The Animated Movie Guide (Cappella Books)

386 Pages·2005·19.55 MB·English

by  Jerry Beck

THE ANIMATED
MOVIE GUIDE
Jerry Beck
Contributing Writers
Martin Goodman
Andrew Leal
W. R. Miller
Fred Patten
An A Cappella Book
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beck, Jerry.The animated movie guide / Jerry Beck.— 1st ed. p. cm.
“An A Cappella book.”
Includes index.
ISBN 1-55652-591-5
1. Animated films—Catalogs. I. Title.
NC1765.B367 2005
016.79143’75—dc22
2005008629
Front cover design: Leslie Cabarga
Interior design: Rattray Design
All images courtesy of Cartoon Research Inc.
Front cover images (clockwise from top left): Photograph from the
motion pictureShrek™ & © 2001 DreamWorks L.L.C. and PDI,
reprinted with permission by DreamWorks Animation; Photograph from
the motion pictureGhost in the Shell2™ & © 2004 DreamWorks
L.L.C. and PDI, reprinted with permission by DreamWorks Animation;
Mutant Aliens© Bill Plympton; Gulliver’sTravels.
Back cover images (left to right): Johnny the Giant Killer,Gulliver’s
Travels,The Snow Queen
© 2005 by Jerry Beck
All rights reserved
First edition
Published by A Cappella Books
An Imprint of Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN 1-55652-591-5
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
For Marea

Contents
Acknowledgments
vii
Introduction
ix
About the Author and Contributors’ Biographies
xiii
Chronological List of Animated Features
xv
Alphabetical Entries
1
Appendix 1: Limited Release Animated Features
325
Appendix 2: Top 60 Animated Features Never
Theatrically Released in the United States
327
Appendix 3: Top 20 Live-Action Films
Featuring Great Animation
333
Index
335

Acknowledgments
T
his book would not be as complete, as accurate, or as fun without the help of my ded-
icated friends and enthusiastic colleagues. He re’s the part where I get to mention
their names and say thanks.
My editor, Yuval Taylor, agreed to take on this project for A Cappella Books and has been
generous in extending my deadline several times as well as accommodating my vision for the
book.
Helping me keep my sanity through all of this was my wife, Marea Boylan, who assisted
me in eve ry phase of the project. Her contributions we re numerous. She double-checked
facts, typed, and retyped much of the manuscript and had incredible patience with me dur-
ing this difficult process. Thank you, my love.
One simply cannot write books about animation history without the input, advice, and
wisdom of Mark Kausler. He provided me with access to some of the rarest titles cataloged
within. On behalf of cartoon historians everywhere, I salute you.
This book also received generous assistance from Leonard Maltin, Howard Green, Amid
Amidi, John Canemaker,Will Ryan, Leslie Cabarga, and Michael Barrier. All these guys were
there when I needed them—and thus made this book more precise, a better read, and more
fun to look at.
The archival resources of Larry Edmunds Bookshop, the Internet Movie Database, Box
Office Mojo, the Hollywood Book & Poster Company, Va r i e t y, the Ma r g a ret Herrick Library
of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and Asifa-Hollywood were invaluable.
I don’t want to forget Rebecca Poole, Doug Ranney, and Eric Lurio, who were early con-
tributors to my initial filmography.
Sharon Burion compiled many of the film credits and was a first-class research associate
on this project. She’s a good one.
Stuart Fisher, David Bastian, and Daniel Goldmark were also contributing writers to this
volume, each coming through for me when I was facing the dreaded deadline doom. Each
provided wisdom, insights, and mighty fine writing.
I’m very proud of my team of contributors, each of whom deserves major credit in help-
ing me make this project a reality.Take a bow, Martin “Dr.Toon” Goodman, Andrew Leal,
W. R. Miller, and Fred Patten. Each one was a pleasure to deal with and this book would not
be as good without their incredible writing and researching talents.
Thank you all!
Jerry Beck
vii

Introduction
I
n November 2004, an unusual event in the history of motion pictures occurred. Three of
the top five films of the week, in box-office gross, we re animated feature films. The In c re d-
i b l e s, The Polar Ex p re s s, and The SpongeBob Square Pants Mov i e we re huge blockbuster
hits—all at the same time, for three different studios. I love the fact that each film used a dif-
ferent technique (CGI, motion capture, and cel, respectively) and that the subject matter of
each (a superhero adventure, a Christmas fairy tale, and a zany cartoon comedy) was just as
diverse. Add to it that the biggest moneymaking movie of 2004, Shrek 2, was also an ani-
mated film, and there can only be one conclusion—the animated feature has come of age.
Na r r a t i ve fiction animated features have been around since 1926, but the medium’s grow t h
in quantity and quality came about only in the last 20 years. Be f o re that, the animated fea-
t u re was primarily the domain of the Walt Disney Company. Competition from the 1930s
t h rough the 1980s followed Di s n e y’s superior lead, most without that studio’s ambition,
style, or heart. Many competing studios simply churned out second-rate childre n’s films, fur-
ther eroding the development of the medium, and allowing Disney to further dominate the
landscape.
Serious competition began to emerge in the late 1980s as a younger generation of anima-
tors broke Disney’s mold (moldy in more ways than one), expanding the storytelling possi-
bilities, and using the medium in bold new ways by reinventing the tools and techniques
themselves.
In 1994, I was working for Nickelodeon Movies developing new ideas for animated fea-
tures. The Lion King had just become the biggest hit in history, and every studio was jump-
ing onto the cartoon feature bandwagon. A question was raised about the grosses for pre v i o u s
animated features and, being the historian I am, I decided to dive into the research.
To my surprise I learned there was ve ry little published on the history of animated feature s .
There were book-length filmographies devoted to animated television series (Hal Erickson’s
is the best) and animated television specials (George Wo l l e ry’s is highly recommended), much
about Disney features (Leonard Ma l t i n’s The Disney Fi l m s is vital), and theatrical cart o o n
shorts (see Maltin’s Of Mice & Magic).
The few tomes that covered animated features did not do it as thoroughly as I would have
liked. Bruno Ed e r a’s 1976 book (Full Length Animated Fe a t u re Fi l m s) was woefully out of date,
incomplete, and filled with problems. Just how many animated features were made? Who
made them? Which ones were worth seeing? I needed to know, and decided I had to com-
pile the information myself.
ix