Luis' Illustrated Blog

ANIMATION – 3 Reasons “Attack on Titan” Anime Blew Me Away

It’s no secret that I like anime.  I grew up watching it.  I think it’s one of the few sources for unique animated cartoons in the world.

The Japanese are not afraid to take risks when it comes to stories and genres in animation. Most of the time because the anime is based off of already successful Manga with huge fan bases.

When I start watching a new anime show or movie I’ve never seen or heard of, I watch it hoping for the best but expecting something mediocre of bad.  I’ve watched enough anime to know that there’s some pretty bad stuff out there.

Recently on Netflix, a new anime by the name of Attack on Titan came to my attention. It was recently released yet it had four stars.  This was quite surprising.

The title made it seem like it would be a science fiction story.  Maybe, it would take place in outer space.

I had to take care of holding Baby Gio at the time. I didn’t really have much to do since I had to hold and rock him to sleep, so I put the cartoon on to pass the time. Imagine my surprise when I was instantly gripped by this cartoon.

I’ve rarely been so enthralled so quickly.  Here’s the three reasons why this cartoon blue my mind:

1. It’s a Fantastic Premise

This is NOT a cartoon about outer space like I thought it was. If anything, the title almost makes no sense.  It should have been called, “Attack on the Titans,” or “Attack of the Titans.”

It’s a fantasy story about the last of humanity and the giants who have all but wiped them out.

This isn’t your happy fairyland and magic type of fantasy, this is dark, dreadful, “we’re all going to die” kind of fantasy.

After a century of safety and peace behind these giant walls that protect humanity from the giants that have wiped out almost all humans, the giants manage to breach the first wall, thus starting humanity’s last stand.

It’s as intense as it sounds.

And the world building is really well done.

2. It’s Got Some Fantastic Cinematography

One of the things that is just mindbogglingly good is the use of the camera in this cartoon.  It’s a hand drawn cartoon but uses CG backgrounds to move through the streets, following the soldiers as they do their thing.

Believe me when I say that what the soldiers do in this cartoon is very dynamic.

The cinematography adds a visceral flair that really builds the intensity of show. I can imagine how much duller this show would be with static cameras.

3. It’s Gripping

From the very first minute of this show, you’re hooked.  THIS is how to tell a story.  It’s truly gripping.

It’s one scary show.  Very intense.  Very creepy. Very suspenseful.

If you’ve watched the Battlestar Gallactica reboot from a few years back, you have a bit of an idea of the intensity of the situation the characters in this story are dealing with.  It’s a very similar premise.

And the giants in this show are really horrific.  The show goes out of it’s way to make you realize how awful these things are.  The are REALLY SCARY.  And humanity really doesn’t stand much of a chance against them.

You empathize with the protagonists right away, simply because their situation is so dire.

This is one of the reason the show is so gripping. On top of that, the story is so full of twists and turns, shows often end in these crazy cliff hangers. And just when you think things are finally going to be okay, they throw in another twist.

It’s brilliant.

Watch It

If you have Netflix streaming and you want a great, intense show and don’t mind reading subtitles, this is the a show you should watch.

I’ve watched a lot of anime, and they rarely grip you like this.  This show is obviously based on a manga series.  Now that I’ve watched the anime, I’m curious how much more story there is in the manga.

Have you seen this show?  If you have, what do you think? Do you agree?

Sound off in the comments below.

If You Like This You Might also Like

The Four Best and Worst Things About Anime

Top Ten Miyazaki  Movies

Top Ten Anime Series

Top Ten Anime Worth Watching

ANIMATION – 10 American Animated Movies With Great Premises That Didn’t Deliver

It’s not the idea, it’s the execution.  You can have the greatest idea for an animated movie ever, but if you don’t put together the right story and tell it in the most compelling way, it can fall flat on it’s face.

Too often I’ve been excited about the prospect of an animated movie only to have it  fall short of my expectations.

I don’t mean to be mean.

The people that worked on these movies worked their butts off.  They did their best to make the best movie they could. I actually KNOW people who worked on some of these movies personally.  I have nothing against the effort and art they put into making these movies. In fact, the stuff I saw them do was actually really great.  But for whatever reason, the movies just didn’t work out as well as they should have.

Perhaps we can learn something from these.

Let’s get started:

10. TMNT

Out of all the movie on this list, this movie came the closest to actually being good.  The character designs where amazing.  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where great.  The action was superb.

It really felt right.

But the story was lacking. It was only okay.  There was nothing about it that really made this movie outstanding.

It’s really too bad, it’s not a horrible movie.  I own it, and I enjoy watching it for the action and the look of it.  It just didn’t turn out to be as good as it should have.

9. The Road to El Dorado

Out of all the movie on this list, this movie has the least exciting premise.  When you hear the premise it doesn’t really get you all that exciting. That said, the pedigree behind the movie was incredible.

This was the movie that was made right around the time Dreamworks was first formed.  At the height of their headhunting the greatest artists and animators in the world.

Dreamworks potentially could have done no wrong here.

Visually, this movie was exactly what was promised.  It’s a masterpiece of animation.  The art direction and character designs are amazing.  The draftsmanship top notch.

But the story…well, it fell short.  It’s really too bad. This is a beautiful movie.

8. Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Man, this movie got a lot of people excited.  It had the potential to  “fixing” the bad after taste of the Star Wars prequels.

Problem was, it was never meant to a movie.  It was just the pilot for the TV show released theatrically.

The show was animated overseas, the assets the show had to work with where limited.  The budget was that of a TV show, and the story wasn’t as ambitious or epic as the show later became.

It was a “meh” story.  It shouldn’t have been released theatrically. It disappointed.  It was a bad start to what eventually became one of the best animated shows on television.

