Our list continues in the usual fashion, with a ranking of movies that didn’t get enough support to make the cut. As always, these can be pretty sporadic — unlike the top 25, even a single vote might be enough to vault a film into one of these spots. Tomorrow: #25.
26) South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (2 votes, 77 points)
Shaun: Dave and I discussed this on the podcast, but the best thing about this movie was the music. No really. It was catchy as hell, provided more characterization than the exposition, and included all the funniest bits. While not nearly as funny as a standard episode of the show, the South Park movie was perfectly enjoyable popcorn fluff.
Chris: In retrospect, it’s amazing that South Park had a movie 16 years ago, and it took The Simpsons (who had almost a decade head start) waaaaaaay longer than that to put together their own theatrical release — one that didn’t make our list, by the way. Back then, teenage Chris didn’t have cable and couldn’t have watched this show with his parents around anyway. But I watched it later, and it’s great. It would have been easy Matt and Trey to put out a decent film just to capitalize on the show’s enormous popularity, but they didn’t settle for a haphazard effort.
27) The Rescuers Down Under (3 votes, 76 points)
Chris: Today’s trend seems to be dragging franchises back from the dead 15-25 years later and making sequels and reboots. Consider just a few examples: Zoolander, Dumb and Dumber, Charlie’s Angels, Tron, Bad Boys, and so on. Rescuers Down Under baffles me because I honestly thought without looking that it came out before The Little Mermaid. It did not. In fact, it came out 13 years after the first Rescuers. The movie itself? It’s fun, and better than the original.
Shaun: Nostalgia is making me remember this movie better than it was, but at the time, I thought it was fantastic. We get to explore our two lovable mouse protagonists through new hardships, and a new villain ups the stakes from the original. A bump up in animation certainly helped as well. I will take this Australian adventure over the dreary swamp bore of the original any day.
28) My Neighbor Totoro (2 votes, 75 points)
Shaun: Lots of hype surrounding this movie. My verdict? Meh. It’s fine. Some moments are wonderful, but most of the time I just found myself wondering why I should really care about anything happening. I know that’s the point of this film, but it’s not a point I care about exploring.
Chris: I thought we were going down a Calvin and Hobbes road with My Neighbor Totoro. Does Mei actually see Totoro, or is she just imagining things? Turns out that spirits like Totoro are certainly real, and they love spending time at bus stops sharing umbrellas and nuts, growing trees, and — oh yeah, SUMMONING THEIR FRIEND CATBUS WHO IS A CAT BUT ALSO A BUS. You wouldn’t think I would need to sell Shaun on more than that.
29) Charlotte’s Web (2 votes, 73 points)
Chris: With a score from the Sherman Brothers and that classic, shitty animation from the 60s and 70s, Charlotte’s Web took one of my favorite childhood books and translated it to the screen. About the only downside here is that this tale is a pretty severe downer. Even the attempt at a somewhat happy ending after the downer doesn’t save it. But sometimes feels are a good thing. This movie is T, double-E, double-R, double-R, double-I, double-F, double-I, double-C, C, C.
Shaun: This movie is magical, engrossing, and completely broke me. It’s the highest praise I can give it, and probably also the reason I will never watch it again. I like keeping my eyes nice and dry during films, thanks guys.
30) The Little Mermaid (3 votes, 63 points)
Shaun: I don’t know how I feel about this movie. Music is phenomenal. Part of Your World is top five Disney songs for me. But the plot is at times painful, and I think the message of trading away a key component of your identity so you can be with the man of your dreams is a troubling message. Especially for PRINCE ERIC. That guy sucks. And, as the movie makes very clear, is an absolute moron. Luckily, this movie is slightly redeemed because of it’s solid supporting cast, including an iconic main villain.
Except you, Flounder.
Never you.
Chris: Every Disney movie that was successful in the 1990s owes a huge debt of gratitude to The Little Mermaid. The Disney Renaissance is nothing without it. But I don’t think it deserves to be in the same class as several other flicks from that time, and our panel seems to agree with that concept. Shaun’s exactly right about some of the themes and messages here, and I’ll add one more disclaimer — nearly all of the parts of the movie that happen underwater are plodding and boring on a second viewing. It’s still a lot of fun, with a great soundtrack.
