Entertainment
25 Years Later, These Are the 7 Best Fantasy Movies of 2001
The fantasy genre was on its deathbed by 1999. Indeed, things were outright dire by the decade’s second half, with hardly any movies taking off outside of the animated realm. Sure, there were still masterpieces by Princess Mononoke, but overall, the likes of Hercules couldn’t live up to the greatest gems produced throughout the early days of the Disney Renaissance. Then 2001 came along, and everything changed.
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say 2001 was one of the greatest years for fantasy in the new millennium, if not the best. At least three certified masterpieces came out throughout those precious twelve months, two of which revitalized the dying genre and revolutionized cinema as a whole. Today, twenty-five years later, the best fantasy movies of 2001 are more revered than ever before. They have aged like fine wine, not only for their importance to the medium, but for their stellar quality as motion pictures.
‘Monsters, Inc.’
Pixar Animation Studios began the new millennium with a lovely adventure about friendship and self-discovery that proved they could do much more than just Toy Story. Monsters, Inc. is set in a world where children’s screams power a huge, monster-populated city. James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) and his sidekick, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), are the top-performing duo at Monsters, Incorporated, the monster world’s largest scare factory. Things change when the two-year-old human girl Boo (Mary Gibbs) accidentally finds her way to the monster world, throwing Sully and Mike’s lives into disarray.
Like most other great Pixar movies, Monsters, Inc. thrives through a combination of a creative narrative, a powerful emotional core, stunning animation, and a memorable screenplay full of quotable lines and now-iconic gags. Sully and Mike are among Pixar’s most emblematic characters and one of cinema’s best depictions of friendship. However, it’s Sully’s bond with Boo that becomes the strongest aspect of this delightful monster comedy. For a movie aimed at children, Monsters, Inc. deals with some very profound issues, including corporate greed, prejudice, and the healing power of laughter as a force for good. A now-famous and very bittersweet ending is the cherry on top of this monstrously crafted cake.
‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’
Harry Potter was arguably the defining franchise of the 2000s. Progressing and maturing along with the decade, the tale of the Boy Who Lived is responsible for an entire generation’s love for the fantasy genre. The first entry, 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, introduces us to eleven-year old Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), an orphan living with his abusive uncles. One day, he learns he’s actually a wizard and can attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he meets and becomes friends with Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson). While attending classes and facing new and daunting tasks, Harry learns of his backstory and his role in bringing down the dark wizard Lord Voldemort.
The Harry Potter movies produced one of cinema’s most enduring fantasy worlds — never before had so many wanted to receive a letter via owl. The highlight of the series is undoubtedly the third entry, 2004’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but there’s such an enchanting value to the first entry. Out of them all, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is the one that feels most inviting and wholesome. It has to do with it being the introductory chapter to this story, but it’s also thanks to the distinct childlike approach that director Chris Columbus takes to the story. Hogwarts feels like a place straight out of the wildest child fantasies, full of whimsy and danger, but always warm and irresistible. The saga would become something darker and more mature as it progressed, but the first movie remains a timeless triumph that marked an entire generation.
‘Shrek’
The worlds of fantasy and animation forever changed in 2001, thanks to the release of Shrek. Based on the 1990 children’s book Shrek! by William Steig, the film stars Mike Myers as the titular character, a cantankerous ogre whose swamp is suddenly flooded by a myriad of fairy tale characters banned by the despotic Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). Joined by a talking Donkey (Eddie Murphy), Shrek strikes a deal with Farquaad: he’ll travel to a distant tower and rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) so she can marry Farquaad, in exchange for his swamp.
Shrek subverted the classic fantasy notions and fairy tale tropes through a modern and edgy humor, including anachronistic references, pop culture jokes, and an overall 21st-century approach to what would otherwise be a classic romance adventure. Myers, Diaz, Murphy, and Lithgow are incredible in their voice roles, with Murphy even earning a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 2002 ceremony (one of the coolest things BAFTA has ever done, by the way). In terms of narrative, Shrek is simply amazing, full of hilarious and witty jokes, double-entendres, and subversions of classic fairy tale characters and settings. The film truly felt like a breath of fresh air in 2001, and its success led to a wildly successful franchise that endures to this day — the long-awaited fifth movie will debut in 2027. Moreover, Shrek won the inaugural Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
‘Spirited Away’
Studio Ghibli has been producing masterpieces since the ’80s, but it reached a whole new peak in the 2000s, largely thanks to Spirited Away. Hayao Miyazaki‘s timeless fantasy masterpiece tells the story of Chihiro (Rumi Hiiragi/Daveigh Chase), a young girl whose parents are transformed into pigs after they inadvertently enter the spirit world and overindulge in food. To save them, Chihiro secures employment in the bathhouse of the witch Yubaba (Mari Natsuki/Suzanne Pleshette), where she will lose her name and will need to rediscover herself.
A mystical coming-of-age journey that stands as arguably Studio Ghibli’s crowning jewel, Spirited Away is a masterpiece that has only gotten better with age. The film’s messages about strength, self-discovery, consumerism, and the road to maturity blend beautifully with the story’s larger exploration of Japanese culture, mysticism, and spirituality. As with most other Miyazaki movies, there’s also a considerable dose of environmentalist themes here. The result is a true work of art that keeps resonating with audiences. Spirited Away brought Japanese cinema to a new international level of acclaim and established Ghibli as a singular force in animation. Released in the U.S. in 2002, the film won the second-ever Oscar for Best Animated Feature, ensuring its legacy as a titan of the medium.
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’
No franchise in the 2000s had a better commercial or critical reception than Sir Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Based on the seminal novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, the trilogy adapted the three most important and influential fantasy books of the 20th century into three equally revolutionary movies. The first entry, 2001’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, tells the story of young hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), who inherits from his uncle a mysterious ring with a strange power. Learning it is the dreaded One Ring, Frodo and a group of companions, calling themselves the Fellowship of the Ring, begin a journey to destroy the One Ring in the fired of Mount Doom.
You simply can’t overstate just how massive Fellowship of the Ring was. The film created one of the most immersive and mystical fantasy worlds in cinema, throwing audiences into the middle of an intense and dangerous tale of good versus evil. At its core, the film is about how heroes can come from the most unlikely places and how small deeds can have the power to shake entire destinies. Yet, it also includes some spectacular sequences, from Arwen’s (Liv Tyler) rescue of Frodo to the magic duel between Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) and Saruman (Sir Christopher Lee), to the confrontation against the demonic balrog. The film is stunning to look at, with visual effects that have aged beautifully and an atmosphere that makes everything seem ancient and outside of time itself. The Fellowship of the Ring is arguably the best fantasy movie ever made, launching one of cinema’s most revered trilogies and changing the landscape of cinema forever.
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