Born with Autism (formerly classified as Asperger syndrome), Tyler B. Searle has been obsessed with storytelling since he was old enough to speak. He gravitated towards fairy tales, mythology, the fantasy genre, and animated movies and shows aimed at family audiences.
While Western animation is dominated today by CGI, it is a relatively new medium that began in 1995 with the release of the first fully CGI movie, Toy Story, and wasn't codified until the mid 2000s with movies like Dinosaur and Shrek.
Up until then, the vast majority of animated movies were 2D, made by artists painstakingly drawing each frame before their sketches were traced onto clear cells with paint. While both methods are great, there's a certain magic to 2D animation, especially in how fluidly the characters move and how expressive their faces can be. When people think of 2D movies, they think of the heavy hitters like Disney classics and the works of Studio Ghibli. However, many fantastic 2D films have slipped through the cracks, whether because of unfortunate release dates or strategies, or have been forgotten with the passage of time. Thank to the timeless nature of 2D, these movies are just as engaging to watch today as they were on release.Are You? Light Side · Dark Side · Or Somewhere Between The Force is not a binary. It is a spectrum — from the serene halls of the Jedi Temple to the shadowed corridors of Sith space. Ten questions will reveal where you truly fall. The Force has always known. Now you will too. 🔵Jedi Master 🟡Padawan 🔴Sith Lord ⚫Inquisitor ⚪Grey Jedi IGNITE YOUR SABER → QUESTION 1 / 10THE FORCE 01 What is the Force to you? Your relationship with the Force defines everything else. AA living energy I must be worthy of — it is not mine to control. BSomething vast and mysterious I'm only beginning to understand. CNeither light nor dark — just a current I choose to ride. DPower. Pure and simple. The strong take it; the weak don't. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 2 / 10EMOTION 02 When you feel strong emotions — anger, grief, love — what do you do? The Jedi suppress. The Sith feed. Others choose differently. AAcknowledge them, then release them. Attachment leads to suffering. BFeel them fully, then decide what to do — they're not the enemy. CBury them. Emotion is a liability I can't afford to indulge. DUse them. Passion is the engine of the dark side for good reason. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 3 / 10AUTHORITY 03 The Jedi Council gives you an order you disagree with. You: How you handle authority reveals your alignment. AFollow it. The Council's wisdom surpasses my own perspective. BVoice my objection clearly, then defer to the decision. CComply outwardly while doing what I think is right. DIgnore it. The strong don't answer to committees. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 4 / 10TEMPTATION 04 You are offered forbidden knowledge that could give you enormous power. The cost is crossing a moral line. You: The dark side's pull is never more than a choice away. ARefuse without hesitation. There is no cost worth that price. BWeigh it carefully — sometimes darkness holds real answers. CFeel the pull but walk away — for now. DAccept it. Power justifies the method used to obtain it. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 5 / 10TRAINING 05 Your approach to training and learning is: A student's habits become a master's character. ADedicated but humble. There is always more to learn from my masters. BRigorous and patient. Mastery is earned through years of discipline. CEclectic — I draw from every tradition, not just one. DRelentless and brutal. Pain accelerates growth. Rest is weakness. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 6 / 10COMBAT 06 In a duel, your lightsaber fighting style reflects: Combat is the purest expression of a Force user's philosophy. ADefense and composure — I wait for my opponent to overcommit. BFast and instinctive — I trust the Force to guide my movements. CUnpredictable — I blend styles to keep enemies off-balance. DOverwhelming aggression — I end fights before they begin. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 7 / 10COMPASSION 07 A defeated enemy lies at your feet, powerless. You: Mercy — or its absence — is the truest test of alignment. AStrike them down — compassion toward enemies is naïve and costly. BNeutralize them permanently. I can't afford loose ends. CSpare them if I can — but stay clear-eyed about the risks. DOffer them a chance to surrender. Every being deserves that. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 8 / 10ATTACHMENT 08 The Jedi Code forbids attachment. Your honest view on love and bonds: The source of the greatest falls in the galaxy. AThe Code is right. Attachment clouds judgment and invites suffering. BLove is not a weakness — the Jedi Code got this one wrong. CI have no attachment — only loyalty to my master's mission. DI feel it deeply but struggle to reconcile it with my training. