Top 10 Documentaries on Animation

Sometimes the making of the story can tell a better story than the story itself
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[@saph100]

I'm a bit late but rest in peace Richard Williams, you were one of the greatest and I'm sure someday this masterpiece will be complete.

[@saph100]

That and I enjoy animation and hope to work in the industry someday, I'm on the autism spectrum and currently expressing how I feel

[@MikeRitchkinburger]

10. Floyd Norman - An Animated Life 1:42 9. Persistence of Vision (Richard Williams) 4:24 8. Chuck Jones - Extremes and Inbetweens - A life in Animation 7:56 Bonus Doc - Chuck Amuck: The Movie 10:02 7. Dali and Disney - A Date with Destiny 10:53 6. Frank and Ollie 13:32 5. The Kingdom of Dream and Madness / The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 16:21 4. The Hand Behind the Mouse 19:06 3. Life, Animated 21:51 2. The Pixar Story 24:49 Honorable Mention - I Know That Voice 27:56 1. Waking Sleeping Beauty 30:34

[@jc5313accbe]

🤓🤓ummm actually its a date with DESTINO

[@ToucanLDM]

I knew Waking Sleeping Beauty would be number #1. That documentary was amazing! Also the Ub Iwerks story is great as well! I feel bad that he's not as recognizable as Disney himself. Also Life, Animated has been released? TO AMAZON I GO!!

[@Nonamearisto]

It's the only thing I ever purchased on KZbin.

[@sampines5494]

I also have Asperger Syndrome and have always loved animation. I'm always looking for new animated shows or movies to watch. I'm watching Gravity Falls currently, and plan to watch Steven Universe next.

[@emcvideoproductions500]

24:40 I can't relate to that enough, that was just beautiful as simple as it was.

[@IamSnoogans]

'Life, Animated' is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Standby on my personal list of universal film recommendations.

[@DanzigFan-vq3zf]

Not to mention Myron (Grim) Natwick. Animated the Thief And The Cobbler animated that in his 90’s. He first worked on the animation studios back in 1917. His 2 week career he planned became the 8 Decade career he wanted

[@RobBob6197]

Almost cried with the speech at the end. Never I thought that a top about a documentaries could've been so interesting and fun. You really made my day man, and that's what I like about you. PD: I got the DVD of The Pixar Story with UP.

[@adamkaunfer4384]

I recently got The Iron Giant: Signature Edition Blu-ray, and I watched The Giant's Dream, the documentary that delayed the release by a year. I loved how it went through the production of the film with good humor, while not sugarcoating the experience, acknowledging the BTS troubles. I doubt you'll respond, but I am curious as to whether you've seen it or not.

[@VidtopiaEntertainment]

My Film as Literature class saw The Pixar Story and I thought it was amazing and is one of my favorite documentaries of all time.

[@epicmickey716]

This top 10 is amazing

[@slopesgameroom]

ahhhhhh what an awesome idea for a video!!! thanks so much

[@mariamfahmy9112]

Your dedication is amazing and that video was extremely helpful. I watched the one about Richard Williams and I was really amazed.

[@taylorschirmer2299]

I think this is the most beautiful video you've done so far :), the ending itself was extremely well done in capturing the trials and hardships all the animators for every animation company had to go through, of which in the end all their hard and tiring work paid off for them to become even more triumphant and monumentus than any of them could ever imagine and shedding light throughout the world to new inspiring animators :)

[@missspark4652]

Keep doing what you love, Mat. This was a great video

[@MegaSoulHero]

Interesting that this was uploaded on Mickey Mouse's birthday

[@bullmonty764]

MegaSoulhero And yet, he still looks like a 20-something at most

[@ahmadwhitmire4745]

+Michael Reed who are you talking about?

[@jmalmsten]

My favourite two? The three hour NHK special on Princess Mononoke (the earliest time Miyazaki senior claimed he would retire if I remember correctly) and the 1.5 hour making of Kill La Kill... Especially the latter is one that I find myself returning to for its wealth of information and demonstrations... :)

[@Sandlot1992]

Great newest top 10 list video Animat!

