GCR – Episode 55 – Top 100 Animated Films 40-21

Hey, this is Steve Bloom, and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Geekcastradio

.com presents The Geekcast Radio Top 100 Animated

Films Countdown Hello and welcome to GeekCast

Radio, episode 55. I am one of your hosts, Steve,

you and Mike. Joining me is Optimus Solo, hello.

Hello. Steve Megatron, hello. Hello. Over -Revolt

Dan, hello. Hello. Joining us is a special guest,

a aficionado in his own right when it comes to

animation, TV's Mr. Neal. Salutations. Hello.

Today we are going to be continuing on with the

countdown of our top 100 animated films. We are

revealing numbers 40 through 21 in this episode.

Kev, do we have anything we want to say beforehand

before we get into the numbering? Of course.

Just hopefully everyone's enjoying the countdown

so far. We've been getting a lot of feedback.

A lot of comments that we will address in the

wrap up episode. A lot of comments on the website

in the individual episode post. I think we're

averaging over like 50 or 60 comments on each

episode post. And there's a lot of good discussions

that have been taking place there. So we're not

going to rehash them. But if you want to join

in or see what people are talking about, you

should definitely visit the individual episode

post. pages and see if there's a conversation

you want to get involved with or just have fun

reading a lot of comments about these uh choices

so far and i really have enjoyed being a part

of those discussions and some there's been a

lot of good um intelligent discourse and uh arguments

one way or the other on on the on the pages so

that's good and also i think uh just kind of

prefacing this a little bit uh obviously we've

had 60 of the films up to this point have been

revealed And this is what I've been waiting for

these last 40, because to me, that's where you

really get into some fun stuff and some good

films. People early on can make arguments, should

this film be in the top 100, should it not be

in the top 100? I honestly don't think, from

this point on, you really shouldn't have too

many arguments of, is something top 100 worthy?

Everything that we reveal here on out, I would

hope, would be... Generally accepted that it

belongs somewhere in the top 100 list because

we're into our top 40. I think what becomes interesting

now is more so just how it boils down. I don't

know. There will be some movies that people won't

think should be top 50 or don't think they should

be top 40 necessarily. But to me, we're really

getting to the cream of the crop. So it should

be interesting to see how this shakes out and

your guys' reaction as we reveal things going

through. Dan, do you have any thoughts before

we get into the actual numbers this time? I'm

curious to see if we're going to get away from

some of the more recent stuff because it's been

a lot of recent films in the last 15, 20 years.

So hopefully we'll be getting into some of the

more classic Disney movies or other classic companies

because we've seen a lot of Disney, a lot of

DreamWorks. Maybe we'll see two different types

of animation. more you know the class we've had

a lot of talk about claymation and uh on the

podcast on the message boards and different people's

viewpoint of animation and the styles they like

and styles they don't like so we'll probably

see more of that and i'm also curious to see

if you know we'll see more and more number ones

fall by the wayside we haven't really come upon

that many um but we've seen a few number ones

a few number twos but for the most part Not many

people's lists in the top five have really come

out yet. So I'm certain that in this last 40

films, we're going to see a lot more of that.

Another thing kind of that you mentioned that

makes me think of things here is kind of what

I brought up, I think it was last episode, maybe

the one before that, well, probably last episode,

that now that we're getting to the top 40, it's

no longer, the discussion changes somewhat, and

now we're getting into more of the discussions,

will this be the last? of certain things like

will this be the last whatever anime film will

this be the last dreamworks film like you said

will this be the last you know film from the

2000s type stuff so we see a little bit more

of that as we enter this end of the countdown

so it'll be interesting seeing and you're right

i think we've only had um one number one go by

the wayside up to this point unfortunately for

steve uh yeah we've had a couple twos But I think

we've only had one number one fall. So, yeah,

that's definitely be interesting to see if we

have any number ones fall today in this episode.

Steve, Mike, any thoughts so far? And then I

want to get after that, get Neil's opinion as

someone who's been listening and kind of partaking

in the comments up to this point. So that's what

I'm waiting on is Neil's opinion. So, Steve,

any thoughts so far as we got to this point?

I'm hoping that one of my. I believe it's my

number two actually makes it into the top ten

somewhere. I doubt it, but, again, I can be hopeful.

But I kind of look forward to seeing what's going

on from here on out just because some things

have been kind of surprising where they've ended

up and some things not so much. Again, it's been

fun so far, and I'm just kind of wondering where

we're going to go from here. Neil, you've been

sitting on the sidelines so far. From your comments,

I assume you've listened to all the episodes

that have been released on the website so far,

which means you probably haven't heard 60 through

41 at this point. As of this recording, no, probably

not. But from what you've heard so far from 100

through 80 sitting on the sidelines and partaking

in the comments, what are your thoughts of the

countdown at this point? And what are you looking

for? This is a weird episode for you to be on

as far as not knowing what previously just was

released. Yeah, I don't really know what to say

because I don't know what the last 20 were. Going

forward, I'm hoping that my number one is in

there somewhere because it kind of makes me nervous

that it didn't show up in the last episode, apparently,

because you said only one number one had shown

up. Let's see. Yeah, I had a little back and

forth on the comments. Yeah, maybe. Maybe we

should just do a real quick synopsis just so

we can catch Neil up here of our last episode.

So kind of real quickly just listing off number

60 through 41 as a means to catch him up. 60,

we had Mulan. 59, we had Justice League Crisis

on Two Earths. 58, we had Rango. 57, All Dogs

Go to Heaven. 56, Anastasia. 55, Charlotte's

Web. 54, Hercules. 53, Fantastic Mr. Fox. 52,

Ghost in the Shell. 51, My Neighbor Totoro. 50,

Howl's Moving Castle. 49, Sword in the Stone.

48, Transformers the Movie. 47, The Rescuers.

46, A Bug's Life. 45, Cars. 44, 101 Dalmatians.

43, South Park. 42, Kung Fu Panda. And 41, Brave.

A lot to take in, I know. Yeah, that's very interesting.

There were a lot of animes in there. I do love

anime, but I'm not... I have kind of a conflicted

opinion about what kind of impact it should have

on the American market. I don't see it having

a really big one. There were a lot of ones in

there that I thought should be in there, like

the Miyazaki ones. Certainly Howl's Moving Castle.

There was one in there that I'll just kind of

not mention that I thought shouldn't be in there

at all. Go ahead and get it out. We know you

want to rant about Ghost in the Shell. Ghost

in the Shell, it's a beautiful movie, but it's

also kind of a boring movie. I just don't get

it. It is notable. I'll give it that. It came

along and it went against everything that I liked

about anime. what is this? This is, I, I, I just

didn't get it, but you know, it, I suppose it

does belong on the list somewhere and I'm glad

it's not up in the twenties. So that's, that's

a good thing. Anything else from anybody before

we get into our actual films for today? I don't

think so. All right. Well, let's see what today's

episode has to bring us. That's right. Today

we're starting with number 40. And we're going

to start somewhere where we haven't been a lot

of over the course of the countdown. Well, a

few times here and there. We're going to go to

the 80s with number 40, specifically 1982. Remember,

the total amount of points possible would be

2 ,000 if you scored number one on all 20 people's

list. So that would be 2 ,000. We're in the 700

range right now. So we had 757 points and a 95

score on Rotten Tomatoes. Our number 40 film

is... Secret of NIMH. Another Bluth film here.

Something that I think is a pretty classic film.

I don't have a problem with it being in the top

50 at all. Pretty unique film, enjoyable film.

Dan, what are your thoughts of Secret of NIMH

starting us off today at number 40? When we talked

about Charlotte's Web, I think last episode or

two episodes ago, we talked about like that's

one of those movies that's like a rite of passage

as a kid. It's like it seems like every classroom

around fourth or fifth grade, you're probably

going to sit down and watch that movie for some

reason. Felt like the same way with Secret of

NIMH. I remember watching that in school a great

deal. Something about that story that just resonated

with kids. And I remember liking it a lot. I

have not seen it in 12. I don't know when years.

I don't think it's one I've really returned to

all that much. But just thinking of how big of

a place it was as a kid, I definitely think it

belongs. But yeah, I unfortunately don't have

a huge amount to say because it's been quite

a while since I revisited it. It appeared on

14 lists. We haven't had any film that's appeared

yet on more than 15. So it appeared on 14 of

the 20 lists. Mike, have you seen Secret of NIMH?

I'm in the same boat as Dan. I saw it a long

time ago. Was there a sequel? Yeah. Unfortunately.

Yeah. Um, I don't even remember the sequel. I

mean, I've seen the movie. I know of the story.

It's just like, Dan, it's like, it's been a very

long time and it's not one that I have revisited.

So I think I would rather defer to Neil on this

than, than keep talking. I had this on VHS and

I wore the VHS out. I love this movie as it was.

Very beautifully animated. I saw it enough times

that I was the one guy who would always argue

with everyone else that this was not a goddamn

Disney film. It's not saying it's Disney. It's

Don Paluth. I think this is the movie that probably

set me on my way of paying attention to the credits.

Very, very beautiful film. Kind of reminds me

of the Transformers film in a way. How it ends.

God, it's been a while since I've seen it, but

I have no problem with it being up in the 40s.

Oh, wait, where are we? Number 40. We're in the

40s. Okay, yeah, we're in the 40s. I have no

problem with it being at 40, so yeah, this is

a good spot for it. Steve, thoughts on it coming

at number 40? I've actually never heard of it.

Well, I've heard of it, but I've never seen it,

so I can't really comment either way. Gotcha.

I think it is one that some people have missed

or some people just haven't had a chance or been

exposed to it. But typically, if you have seen

it, I think it's one of those where the people

that have seen it rank it fairly high. But again,

I think somewhere in the top 50 is definitely

deserving for Secret of NIMH. All right, let's

see what we have next. All right, we talked in

the open about possibly, during the course of

this episode, seeing some individuals' number

two or number one films fall. I don't know if

fall is the right word. I mean, they're in the

top 40. But that is the case with number 39.

We're going to see somebody's number one film

go down. So, Steve, you will not be alone as

far as your number one no longer being eligible

to be talked about. Number 39 is 1988's film...

grave of the fireflies um and let's just start

with dan yeah so my number one and two are out

i am yes they are hey but this one did a lot

better so yeah number 100 number 39 i guess you

know if you put those together a little bit better

uh yeah i when i when i put my list together

i mentioned this when i started the countdown

at 100 with my number two There's different ways

of doing it, and the way I kind of looked at

it when you're trying to rank all these movies,

it's like if you're going to give people or someone

a movie to watch, animated movie to watch, to

kind of prove that animation is just as successful

medium as any other type of film, that it can

be just as cinematic, just as moving, just as

emotional as any other live -action movie, what

would those movies be? And I think my top ten

is... was kind of reflected that as much as I

possibly could. And my number one was easy. And

it's one that I came to late, probably first

saw a few years ago after listening to another

podcast, Film Spotting. And I just talked about

it and it interested me and I went back to it.

And as a person who is very interested in World

War II history and this deals with a side of

World War II that Americans aren't all that familiar

with, you know, at the end of World War II, Our

story as a country was much different than that

of Japan, and it gets into that. And there's

such a huge emotional resonance with Grave of

the Fireflies. The animation is beautiful. The

story is sad, but it's not just gripping and

melodrama. There is a weight to it. The characters

are well -developed. It's one that you really

can get invested in very easily. I'm not a huge

anime fan, but this is kind of what showed me

that anime is not just what I thought it was.

anime before that all i could think of was dragon

ball z and akira and i just thought it was all

along those lines but it showed me it can be

more than that and it can just tell a story without

a lot of bombastic uh huge set pieces and it

can just be about people and their struggle so

that's why that you know that made my number

one It was on 11 people's list, so that shows

you that being on a few less lists than a lot

of the films around it, that it obviously was

ranked high amongst the people that ranked it.

