Beauty and the Beast (1991)

This list details the best of the animated classics featuring cultural and racial diversity – subjective and in no particular order. Also included are favorite movie quotes, songs, and notes on whether the main voice actors are accurate to the film.

This Pacific Island princess declares to god Maui:

Maui laughs in her face, deceives her multiple times, and throws her off the boat, with song and dance to boot. Despite this, Moana maintains her identity and ambition. Eventually, she learns that basing one’s ambition on another person, or demi-god, is not the best idea and that having a backup plan is wise. Her backup plan then turns into her main plan - i.e. trusting herself! Fantastic girl power, and excellent self-determination. Moana (2016) doesn't mess around!

I love Disney, and I’m sure you do too. Disney has given us such classics as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. But Disney has turned those movies and others into live action because, apparently, they care more about making money than anything else. With all these remakes, it makes one wish for the days of hand drawn animation. While Disney has kicked that form of animation to the curb, there are still studios utilizing it.

As it’s the month to celebrate St. Paddy, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about Cartoon Saloon. This is a small animation studio based in Kilkenny, Ireland, with only 80+ employees so far. They work on both film and TV, as well as provide illustration and design services.

Cartoon Saloon was founded in 1999 by Tomm Moore, Paul Young and Nora Twomey. The three studied together at Ballyfermot College of Further Education in Dublin. There, they begun working on their first animated film, The Secret of Kells.

The film is about a boy named Brendan who lives a sheltered life at an abbey. One day, an illuminator (someone who decorates manuscripts) arrives with an unfinished book, and beckons Brendan to help him finish it. The book turns out to be the Book of Kells, a real, illuminated manuscript that was written around 800 AD.

This is one of my favorite animated movies. The animation is beautiful and vibrant, taking inspiration from Celtic and medieval art. The film also takes inspiration from Celtic mythology with the inclusion of a pre-Christian deity and a forest fairy.