AFI's Top 10 Animation: #6

Toy Story - 1995

The Latest on TV: AFI's 10 Top 10

The big day for fans of classic film is almost here: tomorrow night, CBS will present the three-hour television special AFI's 10 Top 10. Changing things up a bit this year, instead of 100 films for one genre, the AFI is honoring ten films in ten different genres, and Movie Dearest has been discussing the possibilities for each, based on past AFI lists, for the past ten weeks or so. But there is one other way to predict what the final film selections may be, and that is to take a look at the celebrities lined up to discuss the selections during the actual program.

Instead of a single host as in years past, this year the ten separate countdowns will each have their own host. Two of the hosts, Jennifer Love Hewitt (Animation) and Jessica Alba (Romantic Comedy), have no films nominated in any categories, so they are no help here (what, wasn't Angela Lansbury and Meg Ryan available?). Additionally, interviewees Lesley Ann Warren and Vanessa Williams (and, naturally, film and animation historian Leonard Maltin) are on hand to talk about other people's movies. As for the rest, here are their nominated films that may end up in their respective top tens, with the strongest contenders in bold:

• Tim Allen: Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Cars
• Sean Astin (host, Fantasy): The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Rudy
• Ed Burns: Saving Private Ryan
• Gabriel Byrne (host, Mystery): Miller's Crossing, The Usual Suspects
• Cuba Gooding Jr. (host, Sports): Boyz N the Hood, A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire, As Good as It Gets
• Kirk Douglas (host, Epic): Champion, Paths of Glory, Spartacus
• Clint Eastwood (host, Western): High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Letters from Iwo Jima
• Harrison Ford: The Conversation, Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, Working Girl, Presumed Innocent, The Fugitive
• Jane Fonda: Cat Ballou, Barefoot in the Park, Klute
• Michael J. Fox: Back to the Future, The American President
• Brad Garrett: A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo
• Ben Gazzara: Anatomy of a Murder, The Big Lebowski
• Gene Hackman: Bonnie and Clyde, The Conversation, Superman, Reds, Hoosiers, Unforgiven, Get Shorty, Antz
• Dennis Hopper: Johnny Guitar, Giant, True Grit, Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet, Hoosiers
• Norman Jewison: In the Heat of the Night, Rollerball, ... And Justice for All, A Soldier's Story, Moonstruck, The Hurricane
• James Earl Jones: The Great White Hope, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, Star Wars, Conan the Barbarian, Field of Dreams, The Lion King, Robots
• Nathan Lane: The Lion King
• Ray Liotta: Field of Dreams, GoodFellas
• Robert Loggia: Somebody Up There Likes Me, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Scarface, Prizzi's Honor, Jagged Edge, Big, Independence Day
• George Lucas: Star Wars, Labyrinth
• Sidney Lumet: 12 Angry Men, Murder on the Orient Express, The Verdict
• Amy Madigan: Field of Dreams
• Dominic Monaghan: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Elizabeth Perkins: Big, Finding Nemo
• Roman Polanski: Chinatown
• Harold Ramis: Groundhog Day, As Good as It Gets
• John Ratzenberger: Superman; Reds; Toy Story; A Bug's Life; Toy Story 2; Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; The Incredibles; Cars
• Rob Reiner: The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally ..., A Few Good Men, Sleepless in Seattle, Bullets Over Broadway, The American President, Ghosts of Mississippi
• Isabella Rossellini: Blue Velvet
• Susan Sarandon: Atlantic City, Bull Durham, The Client
• Talia Shire: The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Rocky
• Steven Spielberg: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Back to the Future, An American Tail, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Amistad, Men in Black, Saving Private Ryan, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Shrek, Minority Report, Monster House, Letters from Iwo Jima
• Daniel Stern: Breaking Away
• Ridley Scott: Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator
• Quentin Tarantino (host, Gangster): Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction
• Sigourney Weaver (host, Science Fiction): Annie Hall, Alien, Working Girl
• Rita Wilson: Sleepless in Seattle, My Big Fat Greek Wedding
• James Woods (host, Courtroom Drama): The Onion Field, Once Upon a Time in America, Casino, Ghosts of Mississippi, Contact, Any Given Sunday

Of course, this isn't an exact science, and others may have their own favorites (for example, here's a video of another fan's picks). We'll find out the final 100 films tomorrow night on CBS at 8:00 PM EST.

Crazy for Toy Story Mania!

Toy Story Mania!, a new interactive ride-through attraction based on the classic Toy Story movies, is gearing up to officially open in Disney parks on both coasts within the next month.

As usual, LaughingPlace.com has been on the scene at Disney's Hollywood Studios for the advance previews, and you can see their extensive video and picture coverage here ... and here and here.

Toy Story Mania! will officially open later this month at Walt Disney World, while the Disneyland version will debut next month at Disney's California Adventure.

Countdown to AFI's 10 Top 10: Animation

"Animation isn't the illusion of life -- it is life!"
-- Chuck Jones

As Brad Bird (this year's Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature) has been known to say, animation is not a genre, but a medium. And he's right. Nevertheless, it is the first "genre" that I will be taking a look at as Movie Dearest begins a ten week countdown to AFI's 10 Top 10, this year's edition of the American Film Institute's popular (and often controversial) 100 Years ... 100 Movies series.

Looking over the past ten 100 Years lists, only nine fully animated films have made the various cuts, with the most appearances being in the Heroes & Villains and Songs installments. The very first American animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, appears the most times (four, including both the 1998 and 2007 greatest movies of all time lists), with Pinocchio and Beauty and the Beast listed twice. So it is a safe bet that these three, along with the landmark Fantasia and the groundbreaking Toy Story, will make this top ten. Bambi, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians and The Lion King have also appeared previously, and therefore could be considered strong contenders as well.

Taking a look at the annual AFI Awards, four more toons (all computer animated) could conceivably enter the mix: Shrek, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Happy Feet (shudder). Other notable films among the fifty nominees (see comments section below for the full list) include Aladdin, Cinderella, Dumbo, The Iron Giant, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, The Nightmare Before Christmas and even (double shudder) South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.

As you can see, Disney (along with Pixar) has a chance of sweeping this top ten; I really can only see Shrek and maybe Iron Giant (fingers crossed) breaking into this Mickey Mouse club.

We'll find out when AFI's 10 Top 10 airs on CBS on June 17.