Top Five DreamWorks Animation Films

DreamWorks Animation has had some good and some bad since their debut film Antz in 1998. For the most part though, they have established themselves as arguably Disney and Pixar's biggest rival and competitor in the feature length animated films department. There have been 23 DreamWorks Animation films and two more are do out this year with Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted out on June 8, 2012 and Rise of the Guardians set to hit theaters on November 21, 2012. Listed below are what I believe to be DreamWorks Animation's best films to date. Which ones are your favorites?

Shrek (2001)

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Chicken Run (2000)

Shrek 2 (2004)

Top Five Stop Motion Animated Films of the 2000s

With the release of The Pirates! Band of Misfits, the first stop motion animated film since 2009 and the first of three do out this year. I started thinking about the best stop motion films we've had recently and really when you look back, you see that we've had some really good ones lately. Listed below are what I believe to be the five best stop motion animated films from the 2000s. Which ones are your favorites?

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Mary and Max (2009)

Coraline (2009)

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

Chicken Run (2000)

One Of The Greatest Animated Short Films Ever Made...

It's not very often you watch an animated short film that leaves you utterly speechless by the end of it. In fact, it has never happened to me before until I saw More. What is More you might ask? More is a 1998 short film created by Mark Osborne using stop motion animation that went on to win many awards and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1998. What is also amazing is that More is a mere six minutes long, yet it took nine months for director Mark Osborne to film. It truly is an amazing, wonderful achievement in animation and I just cannot believe that it took me so long to see it. If you ever get the chance to see this amazing film, do not pass it up. If you search around, you should be able to find it on YouTube, but if you want to see it in glorious HD you can also buy it on iTunes. Keep in mind that it was the first animated short to be shot using IMAX format.

More (1998)

More tells the story of an inventor who lives in a drab, colorless world. Day by day, he toils away in a harsh, dull, and dehumanizing job, his only savior being the memories of the bliss of childhood. But at night, he works secretly on an invention that could help him relive those memories and spread their joy to everyone in his despair-filled life. When he finishes the invention, it changes the way people look at the world. His success changes him, however, because he loses an important part of himself.

Keep An Eye Out For Wreck-It-Ralph

Wreck-It-Ralph is an upcoming 3D computer-animated film being produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and directed by Rich Moore. The film will tell the story of Wreck-It Ralph, who will be voiced by John C. Reilly and is a video game bad guy who is determined to prove that he can be a good guy. Sounds pretty interesting, right? It is said that the film will also feature cameos from some other famous video game characters such as Doctor Wily from Mega Man, Bowser from Super Mario Bros. and Kano from Mortal Kombat. Wreck-It-Ralph is definitely looking like a promising animated film, despite flying under most peoples radar. It is set to hit theaters later this year on November 2, 2012.

The bad-guy character in a classic game who longs to be a hero brings trouble to his entire arcade after sneaking into a new first-person shooter game and unleashing a deadly enemy.

What To Expect From Brave

Brave is the upcoming Disney/Pixar animated film which is due to hit theaters on June 22, 2012. It will be Pixar's thirteenth feature film after the release of the less than satisfying Cars 2 from last summer. It appears that Pixar should get somewhat back on track with this one though. Even though it will be a little bit different than any other Pixar film to date. Brave will feature a female lead character for the first time in a Pixar film as well as being Pixar's first fairy tale feature. Even though it will be different than anything else Pixar has done in the past, I still believe that it will be a very good movie that should please a lot of people. The animation looks stunning and the characters look interesting. It's looking like another big win for Pixar.

Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.

Looking Forward To Frankenweenie

It's hard not to get excited about any Tim Burton movie nowadays. The man is a genius filmmaker and it is just fun to see what he is able to put out for his fans. His new animated flick, Frankenweenie, is due out on October 5, 2012 and looks like it will definitely be a crowd pleaser. It is a black and white stop-motion animated film which will be shown in 3D and IMAX 3D. Sounds cool, right? It is also a remake of his own 1984 short film of the same name and it will be a parody and homage to the 1931 Frankenstein movie which starred Boris Karloff. Animation and Burton lovers alike are sure to be pleased with this one and with an early October release date it will get everyone in the right kind of mood for Halloween. So what do you think, are you looking forward to seeing it?

After the death of his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring him back to life. Victor tries to hide his creation, but Sparky gets out and causes havoc in the town.

Disney's Top Ten Villains

Disney has been known to make some of the most terrifying and also iconic movie villains of all time. They are antagonists in their stories and pull some of the most evil tricks and treachery on our heroes that we all root for. They deceive, they cheat, and they lie. They will do anything necessary to make sure that the protagonist of the story doesn't get to where they want to go. Listed below are who I believe to be ten of Disney's most iconic villains in movie history. They are in no specific order. Which villains are your favorites?