7. Astro Boy

Oh man, I love Astroboy.  I was excited for this movie.  How could you go wrong?

Simply adapt one of Osama Tezuka’s many great Astro Boy stories into a CG animated movie and watch the money come in. Simple.  The character has lasted this long for a reason.

So what happens? They ignore the source material and end up with some weird Americanized version of the character that lacks any of the “Kokoro” of the actual Japanese version.

Missed opportunity.  The movie looked good but it was really disappointing.

6. The Black Cauldron

I’ve never read the  The Chronicles of Prydain books. I’ve heard from a friend of mine who read them as a kid that they were quite good.

This movie had the potential to be The Lord of the Rings of Disney animated movies.

Unfortunately it wasn’t.  I don’t know what happened during it’s production but the movie just didn’t grab anyone’s attention and the story didn’t quite get executed well.

Fans of the book series where disappointment and the movie has gained cult status as THE worst of the Disney animated movies.

5. Beowulf

Wow, Beowulf.  This was an ambitious premise to tackle.  The epic of all epics.

Perfect for animation…but it wasn’t animated, it was motion captured.  And the characters where made to look as life like as possible, which put the movie in that odd “uncanny value” territory.

Then the adaptation of the story  which was written by non other than Neil Gaiman wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.

The best thing in the movie was the dragon. I’m pretty sure, that part wasn’t  motion captured.

Great premise, good attempt at a mature animated movie.  I appreciated that part, but the overall movie was disappointing.

4. Treasure Planet

FINALLY Disney was going to start making the type of movies I wanted to watch.  This movie had it all, Pirates, treasure, adventure, a proven story and it was going to be science fiction.

How can you go wrong?

I don’t know what it is about this but it just wasn’t as good it could have been.  I had VERY high hopes for this.

The art direction, the animation, the character designs, where all there. I even liked the song. It SHOULD have worked…but it didn’t.

This movie sealed the coffin on Disney movies moving further in this direction with their animated movies.

3. Atlantis – The Lost Empire

Before Treasure Planet there was Atlantis.

This is the movie Disney wanted Miyazaki to direct.  More than Treasure Planet, this one really seemed like it was going to change Disney animation.

This was the closest Disney got to an animated Indiana Jones movie.

I was excited.  Mike Mignola was brought in to help with the art direction.  This was going to be like a high octane comic book movie.

Even some of the characters look like comic characters.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver.  The story  wasn’t compelling enough.

The animation was great, the art direction was exceptional, but the characters designs were all over the place.  None of the characters looked like they belonged in the same universe.

2. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

Out of all the Dreamworks movies, this is the one that most disappointed me. Once again you have some of the best artists, animators and designers in the world working on a movie but THIS time the premise is AWESOME.

The adventures of Sinbad.  This promised to have some superheroics and monster fighting.  This sounded awesome!  Just going to watch a movie of the concept art alone would have been mind blowing.

So I went to the theater excited.  Finally the kind of animated movie I wanted to see coming from a major studio and it would be really well animated. Only to come out of the movie theater so darn disappointed.

The movie was as beautiful as it promised to be. The art was great, the animation great, the designs…where a little watered down and a touch generic. And I say this because I’ve seen the concept art of the characters which were more interesting than the final version. The action WAS there but it was empty.  I didn’t care. The story was lacking.  I could see what they were going for but it missed the mark.

That movie marked the end of hand drawn animation at Dreamworks.

1. Titan AE

Don Bluth’s animated movies are really inconsistent at best.  Some of his movies are AWESOME and some are just down right awful.  I don’t know why. I don’t know the circumstances behind the inconsistencies.

All I know is that when I saw the trailer for Titan AE I was totally in.  It was the first, full blown attempt at an American hand drawn science fiction feature film by a big studio in years.

I couldn’t have been more excited.

The movie started off very promising, only to slowly become more and more meandering as it went.  It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t good either.  The characters where generic and the animation was rotoscoped, which puts the motion  in that “uncanny valley” place. Which I hate.

I own this movie. Once in a while I take it out and watch it.  Just the attempt at such an epic science fiction idea goes a long way in my book.

The idea was so great only to be so disappointing.  It’s really too bad.

What About You?

What animated movie have you seen that had great potential only to not live up to your expectations?  Sound off in the comments. I’ll like to hear it.

ANIMATION – 6 Reasons Why Watching Justice League Animated is a Great Way to Learn About the DC Universe.

If you’ve been watching Arrow, enjoyed the The Dark Knight Trilogy or the Man of Steel movie and want to learn more about the DC universe where do you go? What’s the least painful way to do so without having to read a ton of comics?

Well, actually, since the New 52 reboot of the DC Universe, the comics are actually a great place to start.  BUT if you want an alternate way, then watching Justice League animated along with all the other shows of it’s kinds is a great way to go.

You can watch the video below or read the article yourself.  This video is different. You’ll actually see me reading this article. Usually I just get my video transcribed:

(Many of the links in this post are affiliate links. thank you for your support.)

Now, I know that the title of this post is how watching JUSTICE LEAGUE animated is a great way to learn about the DC universe, BUT the truth is, Justice League is only one of FOUR DC animated shows the revolve around the same animated Universe.

The four shows are Batman: The Animated Series,, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. All of these shows are part of one big story and all take place in one connected superhero universe.

I recommend you start with Batman The Animated series Season 4, then watch Superman The Animated Series followed by Batman Beyond so when you watch Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, you can get the most out of the show.

BUT since that may be WAY too much to ask, then starting with the Justice League animated series by itself is just about as  good a place to start as any.

