What's the best-looking animated show/movie (in your opinion)?

[Leemaster777]

So, the "western vs eastern" animation topic got me thinking, what is the best-looking animated feature ever?

This is an all-inclusive topic, it doesn't matter where the animation came from, as long as it's animation. And that means ANY animation. Traditional hand-drawn, flash, CGI, stop-motion, everything is fair game. Whether you judge by the quality of the animation, or the style, or what have you, this is YOUR opinion.

Remember, it's all about the animation, regardless of the quality of anything else. Story, characters, none of that matters.

In my opinion, I'm gonna have to go with The Nightmare Before Christmas:


Stop-motion animation is a dieing art, and Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the last bastions of true quality in the genre.

Don't get me wrong, I love CGI, but stop-motion will always have something that CGI doesn't: The feeling that what you're watching is actually REAL, and physical. And every frame of Nightmare is just a joy to behold. The characters are bursting with personality, even when they're not moving.

And that's just the technical side of things. Tim Burton's trademark swirly designs work well in both the Halloween and Christmas areas.

It also makes great use of color. Halloween Town is full of black and orange tones, while Christmas Town is characterized by lots of white, green, and red. And lets not forget the normal world, which has a much more muted color pallet, with alot of grey.

Let me put it this way. When I bought my PS3, I got a couple blu-ray movies, to test it out. I wasn't particularly impressed. THEN Nightmare came to blu-ray. I bought it the first opportunity I got, and never regretted the purchase. Nightmare looks absolutely GORGEOUS in blu-ray, better than it's ever looked before.

But, that's just my opinion. What are yours? (remember, TV shows and the like are fair game as well)

 

[kittii-chan 300]

the animation sequences in red vs blue are amazing. they fit perfectly into the machinma and it runs very smoothly.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I'd say that Coraline is the best looking piece of Animation I have ever seen. The way it incorporated the 3D effects with stop motion makes it look that much more spectacular.

 

[Leemaster777]

I'd say that Coraline is the best looking piece of Animation I have ever seen. The way it incorporated the 3D effects with stop motion makes it look that much more spectacular.

Now here's a man with good taste.

I admit, I ALMOST went with Coraline instead of Nightmare for this. Damn close race. But, I guess the style of Nightmare just won me over just a BIT more than Coraline (or maybe it's nostalgia talking, that's also possible).

I will agree that Coraline has the hands-down BEST 3-D in any movie ever. EVER.

 

[Kanaan Brood]

I tend to have different favourites for the differents methods.
"9" for CGI and Batman:Under the Red Hood for cell animation.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I'd say that Coraline is the best looking piece of Animation I have ever seen. The way it incorporated the 3D effects with stop motion makes it look that much more spectacular.

Now here's a man with good taste.

I admit, I ALMOST went with Coraline instead of Nightmare for this. Damn close race. But, I guess the style of Nightmare just won me over just a BIT more than Coraline (or maybe it's nostalgia talking, that's also possible).

I will agree that Coraline has the hands-down BEST 3-D in any movie ever. EVER.

It helps having a six year development time doesn't it? I was simply shocked at how almost every single facet of the film was designed by hand. The only thing that wasn't was the glow effect added to the Ghost Children.

I mean, look at this video and how dedicated they were.

 

[Forlorn Guardian]

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children springs to mind.

Even if the movie was a tad lacking in the plot department, the fight sequences were still awesome to watch.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Stop-motion animations is a dieing art, and Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the last bastions of true quality in the genre.

Well, Aardman Animation is making a new film ATM (a pirate film... called 'The Pirates!', due for release in 2012, definitely going to watch).

OT: Because of production values, movies invariably look better, though I will give a mention to planetES (for having a much higher FPS rate than most other anime series). The movies Sky Crawlers and Sword of the Stranger are quite crisp with smooth animation and closeups that are well detailed. Studio Ghibli's My Neighbour Totoro has some of the best backgrounds in anime movie making.

All round though, it's a cheat (sort of), but the best-looking animated film to me is probably Finding Nemo, for the stylised character designs (of both humans and non-humans), the insane water effects, and intelligent use of colour tones.

