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Arthouse Animation
Arthouse animation is a combination of art film and animated film. Examples of arthouse animated films 20th century *''El Apóstol'' (1917; now considered a lost film) *'' Fantasia'' (1940) *''Neighbours'' (1952) * '' Journey to the Beginning of Time'' (1955) * '' Invention for Destruction'' (1958) * ''The Fabulous Baron Munchausen'' (1962) *'' Game of Angels'' (1964) *'' The Glass Harmonica'' (1968) *'' Fritz the Cat'' (1972) *''Belladonna of Sadness'' (1973) *''Fantastic Planet'' (1973) *''Johnny Corncob'' (1973) *'' Hedgehog in the Fog'' (1975) *'' Allegro Non Troppo'' (1976) *''Watership Down'' (1978) *''Asparagus'' (1979) *'' Bubble Bath'' (1979) *'' Tale of Tales'' (1979) *'' Son of the White Mare'' (1981) *'' Dimensions of Dialogue'' (1982) *'' The Plague Dogs'' (1982) *'' Angel's Egg'' (1985) *'' The Pied Piper'' (1986) *''The Brave Little Toaster'' (1987) *'' Wicked City'' (1987) *'' Akira'' (1988) *''Alice'' (1988) *''Grave of the Fireflies'' (1988) *'' Only Yesterday'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Film
An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily for aesthetic reasons rather than commercial profit", and containing "unconventional or highly symbolic content". Film critics and film studies scholars typically define an art film as possessing "formal qualities that mark them as different from mainstream Hollywood films". These qualities can include (among other elements) a sense of social realism; an emphasis on the authorial expressiveness of the director; and a focus on the thoughts, dreams, or motivations of characters, as opposed to the unfolding of a clear, goal-driven story. Film scholars David Bordwell and Barry Keith Grant describe art cinema as "a film genre, with its own distinct conventions". Art film producers usually present their films at special theaters (repertory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Watership Down (film)
''Watership Down'' is a 1978 British animated adventure-drama film, written, produced and directed by Martin Rosen and based on the 1972 novel by Richard Adams. It features the voices of John Hurt, Richard Briers, Harry Andrews, Simon Cadell, Nigel Hawthorne and Roy Kinnear, among others, and was the last film work of Zero Mostel, as the voice of Kehaar the gull. It was financed by a consortium of British financial institutions and was distributed by Cinema International Corporation in the United Kingdom. Released on 19 October 1978, the film was an immediate success and it became the sixth-most popular film of 1979 at the UK box office. Plot In Lapine language mythology, the world was created by the god Frith. All animals were grass eaters, living harmoniously. The rabbits multiplied, and their appetite led to a food shortage. Frith ordered the rabbit prince, El-Ahrairah, to control his people, but was scoffed at. In retaliation, Frith gave special gifts to every animal, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grave Of The Fireflies
is a 1988 Japanese Anime, animated war film written and directed by Isao Takahata, and produced by Studio Ghibli. It is based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical Grave of the Fireflies (short story), short story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. Set in the city of Kobe, Kobe, Japan, it tells the story of siblings and war orphans Seita and Setsuko, and their desperate struggle to survive during the final months of the Pacific War. Production of ''Grave of the Fireflies'' began after Akiyuki Nosaka became interested in an animated adaptation of his book. The film was Takahata's first with Studio Ghibli. Several critics consider ''Grave of the Fireflies'' an anti-war film, but Takahata has disputed this claim. The film stars Tsutomu Tatsumi, , and . It was theatrically released on April 16, 1988. Upon release, the film was universally acclaimed by critics, with particular praise toward its emotional weight. It was also modestly successful at the Japanese box office, grossing ¥1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alice (1988 Film)
''Alice'' is a 1988 surrealist dark fantasy film written and directed by Jan Švankmajer. Its original Czech title is ''Něco z Alenky'', which means "Something from Alice". It is a loose adaptation of Lewis Carroll's first Alice book, '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865), about a girl who chases a white rabbit into a bizarre fantasy land. Alice is played by Kristýna Kohoutová. The film combines live-action with stop-motion animation, and is distinguished by its dark production design. For Švankmajer, a prolific director of short films for more than two decades, ''Alice'' became his first venture into feature-length filmmaking. The director had been disappointed by other adaptations of Carroll's book, which interpret it as a fairy tale. His aim was instead to make the story play out like an amoral dream. The film won the feature film award at the 1989 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Plot Alice is sitting by a brook with her sister, throwing roc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akira (1988 Film)
is a 1988 Anime, Japanese animated cyberpunk film, cyberpunk action film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, produced by Ryōhei Suzuki and Shunzō Katō, and written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, based on Otomo's 1982 manga ''Akira (manga), Akira''. Set in a dystopian 2019, it tells the story of Shōtarō Kaneda, the leader of a bōsōzoku, biker gang whose childhood friend, Tetsuo Shima, acquires incredible telekinesis, telekinetic abilities after a motorcycle accident, eventually threatening an entire military complex amid chaos and rebellion in the sprawling futuristic metropolis of Neo-Tokyo. While most of the character designs and settings were adapted from the manga, the plot differs considerably and does not include much of the last half of the manga, which continued publication for two years after the film's release. The soundtrack, which draws heavily from traditional Music of Indonesia, Indonesian gamelan and Japanese noh music, was composed by Tsutomu Ōhashi, Shōji Yamash ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wicked City (1987 Film)
