What good taste on the part of the Academy to select Secret of the Kells over other choices like Cloud with a Chance of Meatballs or Monsters vs. Dinosaurs. This film is dazzling! Every frame looks like a medieval painting with flat elements that are integrated with vibrant moving characters. Every "shot" is a stunner of color and movement. I got a high just from looking at it. I wouldn't say the script is weak. It's just a simple bit of history, and at 75 minutes its constant expressionism doesn't wear out its welcome. I wouldn't have any qualms voting for it in another year but I'm not sure I prefer it to Coraline or Fantastic Mr. Fox. Such a strong lineup.
I'm excited to check out the other nominated Cartoon Saloon features. They have a perfect track record with the animation branch. Really, we should be predicting them for a nomination each time.
Finally, The Princess and The Frog got much better as it went along. The first act felt pretty disjointed for me, never entirely locking in the story. Then I realized it really is kind of a shambling comedy of errors. Okri is right that the central relationship is no great shakes but as soon as they get together it became clear to me that it's really about everything around them. It benefits from a terrific voice cast (of real voice actors!), a quite good villain, an off-beat tone, and a strong third act. Who knew Ray, the little cajun firefly, would get such a fitting sendoff? It's probably the least of the films but I was surprised by how much I came around on it.
I'm probably due for a rewatch of Coraline but I'll put that off for the time being because we're due to move forward. I'm going to cast my vote for Fantastic Mr. Fox but if I change my mind from a rewatch of Coraline or The Secret of Kells growing in my mind I'll make it known.
Best Animated Film: 2009
Re: Best Animated Film: 2009
"How's the despair?"
Re: Best Animated Film: 2009
Welcome to the new animated film category (part 1). While we have one more year of three, 5 is the rule, regardless of the year (even 2020 had a full slate of five films). It’s not quite the animated category we’d expect – but it’s getting there. And it’s a pretty solid slate. Maybe you expected Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs or Ponyo instead of one of these five
The Princess and the Frog is pretty good. It’s got a terrific song score – maybe the best Disney song score since the early 90s. It’s got a great antagonist who meets a surprisingly intense/scary end. The supporting characters are fun (Lotte, the firefly). The central relationship is no great shakes, but nothing outrageously irritating. The animation is good, not amazing, though.
On the other hand, the animation in The Secret of Kells is nothing short of spectacular. Cartoon Saloon would come up with a stronger script in a future race, but I don’t think they’ve topped the animation here. Despite being “flat”, it’s staggeringly detailed and beautifully visualized. It’s very memorable and at least one sequence an all-timer (the attack). I’m not sure if it’s a great score (Bruno Coulais showing up twice this year in this category) or if I’m just a sucker if Celtic music. It’s a very simple script that can weigh a little too heavily on the kiddy (particularly the conception of Aisling/the forest). But I would make a scenescape/print of this movie and hang it on my wall in a heartbeat. It was a surprising nomination at the time, but what a happy one.
Up just works. It’s wonderfully inventive, consistently charming and very funny. It’s contributed at least one line of dialogue to my personal lexicon (“Squirrel!”). Thematically it’s a bit of a cliché, but it works (and the opening sequence renders concerns mere fishwrap)
Much like Cartoon Saloon, Laika also had a breakthrough this year. Coraline has real wit in its design. Oscarguy cites its elegance and I have to echo that. Its atmosphere is terrific and story is nicely creepy. If it’s middle Laika for me, that’s no insult.
Again, echoing Oscaguy, I prefer Fantastic Mr. Fox to Isle of Dogs. Similarly to Sabin, this was the film that convinced me that Anderson could have a long-haul career. I had turned ferociously against him after The Darjeeling Ltd (I was literally muttering to myself all the way home about how much I hate the movie) and that feeling refracted back through his earlier films (without me revisiting them). But it’s basically a delight start to finish.
So, which film to vote for? I’m gonna go with The Secret of Kells because I don’t think anyone else will. But compare this line-up to 2006 or 2005 and it just shreds it to pieces.
