The Alternative Animated Oscars Pt. 5

2016 

The nominations are Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, My Life as a Courgette, The Red Turtle, and the winner was Zootopia. 

Kubo and the Two Strings is another fantastic Laika film that ups the ante in gorgeous animation and maturity in storytelling. Despite the amount of incident and monsters and imagination the story is grounded in character. Some of it might be melancholic for the little ones, and the humor with the beetle often falls flat, but those are minor complaints about this modern masterpiece. 

Moana is the final film directed by legendary directors Musker and Clements, and they are able to take a lot of common story beats and elevate them through craft. This is one of the best Disney musicals of its era and livened up by a dynamic fully fleshed out cast, memorable songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, exciting set pieces, and transcendent animation. I think because it resembled so many other Disney movies it was critically underappreciated at the time, although it did well with audiences and its reputation has only grown. The middling sequel, also currently doing very well in the box office, proves what happens without the craft of the first film.  

My Life as a Courgette (aka as My Life as a Zucchini) is an excellent stop motion animation about a young boy who is placed in an orphanage after accidentally killing his abusive mother. It hints at subjects like abuse without being overt. Mainly it is a coming-of-age story starring a precocious young boy slowly learning how to trust and love. It does feel like some elements of the story could be fleshed out to hit the dramatic moments the film is striving for, but this is a very touching story.  

The Red Turtle has some of the lushest animation I have ever seen. Mostly wordless, This fable starts with a man in a storm before being stranded on an island. His attempts to escape are thwarted by a giant red turtle. To explain more would be a spoiler (there isn't a lot of plot, but it does go in surprising ways). Melancholic and romantic, this movie is quiet and surprising. This is a very good nomination and it’s confusing why Michael Dudok de Wit has not made more films.   

Zootopia is pleasurable and diverting and creates a fully fleshed out world. Kids will love this movie and it’s no wonder there was a spinoff Disney+ show and a sequel planned. It is not a movie that sticks with you after you leave the theatre, and frankly a disappointing win considering the more ambitious, creative and evocative competition.  

For Your Consideration (Not nominated, but deserve a look) 

Naoko Yamada has become one of the leading voices in anime, and the popularity of A Silent Voice brought her worldwide attention. It is a very good movie with important messages for teens and preteens, and I can see how the high drama appeals to that age group. I do find it tries to say too much - it's about bullying, disability, suicide – and the choice to have the lead character be so unlikeable for much of the movie is bold, but makes me not care what happens to him. I do care about other characters, but sometimes their actions seem to be in the service of the plot. Through other projects Naoko Yamada has become one of my favorite directors, but this is my least favorite project of hers.   

The Girl Without Hands is based on a Grimm Fairy Tale, The Girl Without Hands is a somber melancholic film. It looks like no other film. It is hand painted, but expressively so and with minimal line work that is the animation. Hand Painted lines will appear and disappear but the movement is never lost. It's hypnotic. Parts of it are violent and there is no levity. This is based on the original Grimm fairy tale and not sanitized for children. It is a film I do not revisit often, as its oppressiveness is stunting, but it is a film I deeply appreciate.

In this Corner of the World takes place in Kure, a nearby village of Hiroshima, in the 1930's and 1940s. It tells the story of a young girl named Suzu who marries into a family that is emotionally distant to her. It is about her attempts to live in war torn Japan. She attempts to live her life looking after her family among air raids and fire bombings. Given the time and the place, the viewer is always aware what is going to eventually happen, and this foreboding knowledge is omnipresent through the film. 

The smartest thing this movie does is let us go deeply into her life and understand her motivations and wants and needs. We are invested in her story and character. It's a difficult movie, but also a humanistic one. Knowing what will happens fills the first half with a sense of dread, but all that is paid off in the second half.  

Louise by the Shore has meager ambitions, but is as lovely as its hero. An old woman gets stranded through the winter in an empty seaside town and she begins to hallucinate as her and a stray dog try to survive. The movie starts at the beginning so we know that the woman is never in any physical danger and the stakes become about her working through some unresolved trauma from her childhood. You could pair this with The Straight Story or other movies where seniors are looking back at their lives. It is proof that animation is a medium that can tell mature stories beyond princesses and robots.   

