The Classics!

[Lena]

In addition to humor there is also class to be considered. Films that were made with whit and stlye. And of course the ones that were personally meaningful. I would have to say Lady and The Tramp is one such movie. And 1o1 Dalmations is another. What are some of yours?

[zero42flix]

'Voices of a Distant Star' by the brilliant Makoto Shinkai is a gorgeous, moving story. This is the same guy who recently did the '5 Centimeters per Second' series (which you can find on youtube). If you loved 'She and Her Cat', this is not to be missed. If you like fast action, gore, and humor, this is not for you.

'Mr. Stain on Junk Alley' *sigh* You can't help but love Mr. Stain and all the great adventures he gets into. He's a funny little guy who never really speaks. He lives in an alley in something like New York, and every day he finds something new to experience, feel, and learn. He has several little friends and each one is really fun to get to know. The episodes are short and they'll be over before you know it.

[Lena]

Hi zero42flix, glad you could join us! Welcome to the group!
I had not heard of any of the cartoons you mentioned above until you mentioned them:) I must confess, I am more familiar with American cartoons/animation. However I googled them. They were interesting. They had a completely different feel to it. I watched "She and Her Cat" on youtube. It was cute - a little sad - but cute! Always glad to get introduced to new animations and new films etc.!
I have never seen Mr. Stain on Junk Alley, but like I said, I googled it (gotta love google!) and found his sight. I looked at the characters, it looks really funny. Kind of random and unexpected. But in my opinion, some of the best cartoons are made up of those two traits! What else do you like?

[zero42flix]

Keeping it within the topic, I could add 'Kino's Journey'. It's slow at times, but it's sprinkled with several interesting moralistic/life-istic/.. stories and by the end i was ready to start on another journey with Kino. It wasn't that it ended it poorly, but that I really liked the character by then. It's a bit of an epic and maybe difficult to stay with at the beginning. It would make a great read if it were a book.

'Akira' doesn't need another review, but it does belong on a 'classics' list somewhere.

To me, time stops for: 'Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales', 'Magilla Gorilla', 'The Best of Rocky and Bullwinkle', and most of the 'Looney Tunes Golden Collection'. I could probably watch these once every decade for the rest of my life and still enjoy them as much. Humor and wit to no end!

I thought 'The Boondocks' was really well thought out. It's off-beat humor was shocking at times (it's way too graphic for kids), but the viewpoints were very interesting to hear. If you watched 'Good Times', 'What's Happenin'?', 'The Jefferson's', etc. back in the day, then you can think of this as those, now, without the censorship they had back then. It kind of points at things in the African-American culture to simply say, "look", while giving morals, and a ton of humor along the way to ease the uncomfortable situations.

If you're into epic tales that never end:
'Dragonball' 153 episodes, 4 movies.
'Dragonball Z' 291 episodes, 13 movies, 2 TV specials.
'Dragonball GT' 64 episodes, 2 movies.

'Howl's Moving Castle' may be too new to be a classic, but I think it will be one some day. Plus, I've already typed it, so there it is. Check it out.

Humor and wit.. hmm.. 'Harvey Birdman', 'Futurama', 'Sealab 2021', 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force', and maybe 'The Venture Bros'..

Great animation and graphics style with humor/action: 'Cowboy Bebop Remix', 'Sin City', 'Fullmetal Alchemist', and maybe 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'.

[zero42flix]

'Wave Twisters' is amazing. This one is NOT on Netflix, but it's worth keeping an eye open for it, or even tracking it down. DJ Qbert is a pronounced genius of Turntableism and in this movie, they've taken each and every sound he makes (for one album) and transferred it into something visual. It's hard to explain.. you may be able to find a clip of it on youTube. Altogether it tells a story, broken up into segments (with each song), about the adventures of a dental hygienist and his robot as they rediscover the lost arts of hip-hop.. I really can't do it justice by describing it.

'Serial Experiments Lain' more often referred to as simply, 'Lain', is a twisted tale of a girl who finds herself in a world that becomes more bizarre with every layer.. It's surreal and warped and it's a classic by any standards.

'Record of Lodoss War' is fantasy at it's best. There are so many strong characters and the way the stories intertwine is great. It's better than reading a book. 'Chronicles of the Heroic Knight' follows this series, but just personally I didn't care for it as much. It's really different, but basically it's the same story told to a different audience.

'Legend of Crystania' picks up where the 'Lodoss' series left off, but it's very different. You do not need to see 'Lodoss' first, and if you're a fan of 'Lodoss', you'll likely be disappointed. This movie moves really fast, has a lot of action, twisting plots, and interesting characters. If you can't get enough of the story, there's 'Legend of Crystania: the Chaos Ring' trilogy after this. It's actually better.

[BuBBa]

Well you forgot Ghost in the Shell if your considering anime for classics and of course the original Speed Racer (1967) and the Orginal Astro boy (1964) i watched these as a kid

[zero42flix]

Maybe Hanna Barbera's work should be on this list too.

I think you're right about Astro Boy being pivotal, as I understand it was a very early attempt at animation. I thought Voltron was the first robot-type cartoon until I saw that.

GitS, I'm not sure about. I enjoyed all that I've seen, but is it 'classic' worth?

[BuBBa]

I guess that could be put up for a vote but most likely not yet unless we are considering the "New school of Animation" with CGI and blending of 2D and 3D that would be the first if being first makes you a classic. Yes of course Hana Barbera should be considered but which of their vast library would be among the Classics

[zero42flix]

Besides the 3 or 4 I've mentioned above, HB has come out with tons of classic stars: Superfriends, Yogi Bear, Flintstones, Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Casper, Captain Caveman, Jonny Quest, Smurfs.. I can think of others, but those are surely classic material.

..Pink Panther & Popeye would be classics.

I didn't know that GitS was the first CG/ani mixture. That's really interesting. I'm going to have to re-watch the first one sometime.

Any other classics on your list?

[moviemeh]

A lot of the old short cartoons hold up extremely well, much better than anything on the Craptoon Network.

- Looney Tunes (except a few of the really old ones, the Golden ones that were mentioned are probably the ones I remember)
- Casper
- Anything by Jay Ward (Bullwinkle, Fractured Fairy Tales, George of the Jungle) I hadn't realized George was done in the 60's until this month, I watched it in the 80's and it seemed fresh then.
- Tom and Jerry (which I didn't used to care for but appreciate now)
- Schoolhouse Rock