Natalie Nourigat: What movies to watch if you want to work in animation? (Twitter Transcript)
On Twitter Disney director and story artist Natalie Nourigat shared some thoughts on which films she believes you have to have seen if you want to work in animation. It just so happens that I have a lot of thoughts on watching /studying feature films, especially when you want to work in feature animation, so this thread was right up my alley. In fact I spoke about the importance of watching features before, in my post about Matt Zoller Seitz's video essay on 'cinematic television'.
Below is the transcript of Natalie's twitter thread:
Below is the transcript of Natalie's twitter thread:
Thread on the movies you "have" to watch to work in animation: Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Jaws get mentioned ALL the time in industry discussions and classes. I definitely recommend people watch them to be able to participate in story discussions.
BUT - they're not the only movies that are helpful to study (obviously).
Some other films that come up (a.k.a. that you should watch to prepare for participating in story discussions): Spider-Verse, Mean Girls, Juno, Knocked Up, Moonlight, Paper Moon, Dumb & Dumber, Thelma & Louise, Tangerine, Amelie, Toy Story, Election, Shaolin Soccer, Clueless, Legally Blonde, Little Miss Sunshine, School of Rock, Sixth Sense, Godfather 1 & 2, Lawrence of Arabia, UP, Seven, Finding Nemo, Field of Dreams, Do the Right Thing, Ladybird, My Neighbor Totoro, Wolf Children, The Favorite, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Like Water for Chocolate, The Wizard of Oz, 2001: ASO, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Gone with the Wind, The Lobster, Ohayo, Bladerunner, The Sound of Music, Jurassic Park, Funny Girl, E.T., Fury Road, The Matrix, Kramer vs. Kramer, Chinatown, Mr. Smith Goes to WA, 21 Jump Street, Rocky, Tootsie, Shawshank, Silence of the Lambs, The Apartment, Pulp Fiction, Avatar, Get Out, Devil Wears Prada, Gladiator, The Hangover, Love and Basketball, Elf, In Bruges, 500 Days of Summer, Billy Elliot, Black Swan, 28 Days Later, Casino Royale, Hot Fuzz, Iron Man, No Country for Old Men, Superbad, Inglorious Basterds, Battle Royale, Shrek, In the Mood for Love, District 9, There Will Be Blood, Coraline, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Chicken Run, Children of Men, Minority Report, The Incredibles.
A lot of the time we try to put things in terms of "Star Wars, Raiders, or Jaws" because we're looking for a broad common ground and we assume everyone has seen those films. But if you're a student, don't assume that means you shouldn't be exploring FAR beyond those films! Being able to reference and pull from MANY different perspectives /styles /schools of film /genres will improve your filmmaking and ability to contribute meaningfully to a team.
Also, what is considered "the absolute BEST movie that EVERYONE working in film needs to watch" changes over time. Different generations point to different seminal films. Films /filmmakers /genres gain and fall out of favor, speak more or less to different groups of people.
