Film Filter 101:
November 18, 2009 9:58 PM Subscribe
I am looking for films that use animation to help push their stories along.
For example, the animated sequence that Michael Moore used to tell the 'brief history of the united states' in "Bowling for Columbine" or the anime sequence that Quentin Tarantino used to tell O-ren Ishii's story in "Kill Bill, vol. 1".
Any help would be much appreciated.
For example, the animated sequence that Michael Moore used to tell the 'brief history of the united states' in "Bowling for Columbine" or the anime sequence that Quentin Tarantino used to tell O-ren Ishii's story in "Kill Bill, vol. 1".
Any help would be much appreciated.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:07 PM on November 18, 2009
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:07 PM on November 18, 2009
The Wall
posted by lilywing13 at 10:08 PM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by lilywing13 at 10:08 PM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
Kill Bill Vol. I had an animated interlude introducing O-Ren Ishi.
posted by timoni at 10:08 PM on November 18, 2009
posted by timoni at 10:08 PM on November 18, 2009
Oh whoops, just realized you used that as an example. Sorry.
posted by timoni at 10:09 PM on November 18, 2009
posted by timoni at 10:09 PM on November 18, 2009
The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys definitely qualifies.
The best part of Hedwig And the Angry Inch was animation, although it's debatable whether it really pushed the story along.
posted by bingo at 10:10 PM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
The best part of Hedwig And the Angry Inch was animation, although it's debatable whether it really pushed the story along.
posted by bingo at 10:10 PM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
There's some of this in Natural Born Killers, though I don't know if how it fits in narrative-wise fits the bill you're looking for.
posted by nanojath at 10:11 PM on November 18, 2009
posted by nanojath at 10:11 PM on November 18, 2009
One Crazy Summer had some animation interspersed in it and The Rocketeer had that Nazi propaganda cartoon scene.
posted by cazoo at 10:26 PM on November 18, 2009
posted by cazoo at 10:26 PM on November 18, 2009
Reefer Madness: the Movie Musical.
posted by McBearclaw at 10:29 PM on November 18, 2009
posted by McBearclaw at 10:29 PM on November 18, 2009
Response by poster: Awesome examples! Keep 'em coming!
posted by AlliKat75 at 10:30 PM on November 18, 2009
posted by AlliKat75 at 10:30 PM on November 18, 2009
The first film that came to mind was Eating Air. The second film that came to mind was, er, Enchanted.
Oh! And I just remembered - The Happiness of the Katakuris (stop motion animation / claymation, if that counts... )
posted by aielen at 10:32 PM on November 18, 2009
Oh! And I just remembered - The Happiness of the Katakuris (stop motion animation / claymation, if that counts... )
posted by aielen at 10:32 PM on November 18, 2009
Not sure this counts but, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou certainly had a lot of animation integrated into it.
posted by Mizu at 10:32 PM on November 18, 2009
posted by Mizu at 10:32 PM on November 18, 2009
Also Better Off Dead, yes? Man, it's been forever.
Unrelatedly, but also animatedly, Frida.
posted by mumkin at 10:42 PM on November 18, 2009
Unrelatedly, but also animatedly, Frida.
posted by mumkin at 10:42 PM on November 18, 2009
I don't know if this fits your criteria but Waking Life... ?
Yes, technically the whole movie is animated (Rotoscoping to be precise) there are times when the animation overly is almost exactly the original cinema frame, and other times where the animation is played up and departs extremely from the original frame for various reasons. As well there are completely animated elements that appear in at least one scene I can recall.
posted by DetonatedManiac at 10:54 PM on November 18, 2009
Yes, technically the whole movie is animated (Rotoscoping to be precise) there are times when the animation overly is almost exactly the original cinema frame, and other times where the animation is played up and departs extremely from the original frame for various reasons. As well there are completely animated elements that appear in at least one scene I can recall.
posted by DetonatedManiac at 10:54 PM on November 18, 2009
American Splendor.
posted by SarahElizaP at 11:27 PM on November 18, 2009
posted by SarahElizaP at 11:27 PM on November 18, 2009
The surreal claymation scene in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure?
And maybe the animated educational short in Jurassic Park, although there the characters are actually shown watching it.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 11:35 PM on November 18, 2009
And maybe the animated educational short in Jurassic Park, although there the characters are actually shown watching it.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 11:35 PM on November 18, 2009
The Jurassic Park scene lays a bunch of pipe for everyone, enabling Spirlberg to cut to the mayhem with less exposition.
