On European animation

Despite the general consensus that animated movies are for kids, there are many examples that prove that it is not the case. Never let a child watch Waltz with Bashir or Persepolis. Both these animated movies show the devastation that war can bring to a life and are in no way suitable for a child to watch.

That being said, the landscape that is European animation does mostly contain movies that can be watched by younger viewers. One of the most beautiful recent examples is Song of the Sea.

Click on picture for IMDb page

The story of Song of the Sea is a great fairytale without becoming predictable. It deals with how family can work or fail and how missing someone can influence your views on other people. If you ever have the chance to see it on the big screen, do. (I personally still can't believe it lost out on the Oscar to Big Hero 6.)

Click on picture for IMDb page

You could of course also talk about a classic that has finally gotten an adaption. Now, I have to confess that I've never read the book. I have no idea how true the movie is to the book (I'm guessing not very), but I can say that it is once again a great movie with a very distinctive animation style. 

Click on picture for IMDb page

Or how about the wonderful story of Ernest & Celestine, the unlikely friendship between a bear and a mouse. The French are one of the bigger countries when it comes to the European animated film and this is a great example of what they add to the slate.

Click on picture for IMDb page

Another miracle of French animated movie bliss, a Cat in Paris once again deals with family. What makes a family and how to deal with the loss of a parent? Apparently you deal with it by following your pet cat who is helping a (literal) cat-burglar. To each their own way of grieving, but this one is at least beautiful and fun to watch.

Click on picture for IMDb page

Continuing the love for French movies is Eleanor's Secret (the last movie I watched). Another story dealing with loss, only this time it's a great-aunt that has passed and left a library to a boy who has trouble reading. The fairytale characters he only knows from being read the stories by his great-aunt come alive. They tell him he is the one who needs to save them. (This movie is especially wonderful for me, due to sequences that remind me of my all time favourite movie MirrorMask and my dyslexia and thus my inability to read out loud like the main character.)

And now ending on a movie that is most definitely not made for kids: The Congress.

Click on picture for IMDb page

Written by Ari Folman (who also made Waltz with Bashir), The Congress is a difficult movie to place, being half live-action and half animated. It's a haunting story of giving up your dreams for others and a world in which everyone is addicted to not actually existing but to merely being entertained. It is heartbreak in two hours, with Disneyesque animated sequences.

By just looking at all the posters of these movies it becomes clear that European animation is nothing like the American equivalent. The warm, fuzzy fairytales make place for original stories. The use of 3D animation is more rare, as hand drawn still makes up the greater part of the European animated feature (or at least the ones I watch). These are stories about family, about girls and women who are trying to find their place. These movies deal with the realities of life, mostly from a female perspective, without it being turned into a princess movie. There are no princesses here.