15. The Underdog

 

"After his owner abandons him, a stray dog named Moongchi sets off on an adventure with his fellow strays."

Explain Yourself:

Visually this movie is crazy good. But I can see why it's not talked about enough by fans of dog media, all of the most impactful moments are slapped aside by goofy jokes, yet it's some of the silliest moments that found me standing up and going crazy, especially at the end. If you like xenofiction you 100% need to watch it just for the ending.

14. The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue

   

"The rats and mice, made intellectually superior in the original Secret of N.I.M.H., return to Thorn Valley to groom their destined leader - young Timmy Brisby."

Explain Yourself:

This movie is a disgrace to the fantastic first NIMH movie. BUT I'm deranged. I watched this one first and loved it every time it was on TV. It's probably why I'm obsessed with lab animals as a plot device. It's totally not for everyone, just go watch the first NIMH.

13. Monsters University

   

"A look at the relationship between Mike and Sulley during their days at Monsters University — when they weren’t necessarily the best of friends."

Explain Yourself:

This is a huge comfort movie for me. I also use it to go into hyper-focus mode by putting it on my second screen, I think I've watched this almost 30 times now? I told you I'm deranged. The characters are super fun and I love the world building despite the continuity errors. That and the readings of this movie as an allegory for disability and finding your own path to your goals? I love it.

12. Ratatouille

   

"A rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession."

Explain Yourself:

Oh baby, this movie is insane to me. The scurry thru the imperfections of Paris to emmerge at the top... The way the food is rendered,,,,, I watched this a lot as a kid, it's why I love rats so much now. The soundtrack?? The emethetic look at rats?? It's a masterpiece, for sure.

11. Fantastic Mr.Fox

   

"The Fantastic Mr. Fox, bored with his current life, plans a heist against the three local farmers. The farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with the sly fox, seek revenge against him and his family."

Explain Yourself:

This movie is straight up magic. Wes Anderson is amazing (It is known) and his ability to make characters endearing is crazy. Everything about this is charming, the countryside, the character designs, the comedy and by god. It's the little things too? The details. I suppose it's Roald Dahl's fault but I can't rank this higher 'cus it doesn't tick the boxes of what I'm looking for in Xenofiction. If I want animals doing human things I'd rather there's no humans in the setting.

10. Animalympics

   

"Animalympics is all about the Animal Olympics Contest where all the animals around the world gather to take part in everything from skiing in North America to the very long marathon race in humid conditions."

Explain Yourself:

Animalympics is so so fun. If you're a furry I really do suggest you check this out. Especially as a furry with an uncommon choice in 'sona. The animals shown are just as diverse as the countries featured, but as a product of the 80's you'd be correct in assuming that some depictions are, let's say, outdated. But, keeping that in mind, this is still a super fun movie with tons of charm and an interesting world. From an animation perspective this movie is impressive, between the dream sequences and each character having their own unique movement where personality shows through their bodies, it's crazy to me that this one has mostly been forgotten by animation fans.

9. The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride

   

"The circle of life continues for Simba, now fully grown and in his rightful place as the king of Pride Rock. Simba and Nala have given birth to a daughter, Kiara who’s as rebellious as her father was. But Kiara drives her parents to distraction when she catches the eye of Kovu, the son of the evil lioness, Zira. Will Kovu steal Kiara’s heart?"

Explain Yourself:

So I love musicals, I also LOVE movie musicals. Add talking animals into that and you'd think TLK1 would be here. But in my humble opinion (save Upendi) this movie has a better soundtrack. 'He lives in you' is haunting, 'my lullaby' is crazy fun, 'one of us' actually utilises characters other than lions (crazy!) From an animation standpoint this movie really stands miles above the wave of other straight to VHS releases of the time, while it does have it's flaws, (like Timon and Pumba still being around,) I adore the new characters and the final message. Also Nuka is 10/10, all my fave tropes and aestetic choices with the perfect arc.

8. Isle of Dogs

   

"In the future, an outbreak of canine flu leads the mayor of a Japanese city to banish all dogs to an island that’s a garbage dump. The outcasts must soon embark on an epic journey when a 12-year-old boy arrives on the island to find his beloved pet."

Explain Yourself:

Another fantasic Wes Anderson film!! The comedy is on point, the shots of people and machinery doing their thing is always entertaining, most of all, the love between people and dogs... I'm very easy to please, put me in front of a movie with talking canines and a message about inter-species bonds and I'll be happy.

