Halloween is coming! Check out the 5 spookiest animated films in Concordia’s Visual Collections Repository
A young girl discovers a parallel universe on the other side of her bedroom in Coraline.
Charlie Ellbé (MA, 11; MLIS, 17) is the moving image coordinator at the Visual Collections Repository (VCR) in the Faculty of Fine Arts. She is also a horror buff.
When you think of spooky films, animation doesn’t automatically come to mind. In today’s popular culture, audiences mainly associate this filmmaking method with children’s entertainment.
But the moving image collection at Concordia’s Visual Collections Repository (VCR) carries a handful of animated feature films that either connect to the horror genre or have themes that relate to Halloween.
Check out these top five picks — if you dare!
1. Coraline (2009)
A young girl discovers a parallel universe on the other side of her bedroom. At first, the parents appear very nice and welcoming. But soon, the other world starts to become hostile and unfamiliar.
Available on 3D Blu-ray at VCR.
2. Frankenweenie (2012)
After the tragic death of his dog, a young boy, Victor Frankenstein, decides to bring the animal back to life. This piece of black and white stop-motion animation is filled with references to the 1931 film adaptation of Frankenstein.
Available on Blu-ray at VCR.
3. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Halloween is a fun celebration, but once it’s over, is it really worth going through all the trouble to do it again next year? That’s what Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, is wondering in this classic work of stop-motion animation. Citizens of Halloween Town might have to face something very different this year.
Available on Blu-ray at VCR.
4. ParaNorman (2012)
Meet Norman, a young child whose ability to communicate with the dead surpasses his ability to do so with the living. This is a dark stop-motion comedy packed with references to horror cinema.
Available on 3D Blu-ray at VCR.
5. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Wallace and Gromit are determined to discover why someone is destroying all the gardens in their neighbourhood at night and how they’re doing it. This stop-motion animation comedy brings to life an extraordinary creature that produces complete chaos in Wallace and Gromit’s universe.
Available on DVD at VCR.
Visit Concordia’s Visual Collections Repository in the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex, Room EV 3.703, at 1515 Ste. Catherine Street West on Sir George Williams Campus.
