I recently stumbled upon a movie review YouTube channel that predominantly discussed animated movies, and the reviewer happened to mention something about a mental list he had of top scenes in animated movies, and another list for the best scenes in all of film.
And, while I feel like tackling the top scenes in all of film is a lot, considering how few “classic” movies I’ve seen, I do think it’d be fun to do a Top 10 list for scenes in animated films.
OK. So, as you might expect, I’ve got lots of caveats before we start.
Definitions
Right off the bat, I want you to know that these entries will be from Western films ONLY. Why not include animated films from Japan and other countries? Part of it is a lack of knowledge and accessibility. While I’ve definitely seen more foreign animated films (mostly from Japan) in recent years, I’ve probably only seen a fraction of what that market has to offer. I’m much more familiar with Western animation films, obviously, having grown up in the United States.
The other thing is that so many of our best American animated films are musicals, and Japan — in my experience — doesn’t really do those. I think it’d hard to pit “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid against “The Ride of the Valkyries” scene from Ponyo. Despite being based on the same source material, they’re so incredibly different in how I view them. The former, I look at more with nostalgia and entertainment and something I can sing along to; and the latter, I look at more with artistic appreciation and general awe.
Perhaps I’ll do a Top 5 or Top 10 Scenes from Japanese Animation post one day, but today’s not that day.
With regards to how I define “scene,” I’m categorizing a scene as a 1- to 5-minute sequence where characters remain in the same physical space the entire time AND/OR a single piece of music plays throughout regardless of where characters are physically or in relation to each other. (And, being a musical fan, you’ll notice I tend to lean more on the latter.)
Also, theatrically released movies only. No direct-to-video movies or anything.
Judging Criteria
Putting this list together was really difficult. But, I came to my conclusions not necessarily by thinking of good animated movies and then thinking of which scene in those movies were the best. Instead, I tried to think of scenes in and of themselves. Even if I don’t own the movie, which scene do I look up on YouTube all the time? Which scene, even if I’ve seen it a million times, still gives me chills?
Along with chills, I was generally looking for scenes that move me emotionally in some way. Scenes that fill me with happiness, sadness, excitement, awe, fright, or multiple feelings.
Ultimately, I was looking for a combination of technical achievement — the animation, “camera work,” timing, voice work, music, etc. — and emotional potency. And, again, it could be any emotion.
You’ll notice that in some entries, I weigh the technical aspects more than the emotional ones, and vice versa for others.
Also, to ensure that this list wasn’t just scenes from Disney movies, I capped Disney at five entries only. And, honestly, it wasn’t that hard to think of five non-Disney entries. (I maybe would’ve had six and four, otherwise.) While Disney’s great, other studios also do excellent work.
Ordering the List
To be honest, it would be really, really hard to rank these by any metric. How much do I like one scene over the other? Which movie do I like more? Which one did I watch first? etc.
Even just arranging my Top 5 would ultimately be splitting hairs, because — and I’ll just get this out of the way now — THERE ARE NO BAD MOVIES ON THIS LIST. Most of them are among the best movies in Western animation, period. It’d be nearly impossible for me to rank one scene over another based on some arbitrary metric like “which one had more colors” or “which one would’ve been harder to animate at the time”.
Thus, like I did with my Top 8 Miniseries list, I’m just ordering the entries chronologically.
Boring, I know, but it’s a hell of a lot easier. I already had to do plenty of soul-searching to figure out this list. Don’t make me do any more to put them in some kind of order based on “quality,” because they’re all amazing!
So, without further ado, here we go:
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Cody’s Flight from The Rescuers Down Under
The Rescuers Down Under is, IMO, a much better movie than its predecessor. Part of that is sequences like the opening, which I believe served as a kind of test-run for The Lion King, and this flight with Marahute scene.
In this sequence, Cody unties the great eagle Marahute from a trap she’d be caught in, but falls off a giant cliff in the process. Marahute saves him, and she takes him on this dazzling flight. The two soar up in the clouds and ski across the waters before diving off a waterfall.
The music combined with the animation makes this scene absolutely breath-taking, and it’s without a doubt, the best part of the movie. It really makes you feel like you’ve got wings to soar like an eagle!
The Transformation Sequence from Beauty & the Beast
No doubt, you’re wondering why “Be Our Guest” or “Beauty and the Beast” (AKA, the ballroom sequence) isn’t on here instead. Well, this is an entry where I weigh the emotional aspect of the scene more heavily.
What stands out to me in this scene is the pacing of the transformation and how the music fits it so well. The animation, of course, is beautiful, too. I love how the little hailstone things start falling and the music immediately changes to something brighter — like “Guys, a thing is happening!!” Then, it shifts into a version of “Something There” (AKA the love theme between Belle and the Beast) showing that their love for each other has broken the spell and allowed him to transform back. The sound effects are also great as the Beast rises up and, limb by limb, starts transforming back into a man. Just as it was in real life, he had to change slowly. It wasn’t something immediate. He slowly went from being a selfish beast to being a selfless “man.”
