sadisticferret
2012-07-11 12:21 am UTC (link)

Dragon Hunters is a fantastic CGI animated film, if those are okay. It's available on Netflix streaming, too.

I haven't seen Steamboy yet, but my dad assures me that it's fantastic and appropriate. It's definitely on my to-watch list.

Let's see...you really can't go wrong with Studio Ghibli, especially if it's something Miyazaki was involved in, but I'm probably preaching to the choir on that one. Anyway, my Neighbor Totoro in particular is one of my favorites.

That's all I have for now. I look forward to seeing everyone else's recommendations.

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	eevee 2012-07-11 10:40 pm UTC (link)
	Holy crap, I watched and liked the Dragon Hunters TV series. I had no idea there was a movie! (though it seems to be CG and not hand-drawn like the series...) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kijikun 2012-07-12 07:47 pm UTC (link)
	The movie is very much an AU from the series. The CG backgrounds are gorgeous. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sadisticferret 2012-07-13 06:40 pm UTC (link)
	The dragon designs and animation are pretty awesome, too. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	tehrin 2012-07-13 04:59 am UTC (link)
	Steamboy is AMAZING. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	cygnia 2012-07-11 12:49 am UTC (link)
	Road to El Dorado (Reply to this)

	cat_mcdougall 2012-07-11 01:07 am UTC (link)
	Road to El Dorado Road to Camelot Shark Tales Adventures of Sinbad ... Admittedly, I like them because they're corny but awesome. (Reply to this)

	spawn_of_kong 2012-07-11 01:27 am UTC (link)
	The Prince of Egypt Princess Mononoke My Neighbor Totoro Porco Rosso (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Also... spawn_of_kong 2012-07-11 01:33 am UTC (link)
	The Iron Giant The Triplets of Belleville Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Pom Poko The Secret of NIMH I'm assuming you're looking for more obscure titles, which is why I haven't listed other favorites such as The Lion King and (when it eventually comes out on DVD/Blu-ray) Brave. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ahiru 2012-07-11 01:42 am UTC (link)
	Anime-wise, Summer Wars and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time are both good picks. For non-anime, I've always had a soft spot for Watership Down and the way it scared the fuck out of me as a small child. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	wankaholic 2012-07-11 03:49 am UTC (link)
	Seconding "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time"--it's great. :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

sepiamagpie
2012-07-11 01:45 am UTC (link)

Secret World of Arrietty is currently my favourite thing that has ever happened.

I wish I could find Flight of Dragons on dvd, because I would rec that in a heartbeat, especially if they liked Last Unicorn but the powers that be are fascists*

I'm gonna second Iron Giant! Love that movie. And isn't Secret of Kells gorgeous? I just found some great pictures of the background art and I'm in a 'whee animation' mood.

Is Disney possible? Great Mouse Detective is loads of fun. It's Sherlock as done by mice.

Trying to remember if there were any Bluth films I really enjoyed. Titan AE is pretty good for a strongly on the rails monomyth.

The first Land Before Time! The sequels are ass, but the first was great for 'eee dinosaurs.'

I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but I've heard good things about Mia and the Migoo (it's a french film!). If you have netflix, they have it up on there and you can check it out first?

*special definition where it means 'does not give me what I want'

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	sepiamagpie 2012-07-11 01:50 am UTC (link)
	I told a lie! They've put up Flight of Dragons on amazon.com since I last looked! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	anarchicq 2012-07-11 01:57 am UTC (link)
	Flight of Dragons is sitting in my DVD shelf. But mine's a pre-Amazon bootleg. I might have to re-buy a legit copy. Blah, my Flight of Dragons icon is on LJ. Woe. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sepiamagpie 2012-07-11 01:59 am UTC (link)
	I've got that on order (one of those 'oh damn, there's the cart button being hit, oh there's the shipping one seems I've ordered a dvd' moments), and uh, found an arrrr version as well so I can have immediate gratification/graphics purposes. Two hours to go come on come on come on come on. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cmdr_zoom 2012-07-11 10:08 pm UTC (link)
	the Internet: when instant gratification just isn't fast enough. :) (some years back, I downloaded TRON 2.0 so I could play it over the weekend, finished it on Monday, and then dutifully went out and bought a copy.) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sepiamagpie 2012-07-11 10:11 pm UTC (link)
	I'm like that with books. I buy them, then get an e-version so I can always have a backup copy. (Reply to this)(Parent)

staroverthebay
2012-07-11 02:07 am UTC (link)

I kinda want to recommend "Watership Down" except 1) it's all about rabbits (and a seagull), so some teenagers might scoff at it being a kid's movie (it's really not) and 2) it's got some kinda heady stuff in there (Fiver predicts a catastrophe that ends up coming true; Bigwig nearly dies in a snare; Hazel gets shot by a shotgun, and Fiver follows some supernatural signs in order of find Hazel before he dies; anything really to do with General Woundwort...)

