Oscar's Best Animated Feature (2008)

These are the three Academy Award nominees for Best Animated feature. Is it another automatic win for Pixar? Will a non-kiddie cartoon prevail this time? Is Surf's Up really the best they could do for a third flick? Vote and discuss.

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I'm going to a screening of Persepolis tomorrow. I'm a huge fan of Satrapi's graphic memoirs, and I'm sure they will translate well to the big screen. Very excited to see it.

I saw Ratatoullie and while it is techinally perfect, as you'd expect from PIXAR, and while the message is a good, nice sentiment that all children should learn and have reinforced, I didn't think it was anywhere near as funny as their best stuff (Incredibles, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and the Toy Stoy pics) nor is it as pitch-perfect heartfelt. The relationships, from the human love story to the family dynamic among the rats, seemed really shallow and easy to me. It was all nice, but not very inventive past the initial high concept, and it truly didn't move me at all, unlike the undeniable strength of the emotions in the best PIXARS I already listed. And personally, I know it's gonna sound silly, but I could never get past the idea of rat hair in food. The chef's hat acted as a sort of natural rat-hairnet, I suppose, but that big scene where the colony helps in the kitchen...sorry, couldn't get past it. I know they're talking cartoon characters and all, but still. Overall it's much better than Cars, to be sure, but that ain't saying much. I'm sure it's going to win easily, and that it'll be a couple decades before an "adult" animated film wins an Oscar. Much like the stigma of the label "comic book", the casual or disinterested will always assume that animation = kiddie fare.

But anyway. Haven't bothered to see Surf's Up. I'll let you all know how Persepolis is.

Yes, please do.

I liked Ratatouille just fine, but it didn't blow me away, either. I'm pretty surprised at how high some people are on it.

That said, I'm sure it's miles better than Surf's Up. If that's the bar you have to jump to get a nomination, I daresay The Simpsons Movie cleared it. I don't know if the idea of Homer Simpson being part of an Oscar telecast makes some of the industry's snootier elements cringe, but it was both hilarious and fairly heartfelt, so I would think it'd be acceptable.

Oh well.

Yeah, as I say I haven't seen Surf's Up either, but I too find it difficult to believe it is "better" in any way than The Simpsons Movie.

Whatareyougonnado?

Or even Shrek the Third, for that matter, which was pretty forgettable, but not much worse than Shrek 2, which was nominated three years ago.

By the way (not to get this thread too off-topic or anything), what did you think of The Simpsons Movie? I know you're a big fan of the series, but I don't remember you mentioning the film.

I enjoyed the Hell of of The Simpsons Movie, went to a midnight screening opening night. I'm in the minority in that I still very much enjoy the TV show each week, but I thought while the movie wasn't among the best Simpsons stories ever told nor did it have the highest laugh ratio they've ever done, it was still full of great stuff! Not one of the best movies of the year or anything, but very fun. And yes, like most of "The Simpsons", quite heartfelt, too, in its stealth way. And some of the PG-13 things they got to do were a howl. And seeing it in giant widescreen, that was fantastic.

Yeah, I liked it a lot. I'd like to see somebody defend Surf's Up as a better film.

I enjoyed Ratatouille much better than Surfs Up, but I haven't gotten gotten a chance to see Persepolis. I haven't voted cause I haven't seen 'em all, though for some reason I have a feeling Persepolis might win.

Okely dokely.

The Simpsons Movie and Ratatouille may have been nicer to look at, but Surf's Up was far and away the more inventive and downright funny flick. The tv spots didn't do it justice, it really was a pretty enjoyable movie.

Overall though, it was a fairly weak year for animated fare. You won't find a bigger Simpsons fan than me but I'm in the majority in that I'm just embarassed by the current state of the show. It hit its creative peak 8 or 9 years ago and hasn't produced a memorable episode since I don't even know when. The movie had hints of brilliance - I laughed out loud a couple of times. But a lot of the gags fell flat (way more misses than hits), the "drama" wasn't doing it for me at all and in the end it just came off as kinda lame.

I do need to check out Persepolis, though.

The last two new episodes of "The Simpsons" were worth a 95/100 if you ask me. Maybe Holden and I were the only ones who watched them. I won't speak for him but I proudly admit that I'm uncool, especilly if it means I watch something really good.