The Princess and the Frog is pretty good. It’s got a terrific song score – maybe the best Disney song score since the early 90s. It’s got a great antagonist who meets a surprisingly intense/scary end. The supporting characters are fun (Lotte, the firefly). The central relationship is no great shakes, but nothing outrageously irritating. The animation is good, not amazing, though.
On the other hand, the animation in The Secret of Kells is nothing short of spectacular. Cartoon Saloon would come up with a stronger script in a future race, but I don’t think they’ve topped the animation here. Despite being “flat”, it’s staggeringly detailed and beautifully visualized. It’s very memorable and at least one sequence an all-timer (the attack). I’m not sure if it’s a great score (Bruno Coulais showing up twice this year in this category) or if I’m just a sucker if Celtic music. It’s a very simple script that can weigh a little too heavily on the kiddy (particularly the conception of Aisling/the forest). But I would make a scenescape/print of this movie and hang it on my wall in a heartbeat. It was a surprising nomination at the time, but what a happy one.
Up just works. It’s wonderfully inventive, consistently charming and very funny. It’s contributed at least one line of dialogue to my personal lexicon (“Squirrel!”). Thematically it’s a bit of a cliché, but it works (and the opening sequence renders concerns mere fishwrap)
Much like Cartoon Saloon, Laika also had a breakthrough this year. Coraline has real wit in its design. Oscarguy cites its elegance and I have to echo that. Its atmosphere is terrific and story is nicely creepy. If it’s middle Laika for me, that’s no insult.
Again, echoing Oscaguy, I prefer Fantastic Mr. Fox to Isle of Dogs. Similarly to Sabin, this was the film that convinced me that Anderson could have a long-haul career. I had turned ferociously against him after The Darjeeling Ltd (I was literally muttering to myself all the way home about how much I hate the movie) and that feeling refracted back through his earlier films (without me revisiting them). But it’s basically a delight start to finish.
So, which film to vote for? I’m gonna go with The Secret of Kells because I don’t think anyone else will. But compare this line-up to 2006 or 2005 and it just shreds it to pieces.
Re: Best Animated Film: 2009
I chose Coraline, but Coraline and Up were pretty much tied for me. After that, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Princess and the Frog were each excellent. I liked Secret of the Kells, but I thought it was definitely below the other four nominees.
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Re: Best Animated Film: 2009
This is a really tough list. I've seen four of the five films (no Kells for me). It's a surprisingly solid batch with nearly every film the best of their respective filmmakers.
Coraline is a marvel of a stop-motion filmmaking. It has the elegance and depth of design that Wallace & Gromit often lacked. The storyline is fascinating and to see something so dark and foreboding in a children's film is a rarity, but it helped to define Laika as the dominant animation studio, though only one of their subsequent films would top this one.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is the best of Wes Anderson's animated films (all two of them). It's a fun little heist movie with that Anderson twee energy. I'd probably rank it fourth just because how wonderful I think the other three are.
The Princess and the Frog was, alas, the last hand-drawn animated feature film Disney will likely ever create. It was the first Black heroine and while some of the elements feel a bit too stereotypical for the voodooist narrative, it was charming, endearing, and a wonderful time. It was also the last time I genuinely loved nearly every song in a Disney musical.
Up was Pixar working at its pinnacle. In that first 30 minutes, they managed to tell a great story and make everyone cry as a result. That the rest of the film isn't quite up to that level of creative energy is obvious when they land at their destination. A lot of what happens in those segments is fairly standard Disney stuff with the same focus on humor and grand gestures. While I absolutely adored the film when it was released, I've tempered my appreciation of the film in the interim because that Pixar style does get old after awhile.
In the end, I'd have been fine with a tie and I'm ok with the winner as it stands, but for me Coraline still manages to resonate strongly this many years after its release and that has to account for something, right?
