Charles Solomon

The filmmakers give Hinako weaknesses and doubts as well as strengths and talents. She’s a more complex, fully realized character than many heroines in recent American features.

“Weathering” is a luminously beautiful film. Shinkai’s artists capture both micro- and macroscopic: the wonder of a raindrop acting a prism, casting refractions onto the surrounding surfaces and the glow produced by light shining through clouds.

After seeing every leaf on every bush in so many features, it’s fun to sit back and enjoy a film that pushes its look and palette beyond mere reality to create a fantasy world that could exist only in animation.

In a divisive era, Okko’s Inn carries a welcome message of acceptance and inclusion.

At 44 minutes, This Magnificent Cake may be a long short or a short feature. Either way, it’s an intriguing, disturbing film, utterly unlike American studio animation.

“Broly” delivers exactly what “Dragon Ball” fans want from a feature; newcomers may find themselves lost in places.

In divisive times, Pig and his friends, who consist of maybe a dozen drawn lines apiece, provide much-needed laughter in the tradition of the great Warner Bros. cartoons.

The film is alternately intriguing and frustrating. The visuals are often strikingly handsome and oddly funny. But the movements are stiff, the characters chatter endlessly, and the unnecessary songs bring the plot to a grinding halt.

Yuasa's bold imagery and sometimes convoluted storytelling defy the conventions of traditional animated filmmaking, but he is clearly an artist with an individual vision whose work offers something genuinely new and eye-catching.

Its wrenching honesty provides a potent counter to the simple-minded let’s-all-be-friends-and-sing-a-song inanities of “My Little Pony,” “The Emoji Movie” and other recent American animated features.

Inventive and imaginative, Napping Princess confirms [Kamiyama] as one of the most interesting writer-directors working in Japanese animation.

“Girl” is a welcome reminder that animation doesn’t have to be synonymous with realistically rendered CG, but can be a means of artistic expression as uniquely personal as a signature.

Earlier English translations soft-pedaled the nature of Fiore’s affection for Mamoru. The lively new version is closer to the original, and suggests Fiore’s feeling are more passionate than fraternal.

Viewers unfamiliar with One Piece may find themselves lost in places, as the filmmakers treat the regular characters and their relationships as givens, with no introductions or explanations. Fans will find the outré settings, bizarre characters, over-the-top fights and slapstick comedy they enjoy.

Like their Oscar-nominated “A Cat in Paris” (2010), Phantom Boy by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gangol is a modest, engaging film that reminds viewers of the intimate pleasures of drawn animation in an era of CG blockbusters.

Boy & the World is a brightly colored, often charming film that juxtaposes simple, hand-drawn animation with kaleidoscopic computer-generated patterns.

Hosoda brings emotional depth to what could easily have become a formulaic martial arts saga. Instead, Boy and Beast is a bracing tale of two flawed individuals who find the love and discipline they need to assume their rightful places in their respective worlds.

Like "A Cat in Paris" or "Sita Sings the Blues," Extraordinary Tales reminds viewers that animation can enable an artist to realize an individual vision, even on a limited budget.

A slam-bang action-adventure that will have Dragon Ball fans cheering.

If "The Last" lacks some of the emotional punch of the previous feature, "The Road to Ninja," Kobayashi compensates with flamboyant visuals that mix CG, drawn animation and elegant calligraphic figures.

Some of the subsequent Disney features--notably "Pinocchio"--are technically superior, but the animators never surpassed the emotional depth they achieved in Walt's "folly." "Snow White" carries her 50 years very lightly.

Despite all the good fun, Bambi remains a potent story that touches deep fears and emotions. Few scenes in animation--or live action film--match the poignancy of the death of Bambi's mother, a sequence that still moves children (and adults) to tears.

Every element in Pinocchio shimmers with the energy of young artists reveling in their newly discovered powers of creation.

The Great Mouse Detective reflects the energy and enthusiasm of a talented group of young artists stretching their wings for the first time. That group has gone on to produce some truly extraordinary work, win awards and earn sums no one believed could be made from an animated film. And, as has often been the case at Disney, it all began with a mouse.

The first theatrical feature adapted from the hit anime adventure My Hero Academia: Two Heroes gives fans of the manga and broadcast series exactly what they want: a high-energy blend of heroism, comedy, friendship and take-no-prisoners battles.

Cruella De Vil dominates the film: With her booming voice (provided by Betty Lou Gerson) and extravagant gestures, she leaves a trail of shattered glass and frazzled nerves wherever she passes. [12 July 1991, p.F12]

A bright, upbeat comedy that should appeal to audiences of all ages. [18 Nov 1988, p.1]

With its exhilarating action sequences, Walt Disney Pictures' The Rescuers Down Under challenges the adventure films of Spielberg and Lucas and confirms the special power of animation to present extravagant fantasies on screen.