Trying the Scrying (Animation-wise)

[tealin]

The longlist of animated movies in the running for Best Animated Picture is:

Alvin and the Chipmunks
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
Bee Movie
Beowulf
Meet the Robinsons
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Shrek the Third
The Simpsons Movie
Surf’s Up
Tekkonkinkreet
TMNT

There is apparently some doubt as to whether Persepolis will screen in LA long enough to qualify, but if it does, I predict it will win. I haven't seen it. I've heard it's good, but I'm not even looking at that. Let's take a look at a sample blurb I have just cobbled together from various sources (mostly MSN movies):

The semi-autobiographical, poignant story of a precocious and outspoken young girl, coming of age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Her parents send her to school in Austria where she struggles with being stereotyped by the image of Iran, then returns despite adversity, but realizes that she can't abide the oppression and moves to France. Adapted from the French graphic novel.

I think that's got enough points to win anything...

Oh, did I mention it's in black and white?

Comments

[karwei.livejournal.com]

Also, I read the graphic novels, and they were really good.

[moonmystique.livejournal.com]

I saw Persepolis at the Ottawa Animation Film Fest. It was really good. The designs were so simple, yet the expressiveness was brilliant. I don't recall seeing many, or even any, animated films that were based on serious issues like this. Especially one that was able to keep me so interested right until the end.
Other than that, Ratatouille and Surf's Up are excellent as well 8) Meet the Robinsons was cute too.

(I'm sorry for bringing this up here, and it's the last time I'll bug you about it, but I sent you an email about an animation portfolio and you didn't respond. I'm not sure if you didn't get it or maybe ignored it, but I thought I'd try to bring it up again. I won't bother you with it anymore if you don't respond to this)

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

Someone brought up the Beowulf movie in my Chaucer class last night, and we all spent about ten minutes or so happily being English geeks over it.

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

>The Simpsons Movie

Not in a million years

[kyla-grievous.livejournal.com]

I think it would be "politically correct" for it to win, even if it's an excellent movie. I have read the comic books, and I really enjoyed it. But I think it's not fair for such a movie to be in competition with other animated movies, like Ratatouille or Surf's up... they are too radically different to be compared... There will be soon enough animated movies to create their own categories: drama, humor etc... Honestly, putting Ratatouille and Persepolis in the same competition is like putting "Lord of the rings" against "American Beauty"... Both are excellent movies, but it's impossible to compare them, in my opinion...

[my2k.livejournal.com]

My picks:
Ratatouille
Meet the Robinsons
Tekkon Kinkreet
Persepolis
Beowulf
Surfs Up
Everything else can go die in a hole.

Anyway I was goddamn ecstatic when I heard Persepolis, the cute comic I read in highschool, was becoming a movie! an ANIMATED one! I can;t wait to read it :D Headbangin' to Eye of the Tiger!

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Well, animation does have its own awards (the 'Annies') only they don't have celebrities (or, knowing animators, glamourous dresses) and they aren't reported on outside the industry unless a paper is looking for a few extra column inches in the back of the Entertainment section.

[my2k.livejournal.com]

well to be fair, while it isn't even close to Oscar material, it was a pretty good movie for those who are die-hard Simpsons fans and hate how crappy the series had gotten.

[wicked-warrior.livejournal.com]

Hum, wonder if Persepolis will ever make it on theaters here at Spain (And I was wondering too why Nocturna hasn't been chosen to enter the nominations. Haven't seen it yet)
Also, just a bit out of topic, have you seen this French animated movie "Les Trippletes de Belleville"? I wathced it the other day, and I though you would be interested in it :)

[flamingbentley.livejournal.com]

i live in the middle east, and we had a film festival here about a month ago where it sort of premiered. i volunteered and nearly got to see it free-- but all the tickets had sold out so there wasn't any space in for volunteers.

which pretty much sucked.

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

I'm quite the Simpson's fan and I hate how crappy the series has gotten and I really did not like the movie. It was WAY too PC and while there were a few good gags I was mostly bored.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Nocturna hasn't been considered for nomination because it hasn't been released in the States. As much as they are a world-famous spectacle, the Academy Awards are really only for the American movie industry and audience (hence the 'Best Foreign Film' category, which would be irrelevant if it was a global awards ceremony).

As soon as Nocturna arrives in North American cinemas, I am THERE. I have been waiting to see it for more than five years. It was supposed to come out in 2004. Grr.

Yes, I've seen Triplets. Good stuff.

[niteflite.livejournal.com]

The first one was amazing. The second graphic novel was almost as amazing, but it was a bit choppy with its short story collection format.

[thefordmustang.livejournal.com]

Hello from a horse show in Springfield Mass. (Yes, our airline works at horse shows, too! :-)) So far I have seen many singlefooters and plenty of black stallions (namely Friesians and Icelandics, but none named Boris. No golem horses either.

It is quite a list of movies, is it not? I think mainly it will be down to Ratatouille, the Simpsons Movie (though that would be more for plot than animation style), Beowulf and, hopefully, Perseopolis. I always wondered, actually, are animated movies judged on the style of animation or on the movie as a whole (plot, music, etc.) Also, would Beowulf be considered animation since it is based on motion capture? And, finally, if a movie is considered for Best Animated feature, can it still qualify for Best Picture?