Top Ten Animated Non-Disney Feature-Length Films

In continuing my movie lists, I have decided to do a list for my favorite animated films that are not made by Disney. This also excludes Pixar. I've already done a Disney list that you can read here, and a Pixar list that you can read here. I'm also not counting full-length anime films and live action/animation mixes (e.g. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Space Jam, Cool World). This is only my opinion.

#10 The Polar Express (2004) - The Polar Express is an instant Christmas classic in my book. I owned the book when I was a child and remember reading it countless nights during the cold wintery months. I believe Robert Zemeckis captured the book brilliantly on film. The film is entirely live action using performance capture technology, which incorporates the movements of live actors into animated characters. And Tom Hanks acting in five distinct roles really shows the range that the actor has.

#9 An American Tail (1986) - Produced by Steven Spielberg, An American Tail tells the story of a young Russian mouse who gets separated from his family while immigrating to the United States. It's one of the few movies that surpasses a lot of Disney's material. Director Don Bluth proved to us that Disney wasn't the only animation company that could pull off a great family film. Which leads me to the #8 movie...

#8 The Land Before Time (1988) - Having just come off the success of An American Tail, Bluth began a project that continues to entertain (subjectively) kids today. The Land Before Time spawned a dozen direct-to-video sequels. The reason I like Bluth is that he's not afraid to go there. His style is a lot rougher and more energetic compared to Disney films. A lot of emphasis on family, which is always important (unlike that rebellious mermaid, Ariel).

#7 The Prince of Egypt (1998) - The movie follows the life of Moses from his birth, through his childhood as a prince of Egypt, and finally to his ultimate destiny to lead the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, which is based on the Biblical story of Exodus. I think The Prince of Egypt marked the first time DreamWorks could actually compete with some of the animation quality of Disney. The movie looks and sounds good.

#6 Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005) - I think the story and character development could have used a bit more work, but the action sequences in Advent Children are just amazing. It moves so fast and the characters pull off some amazing moves. It's quite imaginative and a lot of fun to watch if you can get through the boring talking.

#5 Chicken Run (2000) - I love what Nick Park has done for stop motion animation. Chicken Run marks Park's first feature-length film, which is co-directed with Peter Lord. Besides the superb animation, what makes Chicken Run so great is the humorous story and all-star cast.

#4 The Iron Giant (1999) - Another animation genius in my eyes is Brad Bird. Bird, the man responsible for Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille, brought us a great story about a lonely boy discovering a giant amnesiac "iron man" that falls from space. This movie didn't look appealing to me at first because the commercials and previews did not make it look entertaining. It wasn't until well after the movie came out on video did I watch it and was pleasantly surprised.

#3 Corpse Bride (2005) - If The Nightmare Before Christmas wasn't a Disney movie, it would easily be at the top of this list. Unfortunately, Disney has its greedy little fingers all over it, so I have to go with the next best thing. It's not that I think Corpse Bride is bad and that it doesn't deserve any recognition. In fact, I think Corpse Bride is better than most non-Disney animated films. The animation improved a lot from NBC and the story is certainly unique. If I'm in the mood from something darker than the Wallace & Gromit stuff, I definitely turn to this.

#2 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) - As I've already said, Nick Park is awesome. For some, a Wallace and Gromit movie was a godsend. I remember thinking that I did not want the movie to end while I was watching it. It incorporated everything I love about the Wallace and Gromit shorts. Maybe I'm just a sucker for stop motion animation. I'm really looking forward to the next short called A Matter of Loaf and Death which is supposed to be released later this year.

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#1 Shrek (2005) - I'm not a big fan of any of the non-Pixar CGI animated films, except for Shrek. To me, Shrek has everything that you could possibly want in a solid family film. I loved Shrek so much that I saw it four times in the theatre and countless times since its release on DVD. I love how it takes all of the nursery tales that we're so familiar with and displays them in a new light while also creating a unique fairy tale on its own. The mix of kiddie and adult humor is a nice touch. The movie sends an important message to children about friendship and that looks aren't all that matter; it's what's inside that counts.