Just recognize that the six reasons below can just as easily be applied to the other animated shows I mentioned as they can to the Justice League show.  Alright then, let’s begin:

1. It Introduces You to the Core Members

The first episode of Justice League introduces you to the core members of the League, witch include: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl.  Everyone of the these characters that didn’t have their own animated series gets quite a few “spot light” episodes where you get to know background about them.

Mostly though, you get to know them by the way they act in high pressure and dangerous situations.

When it comes to Superman and Batman, their animated series goes into further depth on those characters than the Justice League show does.  The Superman animated series is especially good in this regard.

2. It Introduces You to All the Toughest DC Villains

Right off the bat the Justice League series needed to bring out the big guns.  This is the Justice League cartoon after all.  They’re the best and most power heroes in the DC universe. For the story to be interesting you need to bring out the meanest bad guys the DC universe has to offer: The Manhunters, Felix Faust, Mongul, Morgaine le Fey, Vandal Savage, Dark Seid, Braniac, Despero are just some of the many villains that make their appearance in this show.

3. It Stories Takes you Through Time and Space of the DC Universe

This show goes EVERYWHERE.  From Dark Seid’s planet Apokolips, to the Wild West, from the Batman Beyond future, to the Green Lantern Planet OA, from the far future Earth where the sun is Red, to Skartaris (a hidden world inside the Earth’s core). This show takes you to some amazing DC locations.

It’s pretty impressive how vast the DC universe is.

4. You’re Introduced to Practically Every Superhero and Villain in the DC Universe.

One you hit season 3 of the Justice League show called, Justice League Unlimited, the flood gates open and every superhero in the DC universe is invited to become a member of the Justice League.

For you fans of Arrow, this is where Green Arrow makes his appearance, along with Black Canary,  and Roy Harper. But you also get characters like Supergirl, The Question, Booster Gold, Hawk and Dove, even Batman Beyond makes an appearance, I mean, just about every single superhero ever created in the DC Universe make, at least, a cameo.

And you can’t have that many superheroes without almost all the villains in the DC Universe showing up too.  Lex, Solomon Grundy, Captain Cold, The Trickster, The Leech,The Crime Syndicate. There’s whole episodes with the Legion of Doom, swamp Headquarters and all.

It’s pretty fantastic.

Although, I will say, that if you want to get  the full story of Dark Seid, the New Gods and their history with Superman, the place to go is the second season of Superman The Animated Series. You will also find the full origin of Braniac there as well.

5. The Stories From the Show Where so Good That They Influenced the Comics.

Alan Moore’s story “For the Man Who Has Everything,” is adapted into an animated episode. It’s a great one, but mostly the episodes of the show were original.  They were so good in fact that, as I read comics, I saw the same stories from the animated cartoon start popping up in the comics.

There’s a whole series where the Earth Governments go to war with The Justice League because they’re afraid of how powerful they are.  It’s really dramatic stuff.

There are just too many great stories to count in this show.  I’m going to have to make a top ten list.

6. It Acclimates You To the Type of Action You Get in the Comics

This is something I think is important.  Especially after the backlash that the movie Man of Steel got from the crazy over the top Zod vs. Superman fight at the end of the movie.

Movie audience that never pick up a comic where shocked at the destruction, but if you read the comics, that kind of damage is very common.

Watching these cartoons will help.  Once you’re used to seeing that superhero action is always over the top and very destructive, when you watch the live action heroes do it, it will feel a bit more true to form.

So There You Have It

Alright, so those are the reason why you should watch Justice League/Justice League Unlimited.  I still recommend you start with season four of Batman The Animated series and move on to the other shows before getting to Justice League, BUT if you only start with Justice League, you’ll be alright.

ANIMATION – Top Ten Anime Worth Watching

I’ve made a few videos about anime. I’ve done my top ten Miyazaki movies, I’ve done my top ten anime TV series, and I don’t want to do a top ten anime movies because pretty much Miyazaki is it.

So I’ve already done my top ten Miyazaki movies, which basically is the best anime movies out there. But I did want to recognize, there’s other TV series and other made-for-video movies in anime that are worth watching.

This is the best of the rest, I guess I should say.

You can either watch the video or read the transcription below.  Below, you’ll also find links to these shows and videos so you can get a taste of what they’re like:

I’ve watched a lot of anime over the years. Some of it just doesn’t quite fit my categories of these top ten lists, so I’m just going to point them out to you as far as the stuff that I really, really like, and I recommend.

You may disagree with me violently, especially with the first one, number ten, but hear me out.

My number ten. Okay, you ready for this?

Some the links below are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

10. Yu-Gi-Oh! Classic

Yes, Yu-Gi-Oh!, you read right. That show that everybody hates, that everybody, every single time somebody says, oh yeah, Yu-Gi-Oh!. And you see someone playing that, it’s just like,

“Oh that’s an awful anime. That’s an awful cartoon. How awful!”

I love Yu-Gi-Oh!, and one of the reasons why I love Yu-Gi-Oh! is, I play the card game. Yes, I go and I look at the cards and I play them and it’s a fun, fun game.

I actually like it more than playing Magic: The Gathering, and, yes I also play that game by the way. And hey, I also play the Pokémon Card Game with my daughter.

So, yeah, I like the trading card games and I do like Yu-Gi-Oh!. I think Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the very best trading card games. And because I like the game, when I watch the show, it literally feels like playing the game.

You know, if you watch the show, you’re seeing this over the top—okay, first of all, let me remark, one really quick thing about Yu-Gi-Oh!, and that is the character designs are terrible. They’re just ugly, ugly, ugly. I personally don’t like the character designs.

