OSCARS – AniB Productions

AniB’s 2020 Oscars Preview for Best Animated Film

Alright, it’s that time of year again! While slightly late with this preview, the Oscars are upon us and in keeping with a tradition on here, there has been an annual overview of the category every year since the blog’s inception- both as a way to gauge historical precedents and trends in animated films, but also to highlight some excellence in the previous year’s offerings, along with a prediction.

Since the first iteration of this piece in early 2017, I’ve repeated the same disclaimer/preamble , and nothing has changed the following words:

“Generally, I only care about results when it comes to award shows, much the same way as when I watch shows. I don’t follow the Oscars for their over-bloated pageantry, self-aggrandizing celebrities who pat each other on the back and give meaningless compliments to other influential people they know, or to watch people on the Internet have meltdowns over “x amount” of diversity or lack thereof. I’m just interested in the movies themselves, the people who put the work into said films, and the statistics behind it. So, here’s a list of the past 10 winners, with studios, to give a recent historical representation of this category (and note, the year is when the movies came out, not the award ceremony date, which is always the following year.)”:

So again, the past 10 years of winners in the category, including the past 3 which were all written about in previous iterations of this column:

2019: ?

2018: Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse (Sony Animation)

2017: Coco (Pixar)

2016: Zootopia (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2015: Inside Out (Pixar)

2014: Big Hero 6 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2013: Frozen (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2012: Brave (Pixar)

2011: Rango (Paramount Pictures)

2010: Toy Story 3 (Pixar)

2009: Up (Pixar)

As I’ve continued to do this list, what constitutes as “recent history” continues to shift. Up is the 10-year old winner on this now, which is stunning when it seems how fresh the memory of seeing it was, but more importantly, the 10-year trend will now reflect the 2010’s completely after this year’s show, which should give a better recent trends snapshot at what the Academy has liked over that timeframe.

Trends that have continued as a theme include the unlikelihood of a foreign film winning the category, and the likelihood a large Western animation studio will carry the day. Even discounting up, the 2010’s still produced 4 winners for Pixar, and there’s a good chance that Toy Story 4 could make it 5, as it’s my odds-on favorite for both historical and predictive reasons.

With all due respect to Klaus, I Lost My Body, and Missing Link, trends don’t favor their chances and it would be considered a shocking upset if they carried the category. Of course I believe they all merit serious consideration and an honest look- but with the rule change a few years back that allowed non-animation people to vote and pick the movies (and the winner), popular films tend to triumph here. It is my opinion that this year’s award is a Back to the Future-esque moment to 2010- where a Toy Story film faced How To Train Your Dragon. It is fitting then that the decade’s offerings would be capped with a rematch between the latest films in the franchise, and if history holds true, the same result might be expected.

Here’s to another good year of films to cap the 2010’s, and a sincere wish to continue excellence in the 2020’s!

Like what you see? Leave a comment!

AniB’s 2019 Oscars Preview for Best Animated Film

As many of you may know, I do this annual piece on the Best Animated Film category for the Oscars every year. Shockingly, this is already the 3rd time I’m doing it (where does the time go?) and as usual, I’ll delve into a bit of the history behind this particular category and of course, my own prediction.

This year’s field is a far more interesting bunch, with last year’s category being dominated by the truly incredible Coco. While that film would be a favorite in pretty much any year, this crop is headlined by a truly excellent Spider-Man adaptation (Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse), two highly anticipated sequels (Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet), the seemingly annual stop-motion original flick (Isle of Dogs) and this year’s foreign film, Mirai, from Studio Chizu of Japan. A well-rounded field with 5 strong movies is never a bad thing for the category, though predicting a winner will likely comes down to some historical trends and perhaps more realistically, how many eyeballs just happened to watch each movie.

Here’s my annual preamble on the Oscars, which prefaces the next part:

And true to form, here’s the latest list of the past 10 winners:

2018: ?

