By: Ava Rogha
Although I love Disney animated movies, I have some non-Disney favorites that I would like to recommend! Our top five favorites are a must-watch, so if you haven’t seen any of them before, then what are you waiting for?
1. Chicken Run (2000)
"The chances of us getting out of here are a million to one."
Chicken Run is a stop-motion animation by Aardman Animations and Dreamworks. This movie portrays a group of helpless chickens who are trapped in a farm and held hostage by cruel human beings.
The people who work in the farm drug the chickens using hormones so they will grow faster and lay eggs for them to sell.
The movie shows what it’s like being a chicken in a farm where your death is scheduled. It victimizes the chickens and shows the horror from their points of view, which is interesting to see in an animated movie.
The humans are demonized and portrayed as the “bad guys”. And surprisingly, we tend to sympathize with the chickens more than the humans, even though we are fully aware of how farmers work to provide food to their consumers.
You will definitely shed a tear or two, but the best part about this movie is the fact that the chickens decide to escape the farmers and live independently.
You will meet Ginger, the main character of the movie who alongside her friends, set up a plan to escape the farm. So, will they succeed or will they get caught?
This animated movie is extremely action-filled and will have your full attention once you start watching it!
2. Charlotte’s Web (1973)
"Trust me, Wilbur. People are very gullible. They'll believe anything they see in print."
Charlotte’s Web is one of my favorite cartoons to exist! This emotional movie is based on the novel with the same title from the 1950s, written by E.B. White.
It all starts with Fern – a farmer’s daughter, who saves a piglet from getting slaughtered by her father. Just because he’s smaller and weaker than the rest of the baby piglets! Fern begs her father to keep the baby, and although he’s hesitant at first, he eventually allows her daughter to raise the piglet.
Wilbur, as Fern calls him, gets quickly attached to his new “mom” and they spend a lot of time together. However, as the pig grows older, they decide to sell him to her uncle and his farm, who owns plenty of other animals too!
Although Wilbur has a loving relationship with Fern, he makes another friend who becomes incredibly important to him throughout the movie. The spider Charlotte, who Wilbur meets at the farm, builds a strong bond with the pig.
And after spending some time at the farm, Wilbur learns that his life is in danger, once again.
Using her web, Charlotte creates false adverts to give Wilbur some clout at the farm.
Thankfully, Charlotte’s genius plan ends up saving Wilbur’s life. However, there is still an extremely sad ending to this movie that will make you cry!
This movie explores several themes including love, friendship and facing reality. And I would recommend it to people of all ages. It’s definitely a must-watch!
3. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
"I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry. So I have come down to deliver them out of slavery and bring them to a good land; a land flowing with milk and honey. And so onto Pharaoh I shall send you."
When the Pharaoh of Egypt commands all his workers to drown all Hebrew babies, a mother of three has to send off her newborn son across the river hoping for the best. Luckily, the baby is found by the royal family who name him Moses, and raise him alongside their first born, Rameses.
Completely clueless of his past, Moses grows up to be selfish and arrogant, and treats the people of Egypt with disrespect, especially women!
But when he runs into his birth-siblings Miriam and Aaron, they tell him where he’s really from. This angers him at first, but it soon changes how he views his current family completely. He realizes all the horrific orders his father, the Pharaoh, has given to his workers all those years.
Moses decides to leave his obnoxious identity and to run away from his home, which is when he gets a calling from a higher power. The higher power tells him that he has to watch over the people of Egypt. From then onwards, Moses leads his people towards success and freedom from the new Pharaoh, his brother Rameses.
Although this movie is fictional, it is based on Egypt’s past and it highly educates people on this country and its history. The plot is super interesting and I’ve watched this movie enough to know all the lines by heart. And I am sure you will too once you give The Prince of Egypt a watch!
4. Shrek (2001)
"You know Donkey, sometimes things are more than they appear."
I’m sure you've heard of this masterpiece by DreamWorks before, as it is loved just as much as Disney movies!
It follows the life of an Ogre who lives in the woods and scares away all the creatures who lay eyes on him. He is used to living alone and avoiding contact with others. However, that changes when a bunch of mythical creatures and a talking Donkey step on his property.
Lord Farquaad, who is dreaming of becoming King, makes a deal with Shrek to give him his swamp back once he rescues Princess Fiona, who is held captive and protected by a dragon in a castle not too far away. Accepting the deal, Shrek and the talking Donkey - who becomes his only friend moving forward, rescue Princess Fiona.
Although Shrek left for this quest with the the intentions of getting his swamp back, he starts catching feelings for Princess Fiona on the way back to Lord Farquaad. But how could a Princess ever love an ogre? Unless she’s hiding a secret that might change everything…
Shrek is funny and very dramatic! I remember how excited I was to see Shrek and Fiona build a relationship despite their differences. It also teaches us not to judge people based on their looks because it’s their story that really matters!
5. Thumbelina (1994)
"Oh, no, Thumbelina. No. Don't ever wish to be anything but what you are."
When a woman is unable of having a child of her own, she gets blessed with one who is the size of a thumb, growing from a tulip. She calls her Thumbelina and creates a tiny room for her to live in inside her house.
As Thumbelina is living happily with her mother, she meets her fairy prince Cornelius, who climbs through her window and wants to marry her. However, her fairy tale gets ruined when a toad decides to kidnap the beauty so she can meet and marry her son. Luckily, she manages to escape the crazy toads, but it doesn’t take long for other tiny creatures to hunt her down and hold her hostage!
When the fairy prince comes back to revisit his beauty and notices she’s gone, he instantly knows something’s wrong! That is when he takes matters into his own hands and goes to her rescue.
This animated movie is based on a fairy tale written by Danish author, H.C. Anderson. It was published as “Tommelise” in 1835. However, the version I have watched and loved is the one released by Warner Bros, which is currently available on Amazon Prime!
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