Hollywood is quite fond of making sequels. Hey, if something worked the first time, why not do it again, right? The challenge is that the first movie of a series often succeeds because it surprises the audience in some way -- a novelty that quickly fades when you bring out another flick just like it. Sometimes though, a sequel can succeed as a movie all its own. Here are the best fantasy flicks that do just that.

10. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
One of the easiest ways to come up with a sequel is to start with a fantasy series with sequels already built in, like in the Narnia books. You take familiar characters, throw them into a new situation and introduce a few new (dreamy) characters along the way. In this case, the Pevensie children arrive back in Narnia to find an internal political struggle between the titular Prince and his usurping uncle. The story can't quite stand on its own, but it comes close.
How it improves on the original: Better pacing

9. Addams Family Values
This one is one of those rare fantasy sequels that is actually better than the original -- admittedly, in this case, a low bar to clear. It recognizes the inherent campiness of the television show, which the first movie aims for and fails to capture. It also expands on Gomez and Morticia's characters by using their lens to view contemporary world issues. Just pretend the first one doesn't exist.
How it improves on the original: Uses campiness for character exploration

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My sense of what it means to be elderly is wildly skewed since my grandmother, who will be 105 next week, is sharp as a tack and still lives on her own. Sadly, fantasy has a narrower view of the elderly, and they get short shrift when it comes to adventuring. Fantasy ageism posits that old people have either had their turn, or exist to support the youth who are really getting things done. Thus, if you have gray hair in a fantasy flick, you probably fall into one of three camps.

The Wizened Adviser

Gandalf - Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
Gandalf is, by any measure, an old man. Though he is clearly capable of fighting off some seriously wicked creatures, his purpose is primarily to advise and make cryptic but meaningful remarks. Unless something is about to go horribly wrong (hello Mr. Balrog), he rarely intervenes with Frodo's journey -- even though he could probably make it significantly easier. It's like the wizard's version of "When I was a child we had to quest up hill in the snow, both ways!"

Dumbledore - The Harry Potter Series (2001-2012)
Dumbledore also functions primarily as an adviser, which again has nothing to do with his abilities since he duels with Voldemort multiple times, retrieves a horcrux and can generally kicks some wizard ass. Even so, the story is about Harry, which reinforces the idea that people past their middle years are no longer the ones who make things happen. Dumbledore provides necessary support to Harry, but all of his actions are centered around making sure that Harry's quest is achieved.

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In many ways, you could say that stop motion animation was invented to create fantasy flicks. Certainly, it's been linked to fantasy for most of its history because for decades, if you wanted a monster or supernatural creature, it was the only recourse. With the advent of CGI, stop motion's role is changing, but it retains a strong connection to the genre. Let's take a look at some of the pioneers of stop motion.

Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton
The Humpty Dumpty Circus (1898) is the earliest recorded instance of stop motion. Although there is no surviving footage, the movie features a toy circus complete with acrobats and animals as they come to life. (That's right: Toy Story is as old as the 1800s.) Varying sources disagree on the details, but it's clear that one of the two men manipulated his daughter's toy circus while advancing the film one frame at a time. And thus, an art form was born.

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In epic battles of good vs. evil, the outcome often comes down to a one-on-one combat. A duel if you will. Historically, duels have been fought to settle a disagreement: Don't like what someone called your mother? Out come the swords! Fantasy movies, as it happens, have some of the best duels -- and the best reasons for fighting them.

10. MacLeod vs. Kurgan - Highlander (1986)
This entire movie is one long duel. Still, the final battle in the parking garage is the one that counts. It is beautifully lit and incredibly evocative. The fight itself, unfortunately, involves a lot of grandstanding and silly waving of pointy things. It's a good thing it's so dark and moody.
Point of Disagreement: There can be only one
Weapon: Swords
Winner: MacLeod

9. High King Peter vs. King Miraz - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
If you want to secure a kingdom, what better way to do it than pit a 12-year-old boy against a middle-aged man? To be clear, Peter goes into this expecting to lose, but of course he's the High King and supported by Aslan, so he totally trounces the usurping Miraz. Too bad there's treachery afoot among Miraz's advisers, so the victory isn't as clear cut as it should be.
Point of Disagreement: Control of Narnia
Weapon: Swords
Winner: Peter, sort of ...

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If December is a month for looking back, January is for looking ahead. And I don't know about you, but there are a whole slew of fantasy movies slated for release this year that have me thinking 2010 will be a magical year. If you had any doubt that fantasy is entering its hey-day, check out this year's lineup.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (February 12)
As Harry Potter winds down studios are looking for the next franchise, and 20th Century Fox is betting that Percy Jackson will be it. He's a young man who discovers that he's actually a demigod -- the son of Poseidon -- but it's set in modern day. So you've got a mix of ancient Greek Gods and contemporary sensibilities. Also amusing: They used the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee for part of the filming.

Alice in Wonderland (March 5)
Tim Burton does Alice in Wonderland. So, we're taking a story that's already surreal and making it stranger. Is that possible? From the trailers, yes. This looks to be a "sequel" that takes the original story and landscape of Wonderland and spins it into a strange, new place. With Mia Wasikowska as a 19-year old Alice and Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, it's sure to be a pretty movie, if nothing else.

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My husband and I have this long-standing disagreement about musicals. He thinks that by nature all musicals are fantasy since nobody really breaks into song in real life. I disagree, and say that musicals are a form of stylization. No matter how you slice it though, musicals and fantasy movies have had a long history together -- even long before the Disney powerhouse leaped on the scene. On this New Year's Day let's take a hop, skip and shuffle through the real history of musical fantasies, one decade at a time.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
This was hardly the first pairing of musical and fantasy, but it's the one that made everyone sit up and take notice, winning an Academy award for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." The longing that Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) sings about is nicely matched with what pulls people to fantasy -- a desire to be somewhere brighter and more interesting than the mundane world. It's a perfect pairing of song and subject.