But I do enjoy the over the top melodrama of the show and that’s what really keeps me involved. And I like how they’re just playing a card game, but they make it so melodramatic and over the top and there’s always all these stakes, it just makes it a lot of fun to watch.

So I highly recommend watching Yu-Gi-Oh!, okay. It’s great. I like it.

9. Gunsmith Cats

Gunsmith Cats is basically about two gunsmiths, but they also get hired out to do bounties and different things like that.

They’re very good, one’s an expert shot, one’s an explosive expert. And this is just about guns, cars, and girls.

Emphasis on the cars and the guns. I mean, they lovingly reproduced the sound effects and all the research on all these guns, and there’s something about just the feel of these things.

I don’t know what it is about the show. Maybe it’s just the muscle cars in it, I don’t know. It’s fun, it’s beautiful to look at, and the intro music, very, very cool, kind of very retro, jazzy. It’s great.

I highly recommend watching Gunsmith Cats.

8. Neon Genesis Evangelion

My number eight is very popular and I haven’t talked about it, it didn’t make my top ten anime TV series but it’s very highly regarded, and that is Neon Genesis Evangelion.

This is a giant robot show, where the one difference between this and many other giant robot shows is that even though it still follows the formula of the boy getting his grandfather’s or father’s robot, fairly formulaic, saving the earth from alien invasions, but the aliens are a little bit vague and there is a lot of psychological melodrama that goes on with these characters.

The robots are unique because they’re organic and the characters go into these capsules. So the thing that makes this unique is when the character actually goes into the robot, they feel what the robot feels.

That’s the extra step that this show took that made it go a little bit further. My number one anime TV show, if you look at my other list, was Vision of Escaflowne, and they kind of do that a little bit too, but this is the one that kind of invented it.

There’s a lot of other things in it. It’s super melodramatic, it’s very beautifully drawn, it’s frustratingly opaque, and the reason why it’s not even in my top ten AnimeTV series is because the character Shinji, is the most annoying main character ever written.

He is such a wuss, and he’s so whiny, and all he does is whine, and he never actually grows. This is taking the idea of Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, the original 79, and Amuro Ray was a little bit whiny, but he grew up and became a man.

This guy never has that happen, and it’s so irritating, but it’s still worth watching.

It’s a very, very unique, very beautifully done anime. I highly recommend it. Neon Genesis Evangelion.

7. Ranma 1/2

Ranma 1/2 is about this guy who, when he gets hit by water, turns into a girl. Yeah, it’s very, very strange.

It’s under what’s called the harem genre of anime where it’s one guy and a bunch of girls like him, so he’s basically got this harem of girls who are actually madly in love with him, and he has no interest in almost any of them.

In this show, the two main characters of Ranma and Akane are betrothed, so it’s kind of a romantic comedy about these people who, everything they do is martial arts. Everything they do is martial arts.  Anything goes, martial arts.

Whatever it is, it has to have martial arts in it. So if it’s cooking, it’s martial arts cooking. If it’s ballet, it’s martial arts ballet. If it’s chess, it’s martial arts chess. Everything involves fighting.

So it’s ridiculous, crazy, weird stuff.

Ranma’s father, when he gets hit by water becomes a panda, and then there’s this other character who gets hit by water and becomes a pig, this other girl gets hit by water and she becomes a cat, and it’s all curses because they went to China and they fell in the spring that cursed them forever for doing that.

It’s just wacky, crazy, and it’s a romantic comedy, and the best bits are when these characters kind of almost admit that they like each other and then don’t really, and it’s full of crazy, wacky, fantastic characters.

There’s a bazillion, bazillion episodes of this show and I’ve got almost all, every single one of them, and I was addicted because it’s so funny, and I really liked it. Highly recommend it. Ranma 1/2.

6. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is actually much better than the original Vampire Hunter D.

This is a supernatural horror action-adventure movie with, characters with superpowers. But very supernatural, werewolves, vampires, that sort of thing.

Madhouse produced it. It’s fantastic. I can’t say enough good things.

Well drawn, it’s just got—I don’t know what else to say except you should watch it.

It’s one of the best animes you could possibly watch. My number six is Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.

5. Ninja Scroll

Same company, same producers, same director. It’s samurai stuff, let’s see, but there’s nudity, it’s rated R. It’s rated R, heavily rated R. It’s got stuff in it that maybe you don’t want to watch with your kids around.

But again, another one of these things where it’s like, bad guys have all these superpowers and it’s just super powered martial arts coolness action. It’s just action, action, action, with characters with incredible superpowers, and it’s so fun to watch.

This is a great show. Ninja Scroll.

4. Cowboy Bebop

This is a series that is stylistically fantastic. Science fiction. It’s just, this is one of the best shows out there, and it is Cowboy Bebop.

Cowboy Bebop is about bounty hunters looking for work in outer space, and the adventures that they have in this very science fiction world. Characters are fantastic, storylines are great.

There’s a general overarching storyline in between all these adventures that these characters have. There’s elements of Lupin the Third, very reminiscent of Lupin.

The kind of guy, the Lupin archetypes, and they just kind of set them up and recreate them in a more space setting.

So I highly recommend watching Cowboy Bebop. It is fantastic.

3. Samurai Champloo

My number three is from the same producers and directors and writers of Cowboy Bebop and that would be Samurai Champloo. Samurai Champloo is actually beautiful, beautiful art.

The thing that makes this interesting, it’s a samurai show and it’s kind of a historical samurai show, but the way it’s shot, it’s shot like it’s got a hip-hop rhythm to it, in a way they’re trying to direct it in a very hip-hop way.

It’s a lot more lighthearted, it’s a comedy with a lot of action in it. The artwork is incredible, the characters feel a teeny-tiny bit like the characters in Cowboy Bebop, but definitely, definitely, definitely take them to a much more comedic level.

