January? More Like Annie-uary.
We're starting the year off right with good cartoons and bad puns. Stick with us, kid. Ya can't go wrong!
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? When it comes to the last decade…probably. When it comes to its cartoons, though? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Read on for our picks for the best animation of the 2010s, an introduction to sports anime, the first volley of awards season news and speculation, and more.
What’s news, pussycat?
The latest pieces published on our site.
The Best Animated Movies of the 2010s
It’s been a long 10 years, but these animated films almost made it all worth it. Toon in as The Dot and Line staff (Eric Vilas-Boas, John Maher, Elly Belle, Sammy Nickalls, and Marley Crusch) explores what made favorites like Coco, The Breadwinner, and Kubo and the Two Strings some of the best of the best of the decade.
The Best Animated TV Shows of the 2010s
What made our staff-picked list for the best animated television shows of the last decade? We bet you can guess—but you’ll still have to click to find out!
The Best Anime of the 2010s
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more thoughtful take on anime to wrap up the decade. (Except over at Anime Feminist, of course.) Whether you’re an anime expert or newbie, this staff list is a great place to look for your next show to binge.
The Case for Why You Should Watch Sports Anime
Sports anime are joy! Sports anime are suffering! Sports anime are the drama of human life condensed! Writer S.M. Balding makes the case for what you’ll love about sports anime and how it will soothe your soul—just in case our best anime list wasn’t enough.
But it ain’t me, babe
Great writing and news on toons from sites that aren’t the Dot and Line!
The Best Animation Writing of 2019
When The Dot and Line first started writing about cartoons and animation in 2016, good pieces on the subject were few and far between. Since then, things have changed, and our list of our staff’s top 15 pieces of animation journalism written in 2019 but not published by us proves it. Give it a looksee!
Plus:
Here Are This Year’s Annie Award Nominations [Entertainment Weekly] The Oscars of animation are almost here! Here’s a breakdown of who and what is nominated this year.
Frozen 2 is the Highest Grossing Animated Film—EVER [Variety] In a box office achievement fit for royalty, Disney’s Frozen 2 is officially the highest-grossing animated movie ever, generating more than $1.3 billion. We can’t let that one go.
Missing Link Won the Best Animated Feature at the Golden Globes [CNBC] We don’t care much for award shows, but we can’t help but share what won in the only category that matters.
Two Studio Ghibli Movies in the Works in 2020 [Animation Magazine] Pause everything you’re doing, because we are getting NEW Studio Ghibli.
Studio Ghibli's Ni no Kuni Movie Is Coming To Netflix In Two Weeks [ScreenRant] It’s only two weeks until the English dub is here. Mark your calendars!
Lee Mendelson, Producer Behind ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas,’ Dies at 86 [The New York Times] If you’ve ever found the melancholy melody of Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmas Time is Here” stuck in your head, you have Mendelson’s masterpiece to thank for it. He will be missed.
Patricia Alice Albrecht Has Died [ComicBook.com] Another great one is gone, as Albrecht, who voiced Pizzazz in Jem and the Holograms, died on Christmas.
Tragedy in an Animation Utopia: Horror, Heartbreak and Mystery After an Arson Massacre [The Hollywood Reporter] A striking report about the heartbreaking attack on Kyoto Animation studios written after the company’s founder finally opened up about the tragedy.
Steven Universe Future Review: What It’s Getting Right [Polygon] Steven Universe Future is taking the time to do something not often done: actually wrapping up loose ends and exploring life after a story’s climax.
Happy birthday to toons
Every day brings another oppor-toon-ity for another classic’s anniversary.
We Have Urgent Questions About Thundercats
Thundercats is your typical superhero series in many ways, right down to a few signature inconsistencies and bizarre plotlines. But the important question is…IS IT STILL GOOD!? Find out if this cornball action show, which turns 35 this month, holds up to the test of time by giving this piece by writer Nicole Ortiz a read.
More anniversaries: Star vs the Forces of Evil and the Inspector Gadget reboot are 5.
Throwing it back
Revisit some favorites from our archives.
The Best of the Dot and Line from 2019
Each year, we here at The Dot and Line round up a selection of our best and most important stories, just in case you missed them, and this year was no different. From exclusive interviews with Genndy Tartakovsky to a deep dive into China’s burgeoning animation scene, there’s something here for everybody. Not that we’re suggesting you relive 2019, but if you’re going to, this would be the way to do it.
What are we watching? What are YOU watching!?
The editors (and readers!) dish on our latest obsessions and viewing goals for the new year.
John is ready to watch…Tehran Taboo
The cabal of ill-willed fat cats and war-mongering ghouls running the United States of America may soon get their longtime wish: war with Iran. This is, to put it mildly, a goddamn nightmare, especially for the people of Iran. It behooves Americans, who largely know nothing of Iran but what they’ve heard from cable news channels hawking hawkish and propagandistic talking points, to do what so many rarely do: actively work to learn more about the Iranian people in an uncharacteristic endeavor to form an educated perspective on global politics and discover empathy for a country 7,000 miles from our shores. Ali Soozandeh’s 2017 animated feature film should help do the trick. It’s streaming online for free for the next month. Don’t miss it.
Eric is ready to (re)watch…Sym-Biotic Titan
Sometime in mid-December, I realized Sym-Bionic Titan—the animated series directed by Genndy Tartakovsky of Primal, Samurai Jack, and Dexter's Laboratory fame—is on Netflix in its entirety. I never caught it while it was on, and its crisp line-work and sci-fi pomp worked wonders on my overworked body as I recovered over the holidays. It never got the credit it deserves and apparently got killed after one season because "it didn't have enough toys connected to it," but perhaps one day Tartakovsky can return to it à la Samurai Jack. In the meantime, I’m watching it again.
Sammy is ready to watch…The Venture Bros.
Apparently I can't escape The Venture Bros. It's not like I wanted to escape it, exactly, but in my opinion, there's a four-step process to watching a show you first heard about years ago: 1. mild interest just strong enough to make you write a mental note to watch The Show, but too weak to get you to do it immediately; 2. annoyance that everyone keeps telling you to watch The Show, leading you to avoid it out of light-but-still-petty spite; 3. acceptance that you really should watch The Show, since everyone keeps gasping when you say you haven't watched The Show; 4. actually watching The Show. In 2020, The Venture Bros. and I move into Step 4. I'm sure of it.
Elly is ready to watch…Star Trek: Lower Decks
If there had been an animated version of Star Trek when I was growing up, the tiny sci-fi and fantasy fanatic in me would have screamed. Now, my dreams are coming true with Star Trek: Lower Decks. I’m not a huge Rick and Morty fan (read: I don’t like it at all. At. All.) and this comes from Mike McMahan of R&M, but I am extremely here for this space cartoon. There’s little information out about it yet, but it’s supposed to come out this year, so anyone who has an account I can borrow to watch that if/when it does, uhhh, let me know!
Marley is ready to watch…The Willoughbys
My day job is at a library, where we're all excited to see the animated adaptation of this Lois Lowry book hit Netflix this spring! I know that Bron Studios had a hand in the much-maligned Addams Family recently, but their animation style is smooth and appealing, and with Terry Crews on the voice cast, I'm hopeful. If you haven't already, read the book! Then let us know how you think the movie stacks up.
Aaaaand…that’s all, folks!
Thanks so much for reading our newsletter, which is produced by Elly Belle! If you have any notes, feedback, or tips on what to watch next, email us at thedotandline@gmail.com. And if you like what we do, forward this to your friends and yell in their faces until they forward it to all of their friends. Until next time!
Love,
The Dot and Line