Director Wes Anderson Names Studio Ghibli, “Akira” and “End of Evangelion” Among Favorite Animated Movies

Time Out New York has consulted an impressive field of animation luminaries to construct a list of the medium’s 100 best movies. Akira was named frequently. As were the movies of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki in particular. A few named the works of Satoshi Kon. Masaaki Yuasa’s Mind Game also got mutliple nods. However, the real interesting inclusion is Fantastic Mr. Fox director Wes Anderson‘s selection of End of Evangelion.

Anderson’s picks included (in alphabetical order):

• Akira


• The Iron Giant


• Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion


• 101 Dalmatians


• Only Yesterday


• Porco Rosso


• Princess Mononoke


• The Secret of NIMH


• Spirited Away


• Watership Down

Given how frequently critics have compared his movies to doll houses, maybe it needs to be said…

And, he wasn’t alone. Some of the other picks that were interesting, not just naming the familiar Miyazaki classics, include…

London-based artist and animator David Blandy had a deep anime selection:

• My Neighbor Totoro


• Only Yesterday


• Akira


• Fantastic Planet


• The Rescuers


• Toy Story 2


• The Secret World of Arrietty


• Fist of the North Star


• Barefoot Gen


• The Jungle Book

“My Neighbor Totoro is a childhood fantasy of cat buses and flying monsters, twisting together Shinto, folktales and children trying to cope with an absent mother. I could have chosen ten Studio Ghibli films and it’d still be a great list. Only Yesterday is a beautiful and understated Studio Ghibli film directed by Isao Takahata. It reminds me of a piece of French New Wave, a contemporary woman’s reminiscences about childhood set against her present life, which gains extra resonance through the fact that it is animated. Every gesture and glance is so orchestrated, yet looks so natural. Akira was the monster that made me realize that all the animation I’d loved as a child was Japanese: Ulysses 31, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, ThunderCats…”

Experimental artist/animator Lilli Carré named:

• Consuming Spirits


• Fantastic Planet


• The Adventures of Prince Achmed


• Spirited Away


• Grave of the Fireflies


• Heaven and Earth Magic


• Akira


• Conspirators of Pleasure


• Fehérlófia


• Perfect Blue

Oscar winning Dutch animator/illustrator Michael Dudok de Wit chose:

• Bambi


• Fantasia


• Grave of the Fireflies


• The Jungle Book


• A Letter to Momo


• My Neighbors the Yamadas


• My Neighbor Totoro


• The Nightmare Before Christmas


• Spirited Away


• Yellow Submarine

Geek favorite H.R. Giger named:

• Chicken Run


• Fantasia


• Finding Nemo


• Fritz the Cat


• Heavy Metal


• The Nightmare Before Christmas


• Pinocchio


• Spirited Away


• Watership Down


• Yellow Submarine

French indie animator Pierre-Luc Granjon named:

• Spirited Away


• Little Otik


• Princess Mononoke


• Tokyo Godfathers


• The King and the Mockingbird


• The Iron Giant


• Kirikou and the Sorceress


• Summer Days with Coo


• Waltz with Bashir


• The Triplets of Belleville

Robot Chicken’s Seth Green was surprisingly mainstream in his picks:

• Akira


• The Iron Giant


• The LEGO Movie


• ParaNorman


• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut


• Tangled


• Toy Story 3


• Wall-E


• Who Framed Roger Rabbit


• Wreck-It Ralph

3D animator/music video director David O’Reilly picked:

• Mind Game


• Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion


• It’s Such a Beautiful Day


• Akira


• Fantasia


• Perfect Blue


• Paprika


• Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon


• Up

Indie animator Bill Plympton also got in a Mind Game nod:

• Mind Game


• Yellow Submarine


• Dumbo


• How to Train Your Dragon


• Toy Story 3


• Song of the South


• Bambi


• Ernest & Celestine


• Idiots and Angels


• I Married a Strange Person!

