AFI’s 10 TOP 10 — CHALLENGE RANK: ANIMATION

Hello and welcome to “AFI’s 10 Top 10 — Challenge Rank,” this is an article series where we put to test the American Film Institute’s various list rankings through a critical and audience consensual assessment scale. We will be breaking down “AFI’s 10 Top 10” lists, right here. The “AFI’s 10 Top 10” originally broke down by genre what are the 10 best films in that specified genre. We have covered Courtroom Drama, Romantic Comedies, and Mystery in the three prior articles in the series so far, as we are now going to tackle “AFI’s 10 Top 10: Animation” category. Here’s the list of films and how they ranked from “AFI’s 10 Top 10: Animation”:

1.) “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”

2.) “Pinocchio”

3.) “Bambi”

4.) “The Lion King”

5.) “Fantasia”

6.) “Toy Story”

7.) “Beauty and the Beast”

8.) “Shrek”

9.) “Cinderella”

10.) “Finding Nemo”

If you want to see the actual AFI page of the Top 10? The link is below: http://www.afi.com/10top10/category.aspx?cat=1

Now, this is how AFI ranked the best films of the animation genre. But do critics and audiences agree with AFI’s consensus? Well, through a rather collective algorithm from various critical and audience aggregators, I came to forming an overall consensual ranking of the collective films from “AFI’s 10 Top 10: Animation”. I was a rather surprised how things turned out here among the consensual rankings compared to AFI’s rankings but here’s how it laid out:

Consensual Placement: 10th

BAMBI (1942)

AFI’S RANKING: #3

LOGLINE: The story of a young deer growing up in the forest.

DIRECTED BY: David Hand

STARS: Hardie Albright, Peter Behn, Ann Gillis and Sterling Holloway

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Bambi” plunged a whopping 7 spots, going from #3 to #10 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list. This was the biggest drop among all films on the list.

Consensual Placement: 9th

CINDERELLA (1950)

AFI’S RANKING: #9

LOGLINE: When Cinderella’s cruel stepmother prevents her from attending the Royal Ball, she gets some unexpected help from the lovable mice Gus and Jaq, and from her Fairy Godmother.

DIRECTED BY: Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske

STARS: Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton and Luis Van Rooten

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Cinderella” stayed put at #9 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment matching AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 8th

SHREK (2001)

AFI’S RANKING: #9

LOGLINE: After his swamp is filled with magical creatures, Shrek agrees to rescue Princess Fiona for a villainous lord in order to get his land back.

DIRECTED BY: Andrew Adamson

STARS: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Shrek” stayed put at #8 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment matching AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 7th

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1938)

AFI’S RANKING: #1

LOGLINE: A beautiful and kindhearted princess who charms every creature in the kingdom except one — her jealous stepmother, the Queen. When the Magic Mirror proclaims the princess the fairest one of all, she must flee into the forest, where she befriends the miners of seven dwarfs. But when the Queen tricks the princess with an enchanted apple, only the magic of true love’s kiss can save her.

DIRECTED BY: David Hand

STARS: Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, Moroni Olsen and Billy Gilbert

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” descended 6 spots from #1 to #7 with the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 6th

PINOCCHIO (1940)

AFI’S RANKING: #2

LOGLINE: A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.

DIRECTED BY: Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske

STARS: Dickie Jones, Cliff Edwards, Christian Rub and Walter Catlett

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Pinocchio” dropped 4 spots from #2 to #6 with the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 5th

FANTASIA (1942)

AFI’S RANKING: #5

LOGLINE: A collection of animated interpretations of great works of Western classical music.

DIRECTED BY: Joe Grant

STARS: Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor, Walt Disney and Hugh Douglas

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Fantasia” stayed put at #5 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment matching AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 4th

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991)

AFI’S RANKING: #7

LOGLINE: A selfish prince is cursed to become a monster for the rest of his life, unless he learns to fall in love with a beautiful young woman he keeps prisoner.

DIRECTED BY: Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale

STARS: Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Beauty and the Beast” rose 3 spots and went from #7 to #4 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 3rd

FINDING NEMO (2003)

AFI’S RANKING: #10

LOGLINE: After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.

DIRECTED BY: Andrew Stanton

STARS: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould and Willem Dafoe

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Finding Nemo” ascended 7 spots from #10 to #3 with the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list. This was the biggest climb among all films on the list.

Consensual Placement: 2nd

THE LION KING (1994)

AFI’S RANKING: #4

LOGLINE: A Lion cub crown prince is tricked by a treacherous uncle into thinking he caused his father’s death and flees into exile in despair, only to learn in adulthood his identity and his responsibilities.

DIRECTED BY: Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff

STARS: Jonathan Taylor-Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones and Jeremy Irons

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “The Lion King” climbed 2 spots from #4 to #2 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

Consensual Placement: 1st

TOY STORY (1995)

AFI’S RANKING: #6

LOGLINE: A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman figure supplants him as top toy in a boy’s room.

DIRECTED BY: John Lasseter

STARS: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles and Jim Varney

CONSENSUS RESPONSE: “Toy Story” scaled 5 spots from #6 to #1 among the consensual critics and audiences assessment over AFI’s placement of the film on their list.

In concluding, you can see the critical consensual assessment with critics and audiences ranked either rather differently overall or stayed exactly in the same position from AFI’s ranking list. So, how would you personally rank these top-tier animation films?

Article Note: All loglines are sourced from IMDb.com.

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