The characters are very archetypical, but if you watch it with an eye towards comedy and action, then you’re going to really, really enjoy it. On top of that, you know the rhythm thing with the hip-hop is really, really interesting.

And I’m going to mention the artwork again, I can’t not mention it because it’s beautiful, it’s really well-drawn. Samurai Champloo.

2. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

My number two is another one that I don’t own, I watched it all on Hulu. Oh wait, yes I do, I have the first DVD. And that is Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, I bought the first DVD, I watched it, I watched the first four episodes, and I was not, not, not impressed at all.

I was like,

“Really? This is the most boring show I’ve ever seen, the characters are sitting around talking. It is boring,”  okay, so I’m like, “this is terrible.”

But one day I was desperate to watch some cyber-punk, so I started watching the rest of the show on Hulu, and I’m like,

“I’m just going to keep it in the background while I work,” right? So that’s exactly what I did, and I started watching it and watching it and watching it, and then little by little I started realizing how good the show was, but it really took a long time for it to get going.

Once it got going, it was incredible and it was so good. And then the way in which the first season ended was really well done. And then the second season, the way the second season started, it was one of the best episodes.

It was beautiful and it was exciting and it was amazing and it was incredible cyber-punk.

I highly, highly recommend going and watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the TV series.

1. Giant Robo

My number one, I’m not going to talk too much about it, I already dedicated an entire video to it, and that is Giant Robo.

Giant Robo is basically an over the top action-adventure, beautifully drawn series with a giant robot in it and a bunch of characters who are just over the top super powered.

In a lot of ways, very reminiscent of both Vampire Hunter D and Ninja Scroll with the crazy super powered characters, and I’m a sucker for that stuff. I love it, I love that stuff.

So I highly recommend you go watch Giant Robo. That is my number one.

Done and Done

So what do you think? Am I crazy, including what I included in my list?

Let me know. While you’re here, you could also subscribe to my newsletter. If you do, you will get a digital download of my book Angel Cowgirl, which has got a bunch of my artwork in it, it’s my art of book.

If you don’t want a digital copy, you could always get it on Amazon because it’s available there. But if you want a digital copy, just subscribe to newsletter and you’re going to get a copy of that.

ANIMATION – The Best of Science Fiction Animation.

Science fiction in feature animation is pretty much non existent. Very, very, very few science fiction feature films are made. And even when they are made they’re not necessarily always all that good, so they wouldn’t be worthy of the list.

So instead, I’m doing a list of the best in animated science fiction, animated science fiction as far as the movies that they have made, plus straight to DVD movies, plus TV series, plus straight to DVD series.

There’s a plethora of those types of science fiction animated cartoons, but not necessarily movies. So I’m just going to clump all of it together and I’m going to make my top 10 best in animated science fiction.

Science fiction is one of my favorite genres and I really, really want to watch more science fiction animation.  I would love there to be more science fiction animated feature animation.

You can watch the video below or simply read the transcription, it’s up to you:

Some of the links below are affiliate links, thanks for your support.

So let me begin.

10. Futurama

While you could watch Futurama in a lot of different places, you could watch it on Netflix.  I highly, highly recommend you watch it.

It is a great, funny, fantastic show which makes fun of the genre. Overall, it’s really disappointing that it was cancelled but it is really fantastic.

Please watch Futurama if you love sci-fi.  It’s a satire on all things sci-fi, so I highly recommend it. My number 10 is Futurama.

9. Cowboy Bebop

My number 9 is my first Japanese cartoon on the list, and that’s Cowboy Bebop.

Cowboy Bebop, about two bounty hunters in space and the crew of crazies that end up joining them. It’s got a very deep through line throughout the whole story and it ends really dramatically.

It’s really interesting. You don’t know where these characters are going. It’s great.

Character designs are great. The art is great. The universe that this takes place in is very cool. Spaceships are fantastic; the warping and it’s just cool. So I highly recommend this show – the series Cowboy Bebop.

8. Giant Robo

My number 8, I’ve dedicated an entire video to this series and that is Giant Robo.

Boy, and his robot surrounded by the Experts of Justice. It’s got fighting,  action, adventure and it’s beautifully drawn. Like I said, I did a whole entire post about it.

You could just watch that. It’s ten minutes long; it’s how much I rave about this show.

I highly recommend watching this show, my number 8 best in sci-fi animated cartoon Giant Robo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4idR1x_hxI

7. Akira

My number 7 is a classic, I don’t know many people who haven’t heard about this movie.

Akira is the name of the weird boy that blew up. Yeah, it’s about a boy who blew up Tokyo named Akira, and so they had to rebuild it and called it Neo-Tokyo. It was built around the explosion site.

It turns out that there’s some kind of thing about evolution and experimentation with humans and about energy that can’t be contained. And it’s basically about a motorcycle gang that kind of gets involved in the middle of all these thing. And it’s amazing.

It’s one of the most fully animated anime movies you’ll ever see. It’s one of the rare animated Japanese movies where the dialogue was recorded first and the mouths actually work with the dialogue – the Japanese dialogue – because usually in Japan it’s done the other way around.

They animate it first and then they record the dialogue. In America it’s done the other way. The audio is recorded first and then you animate to the audio.

They did this movie the western way, so it is a little bit more fully animated than most anime you’ll actually see. It’s a beautiful, beautiful movie Akira. It is my number 7.

6. Macross Frontier

I don’t own this one because there is no American distributor of this movie. You’ll have to find it online in the translations sites, and that is Macross Frontier.

This was my number one anime series, I believe or my number two. I talk about in another list but this is basically – they expand the idea of Robotech from the 80’s.