Similarly, 2012 has a brief motion graphic about how everything's going to go down that imparts all kinds of pseudoscientific authority to John Cusack's character later.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:42 PM on November 18, 2009
Similarly, 2012 has a brief motion graphic about how everything's going to go down that imparts all kinds of pseudoscientific authority to John Cusack's character later.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:42 PM on November 18, 2009
Tangentially related material, perhaps:
- The Penguin Dance and Jolly Holiday sequences in Mary Poppins
- The animated musical sequence in 9 to 5
- The Beautiful Briny Sea musical sequence from Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
- Dali's dream sequence in Spellbound.
posted by prinado at 12:14 AM on November 19, 2009
- The Penguin Dance and Jolly Holiday sequences in Mary Poppins
- The animated musical sequence in 9 to 5
- The Beautiful Briny Sea musical sequence from Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
- Dali's dream sequence in Spellbound.
posted by prinado at 12:14 AM on November 19, 2009
King of California, which I don't think anybody saw except the people who worked on it, but is not terrible at all, has an animated dream-ish sequence that conveys some information that's crucial to the story.
posted by dersins at 12:34 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by dersins at 12:34 AM on November 19, 2009
The recent film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy frequently interrupted the action with animated out-takes from the titular Guide. You can watch some of these sequences on YouTube:
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book..."The TV miniseries had the same gimmick, but the animation from 1981 isn't quite as slick-looking:
Vogons
The Babelfish and the Non-Existence of God
The Infinite Improbability Drive
The Point-of-View Gun
None At Allposted by Rhaomi at 1:06 AM on November 19, 2009
Dolphins
The Worst Poetry in the Universe
Vogons (again)
Babelfish (again)
The Universe (Some Information to Help You Live in It)
G'gugvunt-Vl'hurg War
Elf
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:14 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:14 AM on November 19, 2009
also Crank 2 High Voltage has a slide show segment that "explains" a bunch of what is going on. -- fun movie
posted by Locobot at 1:58 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by Locobot at 1:58 AM on November 19, 2009
Bunny and the Bull.
posted by freya_lamb at 2:17 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by freya_lamb at 2:17 AM on November 19, 2009
The Kingdom - Opening Sequence
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle - Dream sequence is partially animated
posted by arruns at 2:57 AM on November 19, 2009
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle - Dream sequence is partially animated
posted by arruns at 2:57 AM on November 19, 2009
Kurosawa's "Dreams" has that segment with Martin Scorsese as Van Gogh with a New York accent and the dude walking through paintings. It's not exactly animation, but...
posted by Red Loop at 3:18 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by Red Loop at 3:18 AM on November 19, 2009
The Fall has a stop-motion bit towards the end, which depicts one of the characters undergoing surgery.
posted by dogwalker at 4:57 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by dogwalker at 4:57 AM on November 19, 2009
The Most Beautiful Night in the World by Daisuke Tengan.
posted by misozaki at 5:37 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by misozaki at 5:37 AM on November 19, 2009
All of Jan Svankmajer's films feature animation quite prominently. I wouldn't say they're used to progress the plot but you may be interested none the less. In general his live action films switch between puppetry, stop motion animation (often using people) and claymation.
Here's some clips. Faust is my favorite. But Little Otik does use animation to reveal plot points. His Alice in Wonderland is also quite good.
Faust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnOh6ZdN9Fg
little otik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF8SSyQi-2c
Alice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5wHMgTPF-s
you can also find all his short films on youtube. Many are brilliant. Such as this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuBwXfg3Mr4
posted by Smegoid at 5:48 AM on November 19, 2009
Here's some clips. Faust is my favorite. But Little Otik does use animation to reveal plot points. His Alice in Wonderland is also quite good.
Faust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnOh6ZdN9Fg
little otik
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF8SSyQi-2c
Alice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5wHMgTPF-s
you can also find all his short films on youtube. Many are brilliant. Such as this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuBwXfg3Mr4
posted by Smegoid at 5:48 AM on November 19, 2009
Not a feature film, but the British TV series The Mighty Boosh uses animation in a few episodes.
Tarsem's film The Fall also has a very cool stop-motion sequence.
posted by Prospero at 6:08 AM on November 19, 2009
Tarsem's film The Fall also has a very cool stop-motion sequence.
posted by Prospero at 6:08 AM on November 19, 2009
Also not a film, but the 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Christmas special has a Rankin Bass style stop-motion sequence.
posted by Andy Harwood at 6:40 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by Andy Harwood at 6:40 AM on November 19, 2009
Al Gore uses a clip from Futurama in "An Inconvenient Truth"
posted by haveanicesummer at 7:40 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by haveanicesummer at 7:40 AM on November 19, 2009
How about the Russian urban fantasy-action film, Night Watch?
It has a striking animation near the start -- like a mix of silhouettes, zoetropes and ink blots -- which is used as the back-story for one of the characters.
posted by laumry at 7:47 AM on November 19, 2009
It has a striking animation near the start -- like a mix of silhouettes, zoetropes and ink blots -- which is used as the back-story for one of the characters.
posted by laumry at 7:47 AM on November 19, 2009
My personal favorite Godzilla movie: Godzilla vs. Hedorah!
posted by rlk at 7:49 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by rlk at 7:49 AM on November 19, 2009
There's famous scene with Jerry the Mouse in Anchors Aweigh.
posted by frecklefaerie at 9:38 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by frecklefaerie at 9:38 AM on November 19, 2009
The 10th anniversary release of Clerks has an animated scene (at the funeral parlor) that wasn't in the original movie (due to cost).
posted by Twicketface at 9:45 AM on November 19, 2009
posted by Twicketface at 9:45 AM on November 19, 2009
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posted by ValentineMaynard at 10:03 PM on November 18, 2009 [1 favorite]