97 Rotten Tomatoes score. Neil, what's your opinion

on Grave of the Fireflies? Does it deserve to

be in our top 40? It deserves to be on the top

40. I didn't rank it very high, but I did put

it on my list around 97, I think. I don't have

a lot of thoughts that hadn't already been said,

so it's... It's a beautiful Studio Ghibli film,

I'll say that. That's about all I have to say

about it. It does belong on the list. It's beautiful,

and it's very different from what you would normally

get from anime. There have been about 10 films

since we had seen an anime, so it's good to see

another one here. And we'll see how many more

we see as we round up the rest of the top 40

here, and we'll see what we have next. Well,

let's just keep the trend going of breaking people's

hearts with number one films here. Number 38,

I think we're going to have a divided panel on

this one, but I could be wrong. Number 38, we're

going to 1993. We haven't seen a lot from the

studio slash company here, Touchstone slash Skellington.

I should give it away, I guess. Number one on

one of our contributors list, 96 Rotten Tomatoes

score. It was on 14 lists. Number 38 is Nightmare

Before Christmas. I hate this movie. All right,

so we've heard Mike's opinion. Steve? Well, I'm

on both sides of the coin with this one. While

I do like it, I also don't like it. Only because

I think that it got beat to death with a stick

just because of how often this thing has been

to the theater or how much they promote it kind

of thing. or how much it would be on TV. I won't

deny, though, that the story in it is good, that

the premise behind it is kind of unique, and

it's interesting to see. For some reason, I don't

have a clue why, I don't mind the animation in

it. I understand it's somewhat claymation -type

looking material in it, but it still doesn't

bother me all that much. It's creepy as hell,

but I definitely see where this is warranted

to be on the list. Dan, your thoughts on Nightmare

Before Christmas? I do dig it quite a bit. I'm

not sure where I ranked it. I think within my

top 30 or so, I'm not 100 % certain. So I think

this is a fine spot for it. I've had an interesting

relationship with it as a kid. I remember not

being a huge fan. I think just the oddity of

it. drew me off but as i've grown older and i

can understand have a better understanding of

a lot of what it's getting after and enjoyed

stark owns a little bit more and too i just um

we've talked a lot about different types of animation

and this definitely is a unique you know uh version

of animation but it fits the title of the film

perfectly um you know the artistic achievement

the aesthetic it all flows in line with the story

um the songs are great um I can't believe I watched

this movie as a kid in school. Just surprisingly,

with some of the elements of it, just knowing

parents today, I don't know if that ever happened.

But yeah, it's a good movie that I greatly enjoy.

So, well -deserving. Neil? Not only did I not

rank this movie, but I've never seen this movie.

I've had a lot of near -misses. One time I was

going to watch it, but then a girl called me

on the phone for two hours, and I never saw it.

So I can't talk about it. It's one of those,

I don't often let a style of a film throw me

off or dissuade me from watching a film. But

this is one where I just have a really hard time

getting past the visuals. It's just not something

I like, and with this one in particular, I have

not seen it just because I can't convince myself

to sit down and watch it. I know a lot of people

like it, though, so I'm not surprised that we're

seeing it in our top 40. I prefer Chicken Run

over this, and that's saying a lot for me. I

don't know how to respond to you, Mike. Lordy,

lordy, let's move on. Well in our last episode

we got our first two films of the entire countdown

from the 60s and now we will have our first film

of the entire countdown from the 50s. Number

37 is Disney's Lady and the Tramp. 793 points

on 15 lists. Nobody ranked it higher than 17

so nobody had it in their top 15 but it comes

in here at number 37. The first Disney film of

the day Dan. How do we feel about Lady and the

Tramp? I'm just glad it's on a Disney film for

the last 10 years, so that makes me happy. I

think we ran out of those. I think so. I don't

think. Maybe one plane didn't make it, so who

knows? That can still come up. That film does

not exist. Lady and the Tramp. I mean, there

are a few scenes more iconic than that of that

classic dinner scene. I mean, it's been parodied

how many times. I remember as a kid being freaked

out by Siamese cats, and to this day, still not

a fan. Right there with you. I'm just looking

at the high ranker who, you know, who's my sister

who does the blogs, game blogs. I'm not surprised

because this is my dad's favorite Disney movie.

So we watched it a lot as a kid. So I think it

is. I'm not sure where people put it in the echelon

of Disney. You know, I don't it's not really

as high as some of the greatest, but I do enjoy

it. I think it's a strong, fun movie. Cool characters.

And, you know, got to love a tramp. Steve, you

don't usually like the animal character films.

What are your feelings on Lady and the Tramp?

Again, it's pretty much the same kind of consensus

there. I know my wife particularly likes it or

liked it as a kid. But I would probably rather

watch this than 101 Dalmatians or something like

that just because I like the... the vibrant colors

and everything else in that. But again, it's

not, I don't, I don't think I'd go out of my

way to seek it out. And I also kind of ranked

it towards the tail end of my hundred, but yeah,

it's, it's, I mean, I can see, I can see it being

on the list. I don't know if it's better than

some other films that have already been on the

list, but. I personally wouldn't put it in my

top 10 Disney films. I definitely have at least

10 others that I like higher, you know, more

than it. But I would put it in our top 50 somewhere.

I think that's justified. Mike, what are your

thoughts on it? The funny thing is I remember

as a kid this was, I don't know, it seemed to

me that this was the first one I ever saw from

Disney. I mean, as a little kid, like, you know,

5, 6, 7, 8 years old. But no, Dan's right. That

dinner scene has always been parodied, and just

the story is really, really interesting. The

animation, the fact that two cats and a rat can

be villains without having to be talking chefs.

You just have a serious problem with Ratatouille.

Yes, I do. That's disgusting as all hell. But

anyway, Lady and the Tramp, the characters are

well thought out. The moments are very well spaced

as far as the emotional moments and what happens

in the film. There are times when watching that

movie where I feel like, oh my god. this is going

to never end because there's a part in that middle

where I think it's more so when the passage of

time happens as Darling is pregnant or whatever

else and the calendar goes by and you hear this

monologue from Lady and it's like, oh man, is

this slow. But other than that, in general, I

really do enjoy the film. Neil, your first chance

to react to a Disney movie on our countdown.

What are your thoughts? This is very middle -of

-the -road Disney for me, which is to say it's

above average in terms of most animated films.

It's been about 10 years since I've seen it.

It's a really gorgeous movie that... Yeah, the

restaurant scene has been parodied a number of

times. I'm trying to remember how many times

I've actually seen live -action people do the

meatball roll with the nose. I have no problem

with it being where it is. I scored it about

midway through my list, I think around 55 or

something like that. So it's a little higher

than I had it. And the first Disney film of the

day. We'll see how many more we will see. 36.

All right, for number 36, we visit somewhere

where we already have been once today. That is

a Don Bluth film. For number 36, we're going

to 1988 for the film Land Before Time, the first

one. Our first film to break the 800 -point barrier.

It's at 814 points. It was on 14 people's lists.

I was the highest ranker for this film. I actually

had it number four on my own personal list. So

let the hate begin about people questioning me.

But I absolutely love Land Before Time. I don't

know if it hit me at the right time as far as

age wise goes, but for multiple reasons, I rank

this one high. Number one, for how much I enjoyed

it as a kid, how much I've seen other kids in

later years still enjoy it, regardless of what.

uh time they were born um the impact it had as

far as obviously and you can rip on the gazillion

sequels as many times as you want to the fact

is they exist they were bought this started that

trend so i mean it should score some points for

the impact of that regardless of how bad or good

those films are um but yeah i just i i like the

original land before time i actually had land

before time two also on my list none of the other

ones but those two um So I will let people rip

into me. Dan, go ahead, as far as Land Before

Time being in our top 40. I think it's fine.

I mean, if you just look at the sheer massive

success that franchise has been, I think you

can legitimately say it belongs in the top 40.

Not that financial success means quality, but

I think that the Land Before Time, the original,

was definitely a good movie. Much more improved

than its... you know, the films that followed

it. This movie hit me just at the right spot

as a kid because it was right as I was getting

into dinosaurs. It's like all kids do. And so

it's the one that was similar to Neil mentioned

with Secret of Nimbun. He wore out the VHS. I

was similar with Land Before Time. I think I

referred to dinosaurs, you know, by long necks

and, you know, sharp teeth and stuff like that

for years, even after I learned their proper

names just because of this movie. So, yeah, I

too was, I mean, this, I think Land Before Time.

time. It is a huge part of my childhood, so I

can't disagree. I don't know if I'd want to get

as high as you, Kev, but I don't have as big

an issue as some others might, I'm sure. Mike,

what are your thoughts on Land Before Time? I

don't have an issue with the first two films.

I have an issue with the money -grubbing people

at Disney after the first two films. I mean,

it's like nowadays when they release the ninth

ice age movie or the ninth uh you know whatever

film um the first two films are are absolutely

amazing and dan's right at the time when we were

young you know in in the mid to late 80s this

came at a perfect time for anyone that was you

know still into dinosaurs and and that was great

i remember with this i had um I usually, it's

always been weird with my childhood. I've had

choices, and I usually go one way or the other.

Like, for Transformers vs. G .I. Joe, those two

cartoons, I went Transformers. And as a kid,

I saw maybe three episodes of G .I. Joe. Since

then, I've seen the whole series. But with Land

Before Time, what went up against it for me was

Ferngully. And I always like watching Fern Gully

more than I did Land Before Time. I enjoy Land

Before Time. It's a great film. And Dan's right

about the dinosaur names and all that stuff.

I just think afterwards that the characters and

the story went downhill after the second film.

People will go to no lengths to hate on Disney,

even when they're not involved. What? You said

Disney. Oh, well. Whatever. Sorry, I had to correct

it so that people don't yell at us. Steve, your

thoughts on Land Before Time? I'm not too familiar

with the franchise. I mean, I've seen a couple

here or there. Can't really differentiate between

them because they all look the same to me, just

because they've had so many of them. It's like

the past era's version of Ice Age has already

been mentioned. No, I mean, I don't have a problem

with the first one being on there. Usually the

first one of any of these franchises that end

up being money grubbers later on, usually the

first one or maybe the second one are good. But

beyond that, it just gets annoying. No, I mean,

I don't have a problem with the first one showing

up. I don't, like I said, remember very much

about it, but I remember that it's... The beginning,

it's decent enough. It's that the longer these

things go, the more they get far -fetched and

stupid. I think one thing that kind of hit home

for me with Land Before Time, it wasn't one of

those films that I confused for a Disney film.

It wasn't like an Anastasia or something that

kind of looked like Disney film, and I was confused

as a kid. It wasn't anything like that. I knew

it was something different. And the other thing

was, to me... Usually stuff that wasn't Disney

seemed to fall flat for me, but this one didn't.

Even the music throughout this franchise has

been pretty decent as far as if we're trying

to write songs for an earlier child audience,

etc. I think they do a decent job with the music

throughout this series. Not as good as Disney

has done with music over the years, of course,

but it's not terrible. So I don't know. To me,

it was something that was unique at the time.

I don't know if it was the dinosaurs like Dan

was talking about, if it was my age or what it

was, but it really resonated with me. Neil, what

do you think about this one? I love this film.

Again, this is one I put around 55, and so it's

a little higher than what I had it. But it's

a good film. It's in a good spot. I love the

animation. It doesn't pull its punches. It's

kind of a scary film in some spots. In fact,

they had some of the scenes removed. It's actually

on my top ten list of extended length movies

that unfortunately have been lost. I would love

to go back in time and see them the way they

were intended to be. What else about this movie?

Oh yeah, the sequels. This movie and its sequels...