Macross is basically what Robotech actually was in Japan. They took Robotech years into the future.

This takes place in another spaceship with another different types of set of aliens as the villains and it’s also got a love triangle again. It kind of follows the follows the Robotech formula but it veers off of it.

It’s got transforming robot. The fighting is incredible. The story is so much fun. Highly recommend it. Really great sci-fi, my number 6 is Macross Frontier.

Watch macross frontier 1 in Animation | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

5. Tron: Uprising

My number 5 I also don’t own. In fact it’s kind of impossible to own unless you download it from iTunes or from Amazon via digital.There is no DVD copy of this show, and that is Tron: Uprising.

Tron: Uprising is based on the movie – the prequel to Tron: Legacy. It kind of takes place in between Tron and Tron: Legacy.

It’s called Tron: Uprising, and it’s a story about a guy who becomes Tron’s protégée so that he goes and tries to liberate The Grid from the bad guys who  conquered The Grid.

It’s beautiful. I dedicated an entire post just to Tron: Uprising. Here’s the link:

Thoughts on the Animated Show, Tron: Uprising

I highly recommend it.

4. The Iron Giant

My number 4 is the Iron Giant. The Iron Giant, what could I say.

There’s a giant robot from outer space in a town in Maine. There’s a little boy who finds the giant robot befriends it. Little did he know that the robot is actually not the nice guy it seems but it’s meant to be a weapon.

It’s really interesting. There’s a lot of really, really good things in this movie. Written and directed Brad Bird who also wrote The Incredibles, and directed The Incredibles.

Iron Giant, if you haven’t seen it watch it. It’s one of the best Warner Brothers movies that came out of the Warner Brothers animation studios back in the 90’s. Yeah, I highly recommend it, The Iron Giant.

3. Mobile Suit Gundam

My number 3 is, I’m cheating here it’s an entire series. Just about anything with the name Gundam in it is going to be great sci-fi. The original Gundam, the sequel Zeta Gundam…

Anything with Gundam in it is pretty good. There’s some really, really bad ones out there, but generally as a rule, most of the Gundam series are really pretty good.

What makes Gundam robots unique, it was the very first time that any robot was actually used as what they are, which is, as giant tank. It didn’t have any kind of sapient mind. It didn’t have a soul. It was just a machine.

You get in it, and it’s more about the pilot’s skill. It does have to do with the quality of the machinery in the robot, but a lot more of it has to do with the pilots and the drama around the pilots. And that’s one of the things that they really play up on the Gundam series in the different reboots of the shows.

These robots have “Light Sabers,” they came up with the Light Sabers idea for these Gundams before they had seen Star Wars. Star Wars hadn’t come out yet when they were producing this. So when Star Wars showed up, they were like “Oh man! They’re going to think that we stole the idea from Star Wars.”

But these guys actually came up with the laser sword idea as well around the same time that Star Wars showed up.

Interestingly enough the pilots tend to have a kind of Jedi-ish powers, at least on the original version of Gundam.

So that’s my number 3, Gundam.

2. Star Wars: The Clone Wars

My number 2 is Clone Wars, either one, Genndy or Dave Filoni Star Wars: Clone Wars.

These shows are sci-fi at it’s best. If you love Star Wars, you’ll love these. That’s it. That’s the end. You want to watch these, period. Science fiction, Star Wars enough said. Watch it.

This is the best in science fiction you can possibly get so much so that I dedicated one post just for the Genndy type Star Wars: Clone Wars, and one for the Dave Filoni Star Wars: Clone Wars. And I even compared the two and tell you which one I think is better, or if there is even a fight at all.

So I highly recommend watching any one of these series, Star Wars: Clone Wars.

1. The Incredibles

Okay, my number 1 best in sci-fi animated movies is, The Incredibles.

This is the second one in this list that is actually an American feature animated science fiction movie. Both feature animated science fiction movies that I’ve mentioned in this list come from the same person, Brad Bird.

Written and directed by Brad Bird, same person that wrote and directed Iron Giant. This is science fiction because it’s got superheroes and they’re fighting giant robots and all kinds of different things. And its science fiction from the 50’s, or the 60’s I should say.

It’s great. I love it. Fantastic, this is what American science fiction can be. It really needs to be pushed more in this direction, I think.

Yes, there’s Wall-E, it didn’t make the list because the other stuff I think that I’ve had on my list, I mean seriously I really do think Futurama is better than Wall-E.

The Incredibles, the best in sci-fi, my number 1.

What are your thoughts?

So what do you think of my list. I really do like to hear your opinions on this stuff.

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If you do, you get a free copy of my book Angel Cowgirl, which is my art of book. If you don’t want a free digital copy of the book, you can get that book on Amazon.

Alright then, thanks for watching and I’ll see all next time, bye.

ANIMATION – Top 10 Fantasy Animated Movies

Fantasy is one of my favorite genres. Basically, animation is just full of fantasy. It is pretty much the genre for animation currently, much more so than science fiction.

Today, I am going to give you my top ten fantasy animated movies.

You can either watch the video below or read the transcription.

You will also find trailers for each movie embedded below:

Let’s begin with my top ten.

10. Ponyo

My number ten I don’t own. I don’t have it with me, but I’ll eventually get it.

It’s Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo, which is a really cute little feature animated movie about a little fish that falls in love with a little boy.

It’s basically a retelling of The Little Mermaid, but there’s something about it, the pacing and the way it’s done and the beauty of the movie, it’s just really, really, really sweet.

On the other hand, it’s also very, very strange. And, in a lot of ways, you’re trying to figure out what exactly do these characters and things represent, and is the antagonist really the antagonist, and why is he doing what he’s doing?