My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea is the most DIY project on the list. It's like an animated zine from someone who loves Troma films, disaster films and has a VERY dry sense of humor. The title is the premise. After a (too long) opening playing up the melodrama of teenage life, the high school sinks in the sea and they need to find their way to the roof so they don't drown or get eaten by various sea creatures. It's knowingly making fun of every b grade adventure movie cliché possible. It's rated R, but is so cartoony most preteens would love it. 

Your Name is one of the most popular anime films in history. Two teenagers share an intimate connection when they begin body swapping. She lives in the country and he lives in Tokyo. I can't really write more because much of the way this movie is pleasurable is the many surprising twists and turns the plot takes. It does get confusing but that's part of the fun (there's a lot of "Your Name explained" videos online).  Shinkai is famous for making overtly broad romantic movies that are stunningly gorgeous. He also usually has a science fiction element. The reason this film stands out amongst all his films is the epic ambition and the constant surprises of the plot. For me this is when all of Shinkai’s elements gel and is still his best picture.    

My Nominations and Winner (from least to most deserving) 

In this Corner of the World 

My Life as a Courgette 

The Red Turtle 

Moana  

Your Name not even getting a nomination is ludicrous.  It was easily the most ambitious and best animated movie of the year. 

2017 

The nominees were The Boss Baby, The Breadwinner, Ferdinand, Loving Vincent, and the winner is Coco. 

I’ve seen both The Boss Baby and Ferdinand several times.  Neither movie is memorable, but at least The Boss Baby has the “cookies is for closers” line. These are bad movies.  

The Breadwinner is based on a book by Deborah Ellis aimed at preteens and teens. It is about a girl who has to go undercover as a boy to earn money for her family after her father becomes a political prisoner. The Breadwinner takes on dark subject matter but keeps its audience in mind so the horrific things happen offscreen.  While not exploitative the movie does not ignore the seriousness of the situation. The other reason this movie works is the likeability of the characters, especially the young girl protagonist. A very good nomination and an interesting direction from Cartoon Saloon. 

Loving Vincent is a movie that is completely animated by painting with oil paint. I feel guilty that I do not love this movie, as I am astounded by the ingenuity and the unimaginable effort it must have taken to make this film. I really struggle with the film as a narrative. As a biography it is astonishingly static and dull, reverential to Van Gogh in a stunting way. Visually I am glad that I saw this in the theater because the parts where they animate the impressionist paintings were a seminal experience. Even though it isn't their fault, the parts where they paint naturally look exactly like bad A.I. In my opinion they should have gone more expressive with it instead of aiming more for naturalism with their next feature, The Peasants. Maybe a cubist or abstract artist next time? Just like those gaudy Van Gogh immersive “experiences”, it’s the opposite of its subject matter, all spectacle with little soul.

Coco is the best movie Pixar put out in the 2010s and top 5 of all the Pixar movies for me. Whenever I watch it, I am astonished by how effortlessly it lays out its complicated plot. The climax for all the major character’s stories is handled so elegantly and in one specific quiet moment that I am surprised how well it works. It does get a little lost in the adventure three quarters of the way through and the big mystery is pretty obvious, yet the movie moves at such a brisk pace it doesn’t matter. This is a deep exploration of family, legacy, and art.  

For Your Consideration (Not nominated, but deserve a look)  

Lego Batman is the first sequel to the outstanding Lego Movie and changes the formula enough to be fresh. It is kinetic, with constant jokes, and more jokes, and more jokes. The take on Batman and his Bat Family is appropriate for kids while still being just a great Batman movie. The first time I saw it I thought the dramatic elements fell flat, but on repeat viewings I really enjoyed the take on the Bat Family, and the cast is perfect. Outside of Arrested Development this is Will Arnett’s best role. just as it’s precursor this one deserved a nomination. (The Ninjago Lego Movie released later this year is also a pretty entertaining movie, although not in the same league as the first two films).    