[@Shade2800]

Actually saw the Honorable Mention a few weeks ago. As someone who is studying voice acting on his own time, I really enjoyed it.

[@DizzyGamerOfficial]

As a person who has Autism, I learned from The Nightmare Before Christmas that being creepy and festive is both a blessing and a curse - mixing two holidays might be a dream, but it isn't a really good idea - I know that's a weird learning lesson, but, hey, that's one Disney movie I learned!

[@akaredrobranger]

YES WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY IS AN AWESOME DOCUMENTARY FILM

[@akaredrobranger]

I watched that almost a year ago

[@akaredrobranger]

30:55 that's a film worth watching

[@kennethmanning6958]

Ummm... I think there's one you forgot: Disney's "The Reluctant Dragon" of 1941. (Same year as "Dumbo.") In it, humorist Robert Benchley tries to sell a story idea to Disney Studios, and takes the grand tour of the property, visiting several departments: Story, Voice Acting, Layout, Animation, Music & Sound Effects, Camera, Editing, and final screening. (Only to find Disney had already made the story into their next short.) May be hard to find today, except thru Leonard Maltin.

[@BrerOswald]

Animat, the Oswald set is probably the easiest to find of the Disney Treasures. I've even found them at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco!

[@alicefarrier3560]

It's because oswald is kind of a obscure character in the list of disney creations. The cartoons are still good but not many people outside of animation fans are very aware of him.

[@EpicGeopolitics]

This was awesome. Thanks dude. Ima go check many of these docs out now.

[@SaraHouck461]

I surprisingly thought of this list when I noticed a few of the entries' availability on the Disney+ streaming service!

[@thoughtsonfilmwithfilmbron4203]

I actually remember watching Destino my junior year in high school in my film class. We were being taught about surrealism in film and were shown the short but not the documentary

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

Love the amount of selection you put on this list such as Persistence of Vision and brining up about Frank and Ollie, they were some of the best animators of that era. makes me wish their was a documentary on my favorite animator, Vladimir Tytla, who animated some of the most powerful characters ever, like Grumpy, Strombolli, the Giant from the Brave Little Tailor, Yen Sid from Fantasia as well as Chernabog, and Dumbo. man, that guy had raw emotion n in his characters.

[@tyrekconfusingquestion5455]

you gotta start leaving title list in the description/links to buy

[@tyrekconfusingquestion5455]

it's very hard to tell what's the name of the documentary you're talking about titles are barely mentioned and are not discussed in the description

[@joinmarch76]

I know this has been out for a while now, but I wanted to give out my thoughts about the message of Life, Animated. As someone who has autism myself, animation was one of those things that saved my life from misery. While my autism is higher-functioning compared to others, I too suffer from communication quirks, and this can sometimes making what I need/want clear a bit problematic. One of the things that helped me overcome this was voice acting, which Owen taking part in was a highlight for me. And points to him for both becoming pals with the voices of Jafar and Iago, as it shows a sign to celebrities we rarely get to see, them interacting with the fans. It happens, don't get me wrong, but it's not something often highlighted. And after seeing him voice act with Jafar's VA, and then getting a cameo by Gilbert Gottfried himself, I almost cried. I haven't seen the documentary in full, admittedly, but I plan on finding and buying it wherever I can find a copy. On a related note, rest in peace, Mr. Gottfried. Your voice was unbelievably iconic and unique, and it's unlikely someone like you, or Owen, will ever come again.

[@SaraHouck461]

I felt he could actually benefit from this experience by using the life lessons those Disney were intended to teach in order to function a lot better in the world around him.

[@ManCon91]

I'm mentioned in Life Animated! It's at the part where Owen is giving that speech in France, he says "My friend Connor loves Superheroes". That's because I'm friends with him!

[@alanoliva2020]

Wow. That was amazing. This really brightens the year we've been having since the beginning of 2016 to a new starting of 2017.

