The history of fantasy movies can best be described as alternating between peaks and valleys. They either dominate some decades thanks to advancements in technology and creative concepts, or they flounder and just spin their wheels. One decade that was very good for fantasy was the 2000s, where advancements in CGI technology and bigger budgets saw many large, groundbreaking films transport audiences to fantastical lands full of heroes and monsters.
The year 2001 alone is worth highlighting. While it saw comparatively fewer fantasy movies released than those that had come before or would come after, the movies that actually came out over that 12-month period marked a true before and after for the genre in cinema, thanks to their high quality and impact, which helped establish the template future movies would follow.
8
‘Donnie Darko’
On October 2nd, 1988, Donald Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) sleepwalks out of his house and encounters a mysterious man in a demonic rabbit suit named Frank (James Duval). He tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 days, and the next morning, Donnie discovers that his sleepwalking inadvertently saved his life. While his parents and psychotherapist tell him that Frank isn’t real, Donnie runs into the rabbit-man several more times, and even starts to follow his instructions to perform acts of vandalism.
Donnie Darko is a cult classic psychological thriller that successfully constructs a creepy atmosphere, leaving you just as confused and disturbed as the characters are as to what is going on. It explores heavy themes of existentialism and detachment, while also showing how even the smallest of connections between people can affect their lives in major ways, good or bad. Although admittedly more sci-fi than fantasy, Donnie Darko includes so many angles and themes that each viewing of the film will result in a unique interpretation, especially if one compares the theatrical to the director’s cut.
7
‘Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust’
In a post-apocalyptic future, humanity lives alongside monsters like vampires, werewolves, and mutants. When a young woman named Charlotte Elbourne (Emi Shinohara/Wendee Lee) is abducted by a vampire, her father hires D (Hideyuki Tanaka/Andy Philpot), a dhampir vampire hunter, to rescue her. He is aided by a sentient parasite in his left hand (Ichirō Nagai/Mike McShane), and Leila (Megumi Hayashibara and Akiko Yajima/Pamela Segall), a young woman initially hired by Charlotte’s brother, with a hatred for vampires.
Though it received its first screenings in 2000, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust’s theatrical run was in 2001, and helped introduce more people to one of the best animated vampires. D is such a captivating character because, despite being hated by pretty much everything in the world, he keeps trying to do good. Speaking of the world, the movie looks gorgeous, with fluid character animation and a dark aesthetic that sells this as a world where monsters rule.
6
‘Monsters Inc.’
James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are best friends from a parallel world inhabited by monsters who collect human screams to use as a power source. The two of them are the best scare team in their company, Monsters Inc., and are set to break the company’s scare record, much to the anger of their rival, Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi). However, things are thrown into chaos when a human child nicknamed Boo (Mary Gibbs) wanders into the monster world, which leads to the revelation of a dark conspiracy.
Monsters Inc. is a beautiful example of the beauty of Pixar’s golden age, and how masterfully they combined groundbreaking technology with hilarious comedy and heartfelt storytelling. At its core, the movie is about overcoming fear and prejudices, though there is also some strong commentary on the dark aspects of capitalism. The monster world is also one of the most creative made by Pixar, full of asymmetrical monsters with dozens of body types and numerous little quality of life details to accommodate them and make the world feel functional.
5
‘Waking Life’
A young man (Wiley Wiggins) drifts through life as if on autopilot and is heading towards an early midlife crisis. One day, he finds himself drifting between strange scenarios where he runs into people ranting about philosophy and the nature of dreams. It turns out that he has become trapped inside a lucid dream, and the only way out is to keep moving forward.
Waking Life is by far one of the most philosophical animated movies. It forgoes a proper structure for a series of surreal shorts as the protagonist meets one eccentric personality after another, resulting in an experience that leaves you with plenty of questions but no answers, as you are encouraged to find them yourself. The animation helps add to this otherworldly atmosphere: the splotchy animation given lifelike movements via rhotoscoping captures the look and feel of a world steeped in the uncanny valley, where you can never be sure if what you’re seeing is the truth or just one man’s interpretation of it.