Also, it has its own religion in there, a creation myth, a sun god, a trickster hero and a messenger of death, among other things. So if you're showing this to kids and teens who might be strongly religious (to the point of finding other religions offensive or uncomfortable) then you might want to give this a miss. Depends on how tolerant your audience is, I guess. It's certainly not an offensive religion (I really like how it was developed in the book, and the movie did a great job of using the rabbits' religion to emphasize the story) but it's there, from the very first moments of the movie through the ending.

But otherwise, I'd recommend it. I love it. I love the book even more, but the movie is awesome and is well-written as well as well-voice-acted. The seagull Kehaar is arguably the best character in the movie (and has some of the best lines)

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	jetamors 2012-07-11 03:18 am UTC (link)
	If they're okay with Spirited Away, Watership Down should be fine religion-wise. (Reply to this)(Parent)

jetamors
2012-07-11 03:30 am UTC (link)

I'm trying to think of stuff that hasn't been suggested yet. Grave of the Fireflies is brutal, of course, but I think it should be okay for that age range. There's also Makoto Shinkai's stuff: 5 Centimeters per Second, Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days.

For Western animation, An American Tail holds up surprisingly well.

You might also consider anime series with self-contained episodes, like Mushishi.

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	rubymellon 2012-07-11 04:33 am UTC (link)
	Rock and Rule! (Reply to this)

ravenbell
2012-07-11 05:20 am UTC (link)

Let's see here:

- "Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro" is pre-Ghibli Miyazaki. Very actiony and loads of fun.
- "Memories" is a sci-fi anthology film with three different stories.
- "Roujin Z," an older one about an automated hospital bed that runs amok. I don't remember any objectionable content, but I saw it a while ago, so you may want to check.
- "Tokyo Godfathers" is about three homeless people who find a baby on Christmas eve. From the same guy who did "Millennium Actress."
- I'll second "The Triplets of Bellevile," and the same director's most recent film is another charmer called "The Illusionist."
- "Persepolis"? This might skew a little older than what you're going for.

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	phosfate 2012-07-11 05:53 pm UTC (link)
	Castle of Cagliostro Galaxy Express 999 The Plague Dogs -- though I seriously recommend a pre-screen, because bad things happen and it might not be suitable for your group (Reply to this)

	eevee 2012-07-11 10:34 pm UTC (link)
	Am I really the first one to suggest Whisper of the Heart? (Studio Ghibli movie. it basically inspired The Cat Returns and it's a really heartwarming story of blossoming affection between two teens.) (Reply to this)

	silrana 2012-07-11 10:53 pm UTC (link)
	Hmm. Akira and Vampire Hunter D are probably older than what you are looking for. Project A-ko is fun. For Western animation, I realize a lot of people hate on Disney, but my girls watched Beauty and the Beast a million times, and really identified with Belle because she was a reader like them. There are a bunch of other good ones, but other people have mentioned them. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	sepiamagpie 2012-07-12 07:57 am UTC (link)
	P-people hate on Disney? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	silrana 2012-07-12 11:16 am UTC (link)
	shrugs On the internet, yeah. There are plenty of places where I learned not to mention that I took my kids to a Disney movie because people broke out the crosses and garlic and started making evil empire jokes. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sadisticferret 2012-07-13 06:38 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, I see a lot of Disney hate at my otherwise awesome GSA meetings, too. Apparently Disney is the most evil corporation to ever blight the earth and is to blame for every flaw in Marvel movies now, and that it's okay to be rude to anyone who has ever worked there. (Reply to this)(Parent)

theropicus
2012-07-12 01:05 am UTC (link)

Bah, people have already recced all the ones I was going to suggest (Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Tokyo Godfathers, Whisper of the Heart...).

What about big giant robots? I remember really enjoying Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz when I was in high school (it looks like it got released as Gundam Wing: The Movie in the US, huh), and the Macross movie wasn't too shabby either... Though I have no idea which one I saw. Princess Mononoke is amazing too (well, Miyazaki, duh).