It builds so well until that final swell with the brief shot of the beast’s face transforming into a man’s. Then, we get a callback to the “enchantment” music that played at the very beginning of the movie (when we hear about the beast’s backstory). This signals that the enchantment has now been broken, and sort of bookends the story of “man into beast; beast into man.”
And as he stands, the music builds up that reveal of his full face so well… Gah, I can’t believe they fucked up the timing of that reveal in the 2017 remake. They had the perfect blueprint right there, and they still couldn’t do it right. THE CRESCENDO SHOULD BE WHEN WE SEE HIS FACE FOR THE FIRST TIME! Bill Condon, I love you, but you deserve all the blame for fucking up that iconic moment. Anyway.
The artistry of this scene gets lost in the shuffle with “Be Our Guest” and that iconic shot in the ballroom scene — both of which are undoubtedly amazing as well — but don’t let this gem go unnoticed.
“Friend Like Me” from Aladdin
Admittedly part of the reason why I didn’t put “Be Our Guest” on the list, is that I think “Friend Like Me” does the same thing, but better. It’s the sidekick’s song that kind of comes part-way through the second act, and has stellar animation. It’s kind of the big number of the film, at least from an animation/budget standpoint, as it involves the most moving pieces (quite literally, in B&TB’s case).
The big difference, though, is I feel like people forget that there are some slower and less challenging sequences of animation in “Be Our Guest.” Meanwhile, in “Friend Like Me,” the animation’s moving a mile a minute. I give major props to the animation team that put this together, because holy hell, the Genie never stops moving! The focus of the scene changes about every three seconds as the Genie mentions different things in the lyrics.
Also, Robin Williams was unbelievable as the Genie, and this song was a high-energy and memorable way to introduce us to him. It’s funny, dynamic, well-performed and — most of all — remarkably animated. I hope the animators’ hands didn’t hurt too much after finishing this landmark sequence.
“Circle of Life” Opening from The Lion King
Possibly the best opening scene in all of film history, period — not just animation. It perfectly sets the world, the tone, the characters (minus Scar, I guess), and sets our expectations for the beautifully animated journey we’re about to go on.
“The Circle of Life” perfectly demonstrates the advantages of predominantly hand-drawn animation versus live-action and/or CGI: you can get all the colors exactly right, all the expressions, the light and shadows, and length of shot. And, simultaneously, because it’s animation, people tend to be more forgiving about “realism” when it comes to scenarios or perspective (ie, animals talking, heights, depths, etc.).
And if you think I’m dragging the 2019 remake when I say that, I am. This movie is a masterpiece and never should’ve been remade, in the same way Hollywood should never remake Casablanca or The Princess Bride. If you can’t tell that I’m a 90s kid, I hope this entry makes that abundantly clear.
Side note: while I’m only talking about the opening here, I really do appreciate how the movie ends exactly how it started, clearly demonstrating how nature’s cycles will continue, and this is only one story among many in those cycles.
“Once Upon a December” from Anastasia
Yes, I know that this movie is historically inaccurate to the nth degree, but I don’t care. Unlike most people, I know the evolution of the Anastasia story both in the real-world and on film. So, I understand how we got a movie where Anastasia (who was a real person who died in the revolution) receives the knockoff Disney Princess treatment.
If you haven’t seen the movie, the character Anastasia — rather than dying in the revolution as the real princess did — escapes but loses her memories thanks to a blow to the head. Years later, she finally returns to her family’s palace in this scene.
This musical sequences is so well-constructed partly because the dynamic animation builds as the music does until ghosts/memories/visions/whatever burst out of their portraits, and also partly because the song is a lullaby that Anastasia shared with her grandma earlier in the film.
Unlike the other musical numbers on this list, this one is very somber and bittersweet. It’s not high-energy or a real toe-tapper. In fact, even including the non-musical entries too, it’s probably the second-saddest moment on this list. It truly is a very emotional scene in the movie as Anastasia tries to remember why this place seems so familiar to her; and it culminates when she envisions a future she could’ve had and interacting with the visions of her family members in a very personal and sweet way.
This movie makes me tear up almost every time I watch it, and this song is one of the moments that tends to get me.
The Parting of the Red Sea from The Prince of Egypt
Oh boy, is this entire movie underrated, especially this scene! I feel like between the Disney Renaissance movies and the computer-animated Pixar and Dreamworks movies, people tend to forget about The Prince of Egypt.
Admittedly, it’s not the most accurate movie when compared to the original text from Exodus, as it simplifies the initial relationship between Moses and Ramses and downplays Aaron’s role significantly. The Ten Commandments is much more accurate, although it is far longer and less kid-friendly.
Still, as a movie in its own right, every aspect of The Prince of Egypt is absolutely gorgeous.
