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The 20 Most Innovative Animated Films (VIDEO)

First Posted: 12/30/11 06:08 AM ET   Updated: 12/30/11 03:47 PM ET

Animation has long experienced the stigma that it is a medium designed for children, yet examples can be seen that defy this classification.

Many critics mistake the genre's ability to fascinate as a characteristic of children's programming, but great animation transcends demographics altogether. They not only stimulate, but immerse the viewer in a world that goes beyond what even the imagination could produce.

Here are 20 films that not only reinvented the genre, but exposed the never-ending possibilities of animation.

Watership Down (1978)
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Based on the novel by Richard Adams, Watership Down is the tale of a group of rabbits struggling to survive in the face of numerous dangers. Based on historic representations of heroes in literature, the story may seem simplistic, but themes of personal sacrifice for the greater good were emotionally resonant with audiences everywhere.
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Animation has long experienced the stigma that it is a medium designed for children, yet examples can be seen that defy this classification. Many critics mistake the genre's ability to fascinate a...
Animation has long experienced the stigma that it is a medium designed for children, yet examples can be seen that defy this classification. Many critics mistake the genre's ability to fascinate a...
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09:30 AM on 01/06/2012
Many classics - many favorites.
If I could add one more, I would add The Illusionist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPdLrxxo4mg
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
FGDinVA
E pluribus unum
11:35 AM on 01/02/2012
Fantastic Planet is a favorite of mine.
goatboyslim
It's a good day to die,but I prefer to wait
10:49 AM on 01/02/2012
Lupo the Butcher?
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Splevich
Nothing...is what it seems to be!
07:48 PM on 12/31/2011
Animation has come a long ways since the traditional cel animation process became obsolete.. Today, animators' drawings are either scanned into or drawn directly into a computer system. Software programs are used to color the drawings and simulate camera movement and effects. The final animated piece is output usually to traditional 35 mm film and newer media such as digital video.
Satirist1
All 4 d best in the best of all possible worlds
03:24 PM on 12/31/2011
"Allegro Non Troppo" (Bruno Bozzetto) spoof was much better than Fantasia.
The satyr in "Afternoon of the Faun" is hilarious and Valse Triste is heartbreaking,
12:37 PM on 12/31/2011
Some nice films here, but most are rather ordinary. The best of the lot is probably Svankmajer. The critic didn't spend much time looking around.
Satirist1
All 4 d best in the best of all possible worlds
03:22 PM on 12/31/2011
Yep.
To ignore astonishing animation produced by Russian Sovietmultfilm and Canadians
is unforgivable.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
ConfuciusSay-
Aglets: their purpose is sinister.
12:30 PM on 12/31/2011
Glad to see several favorites here. Miss the Iron Giant though.
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MarcEdward
likes all cats more than most people
11:16 PM on 12/30/2011
Very good list, except for Wall-E.
It didn't really belong.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
kramereng
09:49 PM on 01/02/2012
Why? It's animation and no more mainstream than Jungle Book, Fantasia, Akira or Spirited Away. I thought it was groundbreaking. 20 minutes of silence in the beginning that was incredibly powerful.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MarcEdward
likes all cats more than most people
08:19 AM on 01/03/2012
Taste is subjective - I thought the story was awful. I hate "cute" (except when it comes to kittens)
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Rudderman
Warren for Senate.
11:16 PM on 12/30/2011
Lots of classics...still Fantasia remains my favorite.
Setting classical music to animation was pure genius.
All without computers...amazing.
08:47 PM on 12/30/2011
Any list like this is incomplete without George Pal's puppetoons or Jiri Trnka's astonishing Midsummer Night's Dream.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
ConfuciusSay-
Aglets: their purpose is sinister.
12:29 PM on 12/31/2011
I have a book here with your name as the author...
11:34 AM on 01/15/2012
A lot of omissions, but overall it's a good list. I'd like to have seen more of the "little" animated shorts that didn't get wide distribution, but were influential on the animation community. Stuff like "Hunger" and "Great" (the IKB bio).
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Vrano
Your sexual freedom is not my financial worry
05:11 PM on 12/30/2011
What, no Song of the South? I am disappointed.
04:50 PM on 12/30/2011
You missed "Twice Upon a Time", George Lucas Executive Producer, Music by Bruce Hornsby and Maureen McDonald, voices of Lorenzo Music, Marshall Efron, James Cranna, Julie Payne, Hamilton Camp, Judith Kahn, Paul Frees. First full length in Lumage (South Park).
06:03 PM on 12/30/2011
Oh yeah, I remember that!
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FearlessFreep
I'm actually a radical leftist
04:40 PM on 12/30/2011
Nothing from Canada's National Film Board? It's produced some great cartoons by people like Norman McClaren.

How about the German silent animated film THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMET?
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dad4lifesl
Educated White Heterosexual Male
04:37 PM on 12/30/2011
I love allot of those movies... I think Spirited Away should have been replaced with Howl's moving castle though.