Celebrated Japanese movie magazine Kinema Junpo has made lists of what they consider the top 10 Japanese Animated Films and the Top 10 Non-Japanese Animated Films. The pre-2003 films all appeared in Laputa’s Top 150 Japanese and World Animation Films, but with a very different ranking order. The list seems to be limited to feature and short films (ie no TV series). Here they are, followed by my comments:
Top 10 Japanese Animated Films
1. Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro
(ルパン三世 カリオストロの城, Hayao Miyazaki, 1979)
2. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
(風の谷のナウシカ, Hayao Miyazaki. 1984)
3. My Neighbour Totoro
(となりのトトロ, Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)
4. Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called:
The Adult Empire Strikes Back
The Adult Empire Strikes Back
(クレヨンしんちゃん 嵐を呼ぶ モーレツ！オトナ帝国の逆襲, Keiichi Hara, 2001)
5. Akira
(アキラ, Katsuhiro Otomo, 1988)
6. Puss in Boots
(長靴をはいた猫, Kimio Yabuki, 1969)
7. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer
(うる星やつら2 ビューティフルドリーマー, Mamoru Oshii, 1984)
Horus: Prince of the Sun
(太陽の王子 ホルスの大冒険, Isao Takahata, 1968)
The Tale of the White Serpent
(白蛇伝, Taiji Yabushita and Kazuhiko Okabe, 1958)
10. Summer Days with Coo
(河童のクゥと夏休み,Keiichi Hara, 2007)
Summer Wars
(サマーウォーズ, Mamoru Hosoda, 2009)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky
(天空の城ラピュタ, Hayao Miyazaki, 1986)
Grave of the Fireflies
(火垂るの墓, Isao Takahata, 1988)
Top 10 Non-Japanese Animated Films
1. Fantasia
(ファンタジア, 9 Disney Directors, USA, 1940)
2. The Nightmare Before Christmas
(ナイトメアー・ビフォア・クリスマス, Henry Selick, 1993)
3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
(白雪姫, David Hand (Disney), USA, 1937)
4. The King and the Mockingbird (Le Roi et l’Oiseau)
(やぶにらみの暴君, Paul Grimault, 1980)
5. Hedgehog in the Fog (Ёжик в тумане)
(霧の中のハリネズミ, Yuri Norstein, Russia, 1975)
Mr. Bug Goes to Town (aka Hoppity Goes to Town)
(バッタ君町に行く, Dave Fleischer, USA, 1941)
7. Toy Story
(トイ・ストーリー, John Lasseter, 1995)
8 . Up
(カールじいさんの空飛ぶ家, Pete Docter, USA, 2009)
The Man Who Planted Trees (L’Homme qui plantait des arbres)
(木を植えた男, Frédéric Back, CANADA, 1987)
10. The Iron Giant
(アイアン・ジャイアント, Brad Bird, USA, 1999)
Wallace and Gromit in The Wrong Trousers
(ウォレスとグルミット ペンギンに気をつけろ！, Nick Park, UK, 1993)
It is fascinating that Cagliostro is rated higher than Totoro and Nausicaä – especially as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away do not appear on the list at all. I like Cagliostro, but it wouldn’t make my top ten anime of all time. I am not sure why they limited themselves to a “10 Best” as they clearly had to squeeze in a few more titles by awarding ties. Unless you are doing a list that excludes Studio Ghibli fare, you need to make a longer list than just 10 in order to fit in all of the amazing non-Ghibli animators who deserve equal recognition.
I am surprised to see two films by Keiichi Hara and nothing by Satoshi Kon. I can understand Summer Days with Coo making the list, but one of the Shin-chan movies? Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Crayon Shin-chan and I enjoy commercial animation just as much as alternative fare, but I wouldn’t put a Shin-chan movie in a top ten anime of all time.
If I was just rating anime (as opposed to independent animation), I would definitely include films by Rintaro (either Galaxy Express 999 or Metropolis), Satoshi Kon (my favourite is Tokyo Godfathers), and I would probably put Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell on the list instead of Beautiful Dreamer. Eiichi Yamamoto would definitely be on any list of mine as well – of course if I were to make an all time list it would list much more than 10 films just to be able to fit everything in.
It also interesting that the non-Japanese list includes artistic short films like Hedgehog in the Fog and The Man That Planted Trees, but the Japanese list omits independent animators like Kihachiro Kawamoto and Koji Yamamura – and even no sign of commercial/experimental crossover Osamu Tezuka! I would be curious to know if a lot of deep thought went into these two lists, or if they just did a straw poll in the office. Considering the randomness of it all, I suspect the latter.
Related Posts:
Laputa's Top 150 Japanese and World Animation
My Neighbour Totoro
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
Related Posts:
Laputa's Top 150 Japanese and World Animation
My Neighbour Totoro
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
