In
the first of my assessments of the films nominated for Best Animated Feature, I
decided to revisit what I consider to be the 5 best movies to actually win the
Oscar for Best Feature. At first, I
wanted to just straight-up rank all 13 winners, but on top of the fact that I
haven’t seen one of them (Rango),
since none of the winners are „bad“ films, directly comparing them to one
another would be grossly unfair to those in the lower half of the list. So instead, I decided to just pick what I
consider to be the 5 best, most groundbreaking, and most influential movies to
take home the big prize. In my opinion,
of course. Just in case that wasn’t clear.
5. Ratatouille (2007, Brad Bird)
Ratatouille came out right in the middle
of the Pixar Golden Age, when nearly every year Pixar came out with a
groundbreaking new film that would inevitably draw huge critical praise,
dominate the box office, and touch the hearts of almost everyone who saw them. And, in my opinion, this is one of the best
(yes, better than Wall-E). It follows a
young rat, named Remy, who dreams of being able to cook human food and work in
a restaurant. Not only does this put him
in conflict with his more traditional, rough-and-tough father, it also ends up
separating him from his family (for a time, at least) and leading him to
Paris. There, he comes across the famous
restaurant started by his idol (who we learn has recently passed away) and
befriends a hapless kitchen boy working at the restaurant who just wants to
finally hold down a job.
Like
with all the Pixar greats, one of the highlights of the film is the quality of
the animation. This film uses a rich
tapestry of colors to bring both Paris and the food it depicts to life. Thankfully, the beautiful look of the film is
strengthened by fun, interesting characters, and by the end you can’t help but
root for both Remy and his human friends.
It has a breezy atmosphere, and offers plenty of laughs, but it still
maintains a quiet seriousness and earnestness about a subject matter that, on
the surface, seems pretty damn silly for a film that’s NOT trying to be a
straight-up slapstick comedy. This movie
makes you care about a sewer rat. When
you really think about it, that’s not a feat to be sniffed at.
4. The Incredibles (2004, Brad Bird)
Prior
to Ratatouille, there had been only 1
Pixar film to feature humans as main characters. (and also happened to be directed by Brad
Bird), and that was The Incredibles,
Pixar’s spin on the traditional superhero shtick. The main character is Mr. Incredible, aka Mr.
Parr, living out a midlife crisis years after he, his wife, and their various
superhero colleagues were forced by an overly litigious world into early
retirement, and have to constantly conceal their identities from the „normal“
population. The stress of having to
shield their superpowers is also paralleled by the more normal struggles of
dealing with frustrations at work, marriage, and having to raise 3 rambunctious
kids (who each have superpowers of their own).
However, Mr. Parr eventually gets a mysterious message suggesting that
he can still live out life as a superhero in secret, and finds new meaning in his life. Until his family gets caught up in
the secret as well, that is.
The Incredibles is one of those action
films that really succeeds in getting pretty much everything right. The animation is great, the powers are
inventive, and the action scenes are excellently choreographed and a ton of fun
to watch. It’s a mostly serious movie
that still manages to have some great comedy with its characters without
breaking its tone or pace. The entire
family feels genuine and real. I
especially love how creatively they tie each of their powers into their
personalities and character types- the big, overweight father has super
strength, the ever-busy mother can stretch her arms and limbs (which helps her
with both household chores AND restraining/protecting her kids), the chatty,
hyperactive, troublemaking son has super speed, and the shy, somewhat-insecure
teenage daughter can turn invisible (how many of us wished we had THAT power in
high school? I know I did). There’s really nothing more I can say to do
the film justice. You’ve probably seen
it already, but if not, AWAY WITH YOU!
TO NETFLIX!
3. Finding Nemo (2003, Andrew Stanton)
To
this day, Finding Nemo remains my
favorite Pixar film (although, as you will see, I don’t consider it the BEST
Pixar film). It follows the story of
Marlin, a Clownfish who loses his family (except for a single, scarred egg) to
a Barracuda in the first scene. That
damaged egg eventually becomes Nemo, a typically adventurous youngster with a
malformed fin. Still carrying the wounds
of losing his family, Marlin is overly cautious with Nemo and barely lets him
out of his sight. His worst fears are
confirmed when, on his first day of school, Nemo is captured by a scuba diver
and taken to Sydney, Australia. Marlin
has to set out across the vast ocean and all its dangers (and beauties) to find
his son, while Nemo, finding himself in a dentist’s fish tank, slowly forms a
plan with the other fish in the tank to escape to the sea.
