Every decade has its share of oddities, yet, something about the 1990s felt completely unreal. Attribute that to a slew of things: the rapid advancement in technology, the influence of Gen X, or teenage rebellion. Thus, '90s animation was highly reflective of the times since it was free from the limitations of live-action and it explored absurdism in a way many mediums could not. Even the most kid-friendly programming from the era had off-beat, anarchist energy.
Nostalgia for the surreal and edgy vibe of the '90s is as prevalent as ever with Beavis and Butthead Do The Universe coming to Paramount+ this summer. But even as studios like MTV and Nickelodeon became more mainstream, there were films so unusual and enigmatic that they have either faded into obscurity or continue to linger in the subconscious. These are the strangest animated movies from the decade.
James And The Giant Peach (1996)
Author Roald Dahl was no stranger to the macabre, and his cynical sense of humor was often reflected in his work. In the hands of stop-motion master Henry Selick, James and the Giant Peach is a delectably beguiling trip.
From a big peach to the Big Apple; when the titular James ventures inside an enchanted fruit, he is transformed into a stop-motion character and befriends life-size bugs who dream of emigrating to NYC. Viewers with entomophobia and arachnophobia may squirm at the uncanny, albeit impressive, stop-motion used to bring the critters to life. While no ants are present, surprisingly, James' aunts featured in the bleak live-action sequences are nastier than any of the creepy crawlies appearing on screen.
The Pagemaster (1994)
Macaulay Culkin stars as Richard, a live-action loner with over-analytical tendencies that keep him out of harm's way, yet, hinder him from embracing childhood. When a storm interrupts his errand run, Richard is forced to take shelter at the local library, a place filled with wonderment and adventures to last a lifetime. That is, until a rotunda painting eerily oozes down from the ceiling and transports the boy into a 2D-illustrated universe.
Cartoon-Richard teams up with anthropomorphic books that guide him through a dimly-lit world featuring literature's most perilous and fearsome characters. The Pagemaster feels like an appropriate movie for a rainy day given how melancholic the atmosphere can be. Even the animated portions have a stark moodiness to them, and not just the scenes that take place in the horror section.
Pokémon: The First Movie (1998)
Pokémon is a global phenomenon, and rightfully so, but even fans wearing nostalgia glasses are hard-pressed to argue against how objectively weird the narrative of the feature-film debut is. Following a breezy short film entitled "Pikachu's Vacation", the real story begins with an origin to the legendary Mewtwo, a Pokémon clone who suffers abuse at the hands of his trainer and grows to resent humanity.
Pokémon: The First Movie is a fun anime that attempts to convey an anti-animal-cruelty message, or something like that, but erodes its moral high ground with outbursts of hypocritical violence. Moments intended to carry thematic weight, like Pikachu and its replicant slapping each other, come off rather bewildering. Furthermore, the bonkers climax in which collective Pokémon tears resurrect hero Ash from a stony demise is as off-putting as it is nonsensical.
Gumby: The Movie (1995)
Gumby and horse-pal Pokey, created by Art Clokey, are iconic claymation characters that date back to 1955. But in 1995, Gumby: The Movie was released to poor box-office reception. Nonetheless, it has since gained a cult following.
Gumby: The Movie contains a loose plot about an evil loan company collecting land from farmers, but the movie plays out more like a stream of consciousness rather than a typical narrative. To list a few absurdities: Gumby jams with his band, who are later kidnapped and replaced with robotic clones; his dog, Lowbelly, cries expensive pearls; he duels with a robot in an Arthurian universe; also, he and Pokey can transform into space-trekking slabs of clay.
Rock-A-Doodle (1991)
Rock-A-Doodle begins with an Elvis-impersonating rooster named Chanticleer who impresses his barnyard friends with his musical abilities, but is then chastised when the sun doesn't rise. It's a fairly simple set-up, yet, once the tale is revealed to be a bedtime story in the real world à la The Princess Bride, this Don Bluth-directed feature goes completely off the rails.
