First shot of animation: pan across the English countryside with a multi-plane camera

People think of the 50s like it was universally repressed and artless but then the actual stuff being made includes pop art psychedelia so maybe we don’t take Pleasantville as objective fact. The studio has done plenty of abstraction and exaggeration, but this film is made of nonsense, which is a different thing entirely, and it’s gorgeous. Bold colors throughout, and the geometric cascades of the playing card soldiers are remarkable.

Alice is easily the most headstrong feature protagonist. The story is essentially a long walk interrupted by weirdos, but she harrumphs in all the right places to seem like she has agency.

This movie invented Sonic the Hedgehog. I swear one of the croquet critters does a spin dash.