How would you rate animated movies?

Have you tried asking?

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

I have, as a matter of fact. The praise I've seen for Spirited Away is some of the most vague and non-descriptive I've ever seen.

I guess I have to take you at your word on those explanations you speak of, though I do wonder if it's a question of a person actively convincing you to like the film or just explaining why they personally like it without trying to change your mind. I'm not entirely sure what would be harder to do.

I'm not asking anyone to change my mind. I understand that movies are subjective and that I won't suddenly start liking a movie just because someone told me to. I just find it strange how it appears on so many "best animated movies of all time" lists but is never given any concrete praise.

Wake me up when someone mention nausicaa

This thread doesn't deserve Nausicaa.

I don't know. I've seen people write essay length stuff about Spirited away. It has been interpreted and analyzed to death. What sources did you use?

Mostly internet forums.

Then it depends on your definition of "concrete praise", which I'm guessing means something more specific than the usual generic superlatives about how it's visually breathtaking or whatever (even though the visuals really are a big part of it due to the mixture of craftsmanship and imagination). Besides that, it's a well-told fairytale that is able to handle significant changes in pace (mixing frantic adventures with slower contemplations) while also touching on coming-of-age themes in ways that reflect not just questions of personal and historical identity (the protagonist has to retrieve her name to free herself, the primary location is an old-fashioned Japanese bathhouse, etc.) but also treat them with more consideration than the simplistic lesson-learning platitudes of so many Western titles. I mean, there is a lot going on here and this is just a broad summary of why it's so popular - as jal90 noted, plenty of people have written at length about why it's considered a classic so it's one thing to not think too much of it yourself but it's not like it's hard to find such different opinions either.

Alright, fair enough. I disagree with everything you said (especially that coming of age part), but I'm not gonna argue with you over it.

90-100 - Wall-E, The Incredibles, Ponyo, Spirited Away, Aladdin, Lion King, Your Name, Ratatouille, Inside Out
80-89 - Monsters Inc, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Howl's Moving Castle
70-79 - Big Hero 6, Moana, A Bug's Life
60-69 - The Good DInosaur, Fantasia, Cinderella (actually, a lot of the pre-Disney renaissance films would fall on here)
0-59 - Minions, Emoji Movie, Cars 2,

Princess Mononoke is the one that baffles me.

Not into any of them at all.. never have been able to watch anything like this since the old cartoons from yesteryear....