Blu-ray Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Animation on Blu

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Gift Guides

Blu-ray Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Animation on Blu

By Brenden ⋅ December 18, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Filed Under 2D Animation, Allison Keith-Shipp, Animation, Anime, Bruce Timm, CGI, Collen Clinkenbeard, DCU Animated, Disney, Eric Chase Anderson, Evangelion, Funimation, Gainax, George Clooney, Hayao Miyazaki, Hideaki Anno, Jason Schwartzman, Meryl Streep, Spike Spencer, Stop Motion Animation, Studio Ghibli, Wallace Wolodarsky, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Warner, Warner Home Video, Wes Anderson

All right, time is running out to get these Blu-ray gift guide recommendations posted so let’s get back to it! I’ll keep the commentary to a minimum here, in order to hasten the process.

Next up: Classics on Blu-ray

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* TV ON BLU
* CLASSICS
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

Ponyo (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (2008)

Animation just doesn’t get any better than the work of Hayao Miyazaki. His latest film, Ponyo is also his first on Blu-ray. This is not only a perfect gift for kids and animation fans but also for film fans of all ages.

Highest possible recommendation!!

READ MORE: Ponyo Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $21.99

Fantastic Mr. Fox (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (2009)

I reviewed the Fantastic Mr. Fox Blu-ray way back in March and, let me tell you, I’m still surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I’m a fan of Wes Anderson but didn’t think I’d care for this stop-motion animation take on the classic Roald Dahl tale. What a pleasant surprise! It’s a great film with a stellar presentation on Blu-ray disc.

AMAZON: $17.49

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone [Blu-ray] (2010)

Neon Genesis Evangelion on Blu-ray. It’s been the fever dream of every anime fanboy with a big HD screen. And FUNimation delivered this past March with the first installment of the re-imagining/re-animated edition of the famed series, Evangelion: 1.11 You Are Not Alone, looking and sounding like a million bucks on Blu. This is a must-have disc for all anime and giant-robot fans.

Highly recommended!!

AMAZON: $16.49

The Secret of Kells (Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (2010)

I’m still hoping to get my hands on a copy of The Secret of Kells Blu-ray disc (hint hint!) but understand that it’s stellar in just about every possible way. The film itself is one of the best animated films to be released in years and worth your every attention. If the Blu-ray lives up to its reputation of having a killer transfer and great audio, this one could end up with a special place on my Blu-ray “shelf-of-honour“.

AMAZON: $18.49

Beauty and the Beast (Three-Disc Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging) (1991)

Disney is really killing it with the Blu-ray releases of their classic catalogue titles. And Beauty and the Beast is one of the most significant, as it truly ushered in the modern renaissance of the studio’s 2D animated offerings. The film looks unbelievably great on Blu-ray and features tons of amazing special features. Again, another pick that’ll please animation AND film fans alike.

AMAZON: $19.49

How to Train Your Dragon (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Dragon Double Pack) [Blu-ray] (2010)

I’m really steamed that I missed out How to Train Your Dragon. By all accounts, this is one of the best animated films to come out in the past number of years and the finest work of Dreamworks animations studios since the original Shrek. I just might have to grab a copy of the Blu-ray disc for my niece and nephew for Christmas, just so that I can finally get to see it myself!

AMAZON: $18.99

Warner Home Video and DC Comics continued their onslaught of animated superhero adaptations throughout the year, releasing four new Blu-ray discs in 2010, culminating with the DC Showcase collection of exceptional short films this past month. My favourite disc of the lot (though I enjoyed them all) is the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths disc, which features a fun dimension-hopping story, great character designs and a slate of decent special features. But they’re all highly recommended for fans of the comics.

READ MORE:

AMAZON: $18.99, $20.99, $10.99, $9.99

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray] (2009)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs doesn’t look like a whole hell of a lot but it’s one of my girlfriend’s favourite films of the entire year (and I thought it was pretty all right too!) Released way back of the beginning of January the title is now available in a Blu-ray 3D edition as well as the standard, old Blu-ray combo pack.

AMAZON: $14.99

Fantasia / Fantasia 2000 (Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

As I said before, Disney is on a roll with its Blu-ray releases of catalogue animation titles. Fantasia and its sister film, Fantasia 2000 both look and sound stellar in high-def. It’s unfortunate that most of the old DVD special features have been relegated to an online BD-Live archive, providing the sole option of streaming the content to your screen, as opposed to putting it on a local disc. Don’t let this single shortcoming keep you from adding this exceptional presentation of a classic film to your collection. Recommended!

AMAZON: $27.99

FUNimation has been releasing some great anime series on Blu-ray this year. Not all of them were created in HD, so the studio has been tirelessly improving their up-conversion process (taking the standard definition material and turning it into HD goodness!) to provide the best looking presentation possible. And you know, they’re doing a bang up job. The titles above are among my favourite released this year, with Eden of the East being one of the best looking, best written, most compelling animated series I’ve seen in an age. It especially comes highly recommended!