Favorite Animation

Many of the films Chuck Jones have directed crack me up, but this is a lesser known and earlier work of his that puts his smart timing and sharp sense of parody to hilarious use. His draughtsmanship and design sense improved in later years, of course, but the designs are still simplistically funny.

Of course you'd have to have lived under a rock not to know about:


Ratatouille, among its many virtues, introduces a dripping ham of a villain with wonderful presence and delivery and turns him into an ally in a clever and unexpected way. Many Disney films teach that there are "bad people" who must be thrown off a cliff in order for there to be peace. Ratatouille wisely indulges in cartoony performances but plays out a more human conflict than many animated movies. The character design is creative, unique, but still animation-friendly and extremely appealing. Not to mention, this is the first computer generated movie where I blissfully forgot that I was watching something generated on a computer.