OVP: Best Animated Feature Film (2013)
The Nominees Were...
Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco, and Kristine Belson, The Croods
Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, and Chris Meledandri, Despicable Me 2
Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner, Ernest & Celestine
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, and Peter del Vecho, Frozen
Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki, The Wind Rises
My Thoughts: All right, the OVP is now briefly back to films that you've actually seen (well, three of them anyway). After a quick dalliance with the Short films, we've got a crop of five animated films, including one of the most successful movies of all-time to tackle and so let's get to jumping.
I debated whether to start, end or shove Frozen into the middle, but in keeping with the theme of the short films, I'm going to once again start with the film you were most likely to have seen. The tale of Anna and Elsa was a MASSIVE success for Disney (one I have a feeling even the Mouse House didn't expect would be quite so big after the decent but not gargantuan returns of Princess and the Frog and Tangled). It's hard not to see why-the movie is a pure joy from beginning to end, with catchy numbers, female empowerment, and in a twist most adults would have seen coming (but probably scarred children for life), an evil handsome prince. The comic timing of all of the actors involved worked perfectly (Jon Groff, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, even Josh Gad-the cast list reads like it was selected for a Pixar film with such care put into every actor onscreen, not filled with stunt voices), and it helped that they all could actually sing in a film that unabashedly loves that it's a musical. There are certain touches here and there I would have changed (Kristoff is the only character that really expands his personality enough to match wits with a Belle or Aladdin from old school Disney where character development was more important), but overall this was one of the most gleeful experiences I had last year at the movies.
I'm going to admit right now that I don't really get the appeal of the Despicable Me films. This movie was a MASSIVE hit as well (nearly hitting the $1 billion mark worldwide), and clearly there's a likability in the characters (particularly the Minions, who like the Penguins in Madagascar or Scrat in the Ice Age films, are operating in a whole different level of enjoyability than the rest of the movie), but the film as a whole leaves me cold. The story notes are too predictable even for a children's film, and the plot I found a bit patronizing and offensive in a heteronormative way (isn't Gru enough for these three girls-does he have to also find a woman to complete his family?). The movie also was too long and not particularly funny when the Minions weren't onscreen. Overall, this seems like an odd movie for AMPAS to break its streak of not nominating the sequels to films that it didn't honor the original with a nomination.
Those are my thoughts-how
about yours? When you get
objective, is it hard to pick Frozen over
The Wind Rises, or are you Team Olaf
for life? Are you part of the
(clear minority) of filmgoers that doesn’t care for the Despicable Me films?
And what animated film was the overall best of 2013? Share in the comments!
I debated whether to start, end or shove Frozen into the middle, but in keeping with the theme of the short films, I'm going to once again start with the film you were most likely to have seen. The tale of Anna and Elsa was a MASSIVE success for Disney (one I have a feeling even the Mouse House didn't expect would be quite so big after the decent but not gargantuan returns of Princess and the Frog and Tangled). It's hard not to see why-the movie is a pure joy from beginning to end, with catchy numbers, female empowerment, and in a twist most adults would have seen coming (but probably scarred children for life), an evil handsome prince. The comic timing of all of the actors involved worked perfectly (Jon Groff, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, even Josh Gad-the cast list reads like it was selected for a Pixar film with such care put into every actor onscreen, not filled with stunt voices), and it helped that they all could actually sing in a film that unabashedly loves that it's a musical. There are certain touches here and there I would have changed (Kristoff is the only character that really expands his personality enough to match wits with a Belle or Aladdin from old school Disney where character development was more important), but overall this was one of the most gleeful experiences I had last year at the movies.
I'm going to admit right now that I don't really get the appeal of the Despicable Me films. This movie was a MASSIVE hit as well (nearly hitting the $1 billion mark worldwide), and clearly there's a likability in the characters (particularly the Minions, who like the Penguins in Madagascar or Scrat in the Ice Age films, are operating in a whole different level of enjoyability than the rest of the movie), but the film as a whole leaves me cold. The story notes are too predictable even for a children's film, and the plot I found a bit patronizing and offensive in a heteronormative way (isn't Gru enough for these three girls-does he have to also find a woman to complete his family?). The movie also was too long and not particularly funny when the Minions weren't onscreen. Overall, this seems like an odd movie for AMPAS to break its streak of not nominating the sequels to films that it didn't honor the original with a nomination.