31) The Secret of NIMH (1 vote, 60 points)
Chris: Because this came out before I was born, my first experience with Secret of NIMH was the direct-to-VHS sequel. You can understand why that might have left a bad taste in my mouth. Once I realized that the second movie was a dumpster fire unassociated with Don Bluth, whose other animated films I enjoyed, I went back and checked out the original. It’s way, waaaay better.
Shaun: I read the The Secret of the NIMH first, so maybe that ruined my perception of the film, but I thought it fell really, REALLY short of the novel’s greatness. Still, props for being a unassumingly dark children’s animated film.
32) Ratatouille (1 vote, 56 points)
Shaun: A decent film packaged in some gorgeous animation, Ratatouille was at all times good and at no point stellar. I love the creativity and the humor, and Patton Oswalt is my man, but I never really found myself more than a little engaged in the unfolding of the plot. Also, you cannot control humans by pulling their hair. I’m sorry. You cannot. I’m more willing to accept technology that allows dogs to talk than that.
Chris: It turns out that for people who aren’t particularly intelligent, some of their hair follicles reach down into their brain, the part that works on motor functions and — okay, I can’t sell it. I tried. Silly premises aside, this might be my favorite Pixar movie, even though I won’t try to call it the best of the bunch. It’s a gorgeous, touching, underrated film. And I love Anton Ego as an antagonist, even if he’s only in the movie for like eight minutes.
33) A Goofy Movie (2 votes, 55 points)
Chris: Okay, look. This movie is so 90s that it almost makes me wince in 2015 — the way characters talk and dress sticks out like a sore thumb. But the wonderful thing about A Goofy Movie is that its protagonist is painfully uncool all the time anyway. The fact that the movie essentially serves as a follow-up to Goof Troop is just an added bonus. And really, who couldn’t imagine the pain and torment associated with having Goofy as your father?
Shaun: Another gem from my youth, I still adore this movie. Chris is right that some of the elements don’t hold up quite as well now (I’m looking at you, uncredited Pauly Shore character). But all is forgiven with the Bigfoot encounter and that Powerline finale. And who doesn’t love a good father/son story?
34) Ice Age (2 votes, 55 points)
Shaun: I’m ready to knight Ice Age as an all-time classic movie. The movie is sweet, the characters are great and harbor surprisingly tragic and dark emotional arches, and it is probably one of the outright funniest animated movies out there. As one of the earlier computer animated films, the animation doesn’t quite hold up as strongly, and the subsequent sequels murdered this original’s spirit, but the original is still an incredibly fun experience.
Chris: Yeah, it’s the sequels you mentioned that (like a few other titles in this list) have sort of ruined the experience for me. Madagascar is the same way, and it didn’t even make our list. Anyway, Ice Age has a tremendous voice cast, and is a rare film where I don’t know if I would change any of the choices for the characters. You might not think Ray Romano would fit as a sniveling woolly mammoth, but damn, it works in execution.
35) Wreck-It Ralph (3 votes, 54 points)
Chris: Even before I’d had the chance to watch this movie, I derived much joy walking around and yelling “I’M GONNA WRECK IT” at random times. It’s neat that there are a ton of video game cameos here, but I actually enjoy the original characters the most. The end result is a bright, colorful adventure that should be appealing to fans of almost all ages.
Shaun: I was actually kind of bored by this movie, but I can’t deny the conclusion was epic, emotional, and everything I want from an animated movie. Plus, I didn’t really see the twist coming. The Mayor Guy IS Turbo?! Vanellope was SUPPOSED to be a character the whole time?! Mind blown.
36) Frozen (2 votes, 53 points)
Shaun: What do you say about this movie? It came out super overhyped, and was not nearly as good as everyone claimed. Then the hate train started, and I feel like I have to defend one of Disney’s highest grossing films ever by reminding folks of how much they loved it before it oversaturated the market. Now? Who knows. All I can say is the movie is still charming, the music is still good, and I appreciate the subversion of certain tropes. But it’s nowhere near as good as Tangled, and for that I will always harbor secret resentment.
Chris: We talked about this on the podcast a bit, but this is a strange placement that almost seems to be caused by the movie’s own success. Just about everyone on the planet got sick of hearing Let It Go at 147 children’s singing recitals and 952 radio stations, but it was a great song. The characters are interesting, the pacing is great, and the animation is gorgeous. Would this have ranked higher a year ago, or a year from now? I guess we’ll never know.
