found an interesting article on bullz-eye.com that lists 23 animated features that, for various reasons, never quite made it to "classic" status or became stand-outs in the eyes of the public...it's a long article, but a good read...

http://www.bullz-eye.com/movies/feat..._forgotten.htm

A great list, but to me a number of them are classics in my eyes.

I remember as a kid in the 70's I watched Shinbone Alley on television one day and it warped my fragile little mind.

Likewise with Watership Down. Later I read the book, and it remains one of my favorite novels.

Probably my favorite book of all time, read it at least once every 5 or so years.

And only a couple of them are even on dvd, with Watership being out of print.

I guess they're not worth restoring if they're "forgotten".

no love for Twice Upon a Time?

Uh, I'm pretty sure more people saw Vin Diesel in Saving Private Ryan. Also, I didn't know Watership Down was out of print. Seems to be reasonably priced on Amazon.

Where's Fantastic Planet?

The Phantom Tollbooth is a great book and an excellent movie...ironically I totally forgot about it.

Bébé's Kids is fantastic. I saw this when I was about 13 and it has stuck with me for the longest time.

Great article...thanks OP

Thanks for the Phantom Tollbooth reminder. Loved the book as a kid, not sure if I ever saw the video, but maybe.

they also forgot:

1) Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977)

that had a great score and songs from Sesame Street's Joe Raposo

2) I haven't seen it, but people rave about:

The Thief and the Cobbler

3) or even The Plague Dogs

4) these are also great animated films that are rarely seen, the latter I believe is not on Region 1 US release:

- Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998)
- Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005)

if you're looking for 'Coonskin' on video, it's known in it's alternate title 'Street Fight' - VHS only. (I'm doing a no-no and transferring this to a DVD-R)

in regards to Little Nemo - the US version is actually cut (when compared to the Japanese laserdisc I own), some rather intense scenes where removed to secure it's G-rating.

and how could a list like this omit Wil Vinton's claymation movie:

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)

for shame

I sometimes wonder if my eight-year-old niece could watch Watership Down given her (somewhat) sheltered life with a steady diet of all things Disney. I was about her age when I saw this movie on cable and while I was not traumatized from some of the weighty themes of the film -- life & death, struggles & violence -- it certainly gave me pause to think and reflect. This was one of the first DVDs I bought several years ago (I did not realize it was OOP!).

Some on the list I have seen like The Incredible Mr. Limpet ("Hey! Look at me, I'm a fi-ish.") along with The Last Unicorn and The Iron Giant; others look interesting and I will have to take a look at them.

Anyone remember Pinchcliffe Grand Prix (Flåklypa Grand Prix)?

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1/2

My boy is making me re-read Phantom Tollbooth to him again. Great story. Never saw the film, I'd be worried that it would fall flat after the great book and the art in the book.
Mad Monster Party is a weird one, I picked that up at the Hollywood Video closing sale. It's got some funny bits and a bit of a twist ending, but Phyllis Diller is annoying.
Rock and Rule is one of my favorites on that list, and I second the query about Twice Upon a Time. I was thinking about that one the other day.
The only other ones I can recall that haven't been mentioned yet are
Water Babies
and
Light Years, and I honestly don't know if I think of them as 'classics', but then, it's been decades since I've seen them. (sold my Light Years VHS on Ebay for around 100 bucks, I think it was.)

Even with all of The Thief and the Cobbler's problems, which are many, it's still well worth seeing. It has some amazing animation.

God forbid you'd ever want your niece to think and reflect about anything.

Forget Watership Down, if you really want to mindfuck a kid, give them a copy of Ringing Bell. That movie scarred me pretty deeply.

Good list. Thanks op.

Is Ringing Bell on dvd anywhere?

Bebe's Kids doesn't get any love, and that is a pretty kick ass movie. Great animation, great voices, solid story -- I loved that when I was a boy.

I still consider the Iron Giant to be the best animated movie of the last 10 years, better than even all of Pixar's offerings (by a hair). That movie was incredible.

Sadly, I haven't seen (or even heard of) a lot of these movies.

Giles, I have the exact same taste in animation as you.

That was the first film I though of when I saw this thread. And unlike most of the listed films, Twain is actually on DVD.

Yeah! How could they include Watership Down but then leave out this equally great animated film, which is from the same animation team and is based on another book by Richard Adams.

There's a Japanese DVD release, with no English subs naturally.

Wow, I was shocked that I've seen a lot of those. Not all, but a good chunk. If you lived in LA in the late 70's, early to mid 80's there were a few local Movie Shows that featured many of those animated films. I think the most well known was hosted by a guy named Tom Hatten and it was called "The Family Film Festival". It aired on Saturdays and like I said, many of those older Animated features were shown on that show.

Come to think of it, I would say that at one time KTLA channel 5 in LA was very good at featuring obscure animation and other films either on the weekends or late at night before the invention of the fuckin' INFOMERCIAL and its cancerous spread throughout late night television.