It's like night and day. Not only is the animation

much better, but the kids don't sing in this

movie. There is one song, but it's by a professional

singer, and that is merciful. The singing in

the later films is not very good. But, yeah,

it's in a good spot. Anyone else thoughts on

the mega franchise Land Before Time before we

move on to number 35? All right, well, let's

see what we have next. 35. Well, we've already

seen Dan's number one fall and one of our contributors'

number one fall. We're going to see actually

two people had the next one ranked number one.

So two people go down in one film here at our

number 35 spot. It's also our... unique as this.

It's our second anime already of the day's countdown

here. Number 35 is 1988 and we've already had

it mentioned once today. I know what it is. That

would be Akira. Double D from Twig had it ranked

number one. Rotten Tomatoes scored 87. It was

only on 10 people's list, so those 10 people

really did rank it very high for it to get all

the way up to number 35 with 816 points. Neil,

why don't you start us off this time with your

thoughts on Akira as it stacks up as an anime

film and coming in number 35 here on our list.

Well, I didn't rank it. It's a very competently

made film. I think it's a well -animated film.

It's dipping into the subject matter that I didn't

really care for, but it's okay. It's been a while

since I've seen it, so I don't really know what

else to say other than it's kind of weird, and

it goes in directions that you don't see coming.

The giant blobby thing that... Was it Tetsuo?

Yeah, it was Tetsuo who turned into a giant blob.

Sorry if I spoiled it for people. Any other thoughts?

Well, I mean, I do find it interesting that it's

our third film today so far from 1988 with Grave

of the Fireflies and Land Before Time. Apparently

a decent year in animation, I guess, as we look

back. Dan, have you seen Akira? Yes, I have.

And I think I remember as a kid, I think a lot

of people my age, Akira, when they think anime,

a lot of people think. akira for whatever reason

um may not i mean not saying that it's the best

enemy ever i'm not indicating that out based

off my list you can you can see that but i just

remember as a kid seeing all those late night

commercials about like you know ordering akira

offline like i don't think you could even go

into the store you had to call like a 189 1900

number or something to order it but um but one

thing you can say about akira though is that

you you see its influence today in A lot of films,

like a lot of current directors, I think, who

were, you know, being into anime during the 90s,

early 2000s, who are now making movies are directly

influenced by a movie like Akira. And I think

that says a lot. Like if you look at something

like Chronicle or even Rian Johnson's Looper,

both have been very evident that they have taken

influences from Akira and its use of telekinesis

and those different aspects. Some of those set

pieces in animation, I think, are fantastic.

Does everything always make sense? Not necessarily.

Things kind of happen, and then, I don't know,

there's not necessarily always great reasoning

for it. But when I watched it, I actually watched

it in preparation for this less than too long

ago. And, again, not as a huge anime fan, but

I was enthralled by it. I did enjoy the story.

I thought the animation even nearly... you know

25 years later still holds up today much better

than a lot of animation during that time so i

think it's well deserving and i'm just hearing

the comments now that it's not higher being written

on the boards as people screaming at us but hey

um i just know there's there's a rabid fan base

out there for a cure as we see two people named

uh ranked at number one so i'm sure we'll we'll

hear them very very be very vocal it's in our

top 35 people give us a break All right, with

our next one, we're going to do something we

haven't done yet. Actually, two things we haven't

done yet in today's countdown, so we'll have

to see what those are. 34. That's right, number

34 is taking us to places we have not been yet

today. DreamWorks and in the decade of the 2000s.

And when I say that, as always, I mean anything

after 2000, even though we're in our second decade.

Anyway, number 34, we're going to DreamWorks

from 2010. And the film is How to Train Your

Dragon. 819 points. It was on 14 lists. Nobody

ranked this in the top 20, so a majority of those

14 people must have been ranking it somewhere

around the 40 range. So it comes in at number

34. Our first film from post -2000, 98 Rotten

Tomatoes score. Is this one deserving to be in

our top 35, Dan? Definitely. I think it's DreamWorks'

by far their best movie. It's one that I dismissed,

I think. early on just because i saw the dream

when baronet and that's by the time this came

out shrek was on like its 18th film and they

were just kind of going crazy now wait a second

here you cannot throw shrek under the land before

time bus because it's only had four films give

it time michael michael myers needs a new house

that's gonna be the quote of this episode michael

myers needs a new um but anyways regarding how

to train your dragon it's one if i wasn't showing

had to drive and i probably would have come to

very late on but when i saw it i was completely

impressed it's one of the biggest surprises i

think i've seen recently just because i didn't

think be much of anything and it's a great story

i just the flying sequences in that are just

fantastic they're so well done i really wish

i saw this in 3d because i've heard so many amazing

things about how well rendered in 3D, I didn't

have the opportunity. But also, a huge part of

what makes How to Train Your Dragon work is the

amazing score. It is a score that is so grandiose,

and it elevates How to Train Your Dragon to heights

that may otherwise not have been possible. I

believe it wasn't even nominated for best score

that year at the Oscars, which does not happen

to, I don't know if that even happened to a DreamWorks

show before that. So definitely deserving of

top 40, no doubt. It also had a pretty decent

spinoff TV series. Neil, your thoughts on a 2010

film coming in here in our top 35, How to Train

Your Dragon? I think it's in a good spot. I had

it ranked, I think, somewhere in the 70s. I liked

it. I agree with a lot of what Dan just said,

but I had to look at the window. Like I said,

I didn't have it ranked very high, but it's a

good movie. I think it's in a good spot. Mike,

your thoughts on How to Train Your Dragon? I

avoided this movie like the plague when I first

heard about it because it's all fanboys and fangirls

could talk about it. Ooh, dragons. Ooh, dragons.

Let's go see it because it is fucking dragons.

I avoided it like the plague, and I recently

watched it for season two of Tooncast Beyond,

and I really enjoyed it. My only, you know, you

mentioned the quote -unquote okay TV series,

Kev. I hate that TV series because it basically

ruins Saturday morning superhero cartoons because

that's all Cartoon Network wanted to promote

was How to Train Your Dragon. So that makes the

series bad? Shut up. Yes, it does. When you cancel

upcoming programs that's supposed to happen just

to promote a new show, that's ridiculous. It

just makes Cartoon Network bad, not the actual

cartoon. Thank you. Still. But the film itself,

I did really enjoy the film. I enjoyed the story.

I enjoyed the characters. The animation is, as

Dan said by far, probably the best animation

DreamWorks has ever done. And having it in the

30s, I agree with that. I don't think it should

be any lower or higher. Steve, thoughts on How

to Train Your Dragon? Coming in number 34. I

don't have a problem with it. I would say this

is around the time where the turning point for

DreamWorks, they started actually doing halfway

decent stuff. It's like the animation, and it's

much better than a lot of their other stuff.

And I pretty much agree with everything everybody

else has said up to this point. I mean, there's

not much to really criticize as far as this film's

concerned. So we've had two people say that this

is possibly the best animation that DreamWorks

has had to offer. Dan, is this our final DreamWorks

selection in our countdown? Definitely not. I

think we all can realize there's one more DreamWorks

movie that's sure to show its ugly head anytime

soon. All right. Well, we'll see what comes up

next then. Well, I mentioned that we've had three

1988 films up to this point, but one year does

not want to be outdone by 1988, and that year

is 2010. Back -to -back 2010 entries in our countdown,

with number 33 coming in with Despicable Me.

It was on 13 lists. Hey, about close to about

40 more points than How to Train Your Dragon

on our spot here. As highly ranked as number

three on Steve's list. So we'll start with Steve

from Illumination. Despicable Me coming in right

next to How to Train Your Dragon. They both came

out in 2010. What are your thoughts on that,

Steve? I think that this film was really good.

I like the difference. I like the animation first,

and then I like a lot of the voice acting in

it. as well as the goofy tones of the minions

in this film. But it also kind of goes beyond

that typical, oh, I'm a villain, blah, blah,

blah. He's kind of a bumbling villain to some

degree, and then he has the old guy. I mean,

it's an entertaining movie for adults as well

as children. And it's, I don't know, it's just

a good fun movie. I can definitely see why it's

where it's at. I think it kind of covers a lot

of the recent years of animation and kind of

puts everything to a higher standard. Dan, is

it telling that, you know, we were talking in

the previous episodes about how many uh disney

films we were seeing from the 90s and the 2000s

and that you know we've probably seen all that

we can see from them um is it telling that the

the movies that are coming in the top 40 from

that decade are non -disney films um well i guess

it is somewhat telling i think disney kind of

took a back seat to pick in the last 15 years

or so. Though I think there might be one or two

Disney movies from this last decade that might

still come up. But I do think for a while, Disney

was not that powerhouse of animation. They went

away from their classic animation. And what they

were putting out seemed kind of lesser than most

of the other stuff. Stuff like Brother Bear,

stuff like other animated movies that were just...

kind of middle of the road. They needed to rediscover

themselves. And I think we're kind of seeing

that now as we're, you know, stuff with Wreck

-It Ralph and other movies. And it seems like

Frozen that's coming later this year is getting

some good reviews. I think we may be in a little

bit of a Disney renaissance here, possibly. But

I think it does say a lot about this last 10

years that, you know, so far we're getting to

the nitty gritty and we're only seeing really

classic Disney at this point. And what are your

thoughts on Despicable Me coming in at 33 right

next to How to Train Your Dragon? I do think

How to Train Your Dragon is a better movie. I

don't dislike Despicable Me at all, but I don't

think I love it nearly as most people. Even though

it has a lot of people I like, I love Steve Carell.

I'm a huge Office fan and other people that are

in that. But I don't know. I just enjoyed it.

I like the minions. I like how they're very reminiscent

of everything from Three Stooges to silent films

like Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton. And they

do a lot of... you know interesting homages to

those movies and i love how you know the characters

and it's very to me like it the thing that i

always felt like that movie was very similar

to was something of you know um how this you

know grinch stole christmas where you get this

villain who warms his heart by these little kids

but the little kids are very cute there's no

denying um but i don't know i don't i don't know

if i'd put it up this high honestly i think it's

deserving of top 50 but I don't want to put it

in the top 40 or 33. I think for me, it's a couple

of things from, you know, we've talked about

the voice acting a little bit, but it's not just

the voice acting. It's the pairing of the voice

acting with the dialogue that was written. It's

just so many quotable lines from this film. And

I mean, I went and saw this with a girl I was

dating at the time. And, you know, we're both

way past, you know, the age where you go see

animated films and whatnot in the theater, it

seems like. But we saw it. And I mean, that's

all we could talk about for like weeks. And we

were still quoting it like months later. One,

that, and two, like you said, the minions. I

mean, there's nobody from this generation that's

not going to know what the minions are as far

as this generation of kids. I mean, this movie

created and introduced us to a character, quote

-unquote, that is going to be iconic for an entire

generation probably, as I see it. Neil, hate

or love Despicable Me? Well, I saw this with

my sister's kids, which means that I practically

didn't see it. I laughed at it. I mean, it had

some funny spots in it, but I need to see it

again. At the time that we did this list, I had

not seen it at all, so I didn't rank it. I couldn't

put it anywhere. So that's pretty much all I

have to say about it. It looks cute. Mike, I

know you've seen this one, and I know you're

a big fan of the sequel, even though this one

is light years ahead of the sequel, even though

I like them both. This one's way better. But

what's your thoughts on Despicable Me? Should

it be 33? The other Steve in the room knows that

I avoided this like the plague simply because

of the main casting of Steve Carell. I hate that

guy in anything he does except for this franchise.

The character of Gru is very, very cool. The

minions are awesome. I look at the Despicable

Me films as a whole story. That's why I really

enjoyed the second one to see what was going

to happen next after this one. But the whole

fact that a villain has basically lost his luster

and basically, as you guys said, come to fall

in love with these three girls and not want to

be a villain anymore. He's still going to be

bad, but he's not going to be an outright villain.