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 9 / 10PURPOSE 09 Why do you use the Force at all? What's the point? Purpose is the difference between a knight and a weapon. ATo learn. I'm still figuring out what I'm capable of. BTo protect and serve. The Force is a responsibility, not a gift. CTo survive — and maybe carve out something worth having. DTo dominate. Strength demands to be expressed, not contained. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 10 / 10THE CHOICE 10 At the final moment — light side or dark side pulling at you — what wins? In the end, every Force user faces this moment. What does yours look like? AThe light. I choose peace, even when darkness would be easier. BNeither fully — I carve my own path through the middle. CWhoever I serve — my loyalty defines me more than my morality. DThe dark. Power is the only thing that's ever actually been real. REVEAL MY ALIGNMENT → Your Alignment Has Been Determined Your Place in the Force The scores below reveal how the Force sees you. Your highest number is your true alignment. Read on to understand what that means — and what it will cost you. 🔵 Jedi Master 🟡 Padawan 🔴 Sith Lord ⚫ Inquisitor ⚪ Grey Jedi JEDI MASTER Disciplined, compassionate, and deeply attuned to the living Force, you have walked the path long enough to understand its demands — and accept them. You lead not through authority alone, but through example. You have felt the pull of the dark side and chosen otherwise, every time. That is not certainty. That is courage. PADAWAN You are earnest, powerful, and brimming with potential — and you know it, which is both your greatest asset and your most dangerous flaw. You act before you think, trust your gut over your training, and sometimes confuse impatience for bravery. The Masters see something in you, though. The question isn't whether you have what it takes — it's whether you'll be patient enough to find out. SITH LORD You are not simply dangerous — you are certain, and that is worse. You have decided what the galaxy needs, and you have decided you are the one to deliver it. Your power is genuine and formidable, earned through sacrifice that would have broken lesser beings. But examine your victories carefully. Every Sith believed their cause was righteous. The dark side's cruelest trick is that it agrees with you. INQUISITOR You were forged in fire and reshaped by those who found you at your lowest. You serve, because service gave you structure when you had none. Your allegiance is not to an ideology — it is to survival and to the master who gave you purpose. But there is something buried beneath the conditioning. The Jedi you hunt? You recognize them. Because you remember what it felt like before the choice was taken from you. GREY JEDI You have looked at the Jedi Code and the Sith Code and found both of them incomplete. You walk the line not out of indecision but out of conviction — you genuinely believe both extremes miss something essential. The Jedi don't fully trust you. The Sith think you're wasting your potential. They're both partially right. But so are you. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'Cats Don't Dance' Daniel T. Cat is an optimistic young feline in a world where sentient animals live alongside humans, and heads to Hollywood to pursue his dream career as an actor. Unfortunately, he learns that animals are only given minimalist roles in favor of human stars, so Danny tries to inspire his fellow animals to put on a performance that will show their talent to the world. This earns Danny the wrath of child star Dalra Dimple , who refuses to let animals upstage her, and works with her butler, Max , to sabotage Danny's efforts. Cats Don't Dance was one of several Warner Bros. animated films released in the 1990s in an attempt to challenge Disney, but it never caught on like The Iron Giant. It's a shame, because the movie is a lot of fun, with fast-paced animation, memorable characters, and strong musical numbers by Randy Newman. The story is also solid, both for its message about prejudice and following your dreams, and for how much fun it has with its 1930s aesthetic. 