Klaus
 

Can't go into a full-fledged review, exactly, but after seeing Klaus got an Oscar nomination (and talking about it on the podcast, where I noted that from a distance it just looked like another mass-produced streaming animated film), I gave it a watch...and geez, it's really good. Clever Christmas origin story, lots of fun little ideas tucked away, good voice acting, surprisingly moving, and the aesthetic is gorgeous. Seems heavily influenced by Eyvind Earle:




Can't recommend this enough. Treats kids like grown-ups, pretty funny for adults, and just really well-made. Interesting camera angles and positions (which double as a way to make the most out of each gorgeous backdrop by keeping some shots static), beautiful lighting, and wonderfully exaggerated character designs and architecture.

Re: Klaus
 

I enjoyed it too. I want to see that other animated Oscar nominee on Netflix too.

Re: Klaus
 

7/7 at the Annies.

Re: Klaus
 

Man, I would love to see Klaus take this.

Re: Klaus
 

I lost my body was a surprise nominee, along with Klaus, but made me stop and rewatch the trailer 3 times. I need to sit down and watch both of these.
Missing Link was another nominee right? It’s available on Hulu.

Having reached Christmas Eve without having seen one holiday special/movie, I decided to give this one a shot and I also loved it. The story and characters are cute/clever but I tend to focus on the design and animation and I was really knocked out. My initial confusion as to whether it was cel animation or CG turned out to be valid. Turns out the animation was hand-drawn but the modeling/shading was done digitally. Regardless I found the overall design to be pretty distinctive, which is unfortunately pretty rare in American animation. Granted, some bits owe a large debt to Burton -

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/p...deadmayhew.jpghttps://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.vbRBMc...A?pid=Api&rs=1
(Corpse Bride, left / Klaus, right)
but for the most part I didn't feel like I was watching just another Hollywood animated film. Good stuff.