The Croods was the
other major blockbuster with a nearly $600 million take (though it’s worth
noting that The Wind Rises made $130
million internationally, which is pretty damn awesome for a foreign language
film, though on Saturday we’ll be discussing a foreign language film with an
even greater international take that many of you probably haven’t heard of), but
unlike Despicable Me 2, I have to say
this film ages better in my mind.
The plot is still silly and the color palette seems like it was chosen
by a four-year-old with a 64-pack of Crayolas, but the lighting is sublime
(Roger Deakins, y’all), and the action sequences are riveting. This is the sort of film that probably
I would have liked better if I had seen it on the big screen (the only of these
five nominees that I didn’t), as its excess would have seemed impressive rather
than busy, but I didn’t and films need to be able to play well in both avenues these
days. Still, though, a better film
the further you get away from it and not an unworthy nominee considering the
dearth of competition.
Ernest & Celestine
is another film that is made a lot better by its animation-I love the way
that the drawings don’t seem complete and digitized to within an inch of its
life: you’re clearly watching an animated film, and it’s almost like you’re lost in an
unfinished Monet picture book. The
plot of the film is a bit disjointed and I didn’t like the dream sequences
(this film doesn’t wear well in the old noggin in the same way that The Croods does, though I do remember
the brilliant artwork being the best of these five films, which is saying something up against Croods and The Wind Rises). All-in-all a worthy choice to fill out a slim five-wide
field, but not as special as it was initially made out to be.
I started with Frozen and
will end with The Wind Rises, the
only other film of the quintet that remotely had a shot of taking the win with
the Oscars (though honestly, there was no chance it would lose considering that
Box Office). The movie is one of
Miyazaki’s best, in my opinion, and its message, while interesting and controversial
at the time, still seems quite resonant a few months later when the knee-jerk
reactions and nitpicking have subsided. Of the
five films, this is clearly the best scripted film and the most fascinating
plot. Honestly, as I’m writing
this I’m not sure if I’ll give this film the award or Frozen, but there’s a lot to offer here that would make the
unthinkable (skipping Olaf!) seem pretty reasonable: I love when filmmakers
take a principled stand in their work while staying grounded deeply in
something artistically interesting and beautiful, and that’s what Miyazaki does
here by questioning the very idea of war.
It’s a really special movie, and if he truly is retiring, this is a
great way to exit the stage.
Other Precursor
Contenders: The Globes avoided all of the fuss around five nominations and
stuck to three, so they went with nearly a carbon copy of Oscar (skipping the
two foreign language films), with Despicable
Me 2 and The Croods losing out to
Frozen. The Annie Awards usually find room for everyone, and they
did here, along with Monsters University and
A Letter to Momo. Pixar was probably in sixth place, and
its absence both with HFPA and AMPAS (the first time one of their films missed
both) makes me curious: is Pixar just an automatic win if it gets nominated
(see Brave winning when it could just
as easily gone with Frankenweenie or Wreck-It Ralph), but the Academy gets
super choosy when it misses critically on the gimme noimination?
Films I Would Have
Nominated: I didn’t see Letter to Momo
and didn’t like Monsters University,
so I’m fine with this list, though I have difficulty believing that Momo wouldn’t trump Despicable Me 2 in my mind (if anyone’s seen it share your thoughts
in the comments).
Oscar’s Choice: Oscar
finally gave Disney a prize in the category it somehow had missed in since the
start: Frozen trumped The Wind Rises.
My Choice: In
2009 I went against the grain and gave Coraline
the trophy over Up….but I just
cannot quite get there again. Frozen is the most fun I had in theaters
in 2013, and that has to count for something, particularly when the score and
casting are so damn entertaining.
I’m going to give it the trophy by a hair’s breadth (damn it-why didn’t
I figure out a way to include ties in the OVP?!?), with The Wind Rises right behind.
Coming after are Ernest, Croods, and
way in the back, Despicable Me 2.
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