For decades now, Disney has captured our imaginations and our hearts with their animated films. They encompass our childhood and help shape us into who we are today. The songs are iconic pieces of music and film history, and you would be hard pressed to run into someone who hadn't seen at least one Disney film during their lifetime. But what about the other animation studios out there? They, too, have an excellent and magical selection of films to offer us, and they should be appreciated just as much and deserve recognition from the world at large. Here are just ten of those films.
1. Anastasia (Fox Animation Studio, 1994)
An adaptation of the legend that the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia escaped the execution of her family, Anastasia tells the story of a young woman named Anya, orphaned as a child and without any memory of her younger years who looks to find her family through any means necessary--even if that means teaming up with a pair of con men who want to use her for her striking resemblance to the missing Duchess.
2. Nocturna (Filmax Animation, 2007)
A young boy named Tim resides in a small orphanage and is terribly afraid of the dark, a fact that often makes him a target for the other children. His only solace at night are the stars, and he looks to them often for comfort. But when his favorite star of all vanishes, he must team up with two unlikely companions and go to unimaginable lengths to get it back.
3. The Road to El Dorado (DreamWorks, 2000)
Tulio and Miguel are two average con artists in 16th century Spain, who win a not so average map to the legendary City of Gold, El Dorado, in one of their rigged games. The two immediately set off to the New World, hoping to become fabulously rich with their new map. When they get there, they were certainly expecting all the gold, but not so much for the citizens of El Dorado to mistake them for gods. If they play their cards right, this could be their greatest con of all. If they don't, the consequences could very well be deadly.
4. Thumbelina (20th Century Fox, 1994)
Based on the Hans Christian Anderson story, Thumbelina is a girl no taller than a thumb, born from a flower given to an old woman who hoped to have a child of her own. Thumbelina struggles to find her place in the world around her, unsure if the world is too big, or she is simply too small. Things become even more complicated when she is kidnapped, taken away from her mother and the equally small boy she has begun to fall in love with, and she will have to draw on all of her inner strength to find her way home.
5. The Secret of Kells (Cartoon Saloon, 2009)
Brendan lives in a monastary with his uncle, and is fascinated with a book called The Book of Iona, an illuminated manuscript that is said to bring darkness to light. When the creator of the manuscript comes to the monastary, Brendan is eager to help him and is quickly taken into apprenticeship. One day, he goes into the forest to seek an ingredient for ink, and is saved by a forest spirit named Aisling, whom he become friends with. The two begin a friendship that will come to define them both as they face things greater than either of them could imagine.
6. The Swan Princess (Rich Animation Studios, 1994)
Every summer, Princess Odette is sent to visit Prince Derek, her betrothed, whom she loathes utterly and loathes her in return. While she eventually falls for Derek, he seems to only care for her beauty, and she rejects him. Before Derek can make things right, Odette is kidnapped by a wizard who seeks to control her kingdom for himself, and curses her--though her nights are her own, during the daylight, she is a swan. Only through Odette's perserverance and Derek's determination can the two be reunited, and if they fail, the consequences could be deadly.
7. Kiki's Delivery Service (Studio Ghibli, 1989)
In a world where magic and witches are very real, one such young witch named Kiki is eager to set out into the world and find out what her specialization in magic is. Spells, potions, love magic--the world is her oyster. Yet the only thing she seems to have any particular talent for is flying. Still, she doesn't let that get in her way. She finds a small town by the sea to call home, and begins her own delivery service, going above and beyond anything those around her would expect. Slowly, she begins to touch the lives of those around her, and changes them irrevocably.
8. Ferngully: The Last Rainforest (Kroyer Films, 1992)
Zak is a young human man who works for a logging company. While out working, he is nearly crushed by a falling tree--only to be saved by a young fairy named Crysta who shrinks him down to her size. The only problem is, she has no idea how to change him back. As the two of them try to discover how to restore him to his natural state, Zak begins to see the beauty of the forest and understand the destruction humans have caused. And worst of all--Zak himself may have been the starting point for unleashing a terrible evil that intends on consuming them all.
9. The Prince of Egypt (DreamWorks, 1998)
Based on the biblical story, The Prince of Egypt tells the story of a young Jewish boy named Moses who was going to be killed, only for his mother to smuggle him to safety--and straight into the royal palace and the waiting arms of those who inteded to kill him. Not knowing that Moses is Jewish, the Pharoh and his wife take him in and raise him alongside their own son, Ramases, triggering a chain of events that will change both men and Egypt forever.
10. The Iron Giant (Warner Bros. Feature Animation, 1999)
It is 1957 and the Red Scare is at its peak, when a young boy named Hogarth finds a giant robot out in the forest, who has no memory of who he is, where he came from, or why he was built. Hogarth quickly befriends the giant and protects him as best he can--something that becomes more and more vital as the Government, fearing whatever it was that fell from the sky, intends to hunt the Iron Giant down and destroy it. And quite possibly, the whole town along with it.
