5 Underrated Animated Movies Better Than Any Live-Action Remake

With Disney’s mad dash to “live-action”-ize their most beloved animated flicks stampeding through cinemas (sorry, Mufasa) like no tomorrow, and casting announcements for their dozens of other projects lighting up Twitter and Facebook by the hour, original animated movies can feel, well, entire universes away. Here are 5 lesser-known, hidden-gems to combat mass franchise fatigue.

The Black Cauldron (1985) 

What It’s About: Based on Lloyd Alexander’s middle-grade high fantasy “The Chronicles of Prydain” series, The Black Cauldron follows young pig-keeper Taran and his desperate attempts to rescue his prophetic pig Hen-Wen (who is abducted by wyverns) from the dark and demonic fortress of the Horned King. 

Why We Love It: Raw and macabre aren’t words typically associated with Disney’s animation. But in the dark medieval adventure The Black Cauldron it’s undeniable. Instantly ambient, distinctly eerie and chilling Taran’s quest has no guarantee of a happy ending. The grotesque horned king, animated as a bloodthirsty skeletal specter, wants nothing more than to plunge the world into eternal darkness and misery and plucky as young Taran is, he can barely swing a sword. 

Fans of Arthurian legend? Here there be dragons! And goblins! And pixies! And witches!  Weaponry? Huzzah! Authentic costumes and historically inspired architecturally majestic castles and other locations? In spades! There’s actual BLOODSHED in this movie. But, there are embers of comedy in The Black Cauldron, like a traveling bard who bumbles his way through being rescued, and a thieving scruffy talking terrier named Gurgi are there to drum up the laughs (and groans and eye rolls!) and lighten the horror-heavy tone that often descends on Taran and his quest. Among other praise, The Black Cauldron’s character-driven high-fantasy adventure is also ahead of its time in its portrayal of the lead female character, Princess Eilonwy. Eilonwy isn’t a lily-white, pearls clutched to her chest damsel pining for her prince. She’s a forward-thinking heroine, who took the idea of rescuing herself and ran with it decades before Disney decided that female empowerment was “on brand” for them.

Song Of The Sea (2014)

What It’s About: After the loss of young Ben’s mother, Bronagh, during childbirth, his lighthouse keeper father Conor has been emotionally distant, and little Saoirse, the baby that survived the birth, serves as a constant reminder of Bronagh’s death. The heavy melancholy that settled around their once enchanting seaside home reaches fever pitch on Saoirse’s 6th birthday when Gran comes to visit. The mute little girl discovers a white coat locked away in a chest in the attic and the unthinkable – the call she felt towards the sea her entire life is because magic runs through her veins. Saoirse is a Selkie, a seal child. What looks like Saorise’s near-drowning and Conor’s inattentiveness to his children leads Gran to grab hold of Ben and Saoirse and spirit them back to her home in the city for a more stable upbringing. When Saoirse suddenly grows weak and ill by the hour and the previously unseen world of the Fae reveal themselves to be in peril, Ben and Saorise embark on a quest to save the Fae (and Saoirse) from impending doom.

Why We Love It: Song of The Sea is a wonder. Rich in the tradition of Irish and Scottish folklore and myth – Selkies, the Fae, Manannán Mac Lir (“the son of the sea”), the much revered Celtic Otherworld Tír na nÓg (“The Land of Youth”), and triple-death-goddess Macha (reimagined here as an Owl Witch) are all integral parts of this animated treasure. The otherworldly Fae coexist with ordinary humans in director Tom Moore’s complex and refreshingly original narrative. The character designs are charming, and the musical score, a Celtic infused blend of melancholy vocals and stirring, emotionally evoking instrumentals, all unify to make this an impressively nuanced film. Stylistically, as far as animated films go, Song of the Sea is daringly, and joyously different in its art style. There’s no push for plasticky overly polished CGI here – instead, a textured almost watercolor aesthetic creates the majestic world and heartachingly lovable characters. It’s gorgeously crafted enchanting experience for all ages that weaves lore and legend with realism, so full of meaning and layers, that it’s capable of touching the hearts of even the most jaded critics and viewers.

Whisper Of The Heart (1995)

What It’s About: One of Studio Ghibli’s hidden gems, Whisper of the Heart is a Japanese animated drama about a creative and bookish middle schooler named Shizuku who dreams of becoming a writer. As school exams grow more demanding and tensions mount in her family, Shizuku seeks solace in her imagination and her new friendship with a grandfatherly antique dealer and his nephew Seiji, another middle schooler and an aspiring musician.  