Cabin in the Sky (1943)
This take on the Faust legend is a landmark movie for multiple reasons. It was the first fantasy to start as a Broadway play. More importantly, it was the first musical feature with an all-black cast -- some theaters refused to show it because of that. Talk about a deal with the devil... Despite that, the song "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe," sung by Ethel Waters, was nominated for an Academy Award. The movie brilliantly blends fantasy, social commentary and uses music to bring an emotional resonance to its story.

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Merry Christmas! One of the things I love most about this time of year is that in households all around the world, people are participating in the world's largest fairy tale as they open presents under the tree to see what Santa brought them. (St. Nick is, after all, described as a "right jolly old elf.") Granted Santa's unique in the world of elfdom, but it's possible that any number of his kin could rise to the occasion. So let's take a look at some fantasy elves who could carry the mantle, should the big guy ever decide to take a year off.

6. Slannen - Ella Enchanted (2004)
In today's litigious times, Santa has to work hard to keep up with increasingly complicated regulations. Slannen (Aidan McArdle), with his desire to be a lawyer, brings a level-headed practicality to the position of Santa. No one talks about the miles of red tape that must be associated with crossing the custom barriers and the airspace of all the countries of the world. That doesn't mean Santa gets to skip it. Slannen is also hardworking and loyal, which are useful traits for a St. Nick. Still, who wants a tort for Christmas that's not almond?

5. Prince Nuada - Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
Kids have been threatened with being put on Santa's naughty list for generations, but often ignore the threat, particularly as they get older. What really happens if you go on the naughty list? Coal in the stocking. With today's energy crisis, that might actually be a bonus. Forget those wimpy threats and bring Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) down the chimney. Gracefully lethal, he could strike fear into the hearts of children worldwide and easily enforce his wishes for good behavior. His Golden Army, being mechanical soldiers, could also cut down on labor overheads by automating many tasks. He just needs to work on his "jolly" factor.

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There are few authors who have had as profound an influence on the fantasy movie genre as Roald Dahl. It's not just that so many of his stories have been adapted for the screen, but also that he was himself a fantasy screenwriter. You might think you know a Roald Dahl movie when you see one, but I'm willing to bet that a couple of his masterpieces will surprise you.

You Only Live Twice (1967)
Right off the bat, one of the biggest shockers: Dahl wrote a James Bond script. Is this fantasy? Not in any classic sense, but when you consider he added a carnivorous spaceship to the story, I think this has certain fantastical elements that come straight from Roald Dahl's imagination. What's significant here is that this was the first Bond movie to abandon the plot of the original novel and use only the characters and locations. Leave it to Dahl to trailblaze the territory that would one day bring us Die Another Day.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
James Bond wasn't the only Fleming story that Dahl had the pleasure of adapting into a screenplay, though in the case of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the weirdness of Fleming's story is a perfect fit for Dahl: With a flying car and zepplin-driving villains, the story belongs more to Dahl than to the man who made 007. It was also the perfect segue for Dahl to begin adapting his own stories for the screen, which he began work on shortly after his back-to-back Fleming fantasies.

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2010 is just around the corner, and as we come out of the aughts and into the teens, it seems appropriate to look back on the fantasy movies of the last decade. A few bad apples aside, we've seen some wonderful flicks in the last ten years. I've tried to pick out the ten best, which I have to tell you is no mean feat. In fact, I've cheated. Read on.

10. The Chronicles of Narnia (2005, 2008)
See, I told you I cheated: I'm tagging The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as well as Prince Caspian here. The world of Narnia and the creatures that inhabit it come to life in these movies in ways that are surprising and (mostly) pleasant. Mr. Tumnus is spot-on and I do want to have tea with him. It winds up as number ten, however, because Aslan is in the uncanny valley and makes me uncomfortable every time he's on screen.

9. Donnie Darko (2001)
What a strange, strange little movie. But it's that strangeness that caught people's attention at the turn of the millennium and turned Donnie Darko into a cult classic. This is one of those rare movies that gets to use the word "unique" and mean it: It is menacing, funny, deeply twisted and not like any other fantasy you've ever seen. Definitely in my top ten, but not necessarily for everyone.

8. Harry Potter (2001 - 2011)
On a world-building basis, Harry Potter has captured the imagination like no other fantasy, nay movie series. Honestly: James Bond might be the only rival and he's in a totally different genre. The only reason Harry isn't higher on the list is that the first two movies felt labored in their adherence to the books, and later chapters are often flawed by being rushed.

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You've no doubt heard of Frank Oz, and depending on when you first became aware of him, you'll either think of him as the man with his hand up Jim Henson's Muppets, or as a quirky and inventive fantasy director. Either way, he's had a strong influence on the genre, having started his career in puppetry when he was eleven years old. How did this background in puppetry shape his career as a director? Read on.

The Muppet Movie (1979)
For those of you who know Oz only as a director, let's pause for a moment and look at the range of Muppets he played: Miss Piggy, a self-obsessed diva pig; Fozzie Bear, a hapless comedian; Animal, a crazed drummer; Sam the Eagle, a true patriot; Marvin Suggs, who played the Muppaphone. Oz says that he doesn't do voices, he does characters and that if you start from the heart, the character follows. I suspect that's why his characters are so enduring.

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