4
‘Shrek’
Shrek (Mike Myers) is an ogre who lives by himself in the swamp, mainly because villagers are always trying to kill him. One day, a horde of fairy tale creatures appears on his land after being evicted from their homes by Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). With a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy) to direct him, Shrek confronts Farquaad about the squatters, and they make a deal: Shrek can have his land back if he goes to a dragon-guarded castle and rescues Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) to be Farquaad’s bride.
Shrek is one of the most important movies in the history of animation, and though its visual approach is a little crude, the film has aged like a fine wine. The writing is full of clever and hilarious jokes that spoof fairy tale tropes and Disney, right down to allegedly basing Lord Farquaad on the Disney CEO Michael Eisner, while also delivering a very heartfelt and honest story about prejudice and the dangers of assumptions. All these qualities are helped by how likable Shrek is as a protagonist and how universal his story is, especially when he has to slowly tear down the walls he built around himself to try and let people get close to him.
3
‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is a young boy with a lightning bolt scar who lives with his cruel aunt and uncle. On his 11th birthday, he learns that he is actually a wizard and is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Harry makes friends and learns how to use magic spells, he also discovers a conspiracy to steal a treasure from within Hogwarts that is likely linked to an evil wizard whom Harry survived as an infant.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the beginning of the lucrative film adaptation of J. K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series, transporting audiences into a world of magic and mystery. While the rest of the series would get darker as it grew up with its audience, this film focuses more on the whimsical side of magic, with plenty of creative details like moving staircases, living paintings, and a general sense of wonder as we experience this world alongside Harry. The child actors do a pretty good job embodying their characters, especially Tom Felton as the smug Draco Malfoy, while powerhouse actors like Alan Rickman, Richard Harris, and Dame Maggie Smith are as fantastic as you would expect.
2
‘Spirited Away’
Chihiro (Rumi Hiiragi/Daveigh Chase) and her parents stumble upon an abandoned amusement park, which turns out to be a gateway to the spirit world. Her parents are transformed into pigs by spirit food, and Chihiro finds herself trapped when the sun sets, but she is helped by a young man named Haku (Miyu Irino/Jason Marsden). He helps her get into the local bathhouse to ask its owner, the witch Yubaba (Mari Natsuki/Suzanne Pleshette), for a job so that she can have some semblance of protection as she tries to find a way to save her parents and get home.
Spirited Away quickly became the highest-grossing film in Japan (and would hold that record until 2020’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train), before receiving worldwide praise when it was dubbed in 2002. The film mixes Japanese Shintoism with the dream-like aesthetic of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to create a world rich in detail and imagination that will require multiple viewings just to catch all the little intricacies in the background. Meanwhile, the story is a classic coming-of-age tale that sees Chihiro forced to learn the rules of a world she doesn’t fully understand, with some strong themes of environmentalism and identity to give it more originality.
1
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’
The One Ring, forged by the dark lord Sauron (Alan Howard) and within which he poured the majority of his power, has fallen into the possession of a hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). To stop him, Frodo will have to journey deep into Sauron’s kingdom of Mordor, past his armies of orcs, and toss the ring into the fires of Mount Doom, where it was forged. Fortunately, Frodo will not make the journey alone, as a fellowship led by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Sir Ian McKellen), made up of great warriors and three of Frodo’s fellow hobbits, is formed to protect and guide him.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring showed the world that fantasy movies could be major blockbusters, and is now seen as the ultimate adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien‘s work. Thanks to its massive production value, allowing for on-site filming, impressive sets used to play with audience perspective, and miniatures and map paintings used to create fantastical cities and backgrounds, Middle-earth feels like a living, breathing world that one can visit. The characters are also fantastic, though special emphasis must go to Boromir (Sean Bean), thanks to how effectively the film pulls you into his tragic story despite his limited screen time.