Rio (2011)

Blue Sky Studio's latest animated film, the company that brought you The Ice Age Series, Horton Hears a Who, and Robots, brought out their latest animated film earlier this year. A good year for a weak computer animated film since Pixar's film was a flop and Disney and Dreamworks didn't have much.

The film is about a rare South America bird who's home is Minnesota. Domesticated before he was able to fly out of his nest he has never learned to fly and has never been outdoors. When an ornithologist visits his owner she is convinced to take Blu to Brazil to mate him with the last female of his species.

The film is very cookie cutter from the start. Probably enjoyable for the kids and something my 3-year-old would enjoy some day. As an adult I was bored the whole time. The assisting characters I found irritating and juvenile. Probably the weakest film this company has made to this point [maybe equal to the Ice Age sequels]. It is a very weak Oscar Animated year if this one gets nominated.

KSF: 2/5
Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1436562/

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Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

In a pretty weak year for animated films look for this average film to get an Oscar nomination. A sequel to the 2008 Oscar nominated film with the same director, writer, and star put it in line for another nomination. In 2009 they lost to the far superior Wall-E, but with no Pixar front runner this year you never know.

I can't say that I remember all of the detail from the first film, but they came back to me pretty quick in the first ten minutes. Po [Jack Black] is the "chosen one" and leader of the kung fu masters now. Tigress [Angelina Jolie] has warmed up to Po and the team of animals protects the city. We get a story of a crane who has harnessed gun powder for weapons instead of fireworks and is starting to conquering cities. Kung Fu is thought to be dead and the Kung Fu Masters have to prove that it is not.

On a scare factor rating I'd say that the violence alone gets a 3. If your kids are old enough for that, this film is very kid friendly. We'll see how it does against a slew of animated sequels in awards season. I liked it a lot more than I thought, but it wasn't something I'll buy for my kids.

KSF: 3/5
Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1302011/

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Winnie the Pooh (2011)

This marks the first film that I watched with my older daughter. Pretty cool. It is also the first film to get a 1/5 on the Kids Scare Factor scale... as I was hoping.

This is "almost" a remake of 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, I say this because they treat the audience as if this is the first Winnie the Pooh film and play with the theme of being inside a book in Christopher Robin's room. I really like how this is done in the original and they did an excellent job with the characters and voices. It was interesting to have a more British Christopher Robin, and it worked.

This isn't the 2nd Pooh movie ever though, and I'm not talking about straight-to-video cartoons. We had The Tigger Movie in 2000, Piglet's Big Movie in 2003, and Pooh's Heffalump Movie in 2005. This film seemed to have a better story and production values than all of those and was a real treat.

I'm sure I'll be watching this one a few more times.

KSF: 1/5
Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1449283/

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Rango (2011)

It is almost offensive to me that this film is labeled as a children film and was able to get a PG rating. This animated film is not for an under 10 audience. If you weren't sure what this was about read the movie poster, directed by Gore Verbinski, the same director from the Pirate of the Caribbean series, and starring Johnny Depp. So just like the Pirate series, this is a film all about Depp.

So I do like Depp, but about 30-45 minutes of just kid humor is not my thing. The film is about a chameleon traveling in the back of a car through the desert, when the car swerves to avoid an accident, Rango and his tank are thrown from the car and he is forces to survive on his own in the desert. He stumbles upon a rough town called "Dirt," who has a serious water problem and Rango pretends to be tough to avoid getting thrown out of a bar. The town starts to rely on him, and he is forces to fend of a bird and a snake to protect them.

The film is quite gross with characters having limbs falling off, bad guys in the desert with infect body parts. I'm not saying to was too gross for me, but I didn't think the mature dialogue was appropriate for immature humor. It was clear that a younger audience was target here, so it didn't work for me. Middle school age boys might be the only ones that walk away really happy from this film, so I was greatly disappointed.

Vote: 5/10; KSF 5/5

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1192628/

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Megamind (2010)

This was the biggest animated film of the year to not get any recognition from the Oscars or Globes. I actually got it confused for a while with Despicable Me, because it stars the villain. The background story was more entertaining for me on this one, but the overall film was much better in Despicable Me, largely due to the lead character's voice work.

With Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Ben Stiller, and Jonah Hill this is quite the cast. Problem for me sometimes is that the voice identifies the star more than the character and I can't "believe" that is how this character should sound. Ferrell was just annoying to me at times. The other big problem for me is that this was a kids movie. The other nominees were all animated film that appealed to all audiences. To me this was just for kids, with little to no adult humor. I found the jokes childish, but then again that is what I expect from Ferrell, and how I picture him most of the time.

It got a 3/5 on the KSF. Honestly I don't remember much that wouldn't be appropriate for little ones, but there is a lot of violence and people "die." Maybe you don't care about this with your children, but it bumped it from the tame 2/5 to a 3/5 which is still pretty low. Not a great or memorable animated film.

KSF: 3/5
Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1001526/

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Tangled (2010)

When this was slated as the next Disney movie in 2009 I was lead to believe that the title was chosen to try and bring in a larger young male demographic. Rather than just titling it "Rapunzel," they chose Tangled with the idea of focusing on the leading guy "Flynn." Whether this is true or not, I do not know. All I know is that this is basically the next Disney princess movie, and they did a pretty good job with it.

The problem is that the original Rapunzel story really doesn't have a lot to it, so it seems like a lot of the story was adapted from this film. They did a good job of making it new and different than the other princess films, while still doing a good job incorporating a lot of songs. The bar scene and a few Mother Gothel scenes are the only thing keeping this from a 1/5 on the KSF rating. I'm sure you can skip them on the DVD to make this a good film for little ones.

The best character by far in the film for me was the horse. The facial expressions and attitude made a few scenes a lot of fun to watch. I'm a little shocked that this failed to get either a Golden Globe or Oscar nomination. There weren't as many animated films in 2009 than in 2008, but the best of this crop was really good.

I probably don't need to tell you to check this one out. If you like Disney animation you should be happy.

KSF: 2/5
Vote: 9/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398286/

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The Illusionist: L'illusionniste (2010)

It seems that the Oscar committee has to remind us that the Animated Feature category is not the Kids Movie category. Most years they pick an alternative animated film that was not warmly accepted by American families [even if there might have been a different film worthy].

This film is directed by Sylvain Chomet, who has been nominated twice previously. First for a short film The Old Lady and the Pigeons in 1999, and then for the feature film, The Triplets of Belleville in 2004. The film is foreign, but the subtitles consist of "hello," "thank you," and other nods and gestures. I don't think there were really more than a dozen lines that needed translation, and you could watch it without that if you wanted.

The film is about an aging magician who finds his profession becoming increasingly less popular. He loses his gigs to rock bands and is forced into more demeaning performances at weddings and in bars off of the stage. He meets a young girl, and takes her on an adventure.

The reality is that this film is slow, and you have to expect that from a film with no real dialogue. When you can get yourself prepared for that it really isn't that bad. The run time is a little over an hour and fifteen minutes so it isn't a big time suck, although that amount of time feels like two hours here. The story was intriguing for the first 30-45 minutes but I was bored at the end. The animation styling was fantastic, but I wanted something a little more memorable. I would suggest this one with reservations.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0775489/

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Oscar Animated Short Films (2010)

First off, I wrote this post some time ago, but getting access to The Lost Thing was delayed and I held off posting until after the Oscars. Now that things are said and done, for the first time in a decade I liked the winner the most.

Each year it seems like I get more into this Oscar category. This year I went as far as to watch a few films that didn't even make the short list (Top 10). About 30 short films qualify each year, a number that I'm sure is growing. Qualification is winning a film festival during the year. At the same time you can win a festival while being released say 2 years earlier, which takes a spot away from a film that could have qualified. I honestly do not know what festivals any of these films won.

WINNER:

Film: The Lost Thing

Director: Andrew Ruhemann, Shaun Tan
Runtime: 15 min
Country: Australia
Vote: 8/10

Easily my favorite this year. Maybe the anticipation of it's itunes release Feb. 22nd helped. Really it is just a cool little short film. Unique styling, interesting story that keeps you interested, and a good soundtrack. I felt that it was one scene too long and the ending was a little bad. If I had a vote this would get my pick. This also has the best idea for a film that could before feature length in the future, kind of like 9.