37) ParaNorman (1 vote, 50 points)
Chris: ParaNorman gets a bit of bonus credit for using 3D printing to develop its character models. That’s a cool bit of technology that I’m sure we’ll be seeing much more in the future. The film itself is entertaining, but to me, it’s mainly a testament to how modern stop-motion animation can look smooth and beautiful. Early offerings like the Rankin/Bass Christmas movies had their charm, but they were herky-jerky. No such problems here.
Shaun: I think in the future we’re going to see that movies created with stop animation are going to age extremely well, and ParaNorman is one such example. Even though I hate it. And it’s terrifying.
38) Rango (2 votes, 48 points)
Shaun: I was ready to dismiss Rango as an animated “Fear and Loathing” clone, so I was extremely surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. Bizarrely existential, Rango’s unlikely ascension to being a hero albeit a fish out of water is a delight to watch. The ending is emotionally gripping and satisfying. Seriously one of my favorite animated movies.
Chris: Even before the movie released, I was supposed to care more about Rango because it had the loosest of Flagstaff connections — one of the animators used to be from around here or something. Fair or not, I’ve been uninterested in anything involving Johnny Depp since the original Pirates of the Caribbean came out, so I haven’t seen it.
39) Monsters, Inc. (1 vote, 45 points)
Chris: Pixar has been a very hit-or-miss studio for me, with huge swings on the two ends of the spectrum. On the one end are excellent, phenomenal flicks like Toy Story and Up. On the other side are movies I could tolerate at best, like Brave and everything related to Cars. Unfortunately, Monsters was on the tolerate side. It’s…okay?
Shaun: I liked the idea of Monsters, Inc. more than the execution. On the surface, it’s a fun plot about how children’s screams serve as this land’s energies, necessitating all the boogeyman stories we grew up fearing. On a deeper level, it’s a pretty cool metaphor for corporate America. And all the stuff with the teleporting doors was damn cool. With that said, it was kind of boring, and Monster’s University didn’t help anything. Not Pixar’s worst, but far from their best.
40) Alice in Wonderland (2 votes, 45 points)
Shaun: I’m a little confused as to how this movie rose so high on our list, but I will say this: if you examine Disney’s other animated efforts around this time, Alice in Wonderland is a dim light among a deluge of darkness. Terrible, cheesy, dumpster darkness.
Chris: I suppose if you love the world of Lewis Carroll, seeing the books come to life in such a colorful and trippy way must have been quite enjoyable. Even though I recognize that this movie is fun and entertaining, I’m just not a huge fan. It’s a little too random and pointless for me. Sorry, everyone. I let you down.
41) Space Jam (2 votes, 44 points)
Chris: To me, it’s remarkable how well this movie holds up 20 years later. Sure, it’s a bit campy and corny, but the animation still looks pretty damn good. While some folks might disparage Michael Jordan’s performance in this movie, I think he nailed it. What other athlete could have come close to delivering as well as MJ did?
Shaun: IT’S YOUR CHANCE, DO YOU DANCE, AT THE SPACE JAM. Michael Jordan gives the performance of a lifetime as a washed up basketball player trying to relive his glory days and take one more team to the title before hanging up his sneakers. I’m not ashamed to say that this jam in space is one of my all-time favorite movies ever. Between classic cameos featuring Bill Murray, Larry Bird, and Charles Barkley, to solid animation that still holds up pretty well to this day, to a good amount of infused humor (a good majority of it intentional), Space Jam is as enjoyable today as it was all those years ago. Bring on Space Jam 2.
42) Coraline (3 votes, 40 points)
Shaun: I didn’t know what to expect from Coraline, and I was completely blown away. I don’t exactly know why, but something about the unique visuals, the creepy atmosphere, and the titular character all resonated with me. It was funny, endearing, and exciting, and painted this incredible world that I was sad to leave when the credits rolled.
Chris: Four minutes into Coraline, I thought I was going to hate it. That had nothing to do with the quality of the film so far, and everything to do with the cheapest, most worthless 3D glasses you’ve ever seen. Once we gave up on those and switched to a regular Blu-ray, I was able to enjoy the quirky, vibrant world that Coraline inhabited. I do have to wonder how many young children saw this and started to freak out about having buttons sewn on their eyes, though.
