CATDOLL: Foreign media reviews the 15 most visually stunning animated films, with Japan winning big

Animation is very different from comics. Animation is a comprehensive art. The perfect combination of pictures, music and other performance techniques can present a good work to the audience. Animated films have even higher requirements for these. The unique picture performance brings us to a beautiful fantasy world. Recently, the foreign film website Taste Of Cinema selected 15 most visually stunning animated films. Let's take a look at them. These recommended works are all very good. If you are interested, take a look.

15. Paprika (2006, Japan, Director: Satoshi Kon)

Paprika is an adaptation of the science fiction work of the same name by the late Japanese animation director Kon Satoshi, written by the literary master Yasutaka Tsutsui. The original author Yasutaka Tsutsui gave a very high evaluation of Kon Satoshi's work, and even took the initiative to admit that the movie version of Paprika is clearer and easier to understand than the original. We can completely regard the movie version of Paprika as a way for Kon Satoshi to pay tribute to Yasutaka Tsutsui. The animation's dream scenes are very exaggerated, and the various bright colors are very challenging to the audience's vision.

14. Grave of the Fireflies (1988, Japan, Director: Isao Takahata)

Grave of the Fireflies is a story about orphans who were victims of war. The film's description of hunger and death is very vivid. The film brilliantly reproduces the various emotions of love and hate and the distrust of people that arise from hunger, and reproduces the atmosphere of that era that is no longer seen today. Some film critics have commented that this work is "one of the most emotional and thought-provoking films", and the plain pictures bring an extremely strong impact.

13. The Prince of Egypt (1998, USA, director: Brenda Chapman)

The Prince of Egypt is an animated film produced by DreamWorks in 1998. The film is based on the "Exodus" in the Old Testament of the Bible. Religious legends and myths cover up the defects of facial stereotypes, and the characters' personalities are replaced by the concepts of good and evil, beauty and ugliness. The most worth watching part of the film is its stunning and magnificent pictures, from the construction of the pyramids to the scenery of the desert, many shots and angles are visually impactful.

12. The Adventures of Prince Archimedes (Germany, 1926, directed by Lotte Reiniger)

This work is a paper-cut animation feature film shot in 1926. It is not only recognized as a classic in the field of paper-cut animation, but it is undoubtedly the first animated feature film in Europe. The film is adapted from "One Thousand and One Nights" and is full of adventure, romance and magic. Director Lotte Reiniger created all the characters and made every silhouette herself. When the film was released in 1926, it received rave reviews and was praised by film masters including Jean Renoir and René Clair. Jean Renoir later became Lotte Reiniger's close friend and work partner. His original words of praise were: "A masterpiece! She is simply a natural hand!"

11. "Wall-E" (2008, USA, director: Andrew Stanton)

Disney and Pixar jointly produced the animated film "Wall-E", which tells a science fiction story accompanied by loneliness and solitude. The protagonist is WALL·E, the last robot living on Earth after humans abandoned the Earth. This film tells a series of stories about how the cleaning robot WALL-E on Earth met and fell in love with the robot Eve, and followed her into space adventures.

10. The Lion King (1994, USA, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff)

The film is about the animal kingdom of the African savannah, and its theme transcends any culture and national boundaries. The principles that the old lion king teaches his son seem simple, but in fact they are full of profound philosophy: the cycle of life, the rise and fall of all things, everything must follow the laws of nature. When the sun rises from the horizon, night turns to day, Africa wakes up, and all the animals gather together, cheering with glory, and celebrating the birth of the little lion king Simba. This scene is also deeply reflected in the hearts of every audience.

9. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993, USA, directed by Henry Selick)

The animation jointly launched by Disney and science fiction director Tim Burton was shot in the traditional stop-motion model method, which is very time-consuming but of high quality. The film has a brisk pace, superb soundtrack, and features black humor. The animation images are also very shocking to many people, after all, they are the protagonists of Halloween.