Film: Day and Night

Director: Teddy Newton
Runtime: 6 min
Country: USA
Vote: 8/10

The biggest misconception with Oscar predictors is that this category is Pixar's to lose, just like Animated Feature. They couldn't be more wrong. Last year Partly Cloudy was short listed but failed to get a nomination. Two years ago Presto did not win. Three years ago Pixar was not nominated in this category. Four years ago Lifted lost; One Man Band, Boundin', and Mike's New Car all lost before that! All told, it has been a decade since Pixar has won this category with For the Birds, which is their 3rd and last win in the category in 23 years. Entertainment does not win this category. New and different does. Many of the shorts I just listed were my favorites, but they were nothing NEW. Only Wallace and Gromit seem to be able to win without being new here. The short is very cute, and aired before Toy Story 3 in theaters this year. Day and Night are characters that show each other all of the wonderful things they get to see. Definitely worth checking out, but I won't put it for the win on my ballot.

Film: Let's Pollute
Director: Geefwee Boedoe
Runtime: 6 min
Country: USA
Vote: 8/10

Probably the most witty short film in the group. This satire about American's and how much they pollute was really clever. Telling people that using stuff twice is pointless and to throw stuff away instead of using it twice. Growing up with a mother who was very conscious about not polluting, a lot of these jokes really hit home. Check this one out. Note: the youtube version is French, but you can still get the gist of the jokes.


Film: The Gruffalo
Director: Max Lang, Jakob Schuh
Runtime: 27 min
Country: UK
Vote: 7/10


This actually aired on BBC on Christmas Day and features voice work by Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, and James Corden. The fame of the cast and the popularity of the Children's Classic make this a real contender for the win. Many feel that it should have been made into a feature length film, personally I found it pretty slow at time and it does have the longest run time of any nominee in 3 years.


Film: Madagascar, a Journey Diary
Director: Bastien Dubois
Runtime: 11 min
Country: France
Vote: 6/10

Available on youtube with subtitles, the only foreign nominee, which is strange because there are usually several. This short film has an awful pace with some spectacular visuals. The first half is a young man traveling to some sort of religious funeral, then the last half looks like a journal with pictures that move. Images come to life and the animated scrap book just looks amazing. The story just made no sense to me, that doesn't seem to be a problem with the voters in this category so I will pick this one to win the Oscar.

Films that made the short list, but did not get nominated:
Film: Coyote Falls
Director: Matthew O'Callaghan
Runtime: 3 min
Country: USA
Vote: 6/10

A 3 minute Road Runner vs. Wile Coyote short film, available in HD on youtube, that was shown as a preview to 3D animated films in the theater this year. Being short listed was enough of an honor because it is just too short. We are familiar with the characters, so it was fun, but not worthy of much recognition.




Film: Sensology
Director: Michel Gagné
Runtime: 6 min
Country: USA
Vote: 5/10

This reminds me of a lot of the 1960's and 1970's artistic animated films on the Library of Congress National Film Registry. I could even see this getting picked in a decade when it becomes eligible. An animated visualization of two Jazz musicians, it is amazing how long 6 minutes can feel. Director Michel Gagné has done work on The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles so he is not new to the business. It was fine with me that he did not get a nomination.



Qualified Films (won a Festival) that did not make the short list:
Film: Animated History of Poland
Director: Tomasz Baginski
Runtime: 8 min
Country: Poland
Vote: 6/10

After reading some people's comments of the short list, it was felt that these two were slighted recognition. Since they were available I gave them a shot. It also gives me a feel for films that these were up against for nominations. This one has absolutely no dialog and the only text on the screen is time frames that the images took place during. Polish history teachers should show this to their classes, but the reality is I didn't get most of it because I'm not all that familiar with Poland's history. For what it is, it was pretty neat.


Film: My Name is Maria
Director: Elio Quiroga
Runtime: 4 min
Country: Spain
Vote: 4/10

Probably the worst short film of the group. I'm very happy that this one was left off. I don't mean any offense to Quirogo or the staff that worked on this because the visuals were alright. The story was by far the most depressing animated short film I have ever seen. It is centered around a little girl that witnesses her family go through economic difficulties, then some sort of war, all dying in the process. Morbid and Depressing.