2017: Coco (Pixar)

2016: Zootopia (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2015: Inside Out (Pixar)

2014: Big Hero 6 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2013: Frozen (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2012: Brave (Pixar)

2011: Rango (Paramount Pictures)

2010: Toy Story 3 (Pixar)

2009: Up (Pixar)

2008: WALL-E (Pixar)

It’s weird to think WALL-E came out 11 years ago, but it really hits you a bit more as you continue down the list of winners even past the 10 listed here. Incredibles 2, which is in the race this year, had its Oscar-winning predecessor debut back in 2004, and while the category is still young by Oscars standards, it’s rapidly approaching 20 years old. As has been the case throughout this decade, Disney and Pixar have continued to dominate the category, which historically bodes well for the the aformentioned Incredibles sequel and Ralph Breaks the Internet– but counteracting that point is all but one of these films were original franchises, the lone exception being the peerless Toy Story 3 back in 2010.

Historically, these trends continue to bode poorly for Isle of Dogs and Mirai. While both films are actually legitimate competition in this year’s field (unlike last year’s laughable nominations of Ferdinand and The Boss Baby), the last time a foreign film or a stop-motion film won was one and the same year: 2005, where as I’ve mentioned before in these Oscar pieces, was when Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit was the victor. While I’d like to see a bucking of convention, in a strong field this feels unlikely to be the year that bucks the trend, though it would be less of an upset that the theoretical ones that were proposed last year, given 2017 winner Coco’s mortal lock on the prize.

The really interesting case of the bunch is of course, Spiderverse. It’s truly an excellent film (yes, I do hope to release a review sometime) and easily the strongest and most surprising thing to ever come from Sony Animation, a studio best known for stuff like Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs way back when (and unfortunately, The Emoiji Movie from a few years back. Bleh.) This film has done well on the awards circuit, winning the Golden Globe for this category, and in tackling the Oscars, it’s a good bet to try and break a couple of trends working against it: a general lack of superhero films winning big here, the Disney-Pixar hegemony at the top, and Sony’s frankly surprising performance to deliver an incredible adaptation that is frankly unexpected given the genuinely unremarkable track record of films they’ve produced prior to this flick.

So who is my pick? I think in a strong field, originality will win out and Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse is your likely winner, though not a complete lock at the time of writing. Incredibles 2 is my dark horse based on historical trends, and while I’m fond of Ralph, I can’t see it winning against a stacked field, as charming as it is. Even Isle of Dogs and Mirai have a shot, albeit a narrow one- and this should be a fun race to look back on. I can only hope 2019’s crop of animated films proves as entertaining for a race.

Like what you see? Have thoughts on the Oscars? Leave a comment!

Also, check out the movie reviews tab at the top for more in-depth looks at Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet!

10 Thoughts: Week of June 25th

AniB goes to the movies, watches some anime, and stumps for the hometown hockey team. (Beware of T-Rexes!)

In this week’s 10 Thoughts, AniB takes a look at the movies, the usual look at this past week’s My Hero Academia episode, and as usual, a few other musings.

1.One of the issues with going to see animated films at the cinema is that you never know what kind of previews you’ll be forced to sit through. As the general audience is expected to be younger, you usually get a grab-bag of animated fare with promise, some ghastly looking premises, and the occasionally amazing-looking film. In the end though, it’s mostly exciting just to get to the movie you came to see…

2. …so in that vein, The Teen Titans Go! preview looks every bit as awful as I suspected it would. Memo to Cartoon Network: it’s your #1 show because you guys pushed into roughly 95% of your available time-slots. It’s not hard to make something the de-facto top show when it’s the only game in town, and if I had access, I’d like to see the numbers of their rarely other-aired shows extrapolated over the same time, or rather, TTG’s number’s averaged together for every viewing at the same rate of something else. I bet things don’t add up, and this film isn’t going to move a lot of people at all outside the 7-12 boys demographic (and their parents.) Mark my words on that.

3. Since this is a movie-centric 10 Thoughts so far, Incredibles 2 is definitely the clubhouse leader when it comes to to the animation award at the Academies so far. Going back to what I said a week ago (at the time of this writing) in a prior column, I’d be willing to bet even now it’s the odds-on favorite regardless of what Wreck-It Ralph 2 does as a sequel later this year, unless it’s absolutely stunning in a way no one saw coming. (Before anyone references Spirited Away or Wallace and Gromit, a friendly reminder that those awards were in 2002 and 2005 respectively- and the rules got worse for foreign films aside from the long drought. So I’m not holding my breath.)