[@alanoliva2020]

Well not really. There are some films that people are excited about like the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, the Lego Batman movie, and more.

[@garyperkovac1002]

I remember years ago meeting with someone with the bond company who had taken control of Richard Wiliams' unique film. The bond company was not "greedy", as far as I could tell. They simply didn't know anything whatsoever about animation, which became an Achilles' heel once they were handed the reins. Regretfully, I missed the chance to say something to this "someone".... Then the bond company had to finish the picture. Richard and his team were out. The bond company ended up relying on others in the animation business that simply did not know much and/or could not commit to what Williams uniquely had in mind and at heart for "The Thief and The Cobbler." The result was unfortunately switching tracks at the tail end of a long journey. Much was cut out. And dialog was added to the originally mute Cobbler character. The result? It was indeed an awkward and sad finish. This heartbreak was what had Williams never wanting to talk about his decades long dream turned debacle.

[@powerpup97]

You know, it's funny, just minutes before you uploaded this, I was thinking of making a Top 10 Animation Documentaries! I absolutely love "Waking Sleeping Beauty" and "Frank & Ollie"! Those just blow my mind!

[@AJ627]

Dream On Silly Dreamer is another great documentary for WDAS. It came out before Waking Sleeping Beauty, but you can say follows up after the events starting out with the success of The Lion King. It's not an official Disney Documentary and they take a lot of jabs at the execs.

[@akaredrobranger]

LOL AniMat about Haiyo Miyazaki's Retirement

[@KidSnivy69]

He didn't know at the time

[@akaredrobranger]

Katie Lewis just like our great Walt Disney himself

[@magicspyglassakachloe3277]

I bet he'll die while at work

[@TrueBuddhaCat]

Yep, the only thing Miyazaki has failed at is retirement; I'm looking forward to his next movie but I hope he doesn't die while working on another movie like Satoshi Kon

[@alicefarrier3560]

Stephen king said the same thing and he still writes. So when a famous person says they're retiring take it with a grain of salt.

[@purplepotato9334]

RIP Isao Takahata

[@harrypotteryescaillouno45]

I am hooked and obsessed with animation history!

[@sebastianlozanofilms]

33:29 oh boy that epic Mickey music

[@grodriguez7225]

Loved that you mentioned, Owen!

[@Lars-ze2xf]

18:52 That was my reaction too, when I saw this... on the site. Yes! I went there. Also I kinda like that life Floyd went into. A freelance animator. :D

[@jakepulley8155]

Now I've got to go find waking Sleeping Beauty just to learn more about behind the scenes of Oliver. It's incredible how little behind the scenes features there are on that movie.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

Your going to love the bonus features then. For it has several hours of bonus features, which includes talk with George Scribner about said film.

[@user-ct8cj9xo6s]

Thank you for the recommendations ! Great job!

[@dinodragon1219]

I'll never forget Ub

[@chancep4050]

Wow! I literally watched Floyd Norman:An Animated Life last night :D

[@ahmadwhitmire4745]

Animat, you don't know how long I've waited for another Top 10 list

[@blake_ridarion]

Thank you so much

[@Swordfry]

Awesome video. Really wish there was a documentary on Don Bluth.

[@munromister777]

I really hope that Billy West was in the "I Know that Voice". He's probably my favorite VA.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

He is, basically anyone you can think of is in it. Just look at the IMDB page, its an ungodly long list, which is great.

[@thetinfoilhatter5268]

This is surprisingly really interesting and cool! I guess it's cause I watch more videos about movies and shows than I actually get around to watching, but still. These look like really fascinating documentaries!

