The Oscars are this Sunday! Everyone else can go drool and/or cringe over who wore what, or debate about which film will win Best Picture. As a former animation student and ex-aspiring Disney and Pixar animator, the Best Animated Film category may be the only segment that I plan to catch on TV, or maybe even Youtube later.

“Wreck-It Ralph”

Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios

Strengths: Disney finally made a huge come-back with Wreck-It-Ralph. A little more than a decade after the end of the Disney Renaissance, they once again produced a film comprised of all the elements that made Disney so special in the first place, but laced with 21st-century sensibilities. I’m a Disney purist, and thought I could never accept a computer-animated Disney film. But seeing that the subject matter deals with video games, no other medium could be the perfect choice. It’s a clever story full of surprising twists, strong character development, believable dialogue, mind-blowingly creative art direction and design, and plenty of homages to famous video games. I have to say, if any of the animated films nominated this year have it all, this is it.

Weak points: Perhaps bias may work against Disney? Let’s face it, Disney has never won an Oscar for best animated feature film. When this category was created in 2001, the Disney Renaissance was obsolete, computer-animation came into disgustingly over-hyped vogue, and Pixar squashed every other animation studio’s chance of winning for several rows in a year. Maybe this year will be different?

“Frankenweenie”

Studio: Tim Burton Productions

Strengths: Another come-back for both Disney AND Tim Burton. After 7 years since his last Oscar-nominated animated film Corpse Bride, Burton teamed up with Disney for his newest animated film Frankenweenie (full review from last semester here). The first full-length animated film to be completely in black-and-white, Frankenweenie is an adorably macabre homage to old horror movies and classic Tim Burton from the 90′s. In addition, it’s stop-motion-you can only imagine how intricate the puppets are!

Weak points: The ending was a little weak and anti-climactic. Some of the references to horror movie characters could have been more cleverly implemented and fleshed out. Hello? You had a character named Elsa Van Helsing! Why is she a Van Helsing by name only?!

“ParaNorman”

Studio: Laika, Inc.

Strengths: 11-year-old Norman, who is able to speak to the dead, including his late grandmother and various ghosts, is ostracized by his town for doing so. The story is very mature and macabre, while still maintaining a kid-friendly appeal. In terms of sensibility, the film is very similar to Coraline, which was based off of Neil Gaiman’s award-winning novel of the same name, and also animated by Laika, AND nominated for Best Animated Film at the 2009 Oscars. It’s also the first-ever stop motion film to utilize full-color 3D printers for replacement animation.

Weak points: Oscars seem to not favor films that are pseudo-horror/goth/eccentric. Even though Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture at the 1991 Oscars…

“Brave”

Studio: Pixar

Strengths: Lush, beautiful art direction. It’s also Pixar’s first film to center upon a female protagonist, to be fairy-tale themed, and to be directed by a female director, Brenda Chapman (back when she worked for Disney, she was a key story artist for Beauty and the Beast, and the head of story for The Lion King).

Weak points: I wanted to like this film. I loved the intention of trying to send off a message about mother-daughter relationships. But too many things were going against Brave. Same old story seen over and over and over again about plucky (which can be read as code for “bratty” and “self-entitled”) females trying to prove how adventurous and brave and worthy they are of overcoming gender barriers. Yawn. The art direction was too reminiscent of Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon, and the gags were so out of the realm of Pixar’s usual clever humor that I couldn’t help but to wonder if Pixar’s logo instead of Dreamworks’ had been accidentally slapped into the trailers.

“The Pirates! Band of Misfits”

Studio: Aardman Animations

Strengths: From the same animation studio that produced the Wallace and Gromit movie. That’s it.

Weak points: Kiddy in a way that may amuse children but fail to impress adults. Too many eye roll-inducing gags. It’s too difficult to take ANY of the characters seriously. When I saw this film on the nominations list, I suddenly thought, “Wait, this is a mistake, right? Where’s Rise of the Guardians?”

WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED:

“Rise of the Guardians”

Studio: DreamWorks Animation

I swear I’m not saying this because I had the privilege to attend the world premiere and interview the director. I recall being blown away by the first trailer back in June, and then, in October, I traveled for 2 hours by bus to get to the screening with the fear that I was going to be cheated into staring at just another 2-hour-plus-eye-candy with no substantial plot. I’m so happy I was proved wrong. Not only was the jewel-toned and paint-like animation and art direction as beautiful as the trailer promised, the story, the characters, and the messages were all so heart-warming and wrought with nostalgia and that magical feeling of childhood dreams and imagination. Dreamworks, for the first time ever, exceeded my expectations, and lived up to their name (what sort of films would you imagine that a studio named “Dreamworks” would produce?). Even all my peers who went to see this film had nothing bad to say. I’m truly shocked by this Oscar snub.

So, what’s your personal pick? Which film are you rooting for? Or do you prefer to keep an eye on other categories? Comment below!

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