4. One last movie thought, non-animated: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is definitely a popcorn-munching film, but from a purely critical standpoint, something about it doesn’t quite pack the same punch as the franchise’s revival song in Jurassic World. Maybe (spoilers!) it’s because weaponized dinos is such a silly premise with a fancy coat of paint over it that I can’t take it seriously. But then again, anything Jurassic Park or World related requires a suspension of disbelief, and from my experience, an IMAX screen if you’re actually living near a theater that has one. Something about dinosaurs on the biggest screen makes it that much better.

5. Alright, I’m sure you want some anime thoughts now to balance things out, and that begins with this past week’s My Hero Academia, which more or less capped off a big turning point for the series, without spoiling too much of anything. I’ll say this: Izuku’s mom is a really loving person who truly has her son’s best interests at heart, and that should be lauded.

6. Continuing on with Hero Academia , it was killing me not to include manga spoilers about Izuku Midoriya in this past week’s character piece.That said, he’s a really good example of a shonen protagonist done right, and has definitely become a favorite character of mine since I first picked up the series.

7. I’ve been reading the One Piece manga for a little while, on and off, which is absolutely terrific. However, it is somewhat of a daunting proposition even just covering the Shonen Jump publication from the start, so don’t expect me to talk about the anime (or it various filler arcs) on here, since it’s simply too darn long to actually pick up and watch to the current point. That said… the manga is truly wonderful. I recommend it if you haven’t touched the series.

8. On a non-shonen note, picked up the first five episodes of Welcome to the NHK. What a weird, darkly humorous show so far, which is just odd enough to be intriguing without being a total turn-off. Hard balance to achieve, definitely…and this is one I’d like to see through to the end in due time.

9. I’m planning to review a show again this week, but what that is yet isn’t even clear to me at this point. I’ve got a few pretty good ideas of what to go over though, and it might just be a Western show. Also, did anyone notice I finally added a “Movie Reviews” tab to the main site’s page? I’ve got three of ’em now, so the time seemed right…and while the focus here is still going to be primarily on shows, I’m open to animated film suggestions as well.

10. Finally, in one other non-animated thought, the Buffalo Sabres (my hockey team!) finally drafted Rasmus Dahlin, the Swedish wunderkind defensemen, this past Friday with the top overall pick. While I doubt most, if any of my readers, have a vested interest heavily in sports, it’s a big thing for the city and the hopeful continued resurgence of a massive turnaround in the pro franchises’ fortune of Buffalo, coming on the heels of a Bills playoff berth this past January. So coming back around, I suppose my question for the week is “what sports team do you root for, if any; and if not, could you recommend a sports show or movie you might have liked?” (I suspect I might get some Draft Day and Hoosiers comments if I say nothing…or just sports anime. Either way, fine by me!)

Like what you see? Any thoughts on the question of the week, or any other suggestions about things you’d like me to write about? Leave a comment!

AniB’s 2018 Oscars Preview for Best Animated Picture

As I did last year, I will be doing a brief overview of this year’s best animated picture award competition- and while the probable winner is fairly obvious this time around, it’s worth taking a look at where the field stands on the eve of the Academy Awards.

A year’s already flown by since I lasted breached the topic of the Oscars, and here we are with a brand-new crop of films up for the honor, albeit in a far less compelling race than 2016’s films. This year’s nominees are headlined by the superb Coco, which I wrote a review of for Christmas, and which also marks the return of Pixar with a nominee after Finding Dory’s snub last year; a couple of interesting foreign films in The Breadwinner and Loving Vincent, as well as the somewhat bizarre inclusion of The Boss Baby and Ferdinand. The latter two’s unlikely nominations came from a rules change in the selection process, where anyone in the Academy could help nominate the films, and so instead of animation-focuses professionals, it largely became “what have you seen?” With all due respect to the last two films, congrats on making it, but you’re both two of the weakest nominees I’ve ever seen in the category. Moving on then to a bit of history…

