Beauty and the Beast

Directed by Gary Trousdale
Kirk Wise
1991

My gift to my wife when she was pregnant with our oldest daughter eleven years ago, this video has been our favorite since then.

Prince Adam was cursed to a beast form by Enchantress who saw no love in his arrogant heart for others. The one way he could break the spell was to learn to love another and earn her love in return before the last petal from his enchanted rose fell, which would bloom until his twenty-first birthday. But who could ever learn to love a beast? Ten years later, Maurice, an inventor from a nearby village, becomes lost in the woods and seeks shelter in the Beast's castle, the Beast imprisons him for trespassing. His daughter Belle, a bookworm who dreams of life outside her provincial village, finds him trapped in the castle and offers her place in his stead. The Beast accepts with a promise she'll remain in the castle forever. In the beginning Belle views him as nothing more than a monster, he views her as difficult and stubborn. But the two soon taste the bitter-sweetness of finding you can change and learning you were wrong.

Grave of the Fireflies

Directed by: Isao Takahata
1988

In the aftermath of a World War II bombing, two orphaned children struggle to survive in the Japanese countryside. To Seita and his four-year-old sister, the helplessness and indifference of their countrymen is even more painful than the enemy raids. Through dessperation, hunger and grief, these children's lives are as heartbreakingly fragile as their spirit and love is inspiring. Grave of the Fireflies is a tale of the true tragedy of war and innocence lost, not only of the abandoned young, but of an entire nation.

I was teary-eyed after watching this film. Maybe because I immersed myself (I mean my kids) too much into the situation/s that the main characters have been through. I must say that this is the best animated film I ever saw to this date and the only war film that really made me focus my attention into. I watched it together with my wife and my kids and believe me, it just struck us... leaving us all teary-eyed. You can watch the trailer below.