[@prageruwu69]

yea im autistic and disney movies were my special interest as a kid, and they still kinda are

[@SaraHouck461]

I'm now starting to wonder if he was able to rely on them as if they were behavioral therapy sessions thanks to the valuable life sessions that they've often been expected to teach rather than the typical therapy sessions that those on the spectrum are often expected to go through like I did. Now that I mention it, it's no wonder morals were unfortunately a bit too subtle for me to learn from in Disney films despite growing up with them. I realized that when I noticed those details to defend the numerous laments against the tween-oriented direction the company seemed to have taken in the mid-to-late 2000s thanks to the surprisingly booming popularity of the High School Musical franchises. It was then when I realized why my mom decided to sing Hakuna Matata to me as a lullaby once, regardless of how annoying I perceived it.

[@yotsubafanfan]

I hope the Ub Iwerks biography makes it to Disney+. I just finished Waking Sleeping Beauty and it was incredible. And the Floyd Norman movie was incredible too.

[@HylianWolfMage55]

18:51-19:04. I will not lie I laughed at this part.

[@calindastrayhorn]

I think maybe if this were my list I would add Walt before Mickey. It is more like a movie but still tells about walts life before Mickey mouse

[@TheMetroPhotographer]

Great video! I've got a lot of documentaries to watch now.

[@christinecrawford]

Great video Mat!!

[@ironclanex6351]

I do really hope Matt does a full review of I Know That Voice and maybe list his ten favourite voice actors

[@LizzyLoves91]

I really enjoyed this video, but I was so distracted by the Fantasmic soundtrack playing in the background while you were talking about Frank and Ollie lol Totally not your fault, at all, I just REALLY love Fantasmic lol great video!

[@1991birthday]

I own I Know That Voice on DVD. Bought it from John DiMaggio at his booth when I went to Rose City Comicon 2014. I think it showed a bit of Emerald City Comicon 2012 in the documentary, that was my very first convention. I met Tara Strong, Jess Harnell, Maurice LaMarche, & of course Rob Paulsen there. Billy West & Don DiMaggio were there but other than their lines being too long, we were in a hurry to get in line for what is now known as Twisted Toons, I think. Back then, we didn't know the name. We just knew all of the voice actors were going to be presenting something in a room together & that was our main reason for going to Seattle. Thanks to poor directions from staff, we wound up in a odd spot in line. There was no good line management at all. People cut in front of us & got in but we did not due to fire regulations but the line went around the corner & curled in on itself. Little did we know this was where they got Bubbles doing Darth Vador's lines & became so big that people are always talking about it to cons I go to even to this day. I'm like oh hey, Twisted Toons is on the schedule, that's a total must see then people who are around me are like yeah, that's the one where we got Bubbles as Darth Vador that one time, right? Anyways, I totally went off into my memories there. Going back onto I Know That Voice, definitely watch it. I highly recommend it & I am so happy I bought the DVD. It was a great experience & John DiMaggio is such a great guy, Billy West is too. It was funny to hear he hadn't heard of Cards Against Humanity, I want to see the cast of Futurama play that so badly! I wonder if Billy could clone himself for that?

[@crystalfairy912]

I had Frank and Ollie on tape!!!! :D I miss this documentary. It was fascinating!

[@SilverSwordsman385]

All right, hold up. I just got to the honorable mention, and I am going to try and predict Number One, I think it'll be Waking Sleeping Beauty. I CALLED IT WOOHOO

[@oliveuk]

Thanks for this once again great video AniMat. I noticed you didnt' include the polemical 2002's "The Sweatbox" which documents the troubled creation of "Kuzco". It is 1h35 so it is fully qualified for your review and it could really take one of the top spots as it is just as insightful or even more than the great "Walking sleeping beauty".

[@cliff1634]

I'm lucky to have the Oswald DVD :)

[@ArabKatib]

I was afraid before playing the vidro that there will be a mention of Mayazaki.. And.. it happened.. I never cared about Studio Ghibli or Hayao Miyazaki.. Very nice video. Liked. Very helpful and informative, thank you.

[@CAPEY-zl7ut]

Some day I hope I'll work for disney

[@amirgarcia547]

What’s better than watching animated films? Watching about how people made said animated films!