'The Flight of Dragons' As the world begins to embrace logic and science over magic, the Green Wizard Carolinus summons his brothers, Blue Wizard Solarius , Golden Wizard Lo Tae Zhao , and Red Wizard Ommadon , to create a realm where magic can exist in the absence of mankind. Unfortunately, Ommadon refuses to go along with the plan and instead infects humanity with vices and sin. Since the wizards cannot fight one another, Carolinus gathers a party of heroes to steal Ommadon's magic crown and summons a man from the 20th century named Peter Dickinson to help. The Flight of Dragons is one of those fantasy movies that fully embraces the fantastical elements of the genre. It plays out like the perfect heroic fantasy with archetypal characters, but also explores interesting topics like belief vs skepticism, the passing of time, and a scientific explanation for how dragons can fly. The animation was done by Topcraft, the predecessor to Studio Ghibli, and further enhances the movie's fantastical themes with some creative character designs and striking colors. 'The Plague Dogs' Rolf and Sniffer are two lab dogs who escape from their animal testing facility and into the English countryside. They meet up with a wild fox called the Tod , who offers to help them survive in exchange for some of their food. Sniffer hopes to one day find a good human to adopt them, but things escalate when people die in the pursuit of the dogs. The Plague Dogs is the second adaptation of the works of Richard Adams, and just like Watership Down, it is deceptively dark and brutal despite its animal protagonists. The film opens with Rolf being drowned and resuscitated as part of an experiment, and it only gets worse, with gory deaths and an ambiguous ending. That said, it's still worth a watch thanks to its gorgeous animation, the fact that it keeps the anthropomorphism to a bare minimum, and the strong voice acting that helps bring the dogs to life. 'The Thief and the Cobbler' Within the Golden City, protected by its three magic balls, lives a humble cobbler named Tack , who accidentally injures Grand Vizier Zigzag while scuffling with a mute thief. Tack is brought to the palace for execution, but Princess Yum-Yum breaks one of her shoes to save him, and the two grow close. Meanwhile, Zigzag secretly plans to usurp the throne from King Nod , while the Thief sneaks into the palace to try his luck, and a hostile army led by a warlord named One Eye marches on the city. The Thief and the Cobbler was meant to be the magnum opus of the animation legend behind Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Richard Williams. Sadly, it was a catastrophe due to an over 30-year production time and Williams being removed by studios who wanted their money's worth. Fortunately, fans released"The Recobbled Cut," which is as close to Williams' vision as we could hope, and it's definitely worth a watch. The story might be a little basic, but the 2D animation is some of the most fluid ever put to film, and Price's performance as Zigzag is a highlight, thanks to how deliciously evil he is. 'Anastasia' During the Russian Revolution and the collapse of the Romanov dynasty, Dowager Empress Marie is separated from her granddaughter, Anastasia , who hits her head and loses her memories. Years later,"Anya" decides to head to Paris in the hopes of finding her family based on a necklace her grandmother gave her. To get there, she teams up with two conmen named Dimitri and Vladimir , who hope to use Anya as an Anastasia lookalike to claim a reward from the Empress. However, Grigori Rasputin , an undead mystic and former imperial advisor, won't rest until all the Romanovs are dead. Anastasia was the last major hit of renowned animator Don Bluth, and remains one of the strongest non-Disney animated films of the 1990s. The film blends real history with fairy tale whimsy to create a beautiful story about identity, memory, family, and love, tied together with some fantastic songs and strong voice acting. Lloyd easily stands out the most, thanks to how hard he goes into making Rasputin a mysterious and sinister villain, while still sneaking in a few moments of levity with his bat sidekick, Bartok . 'The Triplets of Belleville' Madame Souza tries everything to brighten the spirits of her recently orphaned grandson, Champion , and eventually lands on cycling. Years later, Champion is training to participate in the Tour de France, but is kidnapped by mobsters alongside two other cyclists. Madame Souza and their dog Bruno follow the mobsters to America and receive help from the Triplets of Belleville, a trio of aged vaudeville performers who still have some tricks up their sleeves. The Triplets of Belleville is one of those movies that ensures you'll never forget it, and is a masterful demonstration of the power of animation as a medium. The film uses minimalist dialogue, so the characters' personalities come from a combination of their fantastic designs and unique movements, resulting in a visual treat that blends surrealism with dark comedy. Plus, the music is fantastic, especially the main song"Belleville Rendez Vous," which is a catchy and original jazz number that's sure to have you snapping along. 