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Well, to be fair, I haven't been watching regularly for three or four years now. But I did catch this season's Halloween episode and it was just bad. Really unfunny stuff.

I almost cired at the end of Rataouille. The only thing keeping my tears back was the fact that my girlfriend was sat next to me. Manly, I know.

I enjoyed The Simpsons Movie. A lot of people I know were majorly disappointed, but I found it a lot funnier than a lot of their recent stuff, and if you look at it as just another (long) episode, it shouldn't disappoint.

I wanted to see Surf's Up but never got around to it. The documentary-type style appealed to me.

I thought Bee Movie was pretty good. A bit daft, but still quite funny at times. It would've been good to see that get the nod.

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I loved Bee Movie (, review here). I laughed quite a bit; enough that it barely felt like a "family film" at all. Call me crazy, but I think the "Ray Liotta's Private Select" bit is going to go over most kids' heads.

I would have been fine with it getting a nomination, and I generally detest the fact that the Academy seems to find certain popular (or irreverent) films beneath it, but in this case I'm a bit more understanding. Bee Movie was so random and goofy that, as much as I enjoyed it, it didn't feel like much of an achievement. It was incredibly entertaining, but not really impressive, if you follow.

Anyway, as goofy as this may be, this will all probably inspire me to rent Surf's Up, just to make sure I'm not judging it unfairly. I've been pleasantly surprised by several of these ho-hum CGI family films before, so I'll probably give it a try.

Yes, I think Ratatouille will ultimately win....especially since it's also nominated for Best Original Screen play. Whether you like certain elements used or not...it's a nice total package...story wise and the animation is top grade.

Actually, I'd really like to know why more anime isn't recognized in this catagory. I was annoyed one year when Steamboy was overlooked.

Has anyone seen Satoshi Kon's Paprika? If so...what did you think of it? I have it in my 'Q' and am waiting for it. If it's as good as Millennium Actress or Tokyo Godfathers I'll be wondering why it was snubbed from this catagory.


Holden...take the plunge and watch Surf's Up. I liked it better than the other penguin movie from last year Happy Feet(which I thought was a little over-rated). Not that you'll like it any better than The Simpsons Movie, but maybe you'll at least appreciate the animation...which I think was better.

I think with the The Simpsons Movie there's already a history built up in loving the characters, so the jokes will go over much bigger. The other movies don't have that emotional attachment already connected to it. I'm thinking that Surf's Up had both the funny and the warm moments which may have spoken more to the nominating commitee. Just for conversation sake...did anyone really feel a warm touching moment with the Simpson's?

Also...as a thought...and for disscussion...
If you thought The Simpsons Movie should have been nominated, do you think it might have suffered the same fate that most comedies and comedic performances suffer?

Yes! Go rent it and give it a go Yoda. It's not the little kiddie movie as Happy Feet was. I liked it more than I thought I would. It had a nice message.

Sorry guys...I know this is a triple post, but I had a window of time here and a spurt of energy.

If anyone is interested in taking a peek at the annual animation awards (The Annie's...Presented by the International Animation Film Society), go here.

http://www.annieawards.org/foryourconsideration.html

If some of you are disappointed with either The Bee Movie or The Simpsons Movie not being nominated for the Oscars, it might help to know they are nominated for Best Animated Feature
in the Annie Awards. Next to Ratatouille...Surf's Up has the second most nominations...just in case you're interested.

I am not mad about the Simpson's Movie being left out, nor Bee Movie, I am just mad because Surf's Up is on there.

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Why are you mad? Let us know what your thoughts are other than 'I'm mad'. Why don't you like it?

What would you rather see in it's nomination place and why?



Just curious.

I'll admit that the Simpsons Movie, probably isn't Oscar material, nor Bee Movie,


but, Surf's Up I found to be way too kiddie. I guess I just love Seinfeld's writing better, so I wanted Bee Movie to get the nom more then Surf's Up

That's fair and I understand.

It's a shame they only nominate three films. Does anyone know if it's always been that way...only three slots given to animated features?

Actually, I'm pretty sure Spirited Away was the first movie to ever win the Best Animated Feature award so they do acknowledge anime.

I have also seen Paprika and while I enjoyed the visuals, the story wasn't all that compelling to me and I didn't find ANY of the characters to be that interesting. In fact, a few of them were downright annoying.