Looking
back, I think there are two aspects of Finding
Nemo that make it stand out from the other Pixar movies (at least in my
mind). One is, obviously, the visuals-
the programming they used to simulate real waves was groundbreaking, and it
shows. The ocean shots in this film make
the sea seem vast, warm, cold, scary, friendly, vibrant, and bleak, all at
once. Sometimes (like during the reef
scenes) the screen is bursting with color, while during other scenes, it‘s
filled with empty greens and blues, making both the characters (and the viewer)
feel genuinely alone. Secondly, the
number of identifiable characters is enormous.
There are a lot of Pixar films with large, sprawling casts, but Finding Nemo takes the cake by having
more than any other AND managing to perfectly balance every one. Virtually every character gets at least one
great scene or line of their own. Finding Nemo is not just one of the most
visually stunning Pixar films, it also has some of the best writing (which is
saying something).
2. Spirited Away (2002, Hayao Miyazaki)
Spirited Away was the film that really
brought popular attention in the US to the works of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli
in a way that no other film before (or since) had managed. To this day, it’s the one Miyazaki film that
most people in the States have at least heard of, even if they haven’t seen
it. It follows the story of Chihiro, a
moody young girl upset at having to move to a new town. On their way to their new house, she and her
parents happen across an abandoned fairgrounds.
After eating food meant as tribute to spirits, Chihiro’s parents are
turned into pigs and imprisoned as night falls and the spirit world comes to
life around them. Terrified, alone, and surrounded
by all manner of bizarre spirits, creatures, and powers, Chihiro has to grow up
quickly and find the strength to figure out how to save both herself and her
parents, aided by the friends and allies she makes along the way.
Spirited Away’s brilliance works on a
lot of levels. From an animation
standpoint, it’s easily one of the most colorful, detailed, and just plain
interesting works in Miyazaki’s reportoire.
Every image, every scene is filled to the gills with the most minute
details, right down to the shadows in the windows of the bathhouse. You can watch this fim over and over again
just to pick out more things in each shot you didn’t notice before. The superficial story of a girl coming of age
under strange and adverse circumstances is excellent, and despite the
outlandish visuals the movie is actually pretty straightforward and
kid-friendly. Underneath, however, the
film is also full of Miyazaki’s well-established trademarks- commentary (both
subtle and direct) on the clash between modern and traditional Japanese
culture, symbols and characters insired by old Japanese myths, and fairly
constant undercurrents of environmentalism and anti-war themes- which offer
plenty of stuff for older viewers to chew on long after the credits roll.
1. Up (2009, Pete Docter)
Out of all
the outrageous and seemingly ridiculous storyboards Pixar has made believable, Up has what may be, at least on paper,
the silliest. An aging widower, still
grieving over the death of his wife, ties a bajillion-friggin-million balloons
to his roof, allowing the house to fly.
Once he’s Up in the Air (ya see
what I did there?) he heads for an unnamed jungle in South America, to search
for a famous waterfall that he and his wife always wanted to visit, but never
had the chance to. However, he soon
finds a young boy scout who accidentally got whisked away when the house took
off. While trying to take care of the
boy, they eventually make it to South America, encountering massive, colorful
birds, dogs that can talk via mind-reading collars, and an old adventurer who
may be the main character’s old idol.
Oh, and they never encounter snakes or anything, or catch a deadly
disease. Admit
it, when you really think about the basic plot of Up, it sounds absurd and
laughable at best. And yet........
Not
only is Up the best film Pixar has
ever made, not only is it the best film to win the Oscar for Animated Features,
not only is it one of the greatest
animated films of all time, it is one of the best FILMS ever made, period,
animated or otherwise. The animation is
of the highest quality. Every character
is funny, sympathetic, interesting, and likeable (in their own ways). The talking dogs are HILARIOUS pretty much
every time they open their mouths, and are adorable to boot. The bird never speaks or changes facial
expressions, and yet has a unique, memorable character all its own based solely
on how it physically interacts with the old man and the boy. The justly-famous opening sequence is funny,
moving, uplifting, and heartbreaking all at once. And although it’s easily the best individual
scene in the film, it never feels like the movie played its hand too early,
because the regular throwbacks and references to it supplement and enhance the
old man’s journey without overshadowing it or making it seem trite or
unimportant. The soundtrack is equally
perfect, adding yet another layer of quiet, subtle emotion to every scene. Few themes work so well in so many different
contexts- one scene, it’s energetic and exciting, in another it’s quiet and
peaceful, in another it’s somber, and in yet another, it’s tragically sad. Up
is that exceedingly rare perfect movie.
And
that is my list of the 5 best movies to win Best Animated Feature! Next post, the 10 best films that were
nominated for Best Animated Feature but, for one reason or another, did NOT
win. Stay tuned!
-Judge Richard
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