Coraline is a marvel of a stop-motion filmmaking. It has the elegance and depth of design that Wallace & Gromit often lacked. The storyline is fascinating and to see something so dark and foreboding in a children's film is a rarity, but it helped to define Laika as the dominant animation studio, though only one of their subsequent films would top this one.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is the best of Wes Anderson's animated films (all two of them). It's a fun little heist movie with that Anderson twee energy. I'd probably rank it fourth just because how wonderful I think the other three are.
The Princess and the Frog was, alas, the last hand-drawn animated feature film Disney will likely ever create. It was the first Black heroine and while some of the elements feel a bit too stereotypical for the voodooist narrative, it was charming, endearing, and a wonderful time. It was also the last time I genuinely loved nearly every song in a Disney musical.
Up was Pixar working at its pinnacle. In that first 30 minutes, they managed to tell a great story and make everyone cry as a result. That the rest of the film isn't quite up to that level of creative energy is obvious when they land at their destination. A lot of what happens in those segments is fairly standard Disney stuff with the same focus on humor and grand gestures. While I absolutely adored the film when it was released, I've tempered my appreciation of the film in the interim because that Pixar style does get old after awhile.
In the end, I'd have been fine with a tie and I'm ok with the winner as it stands, but for me Coraline still manages to resonate strongly this many years after its release and that has to account for something, right?
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
Best Animated Film: 2009
I won't be voting because I've yet to see The Princess and the Frog and The Secret of the Kells but for the first time since 2002 we have a lineup of five and it would appear to be a very respectable one.
I've written about Up elsewhere recently. I try to be charitable with that film. There are elements of it that I quite like and moments I quite love. But it just doesn't come together for me. If there is a great film to be found in an old man's last adventure and the closure on his life through escaping eviction with hundreds of balloons, Up doesn't find it.
I haven't seen Coraline in ages. I barely remember it but I recall quite liking it. I should probably revisit that one as well before voting in good conscience. I could be wrong but I think it was the first animated film to be featured in 3D.
I do remember Fantastic Mr. Fox which will almost certainly get my vote. What a delightfully warm film and a perfect shot in the arm to a career that was threatening to become self-parodic. For fans, I think it was the perfect film to prove that Wes Anderson's career was going to be a little more durable than some might expect. I'm always a bit thwarted as to why I find the film so consistently wonderful. I find it such a perfect mix of two of Wes Anderson's preoccupations: mid-life crisis ("Honey, I am seven non-fox years old. My father died at seven and a half. I don't want to live in a hole anymore.") and rarely-explored relationships (Ash's cousin Kristofferson coming to stay with them). All of which form a very full 87 minute film. It was my easy choice for Best Animated Film then and now.
But I'll hold off until I watch The Princess and the Frog and The Secret of the Kells.
I've written about Up elsewhere recently. I try to be charitable with that film. There are elements of it that I quite like and moments I quite love. But it just doesn't come together for me. If there is a great film to be found in an old man's last adventure and the closure on his life through escaping eviction with hundreds of balloons, Up doesn't find it.
I haven't seen Coraline in ages. I barely remember it but I recall quite liking it. I should probably revisit that one as well before voting in good conscience. I could be wrong but I think it was the first animated film to be featured in 3D.
I do remember Fantastic Mr. Fox which will almost certainly get my vote. What a delightfully warm film and a perfect shot in the arm to a career that was threatening to become self-parodic. For fans, I think it was the perfect film to prove that Wes Anderson's career was going to be a little more durable than some might expect. I'm always a bit thwarted as to why I find the film so consistently wonderful. I find it such a perfect mix of two of Wes Anderson's preoccupations: mid-life crisis ("Honey, I am seven non-fox years old. My father died at seven and a half. I don't want to live in a hole anymore.") and rarely-explored relationships (Ash's cousin Kristofferson coming to stay with them). All of which form a very full 87 minute film. It was my easy choice for Best Animated Film then and now.
But I'll hold off until I watch The Princess and the Frog and The Secret of the Kells.
"How's the despair?"