I absolutely love the story, the animation, even

the music. Even though I'm not a... Pharrell

fan. Pharrell Williams fan. I do like the music

in this. And honestly, what makes this movie

so good is all of the individual characters of

the Minions. It's not just... It's a set of characters.

It's not just one character. And it's just an

awesome, awesome movie. I think having it top

40 here... Should it be above How to Train Your

Dragon in just ranking animation style alone?

Probably not. But overall, I enjoyed this more

than I did How to Train Your Dragon. Well, and

I think that's a debate that maybe people will

have on the website too, especially with it coming

right next to each other, the two 2010 films.

I'm sure we'll have a lot in one camp and a lot

in the other. So I'll just see how people weigh

in on that. Up next, though, I think it is possibly

the biggest time travel moment of the entire

countdown. Coming up next. I have not examined

the list to see if this is for sure, but I'm

pretty sure we have not gone from one film to

another and had a 70 -year time span elapse.

But that's what we're doing here with number

32. We're going from 2010. all the way to 1940

for the first film from the 40s to make our list.

It's number 32. It's obviously from Disney. And

that film is... Anybody? That film is Pinocchio.

Yes. So it was on 16 lists. That's the most that

we've seen so far. No film has been on more than

16 lists up to this point. 858 points. It was...

Interestingly enough, Rotten Tomatoes has a 100

score right now. We have not seen too many 100s.

We've seen a few over the course of the countdown.

Early on, I believe some of the DC films got

100s and maybe one anime film. So this is a rare

thing for a Rotten Tomatoes 100 score. Neil,

you had this all the way up at number 2. So we'll

start with you. It's coming in at number 32.

Is that upsetting to you? A little. This was

back when Disney... You can bleep this out, but

this was back when Disney had balls. I love this

movie because it's very well animated, but it's

also kind of scary. I was really freaked out

the first time I saw the donkey scene. That's

very disturbing. Yeah, it's very disturbing.

And the whale is scary. I love movies that just

scare the hell out of you. I thought that this

was one of Disney's best, and it was one of the

very first ones. I put it up at number two. I

love this film. Dan, your thoughts on Pinocchio?

Does it deserve to be number 32, and how does

it stack up in the world of Disney? I think it

probably definitely deserves to be higher. in

the world of disney in the echelon of disney

in that world category and you know in the top

of the top when you think disney there are a

few films you think of i think pinocchio is for

sure that list just in its you know how big of

an icon it is i mean i think a lot of people

don't even realize pinocchio wasn't just a disney

movie i think people just don't realize it was

a story before that they just assume it was made

by disney um because of just how much this is

part of, again, one of those movies that I think

everyone watches as a kid. And like Neil mentioned,

scary as hell. I mean, this is back when, you

know, I guess artists really like to freak kids

out. They must have got off on it or something.

I'm not sure. But there's some really scary moments,

even the moment with the whale near the end.

But again, a lot of great characters. Pinocchio,

Jimmy Cricket. he how big of an icon he became

when disney outside of this movie you know he

became like a in a way as like a mini spokesperson

for them and you see him pop up all over the

place in disney um and two in animation amazing

in fact this is made in 1970 and you meant or

not 1970 but made nearly 70 70 years ago i mean

he talked about time travel i was hoping he would

go to the future but i guess not um but but you

look at the animation made 70 years ago and Just

realize how well it holds up and how fluid it

still is and how it still feels like it could

have been made, you know, a few years ago. I

mean, that's impressive. And that's what made

Disney what it is today. It's a movie like Pinocchio

that without Pinocchio, without some of its classic

films, Disney isn't the powerhouse it is. I think

it'll be interesting to see as far as, I guess,

if you're trying to classify Disney classic films,

how they rank up against each other and which

ones we see, which ones we don't see, etc. I

think it's kind of a double -edged sword with

having all those kind of freaky moments that

scare the crap out of you, like Neil was talking

about. Because for me, it almost makes me not

rank it as high just because, I don't know, maybe

I'm a... I don't know. But yeah, it did definitely

have some moments that would freak you out. Mike,

you and I have talked Disney films a lot in the

past. What are your thoughts on Pinocchio at

32? It's okay. I think it needs to be way lower.

I mean, yeah. I don't remember what you and I

said on ToonCast Classic Episode 81, but I know

we tore this film to shreds. At least I remember

I did. I remember I did. When I watched this

back, and this was at least two years ago, I

didn't care for it as an adult, but I agree with

Dan and I agree with Neil that it is a very kind

of... horror animated Disney film before Jack

Skellington was ever thought of. And I don't

know. I guess this is me as an adult thinking.

I guess my suspension of disbelief is only gone

so far where I can believe in a world where we

could have giant robots fighting each other but

I cannot believe a fairy can bring a wooden boy

to life. I don't know. And then Let's not even

start on the nose jokes. Let's just not even

go there. What if that fairy was powered by Energon?

Would that be okay? No. I'd kill it. Yeah, there

you go. I think we need to have a whole other

podcast on the powers of fairies and what they

can and can't do and what's believable and not

believable. Steve, we haven't got your thoughts

on the Disney film yet, so what do you think

about Pinocchio? I kind of agree with everything

everybody's already said. even combining what

Mike said. The other reason I, and the other

thing I have to say about it, adding in addition,

is the reason that this film kind of had balls

is because Walt Disney himself produced it. That's

all I have to say. That's a good point. I don't

know. Like I said, I think it's going to be interesting

to see as far as I don't know what we consider

classic Disney at what year we cut it off. But

to see how especially those earlier ones stack

up against each other and how people kind of

discriminate between them. I don't know. It'll

be interesting. Let's see where we go. I mean,

we just went 70 years to get here. Let's see

where we go from here. It's not quite as long

a ride as we had getting to number 32 because

we're only going to travel two years away, which

is weird because every time you're in the 40s,

you expect to have a long -distance travel. But

we're only going two years into the future to

1942, which obviously means we're staying with

Disney. And let's see if people's knowledge of

1942 is better than their knowledge of 1940.

Which movie was 1942 Disney? Who said Lion King?

What the hell? 1942 would have brought us Bambi.

So number 31 is Bambi. It was on 15 lists, 877

points. 91 Rotten Tomatoes score is highly ranked

as number three. So Bambi, I mean, it's kind

of weird how this is working out. We had two

2010 films back -to -back with How to Train Your

Dragon and Despicable Me. Now we have Pinocchio

next to Bambi. So how do they compare with each

other? Does Bambi deserve to be in our top 40,

Dan? I say so. I mean, too, it's one of those

rites of passage. Sometimes the first death people

see on screen is that of Bambi's mother getting

killed. Spoiler alert, I'm sorry. That was hilarious.

His mom dies? Well, I mean, for Christ's sake,

this thing happened over 60, 70 years ago, so

you should know by now. Yeah. But it's funny.

I do think it deserves. I do think Pinocchio

is probably a better overall movie. I just think

the animation is stronger and the story, I think,

is far more richer. And just the relationship

between the characters are like Geppetto and

Pinocchio is something more there than Bambi.

Not that Bambi is a bad movie, but again, it's

one of those classic Disney movies. Similarly,

it's hard to rank those classic. disney movies

to me in some ways just because they're just

so ingrained into your childhood that they're

like ranking you know bedtime stories just to

something you just assume it's the way it's supposed

to be so it's hard to differentiate them but

um i don't know i i do think it's deserving here

and you know bambi it's that wimpy deer that

we're all aware of I think it's one thing for

me that's similar with both of these films, Pinocchio

and Bambi, is these are two films where I don't

think the star is the title character, at least

not for me. It's not the one that I was drawn

to as much. It's not the one that I enjoyed watching

as much. I would have rather watched, I like

the Jiminy Cricket moments of Pinocchio the best.

I like the, you know. Thumper and some of the

other side characters in Bambi a little bit more.

So it was weird for me at the time because I

didn't relate as much to the actual title characters.

Maybe I'm alone in that, though. Anyone else

want to jump in on Bambi? I can see why it's

on the list, just because it's a classic and

it's one of those rite of passage things, but

I personally don't care for it. It's on my list

because, I mean, regardless, it still needs to

be there, but I don't personally care for it.

I agree with Kev. This film and Pinocchio were

more so about the side characters of anything

else. With Bambi, the only thing, I have not

seen this movie since I was a kid, so at least

I would say maybe 25 years. No, shut up. At least

25 years since it's been since I've seen this,

but... You weren't alive in 1942? The only thing

I can remember about this is, oh, his mother

got shot. And I'm sorry, the first on -screen

death I ever really experienced was Optimus Prime

getting killed. To hell with Bambi. And really

the best parody that was ever done of this was

Bambi's mom from Animaniacs. Neil, your thoughts

on Bambi? Again, early Disney traumatizing kids.

Exactly. I think this one's a little more traumatizing

than even Optimus Prime dying. I saw this when

I was four at a drive -in, and I must have been

a little older than that because I actually remember

it, but my reaction was, did Bambi's mom die?

You know, how all kids react to that because

it's heartbreaking. It's wrapped up in this nice

little Disney bow, so you don't expect it. Yeah,

it's a sucker punch. It's the seat of Disney.

I think it's the only thing that anyone remembers

about this film, really. It is a good film, it's

just that that one scene just totally steals

it. It's a good spot for it, I think. Alright,

well, we are halfway through our... Films today,

which means that from here on out we're moving

into top 30 range. So the argument can now be,

is it deserving to be in our top 30? We'll see

how we start that. For number 30, we have a third

appearance by a certain company. And we're going

to go away from the 1940s for a little while

here. We're going to go all the way back to the

80s. 1986, number 30, another Don Bluth film.

And this time... It is An American Tail. It was

on 14 spots, just under the 900 -point mark.

I was the highest ranker of this. Apparently,

I'm a Bluth fan because I had Land Before Time

ranked higher than anybody else, and I had American

Tail ranked higher than anybody else. I had it

ranked number five. So, again, opened myself

up for the critics. Number 30, An American Tail.

Dan, your thoughts on this, and is this the final

Don Bluth film we see? I would... I'm going to

throw it out there and say yes, but like most

things, I'm probably going to be wrong. We talked

way back when we talked about Five O 'Gloves

West, I think I mentioned that I always gravitated

towards that one more than American Tail. I don't

know, just as a kid, just something about it

just seemed dry to me. I just couldn't get invested

in it. It's been a while since I've seen it.

I mean, I do remember it being a huge deal at

the time, but I don't know. I can't really just

give a valid... opinion if it should be this

high or not since it's been years since i've

really partaked in american tale mike have you

seen this film in the last uh what was it 25

years no no what have you ever seen this film

yes i've seen both of i've seen the original

and five goes west i just i don't remember them

these are not films that i go back to at all

and it's well I don't know if Neil would have

as much of a problem with this, but I'm sorry.

The only blue film I ever watch is Titan A .E.

So you saw this film when you were one or two?

I'm 33, you idiot. I mean, it only came out in

86, so anyway. Yes, it came out in 86, and I

probably saw it when I was eight in 1988. You

talk about you're the math genius of the network.

Holy crap. No, I do not claim that ever. An American

tale. Thoughts on it. Let's go to Neil. I like

how Mike just said that he saw both films, thus

implying that the third and fourth ones don't

exist. And I'll stand by that. I'll stand by

that. This is a good film. It's been a while

since I've seen it. But you know what? I would

love to. I would love. if the listeners out there

would do an aggregate of which actors have been

in the most movies on our list because my money

is going to be Frank Welker number one and Dom

DeLuise number two because he's in every single

one of these Don Bluth movies. Pretty much. Neil,

how do you feel about American Tail in comparison

to the other ones we've had on today's countdown

which would be Secret of NIMH and Land Before

Time? As far as... Don Bluth films, they're all

very similar to me. I don't know what I think

about them ranking against each other that much.