It’s a very interesting movie. But, overall, the visualization and the way that it’s done and the animation of the characters, there’s something about it that kind of really pulls at you.

So, I really, really enjoyed my number ten, Ponyo.

9. Princess Mononoke

My number nine I do own a copy of. It’s Princess Mononoke.

As far as fantasy goes, this is a rated PG kind of a fantasy movie about a young man, actually, who gets cursed and has to try to find a cure, and goes off to the world to, I guess, die.

Gets shunned by his village because after he beat this demon that came into his village, the demon cursed him by giving him this kind of almost like a demon hand, and it kind of polluted him.

He had to leave his town and find out where the source of this demon, this creature that got possessed with hatred so much so that it physically manifested out of it. He had to find the source of this hatred, and maybe find a cure for his arm there.

Throughout the adventure, he finds everything he needs to find. It’s pretty intense.

It’s a great, great fantasy movie, talking animals and things like that, spirit of the forests, beautiful, beautiful landscapes, very deep themes, very adult matters, and by adult I mean mature not necessarily, you know, pornographic or anything.

I highly recommend watching Princess Mononoke. Beautiful, fantastic movie.

8. Howl’s Moving Castle

My number eight, yet another Miyazaki movie. This time it is Howl’s Moving Castle.

Howl’s Moving Castle is about a, well, a castle that moves around on legs, kind of chicken legs. Very reminiscent of Baba Yaga. And, a young woman who kind of gets caught up in it after she gets cursed.

She has low self-esteem and then gets cursed, she becomes an old lady. And, by becoming an old lady, she discovers who she really is and stops being so concerned about outer appearances  and who people think that she is, and starts growing and maturing as a person.

At the same time, she has to take care of this magical being in this moving castle, who is a wizard of immense power.

So, I highly recommend this movie, Howl’s Moving Castle. And, that is my number eight.

7. Rise of the Guardians

My number seven I don’t actually own the movie, and that is Rise of the Guardians.

As far as fantasy movies go, this is well—the Easter Bunny, Sandman, Santa Claus, Jack Frost, the Boogeyman, the Tooth Fairy, so it’s really fantastic in that vein.

It’s the unique take that they pull off with these characters that is fantastic. I really, really enjoyed the movie.

I liked the story a lot, I liked the story about Jack and how he discovers who he is and what he brings to the world.  I think it’s got a good message in that everybody needs to find their thing, you know?  Sometimes it’s not very easy to do.

So, I really liked the point of the movie. My number seven is Rise of the Guardians.

6. Coraline

Okay, my number six is one of my favorite, I guess I should say, fairy tale movies that has come out recently, and that’s Coraline.

I’ve done my videos just on Coraline because I liked it so much. It is so good. I don’t know what else I can say about it.

The models are great, the story is fantastic, I must admit, also, it’s kind of creepy.

It really does feel like a fairy tale, much more so than a lot of what Disney has came out with since Snow White. Snow White feels like a fairy tale, Pinocchio would feel like a fairy tale, but this, this feels really like a fairy tale to me.

It’s a little bit more dark, but it works, it works.

5. Spirited Away

My number five is on the same lines as Coraline, it’s basically the same. Almost the same story, or the same kind of motif, and that is Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.

Again, it’s about a young girl who goes into a fantasy world, just like in Coraline, and she learns to become a lot more mature, like in Coraline.

These two movies are basically like sister movies. They both star a girl—they both go into a fairy tale land, and they both have to develop and mature based on what occurs within the fairy tale land, dealing with the master of that world and finding ways to outsmart or out-class or outperform or out-think these characters, and dealing with the creatures and the magic within these worlds.

They’re basically neck and neck, I just happen to like Spirited Away just a touch more than Coraline, but Coraline is just a close second.

These two movies are just fantastic. I highly recommend Spirited Away.

4. Beauty and the Beast

My number four, it’s a beautiful movie, what can I say? You’ve probably seen it, Beauty and the Beast.

Classic, it’s very romantic, it still holds up as a really great movie. It’s got great music, it’s a great story, very romantic, and it does have action-adventure elements, it’s got very scary elements in it, it’s very deep and fun and light and dark, and then it’s got like—it’s a little bit of everything.

Very great, fantastic fantasy movie, Beauty and the Beast.

3. Castle in the Sky

My number three is yet another Miyazaki movie. Notice that there’s a little bit of Disney movies and a lot more Miyazaki movies, just because Miyazaki tends to do movies that are more my taste.

This movie is definitely the more to my taste. It’s kind of Indiana Jones with magical rocks.

It’s very fantastic. There is no magic in it per-say— well no, that’s not true. There is a spell that one of the characters does in this movie that does flow from the plot.

This movie is great. I love it. Action-adventure, the main character’s seeking a long lost island. My number three is Island in the Sky.

2. Peter Pan

My number two is Peter Pan.

I’ve had Peter Pan in many of my lists. This is J.N. Barrie’s story. It’s a great, fantasy story about a boy who’s fighting pirates and not growing up, and about these kids who end up being put into Nevernever Land, which is like a fairy island.

It is just exciting, fantastic, incredibly well animated. One of Disney’s best films and something that, you know, you’ve got a great bad guy in Captain Hook.

I highly recommend if you haven’t watched this, watch it again and again. It’s just a great movie. My number two: Peter Pan.

1. Sleeping Beauty

My number one is actually Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty, it’s got dragons in it, it’s got, basically, fairies, dragons. It’s kind of the archetype of fantasy, or at least, a fairy tale.

Beautiful girl, prince in disguise, I really do like the prince in this movie, castle, dragon, fairies, goblins, great, you know? It’s fantastic.

