for me it will always be the late 80's, you had Don Bluth in his prime doing An American Tail. Trying to improve his movies with traits from very early Disney movies where the artists displayed extreme amounts of quality. To this day based upon the novels, my favorite kids movie is The Secret of Nimh, it's probably the most intelligent kids movie ever created to this date.

I dno why you think its "intelligent". All kids movies are by definition really idiotic, but I do still enjoy the music of disney movies, like Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Mine is probably Disney's feature length animated films from the 60's and 70's. 
 
They had a real clear hand-drawn style that took the frame-by-frame complexity of characters to new heights. Movies like The Jungle Book, One Hundred and One Dalmations and The Rescuers could still be used today as textbooks on how to give characters weight, life and character. The painted backgrounds from that era are undeniable works of art and the music was brilliantly written and perfectly woven into the style and story. They also featured some of the greatest voice actors to ever grace a mic - Phil Harris, Sterling Holloway and Bob Newhart to name few. 
 
I also think the Pixar era will go down as one of the most meaningful and important periods for animation too. 
 
  

@maskedarcstrike said:

for me it will always be the late 80's, you had Don Bluth in his prime doing An American Tail. Trying to improve his movies with traits from very early Disney movies where the artists displayed extreme amounts of quality. To this day based upon the novels, my favorite kids movie is The Secret of Nimh, it's probably the most intelligent kids movie ever created to this date.

Dude! As soon as I read your thread title I immediately thought the same era.

The Secret of Nimh being the best of that time and Disney's The Black Cauldron as one that shouldn't be missed. Don Bluth was definitely in his prime with Nimh, Land Before Time, An American Tale, Dragon's Lair, and Space Ace and before that Pete's Dragon, The Fox and the Hound, and Robin Hood. I think his last great film was Titan A.E. and was disappointed that it bombed at the box office and started the demise of the traditional 2D movie. Now we're stuck with unimaginative and shitty 3D animated films that are aimed at the lowest common denominator (Pixar and a small handful of other studio releases aside).

It's unfortunate that we'll never see a theatrical released American made animated film like The Secret of Nimh. That shit was dark and quite mature. I watched it recently and enjoy it more as an adult than my 6 year old self.

Some less-mature animated films I loved at the time were Transformers: The Movie, GI Joe: The Movie, and other Hasbro/Sunbow movies that were theatrically released. I recall liking that He-Man/She-Ra movie as well, more than the live actionDolph Lundgren flick. They always "felt" like movies and not another episode from their animated series. Even if Jem had a movie I would have gone and seen that.

@gamefreak9 said:

I dno why you think its "intelligent". All kids movies are by definition really idiotic, but I do still enjoy the music of disney movies, like Hunchback of Notre Dame.

You are wrong and obviously haven't seen any of Bluth's or Studio Ghibli films.

@bonorbitz said:

@maskedarcstrike said:

for me it will always be the late 80's, you had Don Bluth in his prime doing An American Tail. Trying to improve his movies with traits from very early Disney movies where the artists displayed extreme amounts of quality. To this day based upon the novels, my favorite kids movie is The Secret of Nimh, it's probably the most intelligent kids movie ever created to this date.

Dude! As soon as I read your thread title I immediately thought the same era.

The Secret of Nimh being the best of that time and Disney's The Black Cauldron as one that shouldn't be missed. Don Bluth was definitely in his prime with Nimh, Land Before Time, An American Tale, Dragon's Lair, and Space Ace and before that Pete's Dragon, The Fox and the Hound, and Robin Hood. I think his last great film was Titan A.E. and was disappointed that it bombed at the box office and started the demise of the traditional 2D movie. Now we're stuck with unimaginative and shitty 3D animated films that are aimed at the lowest common denominator (Pixar and a small handful of other studio releases aside).

It's unfortunate that we'll never see a theatrical released American made animated film like The Secret of Nimh. That shit was dark and quite mature. I watched it recently and enjoy it more as an adult than my 6 year old self.

