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Old thread, but I wanted to talk about some of my favorite non-Disney animated films that were kinda overshadowed and not remembered as fondly as they should've been. But before that, some of my favorite animated films are "kinda" Disney films, but they're technically made by Pixar (and released by Disney).
1. Toy Story 2
2. Toy Story 3
3. The Prince of Egypt
4. The Iron Giant
5. Ratatouille
Leaving aside the kind of recognition Pixar has well deserved, the '90s were a great time for Disney with their Renaissance Era, creating some of the most memorable animated films ever experienced by '90s babies. Unfortunately, there were also quite a number of non-Disney animated classics that were left in the dust, barely remembered by adults and never experienced by kids today, such as the likes of The Prince of Egypt that brought its A-game to all departments (music, story, animation, cinematography, and voice-acting), or Anastasia, which might not be one of my favorites, brought a pretty breathtaking soundtrack and mature storytelling to the table too. And who could forget the criminally underrated The Iron Giant, which didn't even receive its proper recognition 'till a decade later, when director Brad Bird went on to make The Incredibles (the latter of which was just a tad more overrated than Iron Giant; just saying).
I've been listening to the soundtrack of Prince of Egypt and Anastasia and I was just amused by how far Dreamworks Animation, or just animation in general have fallen since the days of those two films, which were practically masterpieces compared to the likes of anything imagined today. I mean, you had an epic reimagining of a larger than life biblical tale about prideful pharaohs and brother against brother, and nowadays, Dreamworks was too busy making funny animals with human expressions sing in a talent show. So yeah, Dreamworks has "come a long way" alright in the bad direction. Musicals used to be something more breathtaking back then. The studio behind Anastasia, 20th Century Fox was bought out by Disney, so that's the end to that. At least Warner Brothers made The LEGO Movie, even though it's still (in my opinion) a huge step down from the thoughtful and provocative Iron Giant. But I digress.
Looking forward to Soul though. I doubt it would be anything as good as Pixar's Golden Age movies (even Inside Out was kinda just above average), but the initial teaser trailer did give me the feels, so we'll see.