[@olivernottingham]

27:10 the guy pushing a wheelchair turns around and stares at him after he yells Pixar

[@vinnyreed723]

The film that inspired me was yellow submarine

[@Tyopaikat]

This is amazing story that you made Mat! The UPA creators could also have a frame or two inbetween ;)

[@macaylacayton2915]

I watched life, animated myself and it was really interesting to watch, especially for someone like me. ok let me clarify, I am a female on the autism spectrum myself(much like Owen expect Owen is male) and I do have some mild communication issues as I use more complex field-specific technical terms when talking about things(like roller coasters I will more often than not use roller coaster-specific technical terms/science-specifc technical terms). because of the terms I use most are hard for most people to understand I often feel I have to ask "you understand what I mean right?" and if they don't I will try and simplify what I am saying so they can understand. another common way I talk is through video games(specifically RPGs like Pokemon or Persona/SMT), so I usually have a few friends that actually stick. one group I have is a group of friends from a robotics team I was during high school(in college right now for a biotechnology degree) and we still talk some. otherwise I usually just talk with my family because they understand me even when I am trying to say a specific word(like pneumonia) but can't quite say it they will immediately know what I am trying to say. I also have a slight issue with figurative language as I am an EXTREMELY literal person, and I have trouble with moral grey areas as I see things as black and white with a bit of grey in between. I often find myself going down random research rabbit holes because of something that happened IRL or something I heard in a youtube video because I am an insanely curious person, which sometimes got me in trouble when I was young. I got in trouble for my curious nature because I destroyed a KEYBOARD when I was(well not destroyed but simply unscrewed it and looked inside and then put it back to together poorly and it didn't work afterwards). if you can't tell I'm extremely hands-on when I learn, I am also a bit weird as I find spiders and snakes cute.

[@moottoriturpa7257]

You could imitate Daffy Duck easily 8D I'm a dub / voice over dude for fun, but really wants to do it as a job. But you have that Daffy ring in your voice :D I just heard that while watching this video. And I've seen almost all those documentaries. And man is Frank and Ollie documentary a treat 8D I'm a huge fan of 2D animation. And this list will be a savior for all those who don't know how to find these. The search words might be wrong or something.

[@MagdalenaRay61]

Life animated is very important to me as someone with autism as well

[@berrypie11]

This was a really nicely done video, Matt! I'll definitely try to look into some of these, since they seem very interesting. Do you plan on making a top 10 video for making ofs for animated movies? Y'know, like the making of The Lion King or the making of Prince of Egypt, or would they all just fall under documentary territory with this video? Either way, I'll be looking forward to more videos! :D

[@GTdba]

I gotta say, The Animation in Thief and the Cobbler is MASTERFUL. Really, the fluidity and detail of each frame is polished like a painting. I saw the Recobbled Cut and let me say, GO WATCH IT and avoid the Miramax release, as it is an insult to the original masterpiece.

[@badbooking3221]

24:56 I'm such a fan of Ken Titus from the old sitcom Titus, I was expecting Stacy Keach to end the opening narration with, "you wussy!"

[@zamirprod.9033]

I OWN "THE ILLUSIONS OF LIFE"... :D Been reading that since I was a kid!!! WOW!!! LOVE IT!!!

[@zippoboyshaneshank8954]

There's one animation doc that's not on this list, but it's one of the best, even though it's not super well know. It's called MONSTER ROAD, about Indy stop motion animator BRUCE BICKFORD . It's fascinating!!!!

[@nicoleb3193]

11. Norman Mclearean: Creative Process

[@ShatteredGlass916]

lol, Frank and Ollie ?? the one who invented 12 Principle of Animation ?

[@justsignmeup911]

Also look up The Sweatbox, a documentary on the making of Emperor's New Groove. Impossible to get legally but it's out there.

[@benjaminwambeke9458]

I couldn't figure out where I knew the title music from until the end credits! I love Saving Mr. Banks. Also, is it bad I instantly recognized the Epic mickey score

[@AndyG13GLA]

Thanks. It was driving me nuts not quite placing it. Was it “Toy Story”, was it “Finding Nemo” (also Thomas Newman), no it was “Saving Mr Banks.

