Cars
Happy Feet (winner)
Monster House
What’s Missing
It seems that 2006 was another one of those down years for animated films. Of those that weren’t nominated, I’ve seen Flushed Away and Over the Hedge, both of which I like more than at least one of the nominees. On a pure metric of what really deserves a chance for an Oscar, though, it’s a pretty slim field. Flushed Away was funny, but not great and hardly memorable. Over the Hedge tried too hard to be entertaining for the parents and failed. I haven’t seen A Scanner Darkly or Paprika, so I can’t comment. Hellboy: Sword of Storms may well be the best animated film of the year, but it’s a short and was released straight-to-DVD, so therefore wasn’t eligible.
Weeding through the Nominees
3: I genuinely disliked Happy Feet. I didn’t like it the first time I saw it and I didn’t like it on a rewatch. The animation might be the only bright spot here. The story is laden with holes, the singing isn’t that good, and I don’t like a single one of the characters. Over and over, it seems like the wrong choices were made at every turn. That this was made by George Miller is absolutely staggering to me—the man has the ability to tell a great story and he gives us one about dancing penguins doing bad Elvis/Marilyn Monroe impersonations. It’s not the worst animated movie I’ve ever seen, but I think it’s the worst winner of this award.
2: I’ve seen 14 of Pixar’s 16 releases, and I’m not sure Cars makes the top 10. It might, but if it does, it sneaks in at the 10th spot. I won’t say that it’s a bad movie because it’s not a bad movie. It’s certainly not a very good one, though. It might be a new story for the kids, but for the adults, it follows a very specific path covered in a lot of earlier movies. Essentially, it’s Doc Hollywood with Hooker headers. The animation is fine and the voice work is solid, but the story leaves a lot to be desired. It’s not a film I’ve thought much about watching again, and for Pixar, that’s a pretty sad state.
My Choice
1: While the art of Cars is probably its best aspect, it’s the part of Monster House that I like the least. That said, I like just about everything else about Monster House, which is why it ends up in the top spot for me here. For a film that I find surprisingly ugly, the animation is really good. More importantly, it’s a good story that doesn’t pander to kids (it’s pretty scary in places) and it genuinely gets the kids right. With prettier art, this would rank as one of the better Best Animated Feature nominees released. As it is, though, it’s the best animated theatrical release of its year and that should have been recognized.
Final Analysis
I am completely with you on Monster House. It is easily the best animated film of the year (haven't seen Paprika or the Hellboy short). Over the Hedge was bad. I really liked Flushed Away, so it should've gotten a nom. A Scanner Darkly was good, not great. That should have earned it a nom, though, because the other two noms were just dreadful. That said, I would rank Happy Feet ahead of Cars because at least the first 20-30 minutes of Happy Feet are fun. Cars...sigh. I've seen 15 of Pixar's movies and Cars doesn't make my top 14. It is wretched.
ReplyDeleteSo, were I to venture a guess at the missing Pixar film in your list, it would be Cars 2.
DeleteI haven't seen that or The Good Dinosaur. Cars is definitely on the lowest tier for me.
Both Sword of Storms and the other Hellboy short, Blood and Iron, are worth tracking down. They retain the spirit of the movies and got all of the same actors to do the voices.
I've seen A Scanner Darkly and I would have nominated it. It's rotoscoped, though, so I think Oscar shies away from those, as if they aren't "really" animated (see also Waltz with Bashir). I liked Flushed Away and I laughed my ass off at Over the Hedge and would have nominated it. I haven't seen Paprika. I'm not sure if Hoodwinked! was eligible this year or the prior year, but for being a low budget, independent animated film it did a good job.
ReplyDeleteAmong the nominees, I liked all three to one extent or another. You're kinder to Cars than I am. The only thing keeping it from being the worst of the Pixar films (to me) is Cars 2. I liked Monster House and felt it was interesting and entertaining. Ultimately, though, take pretty much everything you wrote about Happy Feet, reverse it, and those are my opinions on it. It would be my pick from among the nominees.
I knew this about you, or at least I knew that we disagreed pretty strongly on Happy Feet. I'm okay with that, and I'm evidently in the minority on it, since a lot of people really do like it.
DeleteIt's also worth noting that IMDB ranks Cars significantly than both films.
Have you seen the 2006 Curious George film?
ReplyDeleteI haven't, and don't have great desire to. I like animated films, but ones for young children are a much harder sell for me.
DeleteSince my kids grew up, I haven't seen enough animation. This is something I aim to rectify, but until that is done I'm not qualified to have an opinion here.
ReplyDeleteI should be close to done with all of the Oscar-relevant animation posts like this one by the end of the year. Feel free to use them as a guide, because there are a number of these you can skip.
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