I think I would put Land Before Time above this,

I think. Just because I think Land Before Time

is kind of a... I'm probably contradicting my

own list. I think Land Before Time is a pretty

cute film. It's got the dinosaur scare of...

Tyrannosaur chase. I don't like gory films, but

I do like scary moments in films. That film is

just a little bit higher for me than this one.

Steve, what do you think about it? Have you seen

American Tail? No, I actually have not. Alright,

put it on your list. No, I'm just kidding. Anybody

else have any thoughts on American Tail or Don

Bluth films in general? Mike, anything else?

No. All right, well, that's the first film of

the top 30. Let's see where we go from here.

29. We are jumping around time like a yo -yo

here. From 1986, let's get all the way back into

the 50s. I guess we all kind of expected some

more jumping around as far as the years go since

we had not been past 1970 up until last episode.

Number 1929, we're going to 1951. And the Disney

film there is Alice in Wonderland. First film

to break the 900 -point mark. It's on 15 of the

20 lists. It was as highly ranked as number two

on one of our contributors' lists. Alice in Wonderland

coming in a few spots higher than both Pinocchio

and Bambi. And our third Disney film here in

four spots. Dan, your thoughts on Alice in Wonderland?

Well, you talked about like when does classic

Disney stop and I'm not sure when it stops But

I do think like if you look at Alice in Wonderland

compared to something like Pinocchio there is

clearly a huge difference there for just from

when I could remember just in the style and The

overall presentation of the animation. I mean

Alice in Wonderland again a classic story done

by Disney, and it's certainly Disney -fied, but

it's done well. Seems to be a theme this episode,

but I remember being freaked out by some of the

characters in this movie, similar to that of

Pinocchio and other old Disney movies. But yeah,

I mean, I guess the worst thing you can say about

Alice in Wonderland is that it may have propelled

Burton to make that horrible movie about it,

but this classic Disney... animated movie is

you know certainly great but i think i would

probably put the other disney classics like pinocchio

and uh bambi probably a little bit ahead of this

for me for me i'm pretty sure i would have to

go back i guess and really inspect my list i'm

pretty sure i had uh alice in wonderland a little

bit higher than the ones that we've talked about

um yeah i did i just checked um and the reason

being for me alice in wonderland is I mean, I

know all Disney films are Disney films, etc.,

but Alice in Wonderland, to me, was just different.

It was not... In my mind, it was not your typical

Disney film. I mean, it was just all over the

place, but not to the point where you had to

feel like, and I don't know, I've never done

drugs, but not to the point where you had to

feel like you were on acid to enjoy it like some

other versions of Alice in Wonderland that have

come out throughout the years. But it was unique.

It was something different, something I hadn't

seen at that point in my life when I saw that

in comparison to stuff like we're talking about

with Pinocchio, Bambi, and a few of the others.

So I appreciate it for that. I did not like this

as much as a kid. This is not a film I enjoyed.

If you were to ask my 10 -year -old self what

my favorite Disney film, I would never say Alice

in Wonderland. But I've grown to like it more

and more over the years. A lot of good songs

in there. So I definitely have no problem with

Alice in Wonderland being one of the Disney films

in our top 30. Mike, your thoughts on Alice in

Wonderland? This was recently added to Netflix,

and I recently re -watched it. I had seen it.

A couple of years ago, when we first did the

Disney Spotlight on ToonCast classic. Actually,

it was three years ago. And I'm just going back

and looking at the post on the website. Holy

crap. This is Disney's trippiest movie they've

ever done. It really is. Huh? You said you got

that right. And Pinocchio's right behind it.

Really? Well, no, no, no. I'm sorry. This is

more trippy than Pinocchio. I agree, Pinocchio

is trippy, but this is straight up like, are

these producers on drugs? Seriously. Because

every single one of these characters, one of

them is even smoking. It just, oh my god. I like

the film when you don't analyze it, but when

you look at it in an analytical way, it's like,

oh my god, how did they get this past standards

and foreign practices? Board of Standards and

Practices. I just don't like, you know, and I

know Neil doesn't like this show as much as Animaniacs,

but, you know, in the opening of Tiny Toon Adventures,

they always say they're going to crack the censors.

This probably had the MMPA running, screaming

away from it. That's before they existed, so.

Yeah, that's the reason they do exist. Still,

it's like, oh, my God. I like the movie. I like

the movie for two characters. Well, three, actually.

The Mad Hatter and the March Hare. And the cards.

The mellow men, the guys that were singing. They

were all the voices of the cards. Oh, okay. Looking

at this film nowadays, I can't believe anybody

would show this to a young girl because, holy

crap, young girls should never do anything that

Alice do. She is not a good role model at all.

Steve, your thoughts on Alice in Wonderland?

While I can see its iconicness, I hate it. And

it's trippy as all hell to kind of match up with

all the different drugs that are being used in

the film. I don't know. It's one of those weird

films. I understand it's a classic and everything

else, and it's somewhat Disney -fied, but I think

it's crap. All right. Strong words about Alice

in Wonderland. Neil, better or worse than...

Pinocchio and Bambi? I don't think it deserves

to be higher than Pinocchio. Maybe around the

same range as Bambi. I don't know. This movie,

I do believe that Lewis Carroll was on drugs

when he wrote this. That's the only possible

explanation. It's just such a weird Disney movie.

It wasn't topped until many years later with

The Black Cauldron, which I think was even trippier.

This movie, I don't see it as being above the

other Disney films. I think Pinocchio was much

better than this. But I do still like it. Yeah,

I'd put it in the 50s, I think. Okay. So the

Disney films are starting to fall one by one.

We'll see how many more we see fall before we

get to the end of the episode. All right, let's

keep the Disney train moving here in number 28,

but let's go to a different decade this time.

We've been to the 40s, we've been to the 50s.

Why not make a stop in the 70s? Number 28, 1973's

Robin Hood. Beating Alice in Wonderland by one

point. It was on 16 lists. Again, we have not

seen a film that has been on more than 16 lists.

I was the highest ranker. I ranked it in my top

10. I knew I was going to be alone in that. This

is one of my all -time favorite Disney films.

I think the music is completely underrated in

this film compared to a lot of the other Disney

films. I think it has some great music in here,

some great characters on both the bad side and

the good side. I would just say a lot of good

things about it, so that would be boring, I guess.

So maybe someone else can bring me back to Earth.

I am very happy that it's ahead of the other

Disney films we've just recently been talking

about. Number 28's fine with me. I know most

people are going to say it's too high. Dan, thoughts

on Robin Hood? I would say it's a little too

high. I don't know. For Robin Hood, for me, it's

definitely a good movie. I wouldn't put it this

high. I think it's more... not middle of the

road disney maybe upper middle or something like

that not nearly as for me something as i go to

as strongly as pinocchio um or you know some

other classic disney uh i do i do think it's

solid like you said a lot of the music is really

well done um handles that uh classic you know

robin hood legend in an interesting way and robin

hood's been done time and time again, even by

the time this came out. And I think if you rank

the best Robin Hood movies ever made, I would

think that would, without a doubt, be included

within it. As a kid, it always confused me why

Robin Hood wasn't a Robin and he was a fox, but

I guess that's too on the nose, even for Disney.

But yeah, I don't know. A bird flying around

with a hood, that would have been hilarious.

He's a fox because he's very sly. I just like

getting a share of Nottingham character. There's

so many. I don't know. There's a lot of characters

to love, but I especially like the music in this

one. I think that's what tips it for me. I don't

want to cut you off, though, Dan, if you weren't

done with your thought. No, that's pretty much

it. Like I said, I don't dislike the movie. I

wouldn't put it nearly. I think this is a solid

top 50. When you get in the top 30, you're getting

into the best of the best. I just want to put

it there. Mike, agree or disagree? Oh, I agree.

Everything about this movie was just amazing.

It's very interesting how the character of the

Sheriff of Nottingham has gone through various

changes over the years in various versions. But,

yeah, no, this was one of the Disney films that

I could watch over and over and over again as

a kid. Neil, your thoughts on Robin Hood? Well,

I put it in the 40s, but I do like this film.

And it actually, it's the movie that I think

of when I think of one of my favorite eras of

Disney, which is the, I kind of call it the Xerox

era because all the animation cells kind of look

like they've been run through a Xerox machine.

It's kind of got that. weird, dirty artifact

look that I kind of like. Yeah, it's a bit higher

than where I would put it, but it's a good film.

Certainly deserves to be above Alice in Wonderland.

Well, I beat it by one point. Dan, what are your

thoughts on the string of Disney films that we're

seeing now? A lot of classic Disney films are

falling. I know we're fairly far... Fairly high

on the countdown, but we're seeing a rush of

Disney films so far today, which means that they're

obviously not going to be at the very top of

our list. What are your thoughts so far of what

is our fifth Disney film so far that we've seen?

One, two, three, four, five, six. Fifth Disney

film that we've seen so far. Well, I'm glad we're

seeing more mixture here with the years. We're

not just stuck in the last 20 years or so. I

think that's good. But I'm surprised they're

all coming in this large chunk because they're...

Are certain companies, like we mentioned, we

finally saw Pixar last week, and then suddenly

now they're silent again. So I wonder what's

going to happen there. And some of the Disney

movies I thought Classic Disney would maybe not

come up until next episode I'd wait on, but here

they are showing up. So I don't know. Very unpredictable.

Very unpredictable is a very good way to put

it. We'll see how many more Disney films we have

to go here. Let's move on to our next film. That's

right. We're staying Disney. Number 27. We're

going back. I mean, we've been in just about

every decade, it seems like, except for obviously

recent times. Number 27. We are going to go all

the way to 1941. So we're going way back here

for our third film from the 40s so far in this

episode. That film being none other than Disney's

Dumbo. And 923 .16 lists again. So we're getting

into that territory where it's hard for a film

to be on our countdown if it was left off of

more than four or five lists. 97 Rotten Tomatoes

score for Dumbo. So just under what Pinocchio

got with 100. and at 97. The highest ranked it

was amongst the 16 listed appeared on was number

two. So, you know, we've had 1940s Pinocchio,

1942 Bambi. We've had 1951 Alice in Wonderland.

Earlier on, we had 1955 Lady and the Tramp. Last

film, we had 1973 Robin Hood. Now we're at 1941

and Dumbo. How does it stack up against the rest

of these Disney films that I just mentioned?

Let's start with Mike. He works for Peanuts.

What? Come on. I've got to throw a Rocket Rabbit

reference in there at some point. Again, this

is another one of those movies that I saw it

as a kid, but I don't remember it. It's been

a very, very long time since I've seen this.

All right, fair enough. Neil, Dumbo? I like Dumbo.

I don't want to keep saying the same thing. It's

a good film. Well, with Alice in Wonderland,

we had a drug trippy movie. This one, we had

a drunk scene. Another one of those scenes that

I saw as a kid and really kind of didn't freak

me out, but I'm like, what the hell is going

on? You know? And was kind of not offended, but

aware of the The politically incorrect crows,

I'll say. It's a cute film. Every time I see

it, I just keep thinking, man, Disney's got to

shell out a movie to Warner Chapel for happy

birthday. This has to be one of the most expensive

movies for Disney to keep re -releasing, just

because of that. But I maybe would put it a little

higher. But it's a fun film. I like it. Me personally,

it doesn't have as many memorable things about

it. Like all these other Disney films, I think

of characters, I think of scenes, I think of

moments. And for some reason, Dumbo, I feel like

I maybe need to rewatch it a couple times or

something because it just doesn't have those

moments that really stick with me. So I would

not rank it as high as the rest of the Disney

films that we've mentioned so far today, but

maybe I'm alone in that. Dan, how do you see

Dumbo in comparison? Actually, I really, really

enjoyed Dumbo. I think it was in my top 10. And

we watched it recently because it came back on

Netflix before I handed my list in. And it's

surprising just how economical that movie is.

