Granny tries to keep it real by infusing the story of Sleeping Beauty with tales of ageism and unrealistic beauty standards. Unfortunately, such a tale frightens the young listener and the message is lost. The utilization of two different animation styles between the storyteller and the actual store was neat.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Animated
It seemed important to watch this seminal work of adult animation, but I think a lot of what was being attempted flew over my head. There is a lot of criticism of left wing ideas of the late 60s, some of which are relevant today but a lot that doesn’t have a parallel. It’s not surprising that, particularly at the time, many people don’t know what to make of the explicit animated sex and drug use. The story itself follows Fritz through various misadventures, all told in rough, but brightly colored classic animation.
With my blog reformatting, I’ve pondered what to do with regards to the short films I watch. Thus far, I’ve decided to at least include the Oscar nominated ones. I recently caught these two on YouTube and figured I’d pair them together. Ishu Patel’s Paradise didn’t mesmerize me quite as much as my recent viewing of his The Bead Game. Though employing some interesting techniques and beautiful colors, the story of a black bird who temporarily covets a caged, glamorous life is a much more standard animated affair.
Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase on the other hand doesn’t offer much in terms of a narrative, but is an impressive montage of famous works of art shown through clay stop motion animation. It comes off as a blending of Loving Vincent and the face morphing parts of Michael Jackson’s Black or White video.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Animated (Paradise)
Oscar Win: Best Short Film, Animated (Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase)
Artistically, this is an amazing filmmaking feat, stop-motion animation done entirely with beads. Somehow in its short six minute runtime, it manages to tell the entire story of animal life on earth. It juxtaposes wonderfully the inherent violence in the food chain, where the strongest survive, to the self-destructive nature of more ‘civilized’ human beings. I’m sure I will be seeking out Ishu Patel’s other Oscar nomination soon.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Animated
I spent too much time watching this trying to figure out who is the audience for this film. The story of Pepperland being attacked by music-hating Blue Meanies is just weird. Eventually it just worked to sit back and consider it a compilation of bizarrely animated Beatles videos. The colors in the animation are very vibrant and mod-y. I’ll let other people let me know if the experience improves with ‘refreshments’. I imagine the answer is yes. 
Storytelling-wise, this is one of the simple-mindedest Pixar films. It’s a rather bland, young person wanting to move beyond the constraints of the familial home rehash. There are also some stereotypical bits about outcasts and outcast friend groups. It all feels closer to a generic Disney film absent any of the heart normally seen in Pixar films. It is really pretty and colorful in both the underwater and Italian locales, but even the art isn’t as captivating or surprising as other Pixar films. It’s as forgettable as The Good Dinosaur and there wasn’t even an included short.
Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film
If I did drugs, this seems like it’d be high on the list of films to watch while stoned. Set on a planet where giant blue humanoid creatures treat human beings as animals, it’s got some fantastic (pun not really intended) world building and even though I watched with the English dub, it bled French film all over. Overall, it has a nice message to it and if you’re into that sort of thing, quite a bit of naked breasts for an animated film.
Since Disney Animation Studios has given up on traditional animation, I’ve had a hard time really feeling the magic in their feature films. Maybe it’s just a matter of me being old and unreceptive to change, but visually many of these films don’t have much spark. Raya and the Last Dragon tries (there are some beautiful individual settings), but somehow it simultaneously doesn’t spend enough time world building and takes too much time getting to the actual adventure. There is little that makes Raya as a character unique or interesting and no real reason to care about her plight. Every character other than her is more interesting, including everyone stuck in stone through the entire film.
Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film
Loaded up with maybe all of her earthly possessions, a woman boards a train. And that’s about the last of what I understood was going on in this story. That experience seems to be the same for the woman as well. The animation is fascinating and full of small details.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Animated
I like the animation style, but this felt long for a 15 minute short. I did learn about remittance men and how this particular man (travelling from England to Albert in the early 1900s) could be compared to a comet. I also tend to forget that Canada has its own cowboy culture similar to the US.
Oscar Nomination: Best Short Film, Animated