Some less-mature animated films I loved at the time were Transformers: The Movie, GI Joe: The Movie, and other Hasbro/Sunbow movies that were theatrically released. I recall liking that He-Man/She-Ra movie as well, more than the live actionDolph Lundgren flick. They always "felt" like movies and not another episode from their animated series. Even if Jem had a movie I would have gone and seen that.

@gamefreak9 said:

I dno why you think its "intelligent". All kids movies are by definition really idiotic, but I do still enjoy the music of disney movies, like Hunchback of Notre Dame.

You are wrong and obviously haven't seen any of Bluth's or Studio Ghibli films.

I've seen all of Studio Ghibli films... don't make dumb presumptions... calling those movies "intelligent" is insulting to "Intelligent" movie making. Not saying they are bad, but its more about the ambience and the creativity. Though I have no Idea what Bluth is... what films would those be? I've seen a heck of a lot of kids films, i've probably seen them.

Early 90s Disney: Little Mermaid - Aladdin - Beauty and the Beast - Lion King; what an amazing run.

Pixar, and the many era's they span.

It has to be the Goonies for me, I was just the right age for it (so 80's).

90's but that's only because I was a kid in the 90's.

The era of movies I watched when I was a kid, Lion King, Toy Story, Jurassic Park, Braveheart, etc. What? Those aren't kids movies? Fuck. Well I guess I had parents that didn't care and an awesome older brother.

@gamefreak9 said:

All kids movies are by definition really idiotic

Mind pointing out what part of the definition says they're idiotic?

On topic, though, 80s/90s were pretty damn good for kids movies, at least if we're judging by the best and not by...well, all of them.

50's, 60's, and early 70's Disney reads like the check list of must see Kids films.

• Cinderella
• Alice in Wonderland
• Peter Pan
• Lady and the Tramp
• Sleeping Beauty
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians
• The Sword in the Stone
• The Jungle Book
• The Aristocats
• Robin Hood

Nothing beats the 90s. Truly the last great decade of human history.

The 90's were best, why? Toy. Story.

Also: Aladdin, Mulan, The Lion King, etc.

Me and my roommate watched Aladdin the other day. Shit still holds up.

I really want to go back and watch some of those older ones. I really enjoyed Sword in the Stone back in the day. Hrm. Maybe I'll do that.

The Disney Renaissance and the early 00s with the first Pokémon and Digimon movies.

The 90's. Not only do you have the Disney renaissance but also the rise of Pixar. It was just a damn good time to be a kid.

90's

@Video_Game_King said:

@gamefreak9 said:

All kids movies are by definition really idiotic

Mind pointing out what part of the definition says they're idiotic?

On topic, though, 80s/90s were pretty damn good for kids movies, at least if we're judging by the best and not by...well, all of them.

um, the story has to be really linear otherwise kids won't follow not to mention that the realm of possibilities that can happen due to the PG rating is limited(though Studio Ghibi films aren't as predictable as others). Although some dabble in mature themes its very hard to get really deep into it in a kids film. Most annoyingly is that in kids films you usually have endless pointing out of the story telling its as if the audience has amnesia and needs to be reminded every minute or so. Like I said this does not make the films bad, it just means they have to focus on other things... and really some of the best creative work comes by issuing limitations.

@Brodehouse said:

I really enjoyed Sword in the Stone back in the day. Hrm. Maybe I'll do that.

Don't get your hopes up, that's probably one of the worst ones when you re-watch it.

@gamefreak9:

Those are just trends, though; they have absolutely nothing to do with the definition. You can still have a story that's simple on its face but is still thematically rich, or can be dug into quite deep. Hell, about 10% of the articles on Cracked boil down to "X Horrifying Implications of Otherwise Idyllic Disney Universes".

@damswedon said:

50's, 60's, and early 70's Disney reads like the check list of must see Kids films.

• Cinderella
• Alice in Wonderland
• Peter Pan
• Lady and the Tramp
• Sleeping Beauty
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians
• The Sword in the Stone
• The Jungle Book
• The Aristocats
• Robin Hood

This. I can still watch these movies over and over. The animation and art direction on these films is just incredible.