It's only about 65 minutes long. And I think

within that 65 minutes, it's very on point in

nearly every scene. And you mentioned not having

very memorable moments. And I think there are

a great few. You know, you have the classic flying

scene. You have a really great, strong moment.

We talked about, you know, Bambi's mother getting

killed and how that's a sad moment. Another really

sad moment in this is when Dumbo is going up

to her mom who's in the mad elephant cage and

she reaches her trunk out and you have that sad

music playing and she's rocking Dumbo back and

forth. It's a really small moment. Nothing's

really said, but it's very powerful for a Disney

movie at that time. Into it has everything, you

know, classic Disney would have, you know, you

have your characters, uh, memorable songs, uh,

moments like the pink elephant scene that freak

people out and racial stereotypes. So all the

things that make up classic Disney. Um, so I,

I do think it, I personally would put it, I think

27 is honestly too low. I probably would put

it higher, like I mentioned, but I might be a

little bit biased because there's something about

Dumbo that. appeals to me. Steve, you haven't

been a fan of most of the other Disney films

that we've been talking about just in these last

few picks. Interested to see what your opinion

of Dumbo is. I don't really have a good opinion

of it. I think it's something about this old

animation. It's not that I dislike necessarily

the story i mean it's partially that but it's

also the animation i for some reason i just i

can't get i can't get into it uh i mean again

i can i i don't have a problem with it showing

up on the list or where it's at or anything because

it is classic and it is um highly memorable uh

but it's again it's one of those type films,

I just can't stand it. Fair enough. Anybody else

that hasn't had a chance to say anything about

Dumbo that they want to get in? Alright, well

then we will have to see. Will the streak end?

Will the Disney stranglehold on our countdown

be loosened by anybody? We will see. And with

that, we have the first time Mike has been right

about anything on the countdown. Just kidding.

The Disney stranglehold continues. We've had

three 1940s Disney films, and now we have our

third from the 50s. Coming in at number 26, the

last one to not make the top 25 here, and that

is 1953's Peter Pan. On 16 lists, 941 points.

all the way up to number two. And that brings

me to a point before people react on Peter Pan

in general. Dan, with all of these Disney films

that we've been seeing, we've had a lot of them

fall now in this episode, but none of them have

been ranked number one by anybody. You know,

Lady and the Tramp was the lowest out of those.

They got 17th, but Pinocchio we had a number

two rank. Bambi we had the highest was number

three. Alice in Wonderland, number two. Robin

Hood, six. Dumbo, two. Now Peter Pan, two. So

apparently they're all good enough to be somewhat

highly ranked, but nobody put any of these as

their favorite all time. Thoughts on that in

general, and then your reactions to Peter Pan

coming in at number 26. That's rather interesting.

I'm wondering if... people if they're i mean

not knowing what some of the number ones are

i mean seeing some of the ones that fall fallen

so far like mine or uh steve's i don't know if

we and i think we saw one more um i don't know

that that is interesting that there's no number

two my guess is maybe something more modern is

number one for them or maybe like i mentioned

with disney it's like hard to pick which one

so but uh with peter pan itself as a movie again

another really Great Disney movie. I I don't

know if I would put it up this high I think we're

almost reversed order here like I would I think

dumb Pinocchio or stronger not that I think Peter

Pan's bad, but one thing I will get Peter Pan

It is full of memorable characters. I mean Peter

Pan himself of Captain Hook. It's me, you know

the alligator You know Tinkerbell. Yeah, there's

just it is full of even you know, some of the

never some of the you know peter pan's crew i

can't think of their name right now lost voice

thank you um but yeah so it's full of great characters

um like you mentioned with some of the other

disney movies maybe there's not that but maybe

and similar to like you mentioned with um bambi

i think the the key here may not even be peter

pan but it is those side characters that make

it an even stronger film because peter pan as

a character i don't think is all that dynamic

but filling him with interesting side characters

is what makes it great. Mike, I know you're a

huge fan of the franchise in general, of most

incarnations of Peter Pan. Here's the challenge

now. You have to talk about 1953 Peter Pan without

mentioning any other version of Peter Pan. Go.

Too bad, because he actually became interesting

in Hook with Robin Williams. Take that. Oh, shut

up, Dan. With this one... I really enjoy this

film. This, Robin Hood, and 101 Dalmatians are

the three films, anytime I went over to my Aunt

Judy's house, that we would either watch one,

two, or all three of them. And this film... was

really, really interesting. And what I'm kind

of happy is, as far as the countdown in general

goes, that we haven't seen many Disney sequels.

Yes, we saw The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down

Under, but we haven't seen Lion King 2, Bambi

2. You know, we haven't seen a lot of that. Hopefully

we won't now that we're almost at top 25. But

Peter Pan in general, I really did enjoy it.

I thought it was a great film. I thought the

story was really cool. Everybody always wants

to stay a kid. When you're a kid, you want to

stay that way. You don't want to grow up for

a lot of times. In 1995, Peter Pan had to. All

right. Let's move away from him before he mentions

more reincarnations of Peter Pan. Neil, Peter

Pan in comparison to these other Disney films.

I ranked it around 60, and the reason for that

is that the characters, most of the characters

in the movie didn't really resonate with me,

with the exception of one man, Nedby Hans Conrad

Jr. as Captain Hook, who is hilarious in this

movie. I mean, he is the one reason that I watched

this movie. Just because he's believable as a

villain, but he's got just enough goof in his

voice that he sells it. And he's a great comedy

character as well. And especially that crocodile.

That is the best. The TikTok croc. Oh, yeah.

TikTok, TikTok, just write an old dead croc.

Yeah, the animation where his ear is throbbing

and growing. I love Captain Hook. The rest of

the movie just doesn't appeal to me, but it's

a good film. Yeah, I'd put it up in the 60s.

Dan, are there enough Disney films to just have

Disney for the rest of the countdown? Oh, yeah.

Well, yeah, there definitely are enough. I mean,

they make, what, like four a year if you count

the sequels. As long as we don't go back in time

to the 1930s, I'll be happy with the rest of

the top 25. All right. Anyways, let's see how

long this Disney streak can continue. Well, maybe

it's just because I want to hear from Steve,

but we're going to move away from Disney for

a minute here. I know, I know. It seems like

it couldn't happen. But number 25 is going to

come to us from not Disney, not DreamWorks, not

Pixar, not Don Bluth, not any of them. We're

going right to something I know Steve can talk

about, and that is the DC Universe. Number 25,

Batman, Mask of the Phantasm from 1993. It was

on only 12 people's lists, so those 12 people

ranked it really high because most of the other

films we've been talking about have been 15,

16 lists. And, Steve, you had it ranked number

two. So there's been a lot of number twos falling.

We've had a few number ones, but a lot of number

twos falling. It's been a while since we've heard

you say positive things about any movie. So,

Steve, start us with Mask of the Phantasm. How

does it rank? Should it be higher than all the

other DC films we've talked about so far? How

do you feel with it being number 25? I mean,

I'm happy and I'm sad at the same time. I'm happy

because it's beat out all the other DC films.

Now, if any DC film comes after this, I will

be pissed. Because, honestly, there are no other

good ones besides what has actually hit the list

to this point. So... I would stab you through

the microphone. I would reach through the microphone

and stab you. But this film, to me, this shows

the definitive storyline and origin of Batman.

To me, this is the perfect storytelling of it.

It has flashbacks. It has the evolution of the

character. It also has him dealing with trying

to decide whether to go to a normal life or to

stay as Batman. It's the overall quintessential

storyline of Batman and actually the only animated

Bat film to hit. theater. This was the very first

film I ever saw in theater, so this one resonates

highly with me. Also, I think that between the

animation in the film and the soundtrack to it,

besides just putting aside the stellar voice

cast and the awesome plot, those two things hold

it up too. The only thing I can say that would

come in close to this or should come in close

to this would be the Dark Knight Returns saga

or Return of the Joker. The rest of them I don't

think really hold a candle to this. I'm glad

that it shows up as high as it does. I wish it

were closer to 15 or 12 or something. I can live

with it being 25 and be happy about it rather

than not seeing it on the list at all. So, yeah,

like I said, I'm glad that it's here. I'm glad

that it's represented so highly, even though

it's not on everybody's list. But I swear I will

be pissed if another DC film shows up after this

one. All right, Mike, without telling the entire

plot of the movie. I think, well, you can listen

to Legends of the Dark Knight episode 23 for

our commentary on it. Plug boy. Continue. Yeah,

that's right. I think with this one, there are

several interesting things. As Steve mentioned,

it is one of the best, if not the best, telling

of Batman's origin. It also shows you that, at

least in voice actor status, Batman had Lois

Lane before Superman did because Dana Delaney

is the voice of Andrea Beaumont. Overall, the

film is damn good. The structure is great. The

animation is great. The music is wonderful. Very

interesting. This was 93, right, Steve? Yeah.

Yeah, it was 93. What's interesting about this

film is that Wayne Campbell's girlfriend has

a song on the soundtrack. Tia Carrera has the

only sung song that's on the soundtrack score.

I really like it. When I think of Batman Origins,

like I said, it's the only one that I really

watch. And I think that's one of the reasons

why, outside of the fact that for me Batman Begins

is so slow in the first half of the movie, that's

one of the reasons why I don't care for that

movie. Because I've already seen the origin of

Batman. I've already seen the... And this is

where it happens, is Mask of the Phantasm. So

at 25, I'm happy. And I do agree with Steve.

I don't think that there are any other ones that

really should be above this. I will find it very

interesting. And since one of the Bat films is

very underrated, I'll find it interesting if

Sub -Zero shows up after this. Neil, we haven't

had a chance to see, since you haven't been on

the other episodes, to hear any of your take

on any of the DC movies. So how do you feel with

Mask of the Phantasm coming in here in 25 and

in just about DC films in general? Well, that's

just about where I had it. What I like about

this film... And this is the only thing I really

remark about is that this movie had the balls

to have the Joker as a secondary character in

this movie. I don't think he shows up until two

-thirds of the way through the movie, does he?

And it's kind of like a holy crap moment, too.

Yeah, it's about that. Yeah, and any other time

they would put a villain like that in the central

villain spot, but here he's not really a main

character. That took a lot of courage to do,

and I think that it's a good movie because of

that. It would have sacrificed a lot of the weight

of the movie if they brought him in much earlier

and made him a huge antagonist. As far as other

DC movies go, I think this is definitely one

of the top ones, and there really shouldn't be

a lot above this, like maybe one or two. I think

it's in a good spot. Definitely deserves to be

at the top of the DC list. Dan, do you agree

with the entire panel? Outside of me, obviously.

Do you agree with everybody that this is the

cream of the crop as far as DC goes and we shouldn't

see any more after this? I agree we shouldn't

see any more as the cream of the crop. It's up

there. I mean, the only thing I think you could

argue is superior or equal to it would be the

Dark Knight Return saga. It's hard to compare

those. This one's come out in 1993. The other

one just came out this year. So it's almost apples

to oranges, and they both attempt very different

things. But I do agree with Steve and Mike that

this is the best Batman origin done on screen.

Unlike Mike, I do like Batman Begins, but until

A Dark Knight, I think this was probably the

best Batman movie done on screen. what I was

also we talked about characters getting killed

and remember being shocked as a kid that they

actually killed people in this because that never

happened in the cartoon but seeing it happen

on this in this movie shocked me and it was ineffective

and there was actually consequences to it too

which I thought was interesting done, and I like

the character of the phantasm and kind of the

shock that is there and the reveal of that character

and where it comes from. But yeah, I agree. I

think 25 is the perfect spot for it. I actually

think, thinking back to research, I think that's

where IGN ranked it, so I don't know if that's

a good or bad thing, but we're not alone in ranking

it this high. And one last thing is that, and

this is something I wanted to bring up with the

other DC Animated Universe films, The DC animated

universe ran from 92 up until 2004, 2005, 2006

with Justice League Unlimited. It's a self -contained

cartoon universe that's based in television animated

cartoons that has had several, well, this was

the first ever, as Steve said, animated feature

film on big screens. After that, they went to

direct -to -DVD. Because sadly, this didn't perform

as well as they thought it was going to in theaters.