Cruella de Vil

101 Dalmatians

Scar

The Lion King

Ursula

The Little Mermaid

Gaston

Beauty and the Beast

Jafar

Aladdin

Evil Queen

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Hades

Hercules

Doctor Facilier

The Princess and the Frog

Yzma

The Emperor's New Groove

Captain Hook

Peter Pan

Top Five Films Of The Disney Renaissance Era

The Disney Renaissance refers to an era during the late 1980's throughout the late 1990's in which Walt Disney Animated Studios returned to making very successful animated films which restored interest in Disney. The whole era started with the release of The Little Mermaid, which Disney had actually been developing since the 1930's. The film was released on November 14, 1989 and went on to break the record for highest-grossing animated film which was then held by the Don Bluth classic, The Land Before Time. Disney then had a stretch of great features such as Aladdin, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, which became the first animated film to ever garner an Academy Award nomination for best picture. The era then came to an end with Tarzan which was released on June 18, 1999. Listed below are what I believe to be the five best films that Walt Disney Animated Studios were able to shell out during this time known as The Disney Renaissance.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Belle, whose father is imprisoned by the Beast, offers herself instead and discovers her captor to be an enchanted prince.

Aladdin (1992)

Aladdin, a street urchin, accidentally meets Princess Jasmine, who is in the city undercover. They love each other, but she can only marry a prince.

The Lion King (1994)

Tricked into thinking he killed his father, a guilt ridden lion cub flees into exile and abandons his identity as the future king.

The Little Mermaid (1989)

A mermaid princess makes a faustian bargain with an unscrupulous seahag in order to meet a human prince on land.

Mulan (1998)

To save her father from death in the army, a Chinese maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China's greatest heroes in the process.

Don Bluth's Best Films

Don Bluth is one of the most prestigious animators in film history. All of his movies have a certain style that could never be matched by anyone in the industry. He brings his characters to life so flawlessly and sets them out on some of the most amazing journeys. While he hasn't done a film since 2000, his fans remain hopeful for a comeback so that he can continue to take them on adventures through the amazing method of animation. Listed below are what I believe to be five of  Bluth's best animated films. Although, it is very hard to pick just five because the man was just simply a genius when it came to animation.

The Land Before Time (1988)

Five orphan dinosaurs travel the ruins of their world, while grieving the loss of their families and banding together to face the odds of survival.

An American Tail (1986)

While emigrating to the United States, a young Russian mouse gets separated from his family and must relocate them while trying to survive in a new country.

The Secret Of NIMH (1982)

To save her ill son, a field mouse must seek the aid of a colony of super-intelligent rats, with whom she has a deeper link than she ever suspected.

Titan A.E. (2000)

A young man learns that he has to find a hidden Earth ship before an enemy alien species does in order to secure the survival of humanity.

Anastasia (1997)

The only surviving child of the Russian Royal Family hooks up with two con men while the undead Rasputin seeks her death.

Favorite TV Shows As A Kid

Everyone has one or more favorite childhood shows growing up. Although, if you turn on a TV nowadays you find it kind of hard to believe that kids can watch and actually enjoy a lot of the garbage they show today. It used to be you could turn on Nickelodeon and just sit and watch whatever came on  for hours upon end until it was time for bed. Whether is was Rugrats, Rocko's Modern Life, Doug or even Hey Arnold. There was no shortage of great cartoon entertainment and shows. Listed below are some of my favorite television shows that I was always watching when I was growing up.What were some of your favorite shows as a kid?

Boy Meets World (1993-2000)

Even Stevens (1999-2003)

Kenan & Kel (1996-2000)

Doug (1991-1994)

Rocko's Modern Life (1993-1996)

Upcoming Animated Sequels That Should Do Well

Sequels, sequels, sequels. It seems like every year we get a handful of animated sequels. Some of them do well and some of them fall flat. There are a few scheduled for release this summer and even more currently in production due to come out sometime in the near future. Listed below are a few animated sequels that are currently in production and due to release sometime in the future that I believe will be relatively good and that I am looking forward to seeing.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 - (June 20, 2014)

Cloudy 2: Revenge Of The Leftovers - (February 7, 2014)

Despicable Me 2 - (July 3, 2013)

Three Great Animated Movies You May Not Have Seen

Every year there seems to be a few hidden treasures as far as animated films go. For whatever reason these animated features that despite being very good do not get a very wide theatrical release and therefore not many people see them or even know about their existence. Listed below are three recently released animated features that I found to be tremendous achievements, but I'm not sure that many people know too much about them. I would highly recommend all three of them to anyone who can get their hands on them to watch somehow.

Mary and Max (2009)

A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York.

Persepolis (2007)

Poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

An urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers' retaliation.

Three Unique Documentaries To Watch

Once in awhile a documentary comes along and it is put into a sub-genre called a special interest documentary. These are the type of documentary films that I keep my eye out for and love to watch. Listed below are three documentaries that I find to be very unique and very good. If you don't particularly care for documentaries try giving one of these a go and see what you think. All three are unlike anything else you have ever seen and are very viewer engaging.

The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters (2007)

Diehard video game fans compete to break World Records on classic arcade games. 

Confessions Of A Superhero (2007)

Chronicles the lives of four mortal men and women who work as characters on the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard.

The Yes Men (2003)

Anti-corporate activists travel from conference to conference, impersonating members of the World Trade Organization.

Top Five Spoof Movies Ever Made

It seems like we haven't had a truly good spoof movie in ages and that the current ones that Hollywood keeps shelling out just seem to be getting worse and worse. If you have seen any of the newer spoof movies such as Epic Movie, Date Movie, Disaster Movie and Meet The Spartans you just kind of lose faith in hoping that someday another good parody movie will be made. Listed below are what I believe to be the five best spoof movies ever made.

Blazing Saddles ( 1974)

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Airplane! (1980)

Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993)

The Naked Gun: From The Files Of The Police Squad (1988)