I really, really enjoyed this movie. I like the look, I like the art direction. I love the villain, Maleficent is just great.

My number one is Sleeping Beauty.

What’s Your Verdit

So, what do you think? What’s your favorite fantasy animated movies? I’d like to hear it.

I’ve been getting a lot of people responding to these lists with their lists, and it’s just really interesting.

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If you join my newsletter and put in your email to my newsletter, you’ll get a free digital copy of my book, Angle Cowgirl, which is my art of book.

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ANIMATION – 8 Reasons Why AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES Animated Cartoon is the Funnest, Easiest Way to Learn About the Marvel Universe.

Have you watched all the live action Marvel superhero movies? Has it made you interested in the Marvel Universe? Do you want to get to know it better but don’t want to slog through 60 years of comics?

The animated cartoons is the way to go.  There’s a few animated shows out there for you to try.  If you want to watch one of the shows that comes closest to the actual comic book universe, I recommend: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The show is on Netflix streaming and available on DVD.

Here are eight reasons why you should check this show out:

1. It Introduces you to the Avengers

The first season (out of two) does a great job of introducing each of the main characters in the Avengers.  You get a quick synopsis of some of their origins.  These versions are a lot closer to the comic book version than the live action movies.

The Avengers roster in this show includes: Ironman, Captain America, Thor, Hawk Eye, The Wasp, Black Panther, Hulk, and Ant Man. It later goes on to include other characters like Miss Marvel and The Vision, among others characters, which I’ll talk about in the “New Avengers” section below.

2. It Introduces you to the Hulk Universe Characters

Most of the Marvel characters have mini universes within the macro Marvel universe.  The Hulk is no exception.

There are episodes in this animated series that highlight Hulk’s universe and introduces you to all the Gamma monsters that revolve around the him.

They even go so far as to introduce the Red Hulk, in a cool mysterious way similar to the comic version.

3. It Introduces you to S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D.

There are other teams in the Marvel Universe besides the Avengers. S.H.I.E.L.D is one of them, S.W.O.R.D. is another.  Want to know what they’re all about.  Watch the show and you’ll find out.

Among the characters that show up on these teams are : Black Widow, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Mockingbird, Falcon and Miss Marvel.

4. It Introduces you to Tons of Marvel Villains Including HYDRA

Once some of the character are introduced and the season is set up, the plot really takes off in episode 6 and 7 called Breakout.  Every locked up super villain in the Marvel Universe brakes out of jail and all hell breaks loose.

It’s a perfect introduction to the many villains of the Marvel Universe.

Although before that happens, the show introduces you to villainous group HYDRA, and other villains like: Red Skull, Loki, The Enchantress, and Kang the Conqueror.

Eventually villains like Doctor Doom,  Ultron, and let’s not forget The Skrulls make an appearance too.

The villains in this show are far too many to count.  Let’s just say you’re in for a treat. There’s plenty of bad guys for our heroes to fight.

5. It Introduces you to Marvel Cosmic Characters

Not only do we get introduced to the earth bound heroes but we get introduced to a few Cosmic Marvel Heroes.

Heroes like Captain Mar-vel, Beta Ray Bill and, yes, The Guardians of the Galaxy.

6. It Introduces you to Some Exotic Marvel Locations

The Marvel characters are not the only things that are interesting in the Marvel Universe.  There are plenty of exotic locations to see there.

This show takes us there.

From Wakanda to the Negative zone, from Asgard to The Savage Land.  The show takes us to all kinds of iconic places in the Marvel Universe.

7. It Introduces you to The New Avengers and Cameos by Other Non-Avenger Marvel Characters

Not every superhero can be an Avenger, but some of the unlikely characters that end up on the team as The New Avengers are: Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Wolverine, War Machine, and The Thing.

And there’s plenty of cameos from other superheroes in this show, such as: The Fantastic Four, The Winter Soldier, and Yellowjacket.  I may have missed some but you get the point.

The only people that really don’t show up on this show are the X-Men.  But I’m sure if the show had got on for another season, they would have showed up.

8. It Introduces you to Variations of Marvel Comic Book Stories

Many of the best story arcs, episodes, and story lines in this show are taken straight off of the comic books.

They’re modified version of the stories in the comics but they definitely have the comics as their jumping off point.

Secret Invasion, Winter Soldier, Red Hulk and New Avengers are a few that come to mind.

As a fan it’s great to see some of these stories come to life, even if it’s in a different way than they were in the comics.

Don’t be Fooled

The art direction of for this show is very simple and cartoony. Much more so than Marvel’s most recent, more naturalistic looking animated cartoons.

Yet, even though the style is more designed and simplified, the writing for this show is for 13 and up.  The stories can get quite intense and serious sometimes.

If you’ve ever seen the Justice League or Justice League Unlimited animated cartoons, you’ll know what I mean.  If you haven’t seen those series, I’ll be writing about them in the near future.

In any case, I highly recommend watching The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated cartoon if you want to get to know the Marvel Universe better.

Speaking of Avengers…

If you want to own a book that has drawings of Spider-Man and Ironman drawn by me you can’t go wrong with a purchase of Angel Cowgirl: The Art of Luis Escobar.  Simply click on the link to go buy it at the amazon store.

If you’d rather get the digital version for free, subscribe to my newsletter. You’ll also get some behind the scenes Simpsons info if you do.

If, on the other hand, you’d like to learn to DRAW the Avengers, you can check out this Adam Hughes DVD (Click on the link) or check out my Drawing Website where I teach you how to draw.  There you can buy my Beginners Drawing Deluxe bundle or get a free drawing book.

Go check those out.