And this is what pushed them to do the directed

DVD. I think it's an unfair comparison to compare

something from the DC animated universe to the

DC universe original animated movies. Yes, Dark

Knight Returns is a whole other ball of wax.

The reason why is because when they started doing

the directed... DVD movies that they're doing

now, they're actually adapting comic storylines,

where this was just Bruce Timm and his team telling

their version of Bruce Wayne's origins of becoming

Batman. So I think comparing Mask of the Phantasm

and Dark Knight Returns is very, very unfair

to both. And overall, like I said, this is by

far one of the best, and I think it's going to

be funny if... If I become a public enemy after

this. Alright, so we have entered top 25 territory.

We only have four films left to talk about today

before we're into the top 20. And with the first

one, I will insert foot into mouth. Number 24.

I remember earlier on in this episode that I

said there's no way we haven't talked about any

Disney films from the last decade or so. I figured

we'd hit them all. I forgot about one, I guess.

Number 24, our third film from the year 2010

in today's episode alone. Number 24 is Disney's

Tangled. On 14 spots, or on 14 lists, 951 points,

Rotten Tomatoes score of 90. The highest ranked

it got was 5. Is this a recent Disney film deserving

to be in our top 25, Dan? I don't think so, honestly.

I do think it's a good movie. It's much improved

above, you know, the other Disney stuff. You

know, it has kind of allowed Disney to get back

on the right track, and I think we're seeing

Disney and Pixar kind of switch spots where their

movies are, you know, becoming more critically

acclaimed and are better made than that of Pixar

in the last year or two. I think it started with

Tangled, but I don't think it measures up nearly

as well as... some of the classic Disney we've

talked about. It's funny, it's the eighth Disney

film we've talked about today, which is the most

we've had on any of the episodes. But out of

eight, I don't know how many people would arrange

them like we have them arranged, with Tangled

being the highest of the eight. So that is definitely

interesting. Neil, what are your thoughts on

Tangled? I'm kind of surprised to see it up this

high. I would have put it in the 50s. It's a

good film, but I wouldn't put it above the other

Disney films that we've talked about so far.

This was shocking to me in the same vein that

Brave was shocking to me when it came in at number

41. You know, we were strolling right along in

our last episode, and then all of a sudden we

got to Brave, and I was like, whoa, what? Wait

a second. I'm kind of having the same reaction

with Tangled. I have not seen Tangled. I wanted

to, and I just haven't. So I can't really comment

one way or the other, but I am surprised to see

it here. Mike, have you seen Tangled? Oh, yeah.

This was the movie that came after the... Oh,

hey, I'm going to marry the prince and I'll become

a princess. Yay, the spell will be broken. I

watched this immediately after watching Princess

and the Frog and this was such a better movie

than that movie is. But I do agree with Dan and

Neil. I don't think it should be higher than

the other Disney films that we've already talked

about. It is a very good film. It was interesting

to see Disney's take on Rapunzel. I thought that

was really cool. But yeah, I... I like it. The

animation's good. The voice acting is good. The

story and the plot are interesting. But no, I

would probably rank it under the top 50, maybe

even top 60, compared to all the other Disney

films we've talked about since number 60. Fair

enough. Steve, have you seen Tangled? Yes, I

have. Overall, it's not bad. I wouldn't go so

far as to say that it's great or anything, but

I don't know. I find that a lot of the newer

stuff coming from Disney is kind of just bleh.

I mean, the CG in it is kind of... impressive

and good and everything but i don't i don't think

that it was anything kind of out of the ordinary

or spectacular i think it kind of fit in with

that 90s vibe that we had going of the 20 contributor

of the 20 i guess whatever you want to call it

groups websites podcasts etc somewhat represented

here um is it unanimous amongst us that nobody

thinks this should be in our top 25 no as much

as i love the movie And as good as the movie

was compared to the one they released before

it, no. All right, so we only have three films

left in our countdown. We'll see what's next.

23. That's right, there's only three spots before

we enter the top 20 territory. And taking the

first of those three spots, just missing top

20 territory, is a movie from 1999. Another one?

That is... Yes, Return to Anime. I don't want

to pronounce it wrong, so what's the name of

this film? Neil. It's Princess Mononoke. All

right. And it was on 12 lists, 966 points. It

was as highly ranked as number three. Rotten

Tomatoes score of 94. We're going to lean on

hopefully Neil and Dan on this one. So, Neil,

start us off with this one. Top 25 material for

this anime film. How do you feel about that?

Don't know if I would put this one that high.

But it's another Studio Ghibli film, which means

that it's gorgeous. Like I said earlier, all

of them kind of start looking the same after

a while. But they're always good movies. I don't

know if I would put this that high, though. I

don't really know what to say beyond that. I

think I had it, I don't know, maybe somewhere.

God, where did I have it? Oh, I had it in the

60s. It was going up and down my list. I'm like,

where is it? No, I had it up in the 60s. It's

been a while since I've seen it, so I'm kind

of blanking on what was going on in the movie,

but it's a good -looking movie. I just don't

think I'd put it this high. Dan, agree or disagree?

I would say I disagree. It's probably my favorite

Mentsuki film. I don't think it's best by any

long shot. It's not one I rank the highest, but

it... For some reason, it's the one that I think

always captured my imagination the most. It could

be because it's one of the first ones that I

was exposed to. I just remember as a kid stumbling

upon it one day on one of the movie channels

or something and having no idea what I was getting

myself into because I never really watched anything

like that at that point. I think the scene I

got into was when you see the god of... the the

forest that kind of looks like this weird looking

deer type of creature and i was just amazed by

and just the way it goes and something about

the wolves and that too that these gigantic huge

wolf creatures that i've always appeal to me

and in the american version billy bob thornton

does a voice so there's that uh i guess um but

i don't know it's for one i i do um i'm not as

well versed in studio ghibli as probably a lot

of people so i'm sure there are better films

out there um but i just always loved the action

in the film like neil mentioned it's a beautiful

film i do like the story just the idea of the

classic the idea of you know nature versus human

greed and humans wanting to further themselves

for the sake of against the environment and things

like that. But yeah, 23 I think is a good spot

for it. I wouldn't put it much higher than this

by any means. And I probably would have put I

don't know if I'd put Akira higher, but I certainly

would put Grave of the Fireflies higher. Steve,

have you seen this? I'm not liking myself if

not. No. It's anime, so no. And let the hate

mail come on in. Dan, are you guessing that people

are going to be upset that this is ranked higher

than Akira? I probably would just because I feel

like Akira has a huge cult following more so

than Princess Minogue. I think Matsuki fans are

a little more or less abrasive than that, some

of the Akira fans. Alright, so the first anime

we've talked about in about 10, a little over

10 spots. How many anime films will we see for

the rest of the countdown? We only have two spots

left, so let's see. Running out of spots in our

top 100, coming in at number 22. We've done a

lot of double takes so far. We had two 2010s

in a row. We've had a lot of stuff like that.

Let's have two anime films in a row once again.

Number 22, the 2001 film, Spirited Away. On 12

films, just like our last one, just barely beat

it out by three points. Got all the way up to

number two on one person's list. Rotten Tomatoes

score of 97. Spirited Away coming in at number

22. Let's start with you, Dan. This one I think

we'll get a lot of. very pleasant discourse on

the message boards because I know a lot of people

would automatically place this within top 10.

Most people look at this as a masterpiece of

animation. I don't necessarily disagree with

that. I think I had this in my top 5 and top

8 or so. The acclaim for this is relatively high.

It's nominated for Best Animated Feature that

year, I believe. which is like Neil mentioned

with Studio Ghibli, its animation is flawless.

The story, it is rather out there, no doubt.

Watching it, one thing that's always interesting

about Matsuki is like he brings you into the,

sometimes I feel like I'm watching the sequel

and just how he doesn't really set. purposely

doesn't give you a lot of exposition. He kind

of brings you into the world and you kind of

figure things out as you go, which I appreciate

just as a fan of movies. But yeah, Spirited Away,

if you have not seen it, I would certainly give

it a shot. Neil, share an opinion of Dan on Spirited

Away or like it more or less? Pretty much the

same. It's a beautiful film. I'm pretty much

going to say the same thing for every single

one of these Ghibli films. It definitely deserves

to be on here. I'm maybe not sure that it should

be this high. I don't know. I have a weird taste

in anime, and it's like I said, the Ghibli films

all bleed together for me. I like them, but they

kind of look the same to me. I should do like

a collage or something to show all these different

characters from different Ghibli films. I'm like,

okay, and I'll pick out which is which. And I

guarantee you most people can't do it. Is that

kind of like the DreamWorks smile? It kind of

is, but it's worse than that because it's like

the same face almost. Yeah, I think I had it

around 50. I don't think the Ghibli films are

terrible. It's just that they're kind of slow

for me. I'm kind of more of an action guy. I

had a lot of weird anime choices on my list that

were higher. I'd probably be torn to shreds if

people actually saw what I put higher than this.

But yeah, that's basically what I feel. Steve

or Mike, any thoughts on Spirited Away? All right.

One spot left today. One spot left today. What

will it be? I've been waiting for this one for

a while, just to hear the discourse that we're

about to have. Our last spot for today, coming

in at number 21. Dan, you mentioned earlier,

you know, we saw Pixar last episode for the first

time, and then it virtually disappeared. We see

one Pixar in our episode today, one Pixar film,

and it comes in at number 21. It was on 16 people's

lists. It is the first film to break the 1 ,000

-point mark. So it had over 1 ,000 of the possible

2 ,000 points. 96 Rotten Tomatoes score. Number

21 is Pixar's film from 2007, Ratatouille. Bye.

Holy crap. What the hell is going on? What is

wrong with these people? How can they not see

a rat cooking food is just friggin' disgusting?

Are you kidding me? We can get past that. It's

an animated film. But this is beyond... Oh, it's

not that bad. Yes, it is. No, it's not. It's

just nasty. We gotta have a montage, I guess

that's not the right word, a mashup, of all of

the moments that Mike's had so far like this.

We could do the princess and the frog one. We

can do... I know there was like three other ones

that he, I'm sorry, Mike. Hey, you missed the

Batman Beyond Return of the Joker one since I

was on mute when that happened. Thank God. But

no, but seriously, this movie, I've seen it several

times and I just, I don't understand why people

enjoy this movie. I don't get it. Somebody explain

it to me because by far and away this should

have been at 47 and Transformers should have

been here. Let's not go there. I thought he was

going to say Cars and I thought he was going

to switch one Pixar film for the other which

would still be totally wrong. Let's continue

like we didn't just hear all that. Steve, what

is your opinion on Ratatouille? My opinion on

it is that It's more than just a story about

a rat. I mean, it's about aspiring for something

more than what you're kind of set out for. And

that's kind of his mission throughout this film.

And then you have this human that's just dumb.

So he's... In essence, helping him and guiding

him along. But to say that it's disgusting, there's

nothing that makes it disgusting. I would rather

watch Ren and Stimpy than watch this crap. Ren

and Stimpy is large and wide. It's infinitely

worse than this. I can't see how that correlates

and even is related. Yeah, I agree. I don't know.