Why We Love It: Director Yoshifumi Kondô’s Whisper of the Heart is dazzling. The premise is so simple, deceptively so, that the emotions stirred up as we follow Shizuku on her journey of self-discovery are something of wonder and magic. Shizuku’s passion for fantasy and bringing the story in her head onto the pages are practically tangible. Sweet without being saccharine, Whisper of the Heart is not only underrated in the animated field, but it’s easily one of the most overlooked and underrated Studio Ghibli films. A character-driven movie with great affection and respect for its young protagonists, and a celebration of pursuing the arts and letting creativity bloom with ruthless abandon. Whether it’s penning a fantasy novel about a top hat wearing Baron cat, or carving an entire violin out from hand-selected wood and using the instrument to make music with a band of other musicians, Seiji and Shizuku’s plucky, persistent, and uncompromising personalities radiate through the entire movie like a glorious blazing sun. The warmth, sweetness, and yes, coziness, of Whisper of the Heart, makes this movie truly one of a kind amongst the sometimes soulless style over substance production of many modern-day animated films. Shizuku and Seiji’s hand-drawn world brings a dreaminess to everyday life and enhances the themes of hope, friendship, and the courage and daring to take risks to pursue our passions that are the, well, heart of Whisper of the Heart.

Treasure Planet (2002)

What It’s About: Sci-fi space opera meets swashbuckling pirate adventure in this creative take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1882 novel “Treasure Island.” When the rebellious and restless teen Jim Hawkins chances upon a mysterious pilot in his last minutes of life, the man leaves him two things: a warning to “beware the cyborg” and a sphere that reveals a holographic star map that leads to the legendary Treasure Planet. Enlisting as a cabin boy on the intergalactic space galleon, the RLS Legacy, Jim sets sail with Captain Amelia, Dr. Doppler, ship cook John Silver, and a crew of sailors and reformed pirates in search of the treasure-filled planet.

Why We Love It: Fact: Pirates are awesome. Pirates in outer space is a whole other galaxy of awesome! Treasure Planet is one of the first animated films to take hand-drawn traditional animation and combine it with 3D computer animation. As unique as its genre mashup makes it sound, Treasure Planet’s inimitable animated landscape takes a sci-fi western aesthetic (think Joss Whedon’s cult tv series Firefly) and shakes it up with dashes of steampunk. The characters are some of Disney’s most realistic looking, bringing a more grounded sense of reality the very fantastical otherworldly Treasure Planet. The casting is one of the high points of the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings vulnerability and cocky defiance to Jim Hawkins, deftly balancing the two and bringing a wholeness, and roundedness to a character who could’ve easily been hemmed into a one-dimensional trope. Theatre actor Brian Murray brings robust charisma to the cyborg anti-hero, and Emma Thompson (of Nanny McPhee and Harry Potter fame) lends her clipped British-accented voice to whip-smart, resourceful Captain Amelia. All said, from the moment the RLS Legacy sets sail in the starry skies Treasure Planet is packed with memorable characters, an A+ soundtrack written and performed by the Goo Goo Dolls guitarist and frontman John Rzeznik and a thrilling, fast-paced, plot.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

What It’s About: In 1914 an eccentric historian named Milo Thatch, whose made it his life’s work to study the mystery of Atlantis, a myth from as far back as 360 BCE, gathers together a ragtag crew of explorers, archaeologists, and experts to go on an underwater expedition in search of the lost city. Atlantis: The Lost Empire has the honor of being Disney’s first animated science-fiction fantasy and one of its few wholly original films. 

Why We Love It: Atlantis: The Lost Empire checks all the boxes of an edge-of-your-seat sci-fi thriller. The characters are likable and interesting, the Jules Verne inspired narrative is compelling, and the stylized animation is delightfully unusual. Michael J. Fox voices the geeky and enthusiastic Milo who is accompanied by a motley crew of explorers. There’s a heck of a lot of diversity in these supporting characters and authentic pre-woke inclusivity. We have Black doctor Joshua Sweet, Italian explosives expert Vincenzo Santorini, fast-talking Latina mechanic Audrey Ramirez (voiced by Jacqueline Obradors), cranky elderly female navigator Wilhelmina Packard and the intrepid female archaeologist Helga Sinclair. 

Then there’s the Atlantean Warrior-Princess Kida, arguably the best thing about Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Kida (voiced by Creed Summer) is a fierce, inquisitive and athletic heroine unlike any other in the Disney canon. Kida’s more powerful than the majority of the characters in Atlantis. She’s fluent in all languages, she possesses healing abilities, and she can physically hold her own whether it be climbing rugged cliff faces, or defending herself in a fight from the attacks of armed men twice her size. While barefoot. And unarmed. Add to that her history of ruling Atlantis along with her father the stoic Atlantean King, Kashekim (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) for literally thousands of years, and you’ve got one of the most badass and underrated heroines. Add to that the fantastical take on Atlantis, – a crystal powered paradise with an unnerving darkness – the focus on friendship, sacrifice, and resilience and the filmmakers unflinchingly boldness to tell a story Disney never told before in a style that defies every other animated Disney flick before it, and you’ve got this next level science fiction adventure movie.