10 Wonderfully Quirky And Eccentric Animated Movies

6. My Neighbours The Yamadas

Studio Ghibli movies are often instantly identifiable by their approach to character design and animation - like Disney, the studio has crafted a distinct brand familiar in Hayao Miyazaki's classic movies, from My Neighbour Totoro to Spirited Away. Representing something of a departure from the traditional anime characters is My Neighbours The Yamadas, directed by Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata. Adapted from Hisaichi Ishii's incredibly popular comic strip Nono-chan, the film delivers dozens of short but sweet vignettes detailing the lives of the Yamada family, from arguing over who gets control of the remote control and losing a child in a department store to teenage fantasies about having a better family and the wisdom of old age. Witty and charming with a keenly observed feel for both the mundane and the endearing, despite the lack of a central narrative the film ends leaving the audience with a real feel for the family, an intimate look at the broad spectrum of every day lives. My Neighbours the Yamadas was the first Ghibli movie made digitally, allowing the artists and animators to craft scenes resembling watercolour paintings rather than the traditional paint-on-cel techniques. The result is a deceptively simplistic style which captures the subtle nuance of human foibles and passions with the occasional flight of fantasy thrown in for good measure.