43) Wolf Children (1 vote, 40 points)
Chris: Like Mamoru Hosoda’s previous offering, Summer Wars, Wolf Children offers copious amounts of heart and charm as its main characters struggle to figure out their identity. It also earned more than Brave did on its opening weekend in Japan, which you can take either as praise for this movie or an indictment on Brave. Or both.
Shaun: There you go taking a great movie and comparing it to Brave.
44) Fantastic Mr. Fox (1 vote, 31 points)
Shaun: After confessing my hatred for stop animation, I’m going to have to redact my statement a bit. I LOVED this movie. Smart, funny, quaint, and charmingly bizarre, Fantastic Mr. Fox features great characters interacting in hilarious and touching ways, and a plot that is surprisingly compelling. Adorbs.
Chris: I’m a big Roald Dahl fan. I loved almost all of his books as a kid. This movie had a fantastic voice cast with all sorts of talented folks involved, and a surprisingly strong soundtrack to boot. So what holds me back from loving it? Quite simply, the main character’s face freaks me right the hell out.
45) Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1 vote, 30 points)
Chris: Unlike some other animated video game adaptations and nearly every real-life video game movie (including the one for this same series featuring Raul Julia and Jean-Claude Van Damme, released in the same year), the first SFII release hits the mark. It gives all the major characters a few moments to shine and makes sense with the existing storyline. And the fight scenes…damn. The Chun-Li/Vega battle is especially brutal, albeit a little too fan service-y in retrospect.
Shaun: This movie was okay, but at 45 is a bit too high for this list. Yes, it’s probably one of the better game to movie adaptations. But being the coolest kit in knitting class doesn’t mean you’re one of the coolest kids overall.
46) Yellow Submarine (1 vote, 28 points)
Shaun: Like the Beatles song?
Chris: Yes, even though the Beatles were strangely absent for almost the entire movie. It’s pretty telling how gigantic their popularity was that it didn’t even matter that the cartoon counterparts were voiced by someone else. This was a lighthearted adventure that was essentially a reason to shoehorn in classic Beatles songs, but it worked. In fact, this is better than the Beatles laser light show we saw at a planetarium once.
47) Pokemon: The Movie 2000 (1 vote, 26 points)
Chris: The first Pokemon movie was trying too hard to serve too many masters — it’s good, but not great. The sequel truly felt like an appropriate adventure, with an interesting story and more character development than either Misty or Ash received in dozens of episodes of the TV show. Even Team Rocket was pretty cool for a minute here. Think about that for a minute.
Shaun: After a movie where the Pokemonz talked each other to death, Pokemon 2 came out and was everything the original should have been. To this day, I feel pretty comfortable saying it’s the best Pokemon story ever told in movies or television.
48) The Hobbit (1 vote, 25 points)
Shaun: Honestly? Probably better than Peter Jackson’s version.
Chris: I’m already a huge Rankin/Bass fan, and now you’re telling me that the spiritual predecessor to Studio Ghibli was involved? I would much rather watch this than any of the overwrought live-action movies. Seeing as I have never read any Tolkien, though, I’m not super interested in either.
49) Big Hero 6 (2 votes, 24 points)
Chris: Big Hero 6 is the continuation of Disney’s somewhat surprising revival in the 2010s that started with Tangled, with crisp animation, heartwarming stories and great voice casts. You wouldn’t think of a huggable robot who talks about health care as a potential star, but Baymax passes those tests with flying colors.
Shaun: While it failed to reach the heights of Tangled or (even) Frozen, Big Hero 6 is a perfectly enjoyable, great looking animated movie with a great finale in a studio that doesn’t always deliver emotionally satisfying conclusions.
50) Twice Upon a Time (1 vote, 23 points)
Shaun: “Take once upon a time, and DOUBLE IT.” That should have been this movie’s tagline!….okay, you got me, never saw it.
Chris: George Lucas doesn’t enjoy the same bulletproof status he would have been afforded, say, 20 years ago. But it would be a mistake to underestimate the vision he had in a lot of his earlier projects. Twice Upon a Time is one such gem, although it was plagued by problems with its release in theaters and subsequent distribution to HBO.
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Gray Areas 
South Park is hilarious and I am amazed that its music got nominated for an Oscar. I haven’t watched Brave, but given that I am not a big fan of CG movies, I doubt it is better than the beautiful Wolf Children.