This year is not a easy pick, a lot of people are going with Pixar... prove me wrong and take that risk if you want. The most popular is The Gruffalo, the obvious and maybe best choice. Personally I'm picking Madagascar because it is foreign, doesn't make any sense, and has the best art work which tends to win over cute story in this category.

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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984)

This is going to be a short review, but I guess you can already see that... Another Hayao Miyazaki film, I'm getting really tired of his entire body of work cycling onto the IMDB Top 250. This one, currently not on the top 250 was #248 on Jan. 1st when I create a static list. I'm sure now that I've seen it, it will never return, and Kiki's Delivery Service will be on there next. Since it is the only feature film of his I have not seen and has not been on the 250.

I'm sure this sounds a little harsh, but this film does not really deserve any acclaim. It just a kids movie. Weak plot, average animation quality, and quite dull. The film takes place well into the future when the forests are poisoned from all the pollution and wars. They live in the valley of the wind, when Nausicaa is a princess of a small community just trying to survive. Warring clans invade and their valley and Nausicaa has to save her people.

Too violent for small children, just about all anime of this type gets a 4/5 on the KSF. Plus, the plot is complicated enough that little ones wouldn't get it.

Vote: 6/10, KSF 4/5

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087544/

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Despicable Me (2010)

With Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon, this film rounds out a very strong group of Golden Globe nominations in the animated division. Although I gave How to Train... a 9/10 I'm not sure which one I liked better now.

The story is about a villain [Gru played by Steve Carell] who has been outdone by another villain [Vector played by Jason Segel]. Afraid that he is getting too old and still not close to achieving his ultimate villain dream he comes up with a plan to steal the moon. The plan involves using three orphan girls to steal from Vector. Comic relief is provided by the numerous yellow minions that populated 3-D movie commercials throughout the year. As well as his assistant, Dr. Nefario [played by Russell Brand] and his unloving mother played by Julie Andrews.

Overall the movie was fun, an appropriate length, and incredibly entertaining while still being tame enough for little kids. I could see taking a pretty young kid to this one because the minions are fun, and the violence is either playful or silly. Wish I could have seen the closing credits in 3D, but 2D is just fine.

Vote: 8/10, KSF: 2/5

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1323594/

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A Christmas Carol (2009)

By far the worst film I have seen this year. This retelling of the Charles Dickens classic story completely panders to the usage of 3D, while failing to provide any substance.

The classic story which has the three ghosts: Past, Present, and Future are meant to show Mr. Scrooge when he changed and how things used to be. The condition of the people around him that he is hurting. What will happen to him if he doesn't change. Pretty simple, amazing that Disney could get it so wrong.

The CGI was so bad in this film that I wouldn't be surprised audience members got sick. The scare factor is so high that I don't know who their target audience is. Kids can't see this one, if would give them nightmares, the story lacks so much substance that adults couldn't possibly fidn it worthwhile.

First off the ghost of Christmas Past doesn't really teach him anything, I'm sorry but showing him the school he used to go to was pointless. The Ghost of Christmas Present had the most incredibly annoying laugh and just showed him people talking bad about him. The Ghost of Christmas Future just chased him around. Scrooge learned nothing about the Christmas spirit, all the ghosts did was scare him straight. Like a shape up or you are going to hell. I strongly disliked this film and would suggest it be avoided completely.

Vote: 1/10, KSF 5/5

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067106/

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Shrek Forever After (2010)

Shrek "4"ever after, the 4th movie in the series that won't go away. Hey, at least they are keeping Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, and Cameron Diaz busy so there are working less on crap like Norbit, The Love Guru, and Charlie's Angels.

This one was a rebound for me from the 3rd film, another 5/10, that was still the worst in the series. It really seems more like something I would watch on television and not in a theater. I'm sure we will see this on a family channel soon enough, maybe the 3D would have added something, but I doubt it. A big pro is that it has a low kids scare factor 2/10. Besides being ogres and witches they are not really scary and there are very few scenes that would be unacceptable for little ones.

