Steve
Every year without fail, Hollywood and other foreign markets bring unforgettable cinematic experiences to the masses, feeding our senses with creativity, imagination, and in rare instances, the impossible. In many cases, we’re spoiled when it comes to live-action offerings, but what about animation? Today, we’re looking back on the year 2004, the year Nintendo debuted the revolutionary handheld gaming platform, the Nintendo DS, in America, English rapper Mike Skinner of The Streets unleashed the epic rap opera and concept album A Grand Don’t Come for Free, and Janet Jackson’s “Nipplegate” controversy found Justin Timberlake throwing the pop icon under the bus after a Super Bowl Half-Time Show wardrobe malfunction.
Looking back, there are any number of wild pop culture milestones to mark the year Ashlee Simpson got caught lip-syncing on Saturday Night Live, but today, we’re setting our sights on the greatest animated films of 2004, with a Top 5 list that’s sure to make you feel nostalgic and appreciative of the leaps we’ve made in the cinematic art form since then.
Before we get started, there’s a chance you won’t find some of your favorites on this particular list. While I recognize the fun factor of films like Shrek 2, The Polar Express, Shark Tale, and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, 2004 is a year when anime outshines Western animation, with one glittering exception, of course. Feel free to rake me over the coals in the comments, but I’m confident in the list I’ve assembled and hope you enjoy it. Let us begin!
5) Dead Leaves
One of the best things about anime is that the genre isn’t afraid to get weird while presenting outrageous worlds and characters. Dead Leaves overflows with attitude, style, and a crass approach to dystopian drama while telling a freaky tale about Retro and Pandy, two amnesiacs with superpowers sent to a prison on a half-destroyed moon. Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, Dead Leaves delivers its strange and salacious story at a breakneck pace, with artwork that evokes Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin’s Tank Girl comics, with the pedal-to-the-metal urgency of a Fast and Furious movie.
Dead Leaves is an animated dystopian fever dream with thrashing heavy metal guitar, a seemingly endless array of bullets, and a plot that makes most other prison break movies look like child’s play. If the movie’s unhinged approach to a Bonnie and Clyde-like relationship, extreme sense of style, or unflinching look at corruption giving way to a grim future doesn’t get you, the film’s inky art, Fooly Cooly-esque energy, and non-stop action will provide you with the jolt of adrenaline you need to raise your middle finger high and laugh in the face of authority.
4) Steamboy
Often overshadowed by his 1988 masterpiece, Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo’s Steamboy is an action-adventure epic combining steampunk elements with a tale of corporate greed and the industrial revolution, set against a dream to advance humankind’s understanding and harnessing of energy just out of reach. Set in 1869s Britain, Steamboy focuses on James Ray Steam, a maintenance worker in Manchester, England, tasked with guarding a nearly infinite power source for steam engines that could change the global landscape of energy use.
Like Akira, Otomo’s Steamboy introduces an ensemble cast of characters, each fighting to preserve or exploit steam-powered technology as the world teeters on the precipice of change. The adventure culminates in a fight to the death over an unstable castle that, when pressurized to the point of explosion, threatens to wipe out a portion of the area. With time ticking down to its detonation, Otomo’s Steamboy becomes a race against time to prevent a world-changing technology from becoming the ultimate weapon against humankind’s hubris.
3) The Place Promised in Our Early Days
Shifting gears to something more intimate and picturesque is an early release from one of my favorite filmmakers, Makoto Shinkai, and his enigmatic romance epic, The Place Promised in Our Early Days. In Shinkai’s quiet and beautiful film, an alternate postwar timeline finds Japan divided into the Union-controlled North and the US-controlled South. When the Union begins construction on a mysterious tower in Hokkaido, three friends, Hiroki Fujisawa and Takuya Shirakawa, both child prodigies, and Sayuri Sawatari, start rebuilding a plane that will one day take them to the tower. However, their plans are interrupted when Sayuri disappears during the summer.
Like many of Shinkai’s stories, there’s a lot more I could say about the plot. Still, in the interest of time, I’ll insist you experience the emotionally charged film for yourself one day. Equal parts serene, lyrical, and emotionally devastating, The Place Promised in Our Early Days takes a hard look at shattered dreams and the lengths some friends will go to collect the pieces, arrange them in a new configuration, and continue the dream despite loss and insurmountable odds. Shinkai’s film is a gripping political thriller wrapped in the warm embrace of a love story that transcends time and reality. If you’re feeling wistful, The Place Promised in Our Early Days will hold you until your knees buckle and tears fall from your eyes like rain.
2) Howl’s Moving Castle
After unleashing the double threat of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, the Godfather of Anime, Hayao Miyazaki, took audiences on another magical cinematic journey with his 2004 fantasy epic, Howl’s Moving Castle. Overflowing with Miyazaki’s signature style and charm, Howl’s Moving Castle focuses on a troubled young woman cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch. Her only chance to break the spell lies with a hedonistic young wizard and his enchanted companions inside a legged, walking castle.
I remember seeing Howl’s Moving Castle at the Cinema Arts Center on Long Island, New York, and loving the English-language voice cast, consisting of Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Emily Mortimer, Josh Hutcherson, Billy Crystal, Lauren Bacall, Jenna Malone, Blythe Danner, and more. Brimming with themes of pacifism and the gift of growing old in a world that’s all too eager to turn back the clock, Howl’s Moving Castle is often viewed as a whimsical anti-war film, especially when compared to several of Miyazaki’s other works. Taking inspiration from Diana Wynn Jones’s novel of the same name, Howl’s Moving Castle uses Miyazaki’s brilliant flair for fantasy to tell an impactful story that resonates with audiences of all ages while cautioning us to slow down, allow the wind to kiss our skin, and be grateful for every moment while navigating the puzzle box of life.
1) The Incredibles
Anyone who knows Pixar‘s film library saw this one coming. Hailed by many as “the greatest superhero movie ever made,” Brad Bird’s The Incredibles is a masterclass of animation filmmaking, combining the best parts of Marvel’s Fantastic Four with Pixar’s take on retro-futurism for a comedy that’s fun for the whole family. In The Incredibles, the Parr family tries to live a quiet suburban life after being forced into hiding by short-sighted superhero lawmaking. However, when a new villain, hellbent on getting his revenge, forces Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Violet, and Dash out of hiding, the result is one of Pixar’s most outstanding achievements in the studio’s long and storied history.
Starring the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, and Brad Bird as the hilarious and fashionable Edna E. Mode, The Incredibles ages like a fine wine, only getting better with age despite advancements in animation technology. The story is classic yet appropriate for every era, the characters are memorable and charming, and the adventure never ceases to amaze as a rescue mission brings the Parr family closer than ever. At the same time, they strive to save the world from a deranged villain with an inferiority complex. While countless superhero movies try to reinvent the formula, The Incredibles is a perfect example of animation at its finest, as strong and enduring as the Parr family itself.
There you have it, folks. What do you think about our Top 5 Animated Films of 2004 list? Are your favorite films represented here? Are there any grievous omissions? Leave us a comment and let us know what your Top 5 Animated Films of 2004 are! Until next time. Cheers!
