada
>110. Neighbor - Canada
"Neighbours" (Norman McLaren/National Film Board of Canada, 1953)
Nornam McLaren's violent and striking commentary on humanity's
reluctances towards personal convictions towards themselves and others.
This film oddly won the Oscar for Live Action Short, not Animated.
>115. A restaurant with many orders (No. 115) -
>Japan
Something tells me I need to see more Japanese shorts someday.
>115. Canon - Canada
>118. Night butterfly - Belgium
>119. Street music - Canada
>122. Beads game - Canada
"The Bead Game" (Ishu Patel/National Film Board of Canada, 1971)
I found this to be a very unique and historic travel through the
planet's evolution and the conflicts and power that come from the
smallest ameoba to the tallest human being and his power over the planet
through technology and battles for dominance, all animated with tiny
beads!
>133. Walking - Canada
I've saw this and "Street Music" from the same person from the National
Film Board, but I can't remember his name. Both films make use of a
unique combination of pencil, watercolor and other inks on paper
("Street Music" also had a live-action sequence), mostly rotoscoped
movements set to music. I think "Walking" was nominated for an Academy
Award.
>155. A man drank one glass too much (I don't
>know how to translate this...) - Czech
>The rest of the films are under "special exhibition"
That's a laugh. Though it would be nice to know what these ones are
(probably saw them too).
>----------------------------------------------
>I have to admit to not recognizing >90% of the
>films...
>DK
Probably, from the list you provided, I recognize about 40-50% of these.
Most of the ones I have commented on I have personally on video (VHS,
LD, 16mm film, etc.). Not too many of these films most people in this
newsgroup would've saw before in their lives.
From the Master of Car-too-nal Knowledge...
Christopher M. Sobieniak
--"Fightin' the Frizzies since 1978"--
Manbow Papa
> 1. A hedgehog in a fog - Russia
> 2. A tale of tales - Russia
Official English titles are:
(1) A Hedghog in a mist (1975, color 10 minutes)
(2) The Fairy tale of Fairy tales (1979, color 29 minutes)
(52) The Heron and the Crane (1974, color 10 nimutes)
(70) The Fox and the Hare (1973, color 10 minutes)
Those were animated by Юрий Норштейн (Yuri Norstein).
Animation with paper collage. His wife painted the artwork.
Music of J.S. Bach and Mozart are used heavily in (2).
> 17. Snow queen - Russia
Based on Hans Anderson's fairy tale. Directed by
Л. Атаманова (Lev Atamanov) (1957, color 63 minutes)
> 115. A restaurant with many orders (No. 115) - Japan
Directed by Miyazaki Hayao, IIRC.
Based on a story written by Miyazawa Kenji.
--
/ Ishikawa Kazuo /
Disruptor
Chris Sobieniak wrote:
I have seen The Man Who Planted Trees. It is very well done and I always
wondered why the animation looked different. I didn't realize it was
colored pencils.
Now if I could ever find that Legend of John Henry animated music video....
Not puppets or claymation.
Shez
Kreitzer <grom...@hotmail.com> said:
>>1. A hedgehog in a fog - Russia
This is a good cartoon (televised in the UK last year IIRC) but I
wouldn't put it at the top. OTOH, I'm not sure which one I *would* put
at the top....
>>14. Walace and Glumit - watch out for penguin - England
>"Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers," Nick Park (1993)
All the Aardman films deserve a place in any list of top animations,
with the exception of Chicken Run which I felt was too much like an
ordinary film story-wise.
>>77. Walace (sp?) and Glumit (sp?) - cheese holiday - England
>"Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out," Nick Park (1991)
Arguably better than The Wrong Trousers, if only for its surreal twists
and emphasis on the importance of cheese.
>>95. Alice - Czech
>directed by Jan Svankmajer (1988)
I would definitely put this in the top ten. It is the definitive Alice
in Wonderland film, even though it only loosely follows the story. No
other Alice film comes remotely close to this weird animated dream-cum-
nightmare, made by stop-motion animation of real objects and a real
girl.
>>110. Neighbor - Canada
Good but not exceptional. I would rate several anime films or episodes
from anime series above this sort of story.
In fact there are remarkably few Japanese releases in the list. No
Miyazaki movies? The strong East European showing was to be expected
though as they're so innovative. There are also good animation TV series
from which one could pick example episodes that I think deserve an all-
time top 100 animation listing. Reboot for instance, or Insektors or
Daria.
-Shez.
