OVP: Best Animated Feature Film (2018)
The Nominees Were...
Brad Bird, John Walker, & Nicole Paradis Grindle, Incredibles 2
Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, & Jeremy Dawson, Isle of Dogs
Mamoru Hosodu & Yuichiro Saito, Mirai
Rich Moore, Phil Johnston, & Clark Spencer, Ralph Breaks the Internet
Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, & Christopher Miller, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
My Thoughts: One of the stranger things about the animated-feature film race, particularly in the last ten years, is that it kind of runs the gamut when it comes to the justification of a five-wide field. There are years where, even if I don't think that it needs it (I never think it does, honestly-the point of awards is you honor the best of the best, not all of the best), you get a five-wide field that feels worthy of Oscar-where there's not a bad film in the bunch. And then there are years, like 2018, where the field that Oscar pulls together might look respectable, but let's be honest-these are not a grand selection of films.
Perhaps the best example of this is Incredibles 2, a followup to a truly great picture (you can see past contests below, and if you click on 2004 you'll see it was our undisputed winner on this blog). Incredibles 2 always felt logical-more than any other Pixar film, it was the movie that demanded a sequel (superhero pictures often do). But the movie has nothing new to say-since 2004, the superhero genre has become tired, and the idea of superheroes as celebrities (whose wanton destruction of the world at large they need to be held responsible for), isn't a new concept, and this feels played-out. Even compared to other unnecessary sequels like Toy Story 4, it's just not a film that ever justifies its existence, and I think most of the positive reviews of the film are driven by nostalgia more than people liking this particular picture.
The same can be said for Disney's other nominee here, Ralph Breaks the Internet. Like Incredibles, I liked Wreck-It Ralph (I gave it my bronze in 2012), and unlike Incredibles 2, Ralph has an interesting story to tell. We have Venellope outgrowing her friend Ralph, and the ending gives us something bittersweet (an emotion that Disney in the 21st Century has struggled to capture). But the film's ridiculous commercialization oftentimes fails more than it succeeds. The Disney Princess scene is a blast, but it underlines how vapid the rest of the story is, which feels like a commercial for the Disney brand more than a film that stands up on its own (like the original Ralph). I left feeling disgusted that I'd spent $15 to see a commercial-why didn't they just visit DisneyWorld rather than the internet, since that's clearly where they wanted you to go after watching this movie?
Mirai, though, takes my antipathy and doubles down-I actively disliked this movie. While there are scenes of beauty (the Tokyo subway sequence being the standout), the movie is dull. It repeats the same motif over-and-over-and-over again, and the principle character of Kun is annoying in a way that I couldn't get past. Honestly, this is the rare situation where my active dislike of a major character was too much for me to be invested in their journey of self-discovery, particularly when that journey was repetitive & tried to pull the same tricks throughout. I just wasn't having it-the first anime film not produced by Studio Ghibli to win an Oscar was a massive dud for me, and the most superfluous of this quintet.
Isle of Dogs is perhaps the most distinctive and beautiful of these five films. The mountains of garbage are a neat, oddly lovely trick; there's some wonderful homages to the city of Tokyo that it's hard not to appreciate. And I loved the fun that Anderson is having fun with the voice cast (best in show is Yoko Ono, yes the Yoko Ono, playing an assistant scientist...named Yoko Ono). Yet I feel like I struggle as the film goes on with this sort of twee (I know his fans hate that word, but the shoe fits with Isle of Dogs) viewpoint of the world, and there are moments in this film that Wes Anderson (a white man from Houston) feels like he might be crossing the line into appropriation using so much from Japanese culture in his movie, sometimes as a source of humor that had me shifting uncomfortably in my seat.
Which brings us to Oscar's winner, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Beautifully-put together (the animation feels both cutting edge & like it's paying homage to 1990's Saturday morning cartoons all at once), it takes the tired superhero genre and finds new ways of playing with it, giving us all of the different iterations of Spider-Man at once. It's a great message movie as well for young people ("be happy with the world you live in, but try to change it for the better" is a message some adults could also use), but it never feels overly familiar or preachy. Honestly-I have very little bad to say here-there's a possibility that some of the jokes might not age well, and it's clear that MCU is planning on duplicating a lot of the story beats from this movie on a grander scale, but that's just a testament to how well this is put together.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes went for a carbon-copy of the Oscar lineup, both in terms of winners & nominees, while the BAFTA Awards went with Spider-Man over Incredibles and Isle of Dogs in a three-wide lineup. In terms of sixth place, I think it was a distant sixth place to be honest, and I think Oscar would've preferred Aardman's Early Man in a slight bid over the commercial success of The Grinch (which they already did in 2000 in a pretty big way in the tech categories).
Films I Would Have Nominated: I know that part of this is my inner-nerd showing, but I am such a sucker for the Teen Titans Go franchise on Cartoon Network, despite being way too old to be into such things, and I would have found room for its big screen adventure in this field.
Films I Would Have Nominated: I know that part of this is my inner-nerd showing, but I am such a sucker for the Teen Titans Go franchise on Cartoon Network, despite being way too old to be into such things, and I would have found room for its big screen adventure in this field.
Oscar’s Choice: Despite dominating the precursors, you have to assume that Spider-Man didn't win by much over Incredibles 2 (you should never ever underestimate the power of Pixar in this category), but Sony took its trophy.
My Choice: Super easy call for Spider-Man. I'd follow that with Isle of Dogs, Incredibles, Ralph, and (way) in the back, Mirai.
And that's our Animated Feature film race. Is everyone kind of in line that this should've been Spider-Man, and if not-who is the best option here? If this field was three-wide, who would have been cut (my money is on Ralph and Mirai)? And between Early Man and The Grinch, who was in sixth place? Share your thoughts below!
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