[@mandavirmais]

hello Mat, loved your video. Some of the docs I know others I discovered here. Many thanks. I think you should do another and research about European animation. The medium was born here with Émile Reynaud (Optic Theatre, before Cinema), Émile Cohl, and others. The eastern Europe animation is strong. The best animation in the world is considered to be "Tale of Tales", by Yuri Norstein (I recommend you see the documentary "Magia Russica"). For me the best animated feature of all time is "The Triplets of Bellevile", by Sylvain Chomet (he has a small mention in a documentary called "The Secret of Drawing"). There are a lot of animated French classics... in the sci-fi genre you have "Gandahar" and "Fantastic Planet", by René Laloux. You have "The king and the mockingbird", by Paul Grimault. There is a crazy belgium animator called Picha, he has done nice films ("Tarzoon, Shame of the Jungle" and "BC Rock"). There is also Jan Svankmajer (Check Republic)... In the USA you forgot Ralph Bakshi, I believe he has a documentary... There is also good Canadian Animation documentaries... In Australia, there is a feature film I love called "Grendel Grendel Grendel"... don't know if there is a documentary about this production, but there should be one.. maybe you could do it :) hope you consider this... Please do a top 20 (or another top 10) and include some more docs about this medium.

[@clucksandfriends478]

this is the only video with no dislikes!

[@brokejaw]

This should be titled "Top 10 documentaries on AnimaTORS"

[@biggmissy]

Good video u should do one on voice overs I love the doc I know that voice

[@akaredrobranger]

34:16 That is so true

[@ChriIvaBrunner]

I always loved documentaries, some of my personal favorites are "Drawn for Glory: Animation's Triumph at the Oscars" and how Roger Rabbit was made.

[@liltylenoll6955]

YAY, I have the Oswald treasures DVD... Now I have to go find it....

[@s.p.d.magentaranger1822]

I have the Walt Disney Treasures Oswald DVD. Trust me folks, watch that documentary, it's amazing.

[@paolofabbella7954]

Io sono grande fan delle animazioni di Richard Williams

[@danielladahoui888]

Fantastic video! Thank you for making it! I REALLY wanna watch Waking Sleeping Beauty! I have both DVDs of Kingdom of Dreams and Madness and the Princess Kaguya documentary, although the latter wasn't just available with the film itself. I bought it in Forbidden Planet in London and they had the DVD sold separately from the film DVD, so I got it! I suppose it's different in other countries.

[@JoshuaOrro-MustangPrinceOR-YTB]

Interesting

[@yayoeliasgiron4892]

Utherly inspiring, man...

[@thecinematicbandicoot7280]

I also recommend Dream On Silly Dreamer which shows the downfall of hand drawn animation at Disney with animators like Andreas Deja.

[@therealfinnaspring8585]

I STILL want a perfectly completed version of The Thief and the Cobbler

[@LNER4771]

You forgot the Sweatbox!

[@disneyfan8719]

That one was just ok.

[@donborjuto7321]

Amazing list! It's very rare to find tops or lists about these types of documentaries , since animation is pretty discriminated in the cinematic public opinion. Great job👌 PS :one question ,where can I find Waking Sleeping Beauty? I've tried to look it up on the Internet but either is on downloading movies websites (wich I never trust) or in very poor conditions on KZbin (not to mention ,in the latter I've only found clips). Thanks!

[@positiveproductions6699]

Would you consider doing a part two to this please and thanks

[@warriorstar2517]

Sees first paragraph of description: Say THAT five times fast!

[@MissJazzDaFunk]

Hahaha, I have that beautiful Fantasia Diamond Edition Blu Ray. Disney and Dali is a great documentary.

[@tackcobbler1490]

Here's a happy ending to William's The Thief and the Cobbler production: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZjYZqeBr6qWhdU "Completion of a Vision"