Some people are looking forward to Valentine’s Day, while others are sickened by the abundance of pink, Valentine’s cards, and calls to “get ready for the holiday.” We are all different, but isn’t it wonderful? So my selection of cartoons about love today will be very diverse. Here you will find cartoons from different countries and times, directors and studios, with various plots and timing, but all of them have only one thing in common – love.
“Howl’s Moving Castle” Hayao Miyazaki
Legendary animator and cartoonist Hayao Miyazaki is also not very keen on romantic stories. Still, in “Howl’s Moving Castle” you can find a lot of topics to discuss, for example, one-sided love, stereotypes of male and female behavior, and, of course, the warning not to judge people by their appearance, because a handsome man can turn out to be a demon.
The cartoon tells the story of the girl Sophie, who has been turned into an old woman by an evil witch, and the wizard Howl, who lives in a castle on legs and travels. But when they accidentally meet each other, this unpredictable story unfolds with lots of events, feelings, and adventures!
“Up” Pete Docter
Of course, I couldn’t get past Pixar Studios’ masterpieces. Actually, “Up” is the story of old Carl, a boy and a dog who travel in a hot air balloon, but the plot is based on the life of Carl and his wife Ellie, whose loss he takes very hard, as she was the whole world to him. Finally, in his old age, Carl decides to fulfill his long-held dream and go to Paradise Falls in South America, and that’s where the exciting adventures begin.
“WALL-E” Andrew Stanton
It’s the love story of the only (except for the cockroach) surviving inhabitant of Earth, the cleaning robot WALL-E and Eva, a new generation robot whose task is to find something alive on the abandoned planet. This cartoon proves better than any rom-com or blockbuster that even such unconventional love will save the world!
“Paperman” John Kahrs
This is a concise but incredibly intense story about love at first sight. The hero meets a girl on the platform but doesn’t have time to find out anything about her, and she just walks away, and I won’t say any more spoilers! “Paperman” is a very romantic and funny cartoon about true love and the inevitability of meeting it.
“The Little Mermaid” and Other Disney Classics
Today there are many complaints about the classic Disney love stories because they do not conform to modern ideas and dogmas in relationships:
- The Little Mermaid has to change herself to win the prince’s heart.
- Belle falls in love with someone who kidnapped her and held her by force.
- Snow White is kissed without her consent at all.
But now that we’ve talked about that love and relationships can be very different, we can’t help but mention these cartoons as well. We also recommend that you watch these cartoons with your children to reminisce about childhood and answer the uncomfortable questions of today’s children, such as: “Mammy, why is he kissing a dead woman?”.
“Shrek” Aron Warner, John H. Williams, Jeffrey Katzenberg
The story of a green ogre who seeks no love was a turning point in the world of cartoons. In “Shrek,” all the stereotypes on which the world of Disney princesses was built were shattered: not only can a beautiful prince on a white horse be the savior, but also a green, grumpy ogre on a donkey. And it’s not always necessary to save the princesses; Fiona, for example, is perfectly capable of defending herself. And, of course, you don’t have to sacrifice yourself or pretend to be someone else to be loved.
“Frozen” Peter Del Vecho
This cartoon tells the story of two sisters, Elsa, who has magical powers that she has to hide, and Anna, who languishes alone in a castle and dreams of meeting a handsome prince. This is a pivotal project for Disney, because for the first time, the main character, Princess Elsa, is not looking for love and relationships, and the love at first sight that happened to Anna is seen by the creators as something imperfect and even dangerous. And, of course, the main thing that the creators do not get tired of reminding us throughout the two episodes: love can exist not only with a handsome prince but also within the family.
“5 Centimeters per Second” by Makoto Shinkai
Makoto Shinkai created some kind of meditation on the theme of first love. How do teenagers feel when they fall in love for the first time? How do they experience the separation? Naturally, audiences accuse the film of being too long, cheesy, and implausible. But the same complaints are sometimes made against teenagers who are in love: “They should be thinking about their studies, but they’re falling in love!” So I suggest you watch this cartoon to recollect what it’s like to fall in love for the first time, and to finally understand teenagers!