Oh! Also, Fire Tripper is really well done to! It's based a manga by Rumiko Takahashi and has all kinds of fun things like romance, comedy, history, and time travel. The only problem with it is that I do believe there's a nude bathing scene at one point, so there is some boob, which may not sit well with parents or younger teens. ...and Wiki says there's also an attempted rape early on, so maybe not the best thing. I do remember showing it to my high school anime club, though, and that was ages 14–18, so except for our fear that some administrator would pop their heads in during the bathing scene and be completely scandalized, it's fine for that age group, I know.

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	iczer6 2012-07-12 02:52 am UTC (link)
	Would Pixar work? Just about all their titles are great and enjoyable for everyone. If they like Galaxy Express they might like Arcadia of my Youth because everyone should know about Captain Harlock, though it might be hard to find. And if they like giant robots Giant Robo is a classic that should not be missed. And for classics how about Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	full_metal_ox 2012-07-13 12:49 am UTC (link)
	And for classics how about Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Chuck Jones also made an animated feature adaptation of The Jungle Book, entitled Mowgli's Brothers; it's a lot more faithful to the book than the better-known Disney version. (Reply to this)(Parent)

stardust_rain
2012-07-12 04:35 am UTC (link)

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time has been suggested, so I'm gonna second that and add Summer Wars. A Letter to Momo is amazing, but I can't find it anywhere, online or otherwise. You may have to wait a while for the DVD.

Other than that, Tokyo Godfathers is brilliant. Also, if you haven't seen other Miyazaki works, Porco Rosso and Castle in the Sky. Steamboy is pretty good, with a wonderful dub. (Patrick Stewart! Mancurian accents! Eeeeeeee.)

I also love Ghibli's other slice-of-life films like Whisper of the Heart and Only Yesterday, but I'm not sure how teenagers will find it.

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	kijikun 2012-07-12 07:21 am UTC (link)
	No recs for the animated Hobbit? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	sadisticferret 2012-07-12 05:29 pm UTC (link)
	I completely forgot about that one! Cheesy as it is, I adore that movie, especially the goblin songs. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kijikun 2012-07-12 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	It holds a special place in my heart and I like that they actually used the songs from the book. And I'll admit I like the how the ending plays out a bit better than the book. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	kijikun 2012-07-12 07:03 pm UTC (link)
	If they were older I'd suggest Rock n Rule but that's a bit adult for that age range. Secret of Nimh and American Tail seem to get overlooked so much these days but are some of Bluth's finest work. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	cmdr_zoom 2012-07-13 05:44 pm UTC (link)
	I can't believe I didn't think of that, especially with The Last Unicorn already on the list. I am ashamed. (my favorite song from that would be the Misty Mountains; on the one hand, I'm pleased it shows up in the new movie, but with a different melody it's just not the same. :( ) [reposted for HTML fail] (Reply to this)(Parent)

	rosehiptea 2012-07-16 03:02 am UTC (link)
	Oh wow, I saw that when I was a kid and loved it. Haven't seen it since (so it's been a really long time) but I still remember the lovely theme song. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	full_metal_ox 2012-07-13 12:38 am UTC (link)
	What--no one's yet mentioned Wallace and Gromit: Attack of the Were-Rabbit? (Reply to this)

	midnight_hawk 2012-07-13 10:12 am UTC (link)
	I'd suggest Treasure Planet, gorgeous marriage of traditional Disney art and CGI, that unfortunately tanked at the cinema :( (Reply to this)(Thread)

	brennalarose 2012-07-15 12:35 am UTC (link)
	Seconding! (Reply to this)(Parent)

athersgeo
2012-07-13 11:29 am UTC (link)

How to Train A Dragon is pretty good (and plus, how can you NOT like something with a tag line of "lock up your sheep"?), and if you hadn't already said you'd done Howl's Moving Castle, I'd have rec'd that (though it is a bit of a headtrip if you know the book!).

Ice Age and Shrek are also good - but I'm not sure if they're perhaps a little too obvious/wrong age group/already watched but not listed.

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	coffee_mug 2012-07-13 06:09 pm UTC (link)
	Not sure how people would rate Tokyo Godfathers - it has its dark themes but I think kids aged 13 are pretty equipped to deal with that stuff. I seem to recall me and my little brother watching it when he was about 13 or so. (It was Xmas, too, weirdly enough.) (Reply to this)

	stella_polaris 2012-07-15 05:45 am UTC (link)
	I have to add my vote for the Rats of NIMH (Reply to this)(Thread)

	salustra 2012-07-18 08:29 pm UTC (link)
	Castle in the Sky is one of my favorite Studio Ghibli. (Reply to this)(Parent)