--
______________________________________________________
Hacking's just another word for nothing left to kludge.
______________________________________________________
Take a break at the Last Stop Cafe: http://www.xerez.demon.co.uk/anime/
Use http://www.xerez.demon.co.uk/mailform.html for personal replies
Chris Sobieniak
(Shez) wrote:
>>>>1. A hedgehog in a fog - Russia
>This is a good cartoon (televised in the UK last
>year IIRC) but I wouldn't put it at the top. OTOH,
>I'm not sure which one I *would* put at the top....
It's a touch choice. I personally enjoy the more artistic approaches in
animation myself. Glad to see several of Osamu Tezuka's pieces were on
the list. As much as people would know him as the "God of Manga" or
some of the anime he has created over the years, some might know of him
for films like "Jumping" or "Broken Down Film" and these films I think
he kinda shines through in terms of the creativity he put into them
rather than just being a producer of most of his cartoons.
>>>>14. Walace and Glumit - watch out for penguin
>>>>- England
>>>"Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers,"
>>>Nick Park (1993)
>All the Aardman films deserve a place in any list of
>top animations,
My favs...
"Lip Synch: Creature Comforts"
"Lip Synch: Going Equipped"
"Animated Conversations: Down & Out"
"Babylon"
"Conversation Pieces: Early Bird"
"Adam"
"Pib & Pog"
The Wallace & Gromit films
"Loves Me, Loves Me Not" (Probably one of the few times when a
plasticine character can ensue Tex Avery-like "takes" and other motions)
>with the exception of Chicken Run which I felt was
>too much like an ordinary film story-wise.
I kinda felt the same way too somewhat. Doesn't necessarily follow in
the traditional Aardman style seen in the shorts previous shorts, but I
don't like to think of this as Lord and Park 'selling out' either.
>>>>77. Walace (sp?) and Glumit (sp?) - cheese
>>>>holiday - England
>>>"Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out," Nick
>>>Park (1991)
>Arguably better than The Wrong Trousers, if only
>for its surreal twists and emphasis on the
>importance of cheese.
I enjoyed it for that surreal twists and such. It was Nick Park's first
film he tried to get finished while attending the National Film & TV
School, but had to finish it at Aardman after some 6 years of
production.
>>>>95. Alice - Czech
>>>directed by Jan Svankmajer (1988)
>I would definitely put this in the top ten. It is the
>definitive Alice in Wonderland film, even though it
>only loosely follows the story. No other Alice film
>comes remotely close to this weird animated
>dream-cum- nightmare, made by stop-motion
>animation of real objects and a real girl.
I always find it rather impressive to see the dark qualities of the film
(especially seeing rusty and dull scissors and other misc. junk
everywhere). The thought of a girl fitten into a drawer on a desk and
entering into a bizzare world inside it was one of those things that got
me when I first saw it. There's a lot of symbolic allegories over
individual boundaries and acceptance for venturing outside the
isolation.
>>>>110. Neighbor - Canada
>Good but not exceptional. I would rate several
>anime films or episodes from anime series above
>this sort of story.
(INCOMING SPOILAGE!)
It was a very creepy film on some level. The subject of the story is a
plight between two men and a wildflower that grows in the middle of both
individual's properties. Both cannot live in harmony because they both
want the flower and cannot share it, thus all mayhem breaks loose. They
eventually destroy their (cardboard) homes, murder their wifes and kick
the babies out, and in a fit of rage, the both eventually die in the
fight, with their bodies now covered as graves with the flower not
splitting into two and each one dawns the tops of the graves as the
sunset fades out the film. The ending itself the familiar quote, "Love
Thy Neighbor" written in about a dozen languages.
>In fact there are remarkably few Japanese releases
>in the list. No Miyazaki movies? The strong East
>European showing was to be expected though as
>they're so innovative.
Typically I think the list and the festival is based on the animated
short subjects themselves, no feature-length films or TV series are
accepted at all, so it's just the shorts that are being presented in
this one. These are generally films that can range anywhere between 1
to 30 minutes or more (by definition, a short shouldn't be more than 60
minutes or else it would qualify as a feature), but the way they put
Svankmajer's "Alice" on the list is a bit of a question mark for me.
>There are also good animation TV series from
>which one could pick example episodes that I think
>deserve an all- time top 100 animation listing.
>Reboot for instance, or Insektors or Daria.
>-Shez.
Probably if there was a Top 100 TV animation list that could be done if
possible.