Spectrum Screen Presents: Animated Films
A list of the best and diverse animated film recommendations!
Animated films are a hard genre to tackle on the subject of diversity as many of them feature non-human, fantastical storylines, but even these films can take on real life issues and feature real life, marginalized narratives that can change both young and old minds.
If you liked Black Swan (2010), you’ll love Perfect Blue (1997)
Perfect Blue, a 90s Japanese animated film, is what director Darren Aronofsky based his acclaimed film starring Natalie Portman on. The movie is a haunting, psychological thriller about a popstar and her journey to escape both a stalker, her paranoia and the fear of failure as she aims to change her public image to something more edgy. Trigger warning for assault and violence.
If you liked Inside Out (2015), you’ll love Soul (2020)
Soul, featuring Jamie Foxx, is a life-changing animated journey about protagonist Joe Gardner’s dream of becoming a jazz musician and his untimely death. It transforms into both an observation on human fear of mortality, but also an ode to Black culture and the community’s contributions and love for jazz music.
If you liked The Matrix (1999), you’ll love Akira (1990)
Set in the recent future, Akira is a metaphysical tale about the corrupt government, time travel, conscious vs the body and youth. Kaneda, a popular bike gang leader, has to go on a mission to save a kidnapped friend who was taken during anti-government protests by a secretive entity that aims to experiment on him. Trigger warning for body horror and violence.
I’ll see you next post with diverse Oscar-nominated film recommendations that everyone should watch! See you then! And again, if you have any requests, feel free to comment on any of the posts!