is a 1987 Japanese adult animated neo-noir action gothic horror film produced by Video Art and Madhouse for Japan Home Video. Based on ''Black Guard'', the first novel of the '' Wicked City'' series by Hideyuki Kikuchi, the film is the solo directorial debut of Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who also served as the character designer, storyboard artist, animation director, and a key animator. The story takes place towards the end of the 20th century and explores the idea that the human world secretly coexists with the demon world with a secret police force known as the Black Guard protecting the boundary. With its confluence of gothic themes and graphic, erotic violence, Wicked City is today considered a prime example of science fiction anime from Japan's bubble economy period. Plot The existence of the "Black World"—an alternate dimension populated by supernatural demons—is known to few humans. For centuries, a peace treaty between the Black World and the world of humans has been m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Brave Little Toaster
''The Brave Little Toaster'' is a 1987 American animated musical fantasy film directed by Jerry Rees. It is based on the 1980 novella of the same name by Thomas M. Disch. The film stars Deanna Oliver, Timothy E. Day, Jon Lovitz, Tim Stack, and Thurl Ravenscroft, with Wayne Kaatz, Colette Savage, Phil Hartman, Joe Ranft, and Jim Jackman in supporting roles. It is set in a world where domestic appliances and other consumer electronics come to life, pretending to be lifeless in the presence of humans. The story focuses on five anthropomorphic household appliances—a toaster, gooseneck lamp, electric blanket, tube radio and upright vacuum cleaner—who go on a quest to search for their owner. The film was produced by Hyperion Pictures and The Kushner-Locke Company. Many CalArts graduates, including the original members of Pixar Animation Studios, were involved in its production. The rights to the book were acquired by Walt Disney Studios in 1982. John Lasseter, then employed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pied Piper (1986 Film)
''The Pied Piper'' is a 1986 Czechoslovakian animated dark fantasy film directed by Jiří Barta. Its original Czech title is ''Krysař'', which means "The rat catcher". The story is an adaptation of the ''Pied Piper of Hamelin'', a fairy tale originated in medieval Germany. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival Plot The film starts with the image of a mechanism beginning to work - as the gears move (behind the scenes), the sun slowly rises up over a town and a new day begins. The town, Hamelin, is shown to be one which is full of miserly and petty people, where everything is wasted and money and social rank are the first priority. The waste leads to an enormous rat infestation at night, stealing food and valuables, that spills out into the streets the next day. As the rats wreak havoc in the town, a tall hooded figure watches from afar, then makes his way towards the town. As the town leaders meet to decide on the best course o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angel's Egg
is a Japanese art film original video animation (OVA) written and directed by Mamoru Oshii. Released by Tokuma Shoten on 15 December 1985, the film was a collaboration between artist Yoshitaka Amano and Oshii. The film stars two nameless characters, a young girl who protects an egg, who bonds with a boy who has a dream about a bird. It was the first original project by Oshii and carries themes found in his other works. It features very little spoken dialogue and a story that is strongly allegorical which has led to many viewers being confused about the film's supposed meaning. The film uses Biblical allusions and has been described as a cult classic. Plot The setting of the film takes place in a primordial land, filled with trees, a seashore, a mysterious mechanical sun, various ruins of buildings and two nameless characters. One of these is a young girl who scavenges a desolate city while protecting a large egg, which she believes will hatch into an angel. The other is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Plague Dogs (film)
''The Plague Dogs'' is a 1982 adult animated adventure drama film, based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Richard Adams. The film's story is centered on two dogs named Rowf and Snitter, who escape from a research laboratory in Great Britain. In the process of telling the story, the film highlights the cruelty of performing vivisection and animal research for its own sake (though Rosen said that this was not an anti-vivisection film, but an adventure). Written, directed and produced by Martin Rosen, who previously adapted ''Watership Down'', also based on another novel by Adams, with animation direction by Tony Guy, ''The Plague Dogs'' was produced by Nepenthe Productions; it was released by Embassy Pictures in the United States and by United Artists in the United Kingdom. The film was originally released unrated in the United States, but for its DVD release, was re-rated PG-13 by the MPAA for mature themes such as animal cruelty, violent imagery, and emotionally distres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dimensions Of Dialogue
''Dimensions of Dialogue'' (, lit.: ''Possibilities of Dialogue'') is a 1983 Czechoslovak animated short film directed by Jan Švankmajer. It is 12 minutes long and created with stop motion. Plot The animation is divided into three sections. ''Objective Dialogue'' (''Dialog věcný'') shows Arcimboldo-like heads gradually reducing each other to bland copies; ''Passionate Dialogue'' (''Dialog vášnivý'') shows a clay man and woman who dissolve into one another sexually, then quarrel and reduce themselves to a frenzied, boiling pulp; and ''Exhaustive Dialogue'' (''Dialog vyčerpávající'') consists of two elderly clay heads who extrude various objects on their tongues (toothbrush and toothpaste; shoe and shoelaces, etc.) and intertwine them in various combinations. Reception Terry Gilliam selected the film as one of the ten best animated films of all time. Awards * Annecy International Animated Film Festival 1983 – Won Grand Prix *Berlin International Film Festival The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Son Of The White Mare
''Son of the White Mare'' () is a 1981 Hungarian animated fantasy adventure film directed by Marcell Jankovics. The story's main character is Fehérlófia (Son of the White Mare), who has superhuman powers. It is based on the narrative poetry, under the same title, from László Arany and ancient Hunnic, Avaric and Hungarian legends, as a tribute to ancient steppe peoples. Plot Fanyüvő (Treeshaker) is born as the third son of a horse, and he gains his power by suckling the horse's milk. He listens to old tales, mostly about the Forefather and the end of his reign, caused by evil humanoid dragons freed by the three wives of the three sons of the Forefather. After the horse's death, Fanyüvő decides to search and destroy the dragons, who seized power over the world. He meets his two brothers, Kőmorzsoló (Stonecrumbler) and Vasgyúró (Ironrubber), who both possess powers in a similar fashion to Fanyűvő. In search of the Underworld's entrance (home of the humanoid dragons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
