Category:
Best Animated Feature
Note: It seems so odd, that in a year where more animated films were released than any previous year in history, the Academy chose only to nominate three films. Why not go ahead and nominate five films. Ironically, as has been the history of this category--some say it was created to prevent another potential calamity nomination that was Beauty and the Beast which was nominated for Best Motion Picture--only animated films pitched at children made the nomination list.
Nominees:
Cars (review)
comment: For most of the year, Cars led my W.I.P. Scale™ for best film of the year. As the December releases arrived, it finally got some company with five other $14.75 films. My brother still believes I was wrong in not giving Cars a full $15 rating (the highest possible), but I felt the tractor-tipping part of the film made it unworthy of a full $15. Had that part been cut, I would have had no hesitation in ranking Cars the best film of the year, animated or otherwise. Cars proved many things this year. It proved that Pixar Animated films will stand out in the history of the world as the best of their time. Now, they are in the hands of Disney, and it will remain to be seen what happens to their stories. Cars is the pinnacle achievement in story-telling for children. There is no villain to keep kids up for years with nightmares. Instead of using the battle with a villain to prove the hero has overcome his own flaws and weaknesses, the film uses winning a race or, rather in this case, the letting of someone else win the race. It's just incredible.
Happy Feet (review)
comment: Undoubtedly worthy of this nomination, Happy Feed is a tribut to CGI animation as well, again, to using the genre to teach kids and grown ups some invaluable lesssons. Happy Feed has a distinct edge to it in its moral lessons that call it into contetion for being one categorized as one of the most important allegories of our times.
Monster House (review)
comment: I would have nominated it for the animation, not the story. The story, actually, is quite pecuiliar, horrifying, and full of politically incorrect concepts. I would never take kids to see it. But, the animation was top notch. Plus the 3D version was even more amazing.
Who's missing?
- A Scanner Darkly--Simply put, this film should have been nominated no question. The animation techniques, the vocal performances, the real performances by the actors under the scanner, the surreal story, etc. How did they miss this one? Is this award just for movies pitched at kids? If so, they've got to come up with a way to honor these films.
- Renaissance--For the black and white technique of animation used alone, this film deserved to be recognized. You have five slots to nominate films, why not acknowledge this one for the brilliance of the artistry. The story left a bit to be desired, but you have to see this film to believe it.
If you enjoyed this comprehensive analysis of the nominees for the 79th Annual Academy Awards® , please click here -->
click a category below to read analyses on the other categories
No comments:
Post a Comment