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Best Animated Films of 2017

2017 is one of the weakest years when it comes to animation, most especially American animation as is evidenced by a lack of American films on my list. Although only one film got 4.5 rating from me, six other films got 4-star rating so it isn’t an entirely disposable year. The Academy’s picks were truly horrible so I tried to make a much better, more relevant and diverse list which, let’s be honest, wasn’t that difficult. So without further ado, here are five best films of 2017 along with just two honorable mentions.

5. Napping Princess

This very cool, relevant and timely anime explores some interesting themes such as driving industry and especially the prospects of self-driving cars. That made the film very fascinating and modern for me and I loved its timely story. Although the fantasy elements were lacking, the real world story is terrific and fueled by a great suspense thriller subplot. It is a fun tech-heavy, visually dazzling and underrated anime worth checking out.

4. Coco

Coco is a hugely disappointing film. Yes, the animation is frequently stunning and the mythology is outstanding with the concept of death being beautifully, cleverly explored. It truly has amazing world building and is a great look at Mexican culture. However, the film’s characters aren’t great and the overall storyline isn’t too original and the twist itself isn’t as fantastic as the film presented it. Yes, the film is very good, but just not one of Pixar’s finest.

3. Mary and the Witch’s Flower

This is a debut feature film from newfound Studio Ghibli departed studio called Studio Ponoc. They made a valuable, though flawed first effort. Certainly the plot is unoriginal and the film is decidedly rushed in execution and pacing, but its animation is undeniably impressive in color palette and background work and the main character truly is a phenomenal heroine. The film is magical and very charming as this high fantasy flick that’s promising for the future of the studio.

2. The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner’s third act and voice acting are not my cup of tea, but everything else is terrific including its wonderfully simplistic hand-drawn animation and splendid direction from Nora Twomey. The entire story set in Afghanistan is dark and explores some mature themes really well. It is a very well done feminist picture which is emotionally engaging and powerful, but definitely not as great as it could have been.

1. The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales…

This French charmer of a film truly is a terrific surprise. It is an anthology film and thus it is uneven as the third story is not as great as the rest, but the first one is such a fun slapstick comedy flick and the second story is so well crafted on every level and incredibly moving. Its comic-strip styled animation is immensely effervescent, the characters are all wonderful and the film is so quirky both in style and in humor that it only could have come from France. It’s easily the best animated film of this lackluster cinematic year.

Honorable Mentions:

The Lego Batman Movie – One of the rare truly good American films of 2017, this Lego spin-off improves upon its predecessor thanks to better humor and fantastic characterization. The relationship between Joker and Batman is true to source material and the highlight here.

The Lego Ninjago Movie – This highly underrated action comedy flick deserves more attention as its humor is very strong as it made me laugh so many times while its story and especially characters are also pretty solid.