Underrated Animated Gems

*Originally published on 6/28/09



Film

The Iron Giant

This film was made by the same guy who did The Incredibles. It's starting to get a bit more exposure, but it's still not as well known as it should be. This movie was charming, heartwarming, funny, and incredibly well written. The whole homage to Superman thing definitely raises it a few notches in my book. DVD copies of it are hard to find, I myself had to pick up the copy I have at a grocery store as opposed to a Best Buy or Wal-Mart. It's a bare-bones release, but that just means you're getting an amazing film for an incredibly low price.

Wall-E

One could argue that this isn't exactly underrated, what with it winning Best Animated Feature, but it is still worth mentioning just because the movie really is that good. Pixar has made some fine films but I think that this is the best thing they've made (Up is quite good and definitely ranks up in the top tier, but Wall-E beats it in my opinion). If you haven't seen this movie you really need to see it. Words cannot describe how good this movie is.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Back when Batman: The Animated Series was on the air, producers decided to try and make a feature film based on it. This movie was going to be a direct to video release, but executives pulled an audible and decided to release it on the big screen at the last minute. Even though it was as well written as the show and was met with positive reviews it bombed pretty hard. It has gained a cult following on DVD and many still cite this as the best Batman film to date.

Television

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

I will openly admit that I've been spoiled by Batman: The Animated Series. Not only was this the show I grew up on, but it was so good that the bar was raised incredibly high. The Batman, the attempted non-DCAU follow up, didn't meet a lot of people's expectations (though the Batman vs. Dracula DTV was very good and I hear it got better in later seasons). After that ended, they tried again. This time in a show based on the Brave and the Bold comics. Each episode would feature Batman teaming up with a different hero to battle a villain. It was clearly aimed at younger audiences, making a slight throwback to the 60's era Batman. I'll admit, at first glance, I wasn't a fan. I have no problem with them marketing to a younger audience, but it didn't appeal to my more grown up tastes.

When I heard that Guy Gardner and G'nort (the one true Green Lantern!) were going to be featured in an episode I decided to give it another shot. As I watched I found the show growing on me. This may not be B: TAS but darn it all this show is fun. One episode has Ace the Bathound fight a tiger as well as featuring Paul Reubens as Bat-Mite. The voice work is solid and the show is surprisingly well written. There are geek references galore for the older fans, so many that you can't help but feel giddy with what you're seeing on the screen.

Gargoyles

Admittedly, I've only seen a couple of episodes of this show. It is, however, very good. Keith David voices Goliath, if nothing else, that alone is reason enough to watch the show as he has an awesome voice. The show's gotten a loyal fanbase and while the first season and a half has been released on DVD, fans are still clamoring for the rest of the series (Goliath Chronicles notwithstanding, the general impression I've gotten is that they can leave that in the scrap heap).

Sonic the Hedgehog

You may remember back in the 90's there were not one, but two animated shows based on the popular video game Sonic the Hedgehog. One was a wacky, Ren and Stimpy-esque show and the other was a more serious take, taking place in a world where Robotnik had already conquered the world and Sonic plus band of merry men created a small resistance to free the enslaved animals. The show is notable for ending on a cliffhanger that enraged fans. Having heard the positive acclaim, I picked up the complete set on DVD. The first season is rather mediocre. Normally, I could forgive this as most shows need a season to get everything established. This show, however ran for only 2 seasons so season 1 is half of the show. Season 2 however, got much much better. It had story arcs, character development and was much improved in pretty much every regard. The theme song comes off as cheesy at first, but like Weeds' theme song Little Boxes it gets stuck in your head and before you know it, the song grows on you and you enjoy it.

The Venture Bros.

Not only is this, in my opinion, one of the best shows on television, but it's one of the few good shows Adult Swim has left in it's rotation, oh Adult Swim how far you've fallen. The show is so intricate that you can't really sit down and try to watch a second or third season episode with no knowledge of what's come before. Like Lost, you really need to start from the beginning and work your way through. Trust me, you won't regret it as the show is smart, funny, and exhilarating all at the same time.