 

[Torrasque]

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children springs to mind. Even if the movie was a tad lacking in the plot department, the fight sequences were still awesome to watch.

Very true.
I have to go with Birdy: the Mighty season 2, because the standard animation is already really good, but when the fight breaks out, the animation gets much much better. I have NEVER seen any other show ever, that has such beautiful flow to it. The fight at the end of season 2 is so amazing, nothing I have ever seen even comes close to how good the flow of the action is.

Summer Wars has very good animation as well, and has great flow, but still nothing compared to Birdy.

 

[AnimatedAmbiguity]

I adore and respect all forms of animation, but I'll have to go with the beautifully done "Don Bluth" style. And when I say that, I mean traditional hand-drawn stuff from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and so on. The reason why I include Bluth's name though, is because I feel like the man perfected that particular form of animation. One of the best examples of this is in his classic debut film after leaving Disney, entitled "The Secret of N.I.M.H." Everything about the moody atmosphere in this movie works wonders, but the star of the show is the animation itself. All of the characters move and emote so fluidly that it's consistency in quality is some of the finest in the medium, in my opinion. And, for this wannabe animator, it borders on being inspirational!

So "The Secret of N.I.M.H." definitely has my vote!

 

[Earthbound]

I can think of two from the last year. For choreography, Infinite Stratos definitely springs to mind. The non-battle parts of it are fairly standard, but the battles are amazingly well done, as well as the battle-suit and on-board GUI designs. Skip to about 35 seconds if you want.


Puella Magi Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica had some of the best aesthetic design I've seen in a long time. The worlds that they entered looked like some kind of schizophrenic scrapbook, which was not at all what I was first expecting from the show when I first heard of it.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Stop-motion animations is a dieing art, and Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the last bastions of true quality in the genre.

Well, Aardman Animation is making a new film ATM (a pirate film... called 'The Pirates!', due for release in 2012, definitely going to watch).

Link me to this or suffer the consequences. Everything that Aardman makes is solid gold.

AS for the guy who pointed out Don Bluth, hell yes. Titan AE remains one t=of the best looking animated films I've seen.

 

[Sacman]

Serial Experiments Lain... sure the actual animation is choppy and low budget but it has a very unique art style that, along with spectacular direction, takes full advantage of things like lighting, color and texture to build a very surreal and unsettling atmosphere that often times borders on terrifying...

[img height= 275]http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/7408/screenshot3pd.jpg[/img]​

 

[Ghengis John]

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't marveled at many different kinds of animation. It's hard for me to say one is best. You can accuse me of wussing out but there's aesthetics I like from across a broad spectrum and multiple genres.

 

[Easton Dark]

Can anyone deny the greatness of Toy Story's animation?

The series as a whole, I mean.

 

[FalloutJack]

I vote Heroic Age. You'll see.

 

[Arisato-kun]

Puella Magi Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica had some of the best aesthetic design I've seen in a long time. The worlds that they entered looked like some kind of schizophrenic scrapbook, which was not at all what I was first expecting from the show when I first heard of it.

I was going to mention Madoka. Good work.

I have two others that I consider almost equally deserving.

Katanagatari for its aesthetic that almost seems as though each frame should be a Japanese print.


And The Tatami Galaxy is probably at the top of my list. It utilizes some of the most unique character designs I've seen in any piece of animation. There are also plenty of scenes that perfectly mold the 2D animation with live action backgrounds. Definitely the best thing to come out of Madhouse, period.

 

[Kolby Jack]

Ghost in the Shell is a great example of not only high quality animation and choreography, but also of properly fitting CGI. You can only barely tell those Tachikomas from the rest of the animation.

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

Sword of the Stranger automatically comes to mind.


Sounds off a little, stupid you tube.

 

[Technicolor]

Well, I just came across this new comedy called Nichijou around Youtube, and it is one of the most crisply animated show ever made for TV, and I don't even like Anime or slice of life comedies.


Its aparently another one of those "shows about nothing", but only with a big budget. Also it has the tendency to be the most ridiculously cute thing ever. Its sickening.

BUT WHY DO I LOVE IT SO MUCH