Tehran Taboo is the story of three woman and one man whose individual storylines converge. It's almost impossible to discuss this movie without spoiling so I will avoid plot points. It's a movie about gender inequality and political repression in modern Tehran. What makes the movie work so well is the characters are so well fleshed out and natural (the actors are fantastic). These characters are all in terrible situations but the movie concentrates on their relationships and personalities so it feels more personal than preachy or political. This makes the tension that much more palatable when it ratchets up. It’s a forgotten movie that would have benefited from a deserved nomination.  

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl is technically connected to the television show “The Tatami Galaxy”, but you can watch it by itself with no issues. This movie is meandering and plotless in the best ways that the best “one crazy night” movies are. It is about college kids going through an aimless night and the wacky hijinks they go through. At its core it is about a boy who is trying to get up the nerve to talk to a girl he has a crush on, but even then, that's the barest of plots to hang this movie on. 

It's a very easygoing whimsical movie. The protagonist is this girl who can drink lots and is very charismatic. It's the best representation of those aimless nights in college wandering a city (it does gets very strange). You never know where it will go next. Director Masaaki Yuasa is too wild and idiosyncratic for the staid Oscars, but he’s one of the most intriguing directors in the world.

My Nominations and Winner (from least to most deserving) 

Tehran Taboo 

The Breadwinner 

The Night is Short, Walk on Girl 

Lego Batman 

I can see an argument for Lego Batman and it is close, but Coco is a remarkable and refreshing movie and deserves the Oscar. 

2018 

The nominations are The Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mirai, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and the winner is Spider Man: Into the Spider Verse. 

The Incredibles 2 is a movie I have seen at least a dozen times, and it is a very entertaining movie that doesn’t live up to the original. Sequels can be tough because sometimes it feels like the character arcs are already resolved and the creators can either create a new arc or decide to just have a new adventure starring our favorite characters. Director Brad Bird does a bit of both to mixed results. I love the looney tunes mayhem with Jack Jack and the raccoon, love all the adventures with Mrs. Incredible, am meh on Mr. Incredible’s Mr. Mom plotline, and think the Screenslaver is a lame villain. Still, an 8 out of 10 is only disappointing following a perfect movie.

Speaking of following a perfect movie with a movie that is merely very very good, I remember Isle of Dogs being taken for granted when it first came out. Wes Anderson is a meticulous filmmaker and I do find the difference between his best and (comparably) worst work is the amount of humor and warmth in his work. Isle of dogs does mostly work, but it is uneven and sometimes muddled, and lacks the zaniness and pep of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Mirai is a surprise nomination, but a welcome one for director Mamoru Hosoda. It is the story of a little boy who is jealous of his little sister and acts out, until he is visited from his sister who is grown up and then time travels with her to see the story of his family members, including meeting younger versions of his parents and grandparents. It’s all lovely and much of it is subtle and nuanced. The episodic nature of it does get tiresome in some of the slower parts, and the dramatic conclusion feels tonally from a different film, but this is still an excellent film.

Ralph Breaks the Internet is a fine unambitious movie, but it is mostly here because Wreck it Ralph lost to Brave at the Oscars. It repeats a lot of the same beats as the first movie, but has little to add to the story.

There is an argument to be made that Spider Man: Into the Spider Verse is the most influential animated movie of the last decade. Up until Spider Verse computer graphics kept trying to look more realistic, but Spider Verse turned that on its head. Spider Verse said, “Hey, wait, we are a cartoon and with CGI we can be MORE expressive and MORE experimental”. It suddenly made Pixar and Illumination look dated, and led to other animations being more expressive. Just look at Puss and Boots: The Last Wish and compare it to the first Puss in Boots movie to see the effect Spider Verse had. Spider Verse literally changed the way studios and audiences saw animation.

The technical innovation would be enough, but the story is also refreshing. Since it is so grounded in character motivation and the charisma of lead Miles Morales Spider Verse is able to push the boundaries without ever feeling like it is losing control of the movie. Spider Verse is a perfect movie.