From The Secret of NIMH to All Dogs Go To Heaven, Bluth has never been one to shy away from dark themes and menacing antagonists. Case in point, the Grand Duke of Owls is one of his most terrifying creations; a sinister bird with unexplained abilities including magical breath, telekinesis, shape-shifting, and fourth-wall-breaking interdimensional travel. Just a rooster singing rockabilly would have been perfectly fine, thank you very much.
Freddie As F.R.O.7. (1992)
Freddie as F.R.O.7. is a largely "frogotten" film (the lowest-grossing animated film up until 2007) but to those who remember, it was a unique experience. Like a certain amphibian in a blender, this obscure animated film is a strange concoction, of "The Frog Prince" and a James Bond parody.
The UK production was heavily edited in the US due to inappropriate double entendres, villains with racially insensitive depictions, and dance numbers with Nazi soldiers and KKK members, so, consequently, Miramax discontinued video sales. Freddie as F.R.O.7. may not be fondly remembered, if at all, but viewers may recall the ending in which the secret agent frog is rescued by his friend, the Loch Ness Monster.
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993)
Capitalizing on the "pre-hysteria" sparked by his mega-hit, Jurassic Park, executive producer Steven Speilberg released We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story during the following holiday season, only to be forgotten in time. While the bright colors and the amiable dinos were meant to appeal to younger audiences, the final product is a zippy little oddity that might be harder for children to digest than "dinos wreaking havoc in an amusement park".
If the central premise of "talking dinosaurs in present-day New York City" isn't outlandish enough, the Amblimation based on Hudson Talbott's storybook features aliens, wish-granting inventors, I.Q. boosting cereal, and a wicked ringmaster with a morbid fear of crows. According to SyFy WIRE, Talbott was unhappy that his 20-page children's book was being adapted into such a dark feature-length film. Studio intervention led to the deletion of integral scenes explaining the villain's backstory for being too dismal. The result is a fascinating, crater-sized mess with stellar animation.
Felidae (1995)
Make no mistake: Felidae is not a family-friendly movie. The German animation follows a domestic house cat named Francis who stumbles into a ghastly crime thriller involving a serial kitty killer.
Due to graphic violence and explicit sexual content, it has become difficult to obtain a copy of the film, which is a shame considering it's a solid murder mystery. To reiterate, Felidae is not for children despite the Disney-inspired pastiche, and will even be difficult for some adults to watch, especially animal lovers. Not only will the grisly killings disturb viewers, but Francis' nightmare sequences contain genuinely unsettling imagery.
Cool World (1992)
Notorious for his X-rated cartoon, Fritz the Cat, the controversial animator Ralph Bakshi wanted to make his return in the early '90s with a dark horror comedy about the offspring of a human and a cartoon with murderous intentions. Unfortunately, Bakshi's far-out concept was watered down into a PG-13 rated abomination that comes across as an amped-up Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Cool World tells the tale of a live-action detective played by Brad Pitt, serving in the eponymous animated universe, who's hot on the trail of a femme fatale scheming to escape to the "real" world with the help of an ex-convict cartoonist. Bakshi's incredibly warped idea had serious potential, yet, aside from the creative chaos of the Max Fleischer-inspired visuals, Cool World is a bizarre misfire that needs to be seen to be believed.
Perfect Blue (1997)
Perfect Blue and David Lynch's Mulholland Drive would make for an interesting double feature in that they both approach identity and the adversities of stardom with dreamlike (and nightmarish) visual representation. Many anime titles from the '90s were eccentric, but what makes this psychological thriller so polarizing is how voyeuristic and close-to-reality it can feel despite the hallucinogenic imagery on display.
Based on a novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, the adaptation by acclaimed director Satoshi Kon focuses on a celebrity, Mima, who begins to have a mental collapse during her transition from pop star to dramatic actress, all the while being stalked by one of the creepiest characters in animation history. Perfect Blue is one of the best animated films of its decade and is often cited as the scariest.