Journalist Alex Dudok de Wit named:

• Alice


• Grave of the Fireflies


• The Jungle Book


• Kirikou and the Sorceress


• Mind Game


• My Neighbor Totoro


• The Prince of Egypt


• The King and the Mockingbird


• Waltz with Bashir


• When the Wind Blows

Variety’s Peter Labuza had:

• Waking Life


• Spirited Away


• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs


• The Iron Giant


• Waltz With Bashir


• Finding Nemo


• It’s Such a Beautiful Day


• Chicken Run


• The Triplets of Belleville


• Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors

Andrew Osmond, who has written on Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon, picked:

• Bambi


• Beauty and the Beast


• Castle in the Sky


• Fantasia


• Grave of the Fireflies


• The Incredibles


• Kiki’s Delivery Service


• The King and the Mockingbird


• Night on the Galactic Railroad

Movie writer Tasha Robinson, who has covered anime, selected:

• The Incredibles


• Charlotte’s Web


• Akira


• Spirited Away


• The Jungle Book


• The Iron Giant


• My Neighbor Totoro


• Kirikou and the Sorceress


• The Castle Of Cagliostro


• The Triplets Of Belleville

Time Out’s Keith Uhlich named:

• Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion


• Looney Tunes: Back in Action


• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm


• Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence


• The Adventures of Tintin


• Sita Sings the Blues


• The Iron Giant


• The Triplets of Belleville


• Who Framed Roger Rabbit


• Winnie the Pooh

Otaku News’ Joe Curzon had:

• My Neighbor Totoro


• Kiki’s Delivery Service


• Paprika


• Tokyo Godfathers


• Cowboy Bebop: The Movie


• The Girl Who Leapt Through Time


• Mai Mai Miracle


• Akira


• Evangelion: 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone


• Ghost in the Shell

Ghibli Blog’s Daniel Thomas MacInnes named:

• Only Yesterday


• Whisper of the Heart


• Fantasia


• Pinocchio


• The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun


• Princess Mononoke


• Gauche the Cellist


• Night on the Galactic Railroad


• Yellow Submarine


• Waking Life

Anime Encylopedia’s Helen McCarthy selected:

• My Neighbor Totoro


• Sleeping Beauty


• Porco Rosso


• Tokyo Godfathers


• The Incredibles


• Pom Poko


• Lilo & Stitch


• King Kong


• Summer Wars

Japanese Cinema writer Jasper Sharp picked:

• Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence


• Up


• Mind Game


• Grave of the Fireflies


• The Book of the Dead


• Coraline


• Whisper of the Heart


• Watership Down


• The Iron Giant


• Fantastic Planet

J-Pop Foundation’s Niels Viveen selection included:

• Spirited Away


• Ghost in the Shell


• My Neighbor Totoro


• Whisper of the Heart


• Yona Yona Penguin


• Oblivion Island


• The Wind Rises


• Porco Rosso


• Toy Story


• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Jerry Beck, who was instrumental in bringing a number of classic anime releases to North America named:

• Dumbo


• Akira


• The Incredibles


• The Iron Giant


• Aladdin


• The Thief and the Cobbler


• Kung Fu Panda


• Fantastic Mr. Fox


• My Neighbor Totoro


• Yellow Submarine

Anime in the final list included

99 Millennium Actress

97 Perfect Blue

96 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

94 Night on the Galactic Railroad

84 Castle in the Sky

83 Ghost in the Shell

75 Paprika

73 Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

70 Pom Poko

69 Porco Rosso

65 End of Evangelion

61 Only Yesterday

60 Kiki’s Delivery Service

55 Whisper of the Heart

53 Mind Game

52 Tokyo Godfathers

48 Castle of Cagliostro

28 Princess Mononoke

15 Grave of Fireflies

14 Akira

3 My Neighbor Totoro

2 Spirited Away

via @snubpollard

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