This scene, especially, is stunning in that it perfectly conveys the wonder and majesty of God fighting on the side of the Hebrews, from the column of fire guarding their backs to the actual parting of the sea. Both the shot shown above and the shadow of the whale that they see as they walk through the sea are some of my favorite shots in Dreamworks films.
Seriously, don’t sleep on The Prince of Egypt. This movie is a masterpiece, and it deserves far more recognition than it gets from the culture at large. You guys know I’m a Disney Renaissance fan, but I think this is better than half the Renaissance films, no question.
“I Need a Hero” from Shrek 2
I honestly can’t really define why this scene works so well, beyond the usual: the music, how well it syncs with the action on-screen, how we cut back and forth between Fiona with Prince Charming and Shrek trying to reach her, and how it’s the perfect culmination to Shrek’s arc.
In the first movie, he was a hero, albeit a reluctant one. He was ultimately ambivalent about rescuing Fiona from the dragon. He was only going on his quest to get his swamp back. Even at the end, when he interrupts her wedding to Farquaad, he’s still a bit nervous about his role in ‘rescuing her’ because he doesn’t know how she’ll respond or even if she wants to be ‘rescued’ this time.
But here, he embraces that roles as a ‘knight in shining armor’ out of love and duty to his wife. Unlike when he saves her from the dragon in the first movie, Shrek wants to save Fiona more than anything. He’s no longer unsure about his role in her life or her role in his. He’s accepted that he’s her husband, even though people don’t like them being together and even though he’s not super comfortable with suddenly being a prince. He’d rather have her in his life, even with all these changes, than go back to being a lonely ogre in a swamp.
Also, reading through the YouTube comments on any video is asking for trouble, except in this case. Seriously, go through and read the comments on the video link. I love the one that points out the subtle humor that would fly over most people’s heads, like the Fairy Godmother asking the pianist to play the song in C minor, and he starts playing it in G.
Po Finds Inner Peace from Kung Fu Panda 2
I was tempted to put Oogway’s departure from the first Kung Fu Panda on here instead, but I think this scene offers more technically and emotionally. I love the music and the imagery in the Oogway scene, but it’s almost too short and him actually leaving is maybe a tiny bit abrupt. Also, by this point in the second movie, we’re more invested in Po and his story. Oogway, as awesome as he was, wasn’t with the audience for very long in the first movie before he departs. I think the bulk of the emotion in that scene comes from Shifu’s distress and loss. Anyway, that’s not what we’re talking about, but I did want to give it a shout-out as a sort of honorable mention.
Now, this scene in Kung Fu Panda 2 is the emotional culmination of Po’s journey in the movie. Here, he confronts the nightmarish experiences he and his family faced when he was young, and has to comes to term with what that means to him and who he is. He doesn’t let the horrors define him, nor does he forget them. He simply accepts them as a part of him and his life, and uses it as fuel to move forward in the fight against Shen.
On a technical level, I love the pacing and ‘camera’ angles in this scene and how it seamlessly switches between the two animation styles. The music fits so well as we get callbacks of “Oogway Ascends” — a more somber one when Po remembers his mother’s sacrifice and a triumphant rendition when he realizes who he’s chosen to be. Everything comes together so well, and unlike in the first movie, this moment is given plenty of weight and time to land the way it should.
Moana Earns the Heart of Te Fiti from Moana
I was really torn as to whether I should put this sequence or the one later in the movie when Moana restores the heart. Both of them are equally beautiful, but I decided on this one, because it establishes exactly who Moana is and what her journey will be.
This whole scene is Moana’s journey in a nutshell: Moana assists the baby turtle as it tries to reach the ocean. She doesn’t pick it up, carry it over and let it go. Instead, she uses the tree branch to shoo away the birds as the turtle reaches the water on its own strength. She flips it over when it lands on its back, but no more. Likewise, when the time comes for Moana to go on her journey, the ocean acts just as she did for the baby turtle. It allows her to make the journey on her own strength, but is also helps her and picks up her when she needs it.
Also, even as a child, Moana had a strong sense of compassion and selflessness, as she chooses to help the baby turtle rather than getting her shell. And, again, that’s reinforced later in the movie. Moana’s motivated to do the right thing, and not only to pursue an adventure. And, ultimately, it’s her compassion that helps her understand who Te Ka is and how to restore the heart. That’s why I picked this scene over the other one, but both are equally amazing on a story/character level and a technical one.
Plus, as you’d expect, the animation and music in the scene is gorgeous.
Miles’ Leap of Faith from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse
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This scene literally makes my jaw drop EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I see it.
Holy sh*t.
The final fight scene inside the collider is also unbelievable, but I still like this scene slightly better. Everything comes together perfectly — music, the dramatic build-up, the character moment, the pacing of shots, and the cinematography (that’s a thing in animation, right?).
A lot of the other sequences on this list mean more to me personally just because I grew up with them, but I think of these 10 scenes, this might be the best one on a technical level. It fits so well within the story and for the character of Miles Morales… I just, can’t get over it.
How did Lady Gaga put it, again?
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.