The family-friendly noir pastiche is now just as much of a throwback as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was to the genre’s old Hollywood heyday, and the spirit of Robert Zemeckis’ madcap riff on that hard-boiled style is alive and well in the year’s best animated films. First there was Coyote vs. Acme, the Looney Tunes

I freaking love Brad Bird as a filmmaker! The guy has given us some of the greatest animated movies ever made, and The Iron Giant remains one of my all-time favorite films. Throw in The Incredibles and Ratatouille , and you've got a filmmaker who knows how to tell a great story, create

Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson lend their voices to a noir thriller set in a throwback "Blade Runner"-esque world. Sounds like a lot? It is.

If Ray Gunn sends you digging through old noir movies after you watch the movie, Brad Bird has already put together a great watchlist. The filmmaker recently talked about the movies that helped shape his animated sci-fi detective story, and his influences cover decades of noir, from hard-boil