8. Song of the Sea (Ireland, 2014, directed by Tom Moore)

Song of the Sea tells the story of Saoirse, a girl who looks like a seal but can transform into a human form, who wants to return to the sea. She and her brother Ben go through many dangers, but finally decide to stay and live with their family. This work is completely hand-painted, and the pictures are simple but touch the viewer's heart.

7. The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013, Japan, Director: Isao Takahata)

This is an animated work adapted from a traditional Japanese story. It tells the story of a bamboo cutter who found a beautiful little girl in a bamboo and named her Kaguya. When she grew up, many royal nobles proposed to her, but she was unmoved. In the end, Kaguya left the elixir of immortality and returned to the Moon Palace. This work uses sketch-like lines to depict characters, looking for vitality beyond animation. Ghibli set up Studio 7 to produce this film.

6. Waltz with Bashir (2008, Israel, directed by Ari Folman)

Although this is an animated film, the original material of the film actually comes from real-life interviews. In order to shoot this film, Forman talked with many of his former comrades-in-arms, and then expressed the content of the conversation through animation. The only shot in the film that has not been animated is a newsreel of the massacre scene at the end of the film. This is an animated film that directly faces the cruelty of war. The scenes in it will shock people after watching it, because these are real war scenes.

5. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009, USA, Director: Wes Anderson)

The fox family lives with many animals at the foot of the mountain. Every night, the fox father steals some food from three farmers to feed his family. The farmers, frustrated by his constant theft, set up an ambush to catch the fox father. However, the fox father always escapes successfully with his wisdom. This film is a stop-motion animation.

4. Akira (1988 Japan, Director: Katsuhiro Otomo)

Akira is an animated film released in 1988 by Japanese cartoonist and animation director Katsuhiro Otomo, based on Otomo's original comic. The protagonist subverts the image of the superhero in Western comics. When people have super powers, they may not necessarily become the embodiment of justice as in comics. Perhaps we will fulfill our own desires first. Akira triggers a discussion on our own human nature.

3. Fantasia (1940, USA, Producer: Walt Disney)

The 1940 animated feature film Fantasia is an important work of art by Disney and has won the Academy Award for Best Achievement. This film is a combination of classical music and animation, which can be roughly divided into three categories: "story music", "music without a specific theme" and "symphony". Except for "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" starring Mickey Mouse, the other six sections have no plot and are purely about the clever combination of images and music. A group of colors or lines may be a metaphor for certain concepts.

2. Spirited Away (2001 Japan, Director: Hayao Miyazaki)

This is another masterpiece by animation master Hayao Miyazaki. This work not only set the highest box office record in Japan, but is also a masterpiece in the hearts of film critics around the world. "Spirited Away" describes an ordinary elementary school girl Chihiro Ogino who accidentally enters a world that only gods can enter. Her parents who travel with her have turned into pigs because of their greed. In order to save her parents, Chihiro and Granny Yuba sign a contract to work in a bathhouse. However, in her life in the bathhouse, she meets many new friends and gradually becomes a strong and reliable girl. The characters in the work are all reflected in reality. The story seems simple but it makes people reflect.

1. The Garden of Words (2013, Japan, Director: Makoto Shinkai)

The Garden of Words is the sixth animated work by animation director Makoto Shinkai. It is set in Tokyo and tells a love story that is shrouded in great loneliness before love comes. In a Japanese garden during the rainy season, a boy who aspires to become a handmade shoemaker meets an adult woman who has lost her way, which is destined to be an extraordinary encounter.

Drizzle, sudden rain, sun shower, rainstorm... As an important part of the film, "rain" occupies 80% of the film. Director Shinkai, with his unique and delicate portrayal, accurately reproduces and artistically processes different types of rain, making it an effective means to express the protagonist's inner changes. The use of light and dark colors also makes every frame of "The Garden of Words" a beautiful and exquisite desktop.