I think for me, this is an example of a great

Pixar film. They were hitting on all cylinders

at this time in the decade. Ratatouille is one

of my personal favorite Pixar films. Honestly,

for a long time I hadn't seen half of Pixar's

library outside of this one and a couple other

ones, and I just really enjoyed this one. I don't

care what Mike says. I think it's fantastic that

it's in the top 50. I'm surprised that it's in

the top 22, I guess you'd call it. But I'm happy

because I just really enjoyed this film. I'm

trying to remember where I had it. I had it somewhere

in the top. 30 or 40, I think. Dan, what's your

thoughts on this one? I guess I'm just trying

to understand Mike's issue with it regarding

the disgustingness of the rats. I've watched

too many episodes of Bar Rescue and I'm sorry.

Rats cooking food? That's disgusting. It's animated.

How is it any worse than having robots running

around or having a guy that's dressed in a clown

costume? Or dogs eat spaghetti. There are no

microbes in the cartoon universe. Or turtles

eating pizza. It's all in the same... I'm pretty

sure the turtles would party with Ratatouille.

I'm positive about that. But, I mean, if you

look at... You'd be wrong right there. If you

look at what it's... The turtles have a... I'm

sorry. The turtles have a sensei who's a rat.

Yes, they do. And he's in a sewer for love, God.

Sorry. But if you look at what it's saying, obviously,

you look at the greatest animation, which I wouldn't

put this among greatest by any means, but I do

really enjoy it. But it's all about that allegorical

story of overcoming odds, going against your

destiny, or going against what the world has

dealt you. Not just falling in line, but trying

to overcome that in different ways and finding

out a way and exploring your passions. And that

heart of the story, I think, is very effective.

I personally wouldn't put this as my favorite

Pixar. It's more middle -of -the -road Pixar,

which is middle -of -the -road Pixar is far and

above most things. I'm not sure if I put it up

this high. Just of all the classic Disney we've

gone over so far, I personally prefer that. But

Ratuli is an excellent movie. I love the voice

acting. I mean, Patton Oswalt is awesome as the

main character. And I think, too, like you said,

Kevin, this is Pixar on all cylinders for sure.

I agree. And Neil, your thoughts on Ratatouille?

Well, I love Brad Bird, but this is probably

my least favorite movie of his. I can think of

one other. No, I can think of two other Brad

Bird movies that tackle the theme of being what

you want to be and succeeding. and just being

an individual and being what you want to be.

This one kind of threw me a little. It's not

a bad movie, but I guess what got me was the

very ending because what happens is that the

restaurant gets shut down because the rats are

cooking. I didn't think it was gross like Mike,

but I do think it kind of weirded me out. Immediately

after that, they just opened a new restaurant,

and that was the end. And I was like, okay. But

otherwise, it's a good film. I just like certain

other Brad Bird movies better. All right. Well,

that is our last film today. So we're all the

way up to number 21. So all we have left is the

top 20. Hey, that's Gusteau. I mean, look. Grape

cooking is not for the faint of heart. You must

be imaginative. Strong -hearted. You must try

things that may not work. And you must not let

anyone define your limits because of where you

come from. Your only limit is your soul. What

I say is true. Anyone can cook. But only the

fearless can be great. Pure poetry. Just in recap

of today so far, I just want to mention a couple

things here. In today's episode, we saw films

that represented the 1940s. 1950s, 1970s, 80s,

90s, 2000s, and 2010. 60s is the only decade

we did not see something from. We saw four anime

films. We saw a singular DreamWorks film, a singular

Pixar film, a singular DC film, three Don Bluth

films, Despicable Me, Nightmare Before Christmas,

and then a whole slew of Disney films. Before

I get everyone's thoughts on today's episodes,

another thing that I want to kind of throw out

there in general is two things. Number one, we

have limited spots left. So it's getting to that

tense point, especially since we didn't do any

honorable mentions, where is your film going

to show up or is it going to be completely left

off the countdown? There's only 20 spots left.

And the other thing is, I think it's easy for

some people to say, you know, this film should

be included or this film should be higher. But

as we get to this point, in order for a film

to be included or a film to be higher, it means

that one of these films would have to be dropped

or lowered. And it's getting in that territory

where can you really eliminate any of the films

we're talking about right now? So think about

that stuff as you're getting ready to comment

on the website, etc. Start with... Dan, on your

thoughts of today's episode overall, we only

have 20 spots left. We went all across the board.

There's a lot of diversity today. I mean, I know

there was a lot of Disney, but from a time period

standpoint, there was a lot of diversity. And

we did have stuff outside of Disney. What did

you think about the 20 films we talked about

today? Well, I am very surprised that there was

so much classic Disney just sandwiched in together.

And I think that says something regarding when

you try to rank all these movies. becomes a little

bit difficult of trying to rank disney compared

to one another especially with the classics and

not knowing what's in the top 20 um and has me

curious what's going to be there just thinking

of what's not on the list so my mind's like well

i guess it's top 20 but I think there's maybe

20 or 30 films that I think should be in the

top 20 and we only have 20 movies left. So I

have no idea what's going to be coming up exactly.

And I guess the other thing was that we saw a

lot of number ones. Mine, number one. Other number

ones and number twos fall by the wayside. A lot

of number twos. We also saw Nightmare Before

Christmas was someone's number one. Your Grave

of the Fireflies and Akira were all ranked number

one by people. And then a lot of number twos

amongst the... the Disney group and spirited

away. Continue. Yeah. So that, I mean, I guess

the question I'm assuming then we'll probably

see even more of that or what you'll maybe see.

If you're looking at Ratatouille that we just

talked about the highest rank, it was 13. So

it was a more so that, you know, those movies

aren't necessarily ranked that high, but just

saw by a, by a saw by a wider range of people.

So I guess that's another thing of, is it more

so is a quality or is a popularity? I mean, those

are two different things to look at. So I think

that'll be interesting as we finish this list.

Neil, your first episode that you kind of got

to react along with us. So now that you've had

a second to think about it and looking through

the 20 films that we've talked about today, how

do you think the countdown is going so far? And

what were you surprised or not surprised about

today? I was surprised that Tangle got as high

as it did. Not knocking the film, but I wasn't

expecting that this high. I would have thought

that it would have been mentioned already. Not

surprised that Akira got up this high. Maybe

surprised that it didn't get higher because I

know that it's a beloved film. And I didn't mean

to hate on it because I do like the film. It's

just not my favorite. But the tight grouping

of Disney films is about what I expected. I expect

to see a few more, just one after another as

we get closer to number one. I'm a little nervous

about my number one because either some of the

people who voted out there are really awesome

or I owe about 20 people a poke in the eye. God

damn it. I love this movie. I'm not going to

say what it is. I'm just going to wait to see

if it shows up. That's what I'm saying. It gets

to that nervous standpoint where you're like,

well, there's only so many spots left. Are my

favorites going to show up or not? Yeah. I'm

really nervous about that. That's about all I

have to say. Steve, your thoughts so far on where

we're at in our countdown? Well, I can't say

I'm disappointed because at least a lot of the

films I like and a lot of other ones that I may

not like but have an actual place in the list

have shown up. I'm glad that some of them have

shown up where they have and other ones not so

much. But again, it's... been interesting to

say the least it should be interesting in a couple

years when we go back and do this again and look

at it see what other films that people have actually

watched after hearing this list well i think

yeah two things you bring up number one is some

of the films like that that certain ones of us

maybe weren't as aware of or that we have on

our in our queue now to watch and the other thing

to to see in the future would be how much that

recent effect has. All the films from the last

10 years that were listed, will some of those

fall to the wayside after you have a little bit

more time to rewatch them, or as they aren't

as fresh in your memory, that type of stuff as

well. So I think you bring up a couple good points

there. Mike, your thoughts on the 20 we talked

about so far, and then your thoughts without

naming films going forward, anything you're scared

of? What I'm scared of is Disney sequels at this

point. I like some Disney sequels. I know Kevin

hates them all, but I like some of them, and

now that we're coming up on the top 20, I'm really

scared to see where any of the Disney sequels

fit in. Cinderella 3 at number one. I don't know

about all time, but in a regular past decade

list, I wouldn't disagree with that because it

was better than the second movie. For me, out

of this grouping in this episode, I have to say,

and I'm going to preface this and say this is

a superhero bias in me, I would take Tangled

and Ratatouille and swap them out for Dark Knight

Returns Part 1 and 2. I would put Part 1 where

Tangled was and Part 2 where Ratatouille was.

You haven't seen Part 2 yet, have you? No, but

still, anything's better than Ratatouille. All

right. As far as overall, I have a feeling either

20 through 11 or 10 to 1 are going to be all

the rest of the Pixar films. And that in itself

is kind of scary because people are going to

be like, oh, bias. But they can't really say

that because as we've already stated, there's

over... I know we're collaborating with 20 different

networks, and I know some of those networks have

multiple people. So this collaboration this time

around is easily 30 plus, 40 plus people, depending.

But I just don't know. What I'm really surprised

about the countdown so far is, as we've already

mentioned, all the modern stuff. Yeah, it definitely

was a little shocking. I was not expecting half

of that modern, late 90s, past Aladdin. Disney

stuff to show up. I really wasn't. I think there's

a lot of classic stuff that people haven't seen.

Just like there's a lot of anime that some of

us here haven't seen. There's a lot of, I think,

classic stuff that people haven't seen. And maybe

we'll get into that in our wrap -up show when

we talk about honorable mentions and stuff that

was left off the list that did get votes. Because

I don't want people to think that just because

a film hasn't been talked about that it did not

get voted on. Like we said, there was over 350

films voted on. So we'll have a chance to talk

about that in our wrap -up show. Just real quick,

recapping today's films that appeared and then

one more time going around the group here. What

I'm looking for this time is the one film you

would remove from the top 40 if you had to kick

one out because people are wanting other stuff

to be this high. So if we're going to move something

else in, what would we take out? What's the one

film we would take out of the top 40? And the

films we talked about today, we started off with

Secret of NIMH, then we went to The Grave of

the Fireflies, Nightmare Before Christmas, Lady

and the Tramp, Land Before Time, Akira, How to

Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me, Pinocchio,

Bambi. An American Tale, Alice in Wonderland,

Robin Hood, Dumbo, Peter Pan, Batman Mask of

the Phantasm, Tangled, Princess Mononoke, is

that how you say it? Anyway, Spirited Away and

Ratatouille. If you had to remove one film, we

know Mike would remove Ratatouille. Steve, which

one are you removing, Steve, if you have to take

one out? If I have to take one of the films out?

Yeah, if you had to say one of those did not

belong in the top 40. give you a second to think

about it um dan what would you take out i think

it's kind of easy i'd go tangled um i could see

argument for top 50 top 60 but top 40 if you

look at what it's in with like that it doesn't

belong it's like you know that the one thing

that does not belong compared to the other classic

disney we went over so i'm 100 with you i would

i would remove tangled um that's granted i have

not seen the anime films and I've not seen the

Batman films so I can't speak on those but I

would take Tangled out just on principle. Neil?

Yeah I'd probably have to go with Tangled as

well. I don't understand why it's that high.

So don't hate us. We're all agreeing on this.

Steve any other ones that you've thought of that

you would take out? I'm going to agree with you

guys on that one. All right, so outside of Mike,

we're all saying remove Tangled, and everyone

can direct your hate mail towards Mike's hate

of Ratatouille to the website posting. Let him

know how silly he is. Anyways, I'm just kidding.

Last thoughts before we close this show out,

Mike. None really. It's going to be interesting

to see what happens next week with the top 20.

Indeed. Anybody else before we close it out?

I just hope Neil's number one is on the list

so I don't get my eye poked out. All right, Mike.

Well, there you have it, people. Numbers 40 to

21, the GCRN Top 100 Animated Films Countdown.

Join us next time when we will be revealing numbers

20 through number 1. For now, I am TF2 and Mike

with... TV's Mr. Neal. Steve Megatron Phillips.

Movie Revolt Dan. And Optimus Solo. Thank you

for listening. Until next time, unleash the geek

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