The limits of contemporary animation

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion among film critics about whether we are in the golden age of animation. I don't think I would go as far as to say that we are in the golden age , but it is certainly true that contemporary animated films are pushing the boundaries of the genre.

It seems that increasingly, animated films are targeted at adults just as much as children. No longer are movies about princesses in love and their talking animal friends, but they tackle serious adult themes. The plot of last year's Wall-E, one of the best films of the year, centered consumerism and its negative effects. This year's Up featured a heart-breaking scene early in the movie of a couple's miscarriage.

But this is not all about Pixar. The movie Waltz with Bashir single handedly pushed the limits of animation more than all animated movies combined have done in the past 50 years. Waltz with Bashir is an animated documentary from Israel. Yes - an animated documentary. The movie is about the film director's efforts to reconstruct his memories of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. He has a reoccurring dream about his role in the invasion and he doesn't know if the dream is true. To find out, he interviews several other Israeli veterans. Every veteran's story is incomplete, and the gaps have been filled in with their own dreams. What works so well in this film is these very dream sequences. The animation really allow the viewers to gain a deeper understanding of the veteran's visions. Dream sequences in live action just cannot have the same affect.

Techniques in animation have become more advanced as well. Pixar has mastered CGI animation, many studios are experimenting with 3-D, and other studios are revisiting the wonders of hand-drawn animation (this year's Ponyo comes to mind). Persepolis - an biographical story of growing up in Iran in the 1970s and 80s, uses black and white and 2-D animation to great effect.

These are just a few examples of how contemporary films are pushing the boundaries of animation. I encourage everyone to explore some of these films and others! Let me know if you have suggestions on what I should watch next.