Non-Disney Animated Films

Other Animation Studios - Part 1

Over the years, various U.S. studios have produced memorable animated features. Below is a sampling of some of the best by Hanna-Barbera, Paramount, Columbia, 20th Century Fox, and other animation studios.

Charlotte's Web
(1973 - 93 min. - Hanna-Barbera) ***

Plot: Based on a children's book by E.B. White, a spider teaches her farmyard friends lessons on friendship, trust, and love.

Cool World
(1992 - 101 min. - Paramount Pictures) **

Plot: The very adult animated story of a beautiful cartoon woman who would do just about anything to become human, even if it means the destruction of the barrier that separates the real world and her cartoon "cool world." [NOTE: This animated feature, which stars Brad Pitt and Kim Bassinger in live-action and animated roles, is a bit too raunchy and violent for young viewers. I included it here because it's somewhat of a cult classic.]

Ferngully: The Last Rainforest
(1992 - 76 min. - 20th Century Fox) ***

Plot: A special fairy teams up with a wacky bat and a human to save the rainforest from an evil volcanoe god who was accidentally freed by loggers harvesting trees in the forest.

The Swan Princess
(1994 - 90 min. - Nest Productions) ***

Plot: A beautiful princess is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer who wants her to marry him so that he can inherit her father's kingdom, but a dashing prince from another kingdom is searching for the missing princess. There were a theatrical sequel and a video-only sequel.

Balto
(1995 - 77 min. - Universal) ****

Plot: Based on the true story of a part-wolf sled dog in Nome, Alaska who helped to bring medicine to the wilderness town, where a diptheria epidemic threatened the lives of the children. There was a video-only sequel.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
(2001 - 106 min. - Columbia-Tristar) ****

Plot: Computer-animated: A female scientist helps her mentor track down eight spirits needed to help defeat an infestation of alien spirits that is destroying the Earth. This was the first feature film to try to realistically depict humans through computer animation.

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
(2001 - 82 min.- Paramount Pictures) ***

Plot: Computer-animated: When the parents of all children on Earth are kidnapped by aliens, boy genius Jimmy Neutron and his friends go on an interstellar rescue mission. [2001 Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature]

Ice Age
(2002 - 85 min. - 20th Century-Fox) ****

Plot: Computer-animated: During the ice age, a band of four unlikely animal friends face the elements together to return a human infant to its father. [2002 Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature]

The Triplets of Belleville
(2003 - 22 min. - Sony Pictures) ***

Plot: An elderly French lady enlists the help of three 1930s-era singers to rescue her grandson from the French gangsters who kidnapped him during the Tour de France bicycle race. [2003 Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature]

Robots
(2005 - 90 min. - 20th Century-Fox) ****

Plot: Computer-animated: A young robot goes to the big city to try to follow his dream of becoming a famous inventor, but he instead uncovers a scheme being plotted by a corporate tycoon robot.