For Your Consideration (Not nominated, but deserve a look) 

Another day of life is a combination of Autobiography and documentary tracing a journalists journey through Angola during a civil war. The film combines the dramatized story in 1975 (in animation) with interviews with participants in the current day (shot in real life). The animated parts look rotoscoped. The backgrounds and city look amazing, but the people cross the uncanny valley and look a little like Playstation 3 sometimes. It’s a minor quibble in a really gripping story.  

Bunuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles is a biography of surrealist filmmaker Luis Buniel making the documentary Land before Bread. It opens with a scene of a group of artists, poets and philosophers discussing the morality of art. The rest of the movie can be seen as a character study and an examination of the themes introduced in the beginning. One of the main strengths of the movie is that it is not trying to give a conclusive answer but instead gives a variety of different philosophical arguments. This makes it sound like homework. While not a movie for kids it is still a very intriguing human drama. 

Funan is about a family separated during the Khmer Rouge revolution, and a mother's attempt to find her 4-year-old son. It is tense and can get dark in parts. I do think the story is often rushed and the movie could be longer given its ambition, but what is here is stirring. The violence is mostly offscreen but many scenes are frightening to think about. 

I want to eat your Pancreas and Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms are both very, very popular anime which have sequences which are stunning and theatrical melodramatic characters that lovers of anime enjoy, but I found these characters tedious. I believe teenagers especially will enjoy the BIG emotions and emo moments. I want to eat your pancreas is a more down to earth story, and Maquia has more fantasy elements.  

Liz and the Blue Bird is technically an offshoot of the T.V show Sound Euphonium about a high school band. I found that show overtly dramatic. Luckily Naoko Yamada wrote and directed this movie and her choice to ground the movie and concentrate it on two characters is key to this movie working. It's about that moment where two best friends are separating after high school, but they get to play one final concert together. It's about letting go of someone you love to move on in life. It’s an excellent movie for young adults, but anyone will enjoy it. 

You can feel Okko’s Inn aim for Ghibli vibes, and for the most part it succeeds. It owes a lot to Kiki’s Delivery Service, where the protagonist must learn independence and there is a magical element involved. In the case of Okko’s Inn it opens with a lightly frightening car crash that orphans Okko, and she can see ghosts, who end up being a mostly amusing cast of characters. It’s a solid family film.  

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies does not aim for anything but to make you laugh, and thankfully it does that very well. Gleefully juvenile and puerile, Teen Titans will not please every parent, but it is in the spirit of Mad magazine, Airplane, and The Simpsons. Kids need purely silly stuff that is slightly inappropriate. Plus it has maybe my favorite Batman joke ever.

The Wolf House is hallucinogenic and absurd and stifling. There is a very loose narrative but the plot is largely only introduced in an opening monologue and then the main action is far more abstract. It is clearly inspired by Jan Svankmajer or The Brothers Quay, but it even more abstract and menacing. The stop motion animation is unique, including painting on the wall, installation work, and sculptural works. Everything builds and then is destroyed. It’s probably too arthouse for the Oscars,  but for those who like something different The Wolf House is incredible.  

This Magnificent Cake! In the late 19th century King Leopold II of Belgium, excited at the prospect of colonizing Africa loudly proclaimed "I do not want to miss a chance to get some of this magnificent cake!" This surreal, brutal, darkly humorous stop motion movie explores the psychology and effects of colonialism in several short stories. It is a movie that becomes more horrific and stranger as it enters more eerie symbolism as they movie progresses.  The makers of this movie also made The House for Netflix. It does keep some of the same vibes, but not having the historical political viewpoint and social satire makes it a emptier and harder film to connect to. 

 My Nominations and Winner (from least to most deserving)

Mirai 

Liz and the Blue Bird  

Isle of Dogs 

Another Day of Life  

I think it’s pretty obvious from what I wrote above, but I consider Spider Man: Into the Spider Verse as the most important animated film of the last decade. Give it all the awards.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

At the end of a very tough year, let me thank all of you reading this. Please consider subscribing if you haven’t. Have a great New Year for those who celebrate. Next Sunday we look at 2019 to 2021.