I can't stand the early Disney movies, but their films in the 90s were pretty great. The Emperor's New Grove, Hercules, Mulan, Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and many more. The 90s also had Toy Story, which kind of beats all.

I'll give a runner up to the 00s, though, for Pixar's consistently great films and School of Rock.

@Video_Game_King said:

@gamefreak9:

Those are just trends, though; they have absolutely nothing to do with the definition. You can still have a story that's simple on its face but is still thematically rich, or can be dug into quite deep. Hell, about 10% of the articles on Cracked boil down to "X Horrifying Implications of Otherwise Idyllic Disney Universes".

I don't disagree that they can thematically rich, some of them really are, but that doesn't make them any less prone to non-linearity and the inability to really blur the lines of morality. Maybe i'm having trouble expressing it, its that feeling when you watch a movie and you walk out and your thinking "i really enjoyed it" or "that was fun", in contrast... I dno lets pick Funny Games made me walk out and not trust anyone around me for like the next couple of hours, or I Saw the Devil made me change my(wobbly) stance on capital punishment(its got nothing to do with that, its just about a serial killer). Again I feel like I have to add a clause for Studio Ghibi not having clear cut bad and good sides... though they do have really boring protagonists... i'd say the attitude of more or less every protagonist in Studio Ghibi is the same, in the sense that I would expect the exact same choices to be made by any of them, which is understandable since the protagonists have to be inspiring to little kids.

Start in the 90s till now. Pixar has made some incredible films (excluding cars which I despise)

Tarzan is my favorite Disney animated film for so many reasons. That movie does everything right.

@gamefreak9 said:

=

@Brodehouse said:

I really enjoyed Sword in the Stone back in the day. Hrm. Maybe I'll do that.

Don't get your hopes up, that's probably one of the worst ones when you re-watch it.

DULL. watch the wizard battle clip from Sword in the Stone and leave the rest of it behind.

not speaking of a particular era, but here is a gem that time has forgotten. Rock & Rule, if you are a fan of animation check it out.

not sure there has been anything quite like it since with the mixture of maturity, music and quality.

Secret of Nimh doesn't hold up too well as an adult, they introduce magic into the story which makes no sense and wasn't apparently in the books.

as a kid you accept the magic because you know the cliche. and magic. the cruelty of science/man angle is much more interesting.

Late 90's, early 00. Basically Pixar...

Everything between Hunchback and Mulan feels creatively bankrupted to me.

This is just one of the many reasons the 80's wins.

Can't decide... I guess I'll just settle for anything before the new millennium.

Probably got to be the 90's.

The Sandlot, Lion King, Toy Story, Aladdin, and countless others.

Everything Disney and Pixar, with a few exceptions. Even thought it's neither animated nor cartoony, I fondly remeber watching Jurassic Park for the first time as a kid and going all over the moon about it. Kids are into dinos, and, for what JP brought to the medium at the time, it was very much a kid's fantasy come to visual life, much like the Transformers movies are to some kids in this day and age, but without the -- you know -- eye-searing special effects that penetrate the viewer from start to finish.

Disney in the 90's @Living_Monstrosity said:

Nothing beats the 90s. Truly the last great decade of human history.

Couldn't agree more.

@Slay3r1583 said:

This is just one of the many reasons the 80's wins.

That's kinda sketchy for a kid's movie. There's a decent amount of swearing and wolfman does get blown to bits. It's more of a teen movie. Your heart is in the right place though, it's a really fun movie.

My favorite movie as a kid was Sword in the Stone. I loved that damned owl. I would get really sad when the girl squirrel found Arthur was really a human. I also really liked Space Jam. My little brother liked it a lot too, he'd waddle around the house saying "Jam! Jam! Jam!" until someone put it on for him.

So I don't know. All eras.

@Brodehouse said:

@gamefreak9 I'd really love for you to explain non-linear filmmaking to me. That would be incredible.

He will likely respond with something like Memento.

@damswedon: I have seen all of those and they were all great.

@gamefreak9: I have one response..See my post below.

Toy Story.

Pixar Movies...Absolutely the best

The 20th Century and the early 21st Century.

Land Before Time came out in the 80's.... so i guess the 80's