Best Foreign Animation

by Helen Earnshaw | 15 February 2011

The Illusionist

This week sees the release of The Illusionist, the latest animation movie from Sylvain Chomet.

The team behind Belleville Rendez-Vous this movie is a charming portrayal of a man trying to keep his dying art alive during the rise of movies and rock and roll.

So to celebrate the release of the movie we take a look at some of the best foreign animation movies that are a welcome change from the CGI driven movies of recent years.

Leading the way is Japanese Studio Ghibli as Hayao Miyazaki's anime movies Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle have broken into Western cinema in the last few years.

2001's Spirited Away, about a ten year old girl who finds herself in a fantasy world and has to save her parents, was the first anime picture to win an Oscar and was the first movie to gross $200 million before opening in America.

Miyazaki followed this up with Howl's Moving Castle about Sophie, an eighteen year old girl who meets a mysterious wizard called Howl.

With a gross of over £231 million it's one of the most successful Japanese anime movies of all time and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.

While the studios last two projects - Tales From Earthsea and Ponyo - haven't done as well they have continued their long standing tradition of fine animation and are a welcome break from the CGI driven American movies.

In the last couple of years French cinema has been gaining a foothold in the animation sector of the movie industry and enjoying major success.

And 2008 saw the release of political animation movie Persepolis from Iranian filmmaker Marjan Satropi.

Shot in black and white the film is based on the graphic novels by Satropi which told of her oppressive childhood set to a backdrop of the Iranian Revolution, it went on to be nominated in the animation category at the Oscars.

The monochrome animation is beautiful yet stark and this is mixed with the surprise humour that is in the script. The political element is very understated throughout the whole film but when it does raise its head it’s like a slap in the face.

Waltz With Bashir was another political movie that was released back in 2008 - hot off the heels of Persepolis.

In 1982, Folman was a soldier during Israel's first invasion of Lebanon. Over 20 years later, Folman is disturbed to realize that he has no memory of this incident even though he was there at the time.

In order to remember, he tracks down several of his friends and soldiers who were there with him to find out what really happened.

Waltz with Bashir is truly a beautiful and moving movie as Folman delves deep into his troubled past as he desperately tries to remember the events that have eluded him for two decades.

It's hard to believe that war documentary and animation would fit together but the pair go are beautiful bedfellows and this movie is one of the most extraordinary animation movies that you are likely to see.

It's eight years since Belleville Rendez-Vous hit the big screen but it still remains one of the finest movies in French cinema.