7. All Dogs Go to Heaven

   

"When a casino owning dog named Charlie is murdered by his rival Carface, he finds himself in Heaven basically by default since all dogs go to heaven. However, since he wants to get back at his killer, he cons his way back to the living with the warning that doing that damns him to Hell. Once back, he teams with his old partner, Itchy to prep his retaliation."

Explain Yourself:

This is another childhood classic for me. It's a little uncanny, a little janky, it has some incredibly unnecisary characters, but if you can peer past that at the character design, the unique story, the fun music and crazy happenings you usually would never catch in an animated film targeted towards children!! Damn. Also, Charlie? He's such a great character,love his arc, no spoilers.

6. Escape from the Planet of the Apes

   

"The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a spacecraft. Intrigued by their intelligence, humans use them for research - until the apes attempt to escape."

Explain Yourself:

This is one of those movies that I watch a few times a year, I already love the Apes franchise, but this one holds a special piece of my heart. Baby Milo has washington terrified!!! Everything in this movie is fantastic even if you've not seen the two movies before it. Zira as a MC is an inspired decision and Kim Hunter did such a fantastic job alongside Roddy McDowall. I adore the fish out of water trope in scifi, this movie essencially equating to the best version, an alien discovering human society. This movie is ridiculous and that's what makes it so easy to love.

5. Stormy Night

   

"A goat named Mei and a wolf named Gabu pledge to be secret friends after meeting on a stormy night, despite the fact that they are supposed to be natural enemies. The two must overcome hardships as they journey far in hopes to find an “Emerald Forest”, free from persecution of their kind."

Explain Yourself:

This is a movie I first watched in multiple parts on Youtube. I downloaded the parts, used some software to burn it to a DVD with a terrible watermark, and watched it non-stop. The animation is super charming, alongside the plot, and the characters. Overal,, charming, charming, heartbreaking. I don't think at the time I fully understood why I loved the movie so much. I think I do now, it's hard to put everything into words, but the more obvious and less deep part of it? I love these gay animals. Watch the Sub, not the Dub.

4. Ringing Bell

   

"Chirin is an innocent though adventurous young lamb whose carefree life on the farm comes to an abrupt end when a wolf murders his mother. Confused and angry, Chirin pursues the wolf into the mountains, seeking revenge. The laws of nature are brutal, however, and hatred alone won’t be enough to avenge the loss of his mother. Only the strong survive in the wild, and obtaining that strength may change Chirin forever."

Explain Yourself:

Once again, on youtube in multiple parts I watched Ringing Bell. This is one where I kinda forced myself to sit and observe thinking I wouldn't enjoy it but at #4 in my top xenofiction movies you can see I proved myself wrong. Created by Sanrio Ringing Bell is always called 'surprisingly dark' for good reason. But when you look at when this movie came out and the other anime at the time any surprise will fade. But I digress. Ringing bell has some wonderful animation, a surprise musical number and a potent message about traumatised youth. It's still on Youtube, it's under an hour, a must watch.

3. Watership Down

   

"When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a search of a safe new haven."

Explain Yourself:

This movie is STUNNING. Surprisingly this is not a childhood movie for me. Despite being a huge huge inspiration, I discovered it during a sick-day part way thru secondry school. The painterly backgrounds, the realistic movement, Richard Adams' fantastic story is brought to life in such a wonderful way. It's not about the violence, it's about the hope, the spirit of comradery and the teamwork that can lead a group to a better future.

I've talked about this one a lot in the past. I'll never get over how despite the changes from the novel it still lives as a monolith that I can't help but compare other xenofiction to. If your animal societies aren't as in depth and believeable as this I'm gonna wish I was watching Watership Down.

2. Zootopia

   

"Determined to prove herself, Officer Judy Hopps, the first bunny on Zootopia’s police force, jumps at the chance to crack her first case - even if it means partnering with scam-artist fox Nick Wilde to solve the mystery."

Explain Yourself:

Ok I get it. Copaganda. I hate it as much as the next pissed off punk. But unfortunately this movie has almost everything I love. Fully animal society with species that shouldn't be on friendly terms forced to co-exist. This one says a lot about cultural differences and tensions that can grow in city-scapes from the perspective of a small-town outsider. But I couldn't care less about Judy TBH. What keeps this from #1 is the missing piece. That this used to star Nick. I could spend a whole day just sitting with my copy of the art book watching the movie and the mini-series on repeat disecting what I can about the Wild Times cut of the movie. Sigh.

The movement of every character is so expressive, the faces too. Everything feels alive and lived in, every species big and small have a niche carved out. If you've not checked out the the art book please check out the worldbuilding, the logos alone are so fun to look at. Plot wise the movie feels well-tuned and whole too. I can't help it I'm a sucker for this movie.