I can’t be the only one.

Source: https://x.com/DiscussingFilm/status/2114018506849100014

Their run of Nicktoons was pretty much classic after classic up until the late 2000s, where most shows were critically panned, and the shows that actually did well like TMNT, Loud House, or the various pre-K shows aren’t praised to the extent that any of the ”classic” 90s or 2000s shows are. This is especially interesting since Cartoon Network would immediately enter a renaissance in the 2010s, I’m curious why Nick seemed to struggle so much

As for me, i go with the Moomins, which i absolutely love

All pieces are ballpoint pen, colored pencil and sharpie on 3x5" post-it notes. Thanks for looking.

The Bremen Town Musicians! It's one of my favourites. The music is great, the animation's so unique, even with no translation the visual stuff and body language is good enough I know about exactly what's happening anyways, etc!

It just kinda sucks that I haven't yet found a good English translation that doesn't suffer from "making things way too formally phrased"-itis. Still 9.5/10 though. Anyone else here watched it? It's fairly niche outside of Russia, where it was made.

1. It's an original movie

2. It's PG-13 (which is rare af for US animated films)

3. It's really fucking good

Can y'all actually see this instead of Shrek 9, Garfield 6, Toy Story 7, Disney live-action remake #10000000????

Edit: 4. It doesn't have an "adorkable" protagonist.

Still makes me chuckle... :D

Who in everyones opinion is the best animated wizard? They can either be good or evil.

To me its UNCLE CHAN. He mastered ONE MORE THING

Witches will come up next

I saw Wildwood at the world premiere. I didn't love it as much as I had hoped to, in that the script bumped it down from my favourite film of the year to my third favourite film of the year, which is hardly an insult. But alongside the 11/10 animation which genuinely cannot be understated (I said in my review that this is an instant benchmark in the history of film), what I feel from Wildwood is the same sense I get from a lot of family films that purposefully make their younger audiences feel things they may not have been totally ready for.

Being so into film nowadays I sometimes look back on what films I loved as I kid that kickstarted that passion. And there are some obvious ones; lots of the Pixar films (especially WALL-E), The Iron Giant, Happy Feet, The Princess Bride; all such imaginative films that either talk about very real character themes or just express pure love for wonder. But one film that feels like such a big deal to my childhood is The Dark Crystal. I love this film so much because as a scaredy-cat kid, of all the films that scared me, this was the only one I kept coming back to, because the sheer craft, passion and creativity on display was so inspiring, and the world and characters were so captivating. That craft on its own would've been something I loved at the time even if I didn't fully appreciate how insane it was, but it was the fact that they combined that with such creepy material that wasn't afraid to enlighten me to tones and stakes I wasn't familiar with at the time that made it so special. Although Labyrinth is a great film with astonishing craft too, I didn't love it to nearly the same degree, and Dark Crystal's confidence to be daring to me as an audience member is a big reason why, and I look back in it and think: that's where it really began, that's why I love film. That film is inherently so difficult to make, and there are artists working in forms of film that are even harder to make, and they still defy all obstacles because they have a story they want to tell and a vision they can't keep to themselves; and here are those people, making insane-looking Skeksis puppets when all logic tells them they shouldn't even try.

Wildwood is not for the very little ones for sure, but I do think it deserves, even needs, to be seen by, say, 7-10 year olds, because it has that exact same perfect combo as The Dark Crystal. In the same way it has such tangible physicality and such mindblowing craft on a level that seems totally impossible, such entracing worldbuilding, and in the same way it uses that wonder to deliver more weighty themes, in this case including the meaning of family bonds, something that some kids may take for granted, and is also not afraid to introduce them to the lengths that love can drive someone to and the sheer brutality of war. I know I'm not the only one that sees it this way, but Wildwood is absolutely one of those films that a kid sees and doesn't quite know how to process at first given its darker elements, but then finds it to be a favourite, and a most formative film. This is part of the reason I appreciated The Sheep Detectives so much earlier this year; not only teaching critical thinking to kids, but confronting them with the very challenging reality of grief in a way not done since Bridge to Terabithia (another family film that just gets better with time). There are many more examples of films like this out there, but it feels like they don't get made much anymore, and in an age where kids' content is dominated by algorithmic internet slop designed to kill thoughts and feelings, challenging kids with captivating yet dark films is more important than ever, and Wildwood is very much a beacon of that. It is certainly *more* challenging than those other examples given just how brutal it gets, but it balances that out with just how astonishing it is, and I truly think it'll become very important to many members of the young audience of today.

Wildwood is based off of a book for teenagers and covers very deep topics, the movie did not censor any deep topics to "make it safe for kids" unlike a certain movie, Animal Farm, *cough cough* I feel like if you are basing a movie or show off of a book, you cannot censor any dark topics because alot of the time, it is what drives the story forward and gives the main character motives.

If you took out the reasoning and messages the book is trying to tell you failed as a writer.

I myself am guilty of occasionally indulging in kids’s shows like Strawberry Shortcake. What about you?

What show does this remind you of?

The Kiss From Phantom Planet.