'The Last Unicorn' After overhearing two hunters as they pass through her woods, a unicorn begins to fear that she is the last of her kind left in the world. A passing butterfly tells her that other unicorns were driven off long ago by a monstrous Red Bull. The unicorn sets off on a quest following the bull's trail into the cursed lands of King Haggard , where she finds friends among a bumbling magician named Schmendrick and a bandit named Molly Grue . The Last Unicorn is a haunting story about melancholy, regret, and the power of memory, told while embracing classic fairy tale tropes so much that they are literally baked into the world. This decision makes the film feel more genuine as a result, since it presents a world that mixes good and bad elements equally, while asking curious questions about immortality, happiness, and what prices we are willing to pay for both. Beyond that, the movie is gorgeous, featuring the best animation to come from Rankin/Bass and Topcraft's partnership, and a beautiful soundtrack from America. 'Fantastic Planet' Two sentient races live on the planet Ygam: the gigantic, blue-skinned Draags who rule, and the human-like Oms, who are treated either as pets or vermin to be exterminated. One pet Om, named Terr , uses a defect in his collar to listen in on his owner's school lessons and gain an understanding of Draag technology. He uses this intelligence to break free from his owner, unite various wild Om tribes, and start a rebellion. Fantastic Planet is one of the most original animated movies and among those rare sci-fi movies that genuinely succeed in transporting the audience to an alien world. From the hostile wildlife to the psychic powers of the Draags, Ygam looks and feels like a strange, unknown landscape, especially thanks to the animation style, which is both stilted and detailed, adding to the otherworldliness of the movie. Its story is also quite powerful, as the treatment of the Oms is allegorical for numerous things, from animal rights to genocides. 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed' When a sorcerer offers a magical flying horse for the hand of the Caliph's daughter in marriage, her brother, Prince Achmed, objects. The sorcerer offers to let him test out the horse, but he doesn't tell him how to control it, so the horse flies off into the sky with Achmed on its back. When he finally gets it under control, he finds himself in the far-off land of Wak Wak and must make allies as he tries to get home. Subscribe to the newsletter for rare 2D animation finds Keep exploring overlooked animation by subscribing to the newsletter for curated deep dives, restoration context, and thoughtful recommendations on 2D animated films — plus broader animation coverage and essays. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. The Adventures of Prince Achmed is the oldest surviving animated movie, and the fact that it's not better known is criminal. The movie is a one-of-a-kind adaptation of the One Thousand and One Nights, brought to life through a painstaking process that involved adjusting cardboard cutouts to create a shadow-puppet aesthetic. The result is an engaging story told entirely through body language that still looks amazing 100 years after its release. 'Waking Life' An unnamed young man finds himself drifting through life on the verge of an existential crisis. He eventually realizes that he is trapped inside a lucid dream, with no idea how to wake up. All he can do is keep moving forward and meet with a wide array of individuals with whom he discusses abstract ideas like identity, existentialism, and the meaning of life. Waking Life is one of the most philosophical animated films, especially since it never really answers any of the questions that it proposes. Rather, it makes you feel just as confused as the protagonist as it jumps from one topic to another, leaving you with plenty of things to ponder over once it's done. It also captures the feeling of being lost in a dream through its use of rhotoscoping, which gives the characters lifelike movement that results in an uncanny valley effect. Waking Life R Animation Drama Fantasy Release Date October 19, 2001 Runtime 101 minutes Director Richard Linklater Cast Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Wiley Wiggins, Bill Wise, Alex E. Jones, Steven Soderbergh, Ken Webster, Charles Gunning, Lorelei Linklater, Trevor Jack Brooks, Glover Gill, Lara Hicks, Ames Asbell, Leigh Mahoney, Sara Nelson, Jeanine Attaway, Erik Grostick, Robert C. Solomon, Kim Krizan, Eamonn Healy, J.C. Shakespeare, Carol Dawson, David Sosa, Otto Hofmann, Aklilu Gebrewold Writers Richard Linklater Powered by Expand Collapse
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