As I said last year: “Generally, I only care about results when it comes to award shows, much the same way as when I watch shows. I don’t follow the Oscars for their over-bloated pageantry, self-aggrandizing celebrities who pat each other on the back and give meaningless compliments to other influential people they know, or to watch people on the Internet have meltdowns over “x amount” of diversity or lack thereof. I’m just interested in the movies themselves, the people who put the work into said films, and the statistics behind it. So, here’s a list of the past 10 winners, with studios, to give a recent historical representation of this category (and note, the year is when the movies came out, not the award ceremony date, which is always the following year.)”:

2017: ?

2016: Zootopia (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2015: Inside Out (Pixar)

2014: Big Hero 6 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2013: Frozen (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

2012: Brave (Pixar)

2011: Rango (Paramount Pictures)

2010: Toy Story 3 (Pixar)

2009: Up (Pixar)

2008: WALL-E (Pixar)

2007: Ratatouille (Pixar)

So going back a decade, Pixar has unsurprisingly dominated the category, taking 6 out of the past 10 awards- but only twice in the past 5 years (although it’s been Walt Disney Animation in the other years.) However, Coco is the heavy favorite this cycle, which will likely keep the studio at that 6/10 ratio for the decade (can you believe Ratatouille was a decade ago? Me neither.) Meanwhile, Walt Disney Studios, who won two out of the last 3 times, is actually sitting this one out this year, though next year we’re getting Wreck-It Ralph 2, which should be interesting… As for the outliers on this list, Rango was a surprise in a very weak year (2011) and Happy Feet in 2006 was much the same, beating out the underwhelming (by Pixar standards, anyways) Cars and Monster House when the category only had 3 entrants in that year.

Historically speaking, the trends are not favorable for foreign entrants, a sentiment I said almost verbatim from last year’s pre-Oscar piece. In a year with a strong Pixar movie as well, that chance falls to almost 0%, especially given that the other Western contenders (The Boss Baby, Ferdinand) aren’t really seen as true threats in this race. Often harmed by their lack of exposure to wider audiences, foreign and niche animated films often suffer the reverse affect of the live action counterparts- if a lot of eyeballs among the general populace saw it and it was good, that film tends to win the category. In this year’s case, both foreign entrants are worthy of their place at the table, but are still definite underdogs; if either The Breadwinner or Loving Vincent won, it would be possibly the largest upset in the history of the category (shy of the lackluster Western entries I mentioned winning), so I’m not holding my breath too tightly on that.

This year’s nominees featured three 3-D CGI films, one traditional hand-drawn film, and most uniquely, an entire painted film in Loving Vincent. The latter’s unique style is probably what lifted it to a nomination over other niche entrants; however, while the Academy traditionally likes a range of animation styles in its nominations, it often has little bearing on what movie ultimately wins. In fact, every animated film that has won in the past decade has been 3-D animated, and you have to go back to 2005, when Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-rabbit won to find a different style (and that was also the last foreign film to win as well, marking a 12 year drought.) In fact, since 2001 when the category was created, only one other winner was a non-CGI film- the Miyazaki classic Spirited Away in 2002.

So who wins? The obvious pick of the litter based on both historical trends and overall quality is Coco, and it’s a worthy pick in a generally underwhelming year for animation. It’s arguably one of Pixar’s best two films this decade along with Inside Out (and we’re counting Toy Story 3 as the final year of the first decade of the 2000’s) and it’s got a wonderful charm to it…but if you want my full thoughts on the film, I linked the review at the beginning of this piece, so check it out if you haven’t! As for a quick word on the rest- The Breadwinner is definitely worth a look, as it has both some stunning depth and cultural significance, with a premise that takes off, and for the artsy crowd, Finding Vincent may be worth a look. As for the other two films…neither is terrible, but they’re run of the mill animated flicks in all honesty that will probably be long forgotten in a few short years by all but the most devoted of animation fans. Enjoy the show, and I’ll have an afterword once the results finally come in!

Like what you see? Have thoughts on the Oscars? Leave a comment! Also, credit to Cartoon Brew for the picture.