The storyline is that Rumpelstiltskin finds a way to con Shrek into handing over the kingdom. Shrek now has to reverse the contract by falling in love with Princess Fiona again. It is kind of a cute storyline, but remains just for kids. It has definitely lost the double entendres that made the first film so special.

Vote: 5/10, KSF: 2/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892791/

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Toy Story 3 (2010)

I've noticed myself hating on Pixar for no reason lately. I think people are tired of seeing them win everything. Personally I get annoyed because my favorites (like Ratatouille) get less recognition than the ones I didn't like (Up or Cars). Before watching this one I watched and reviewed the two previous films in the [now] trilogy again.

I have to honestly say that this is my favorite in the series. It is now my favorite for the Animated Oscar and I'm on the Pixar bandwagon this year. The plot and storyline were well developed. The moved the story forward to the toy's owner, Andy, growing up and leaving for college. It is attic, charity, or trash for the toys, and after a mix up it is an adventure to stay together.

I loved it, it was a great sequel in an era where sequels are weak at best. As for the Kids Scare factor, there are some moments that the villain toys at the daycare would scary little ones. It was definitely made for those that have grown up with Toy Story 2 to watch, so the maturity level needs to be higher.

Vote: 9/10, KSF: 3/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435761/

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How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

It will be explained later in the week with the one year anniversary special post, but this is the first film to feature the "KSF" Rating. A rating for how scary kids will find the movie. I'll start by saying that with lots of dragons and fighting this one is not for the preschoolers. 4/5 is just short of Bambi's mom dying, and on the scale that you cannot simply avoid a scene or two for the little ones.

Last year saw a record number of animated feature films, expanding the Oscar field to 5 films. This year has been much slower and will only warrant 3 nominations. To me this is the front runner right now. It would be a snub not the nominated, and it is too early to say if this will win, with Toy Story 3 and Tangled left to watch.

The film is about a viking community that is at constant war with dragons. The lead character is the son of the community leader and a runt. He desperately wants to prove he is big enough to go to dragon school, after an encounter with a dragon he accidentally trapped he starts to have second thoughts about if and why dragons are the enemies.

A great story for kids, exciting, and not pandering to the 3D feature it was enabled with for the theaters. Definitely worth checking out.

Vote: 9/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/

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Toy Story 2 (1999)

I'm not a big sequel fan, especially when it comes to animated films. Had Disney ever had a successful sequel before this one? All the princess film's sequels were just awful.

So how did they do it? First off the creative team at Pixar is excellent at making a script out of nothing. You can't really say it has anything to do with the voice work even if it does draw a small crowd it doesn't make the film itself better.

The film does a great job of balancing action, adventure, kids themes, and subtle adult jokes. I really just watched it again to remind myself what the storyline was going into the 3rd film that is now out in theaters.

I don't have a lot to say about this film. It was good but not great. It might be just average, but you still have to see it.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120363/

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Toy Story (1995)

Hard to believe it has been almost 15 years since I have seen this film. The breakthrough film for the Pixar studio and reason for much of their success. I thought it would be nice to watch the first two again in HD before the 3rd on comes out for rental later this year.

Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear make a great pairing. The comedy is witty and does a great job using double entendre's for the children and adult audiences. One of the best animated films of all time, well edited, and with a great cast.

So why 7/10? It just isn't Pixar's best to me. There are still some very sappy jokes and Mr. Potatohead really annoys me. The animation is still in development and it shows. Their quality increases with every film and is evident when you compare this with Finding Nemo 8 years later. Maybe I'm being harsh and don't make sense with best ever and just average, sorry.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/

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9 (2009)

In 2006 Shane Acker was nominated for the Oscar in the Short Animated film category with his film 9. The film, only 11 minutes long has no dialog. The rag doll comes to life and fights a monster which appears to be trying to steal his soul.

The graphics were fantastic and impressed Tim Burton enough to sign with Acker for a feature length film. Jennifer Connelly, Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, and John C. Reilly are the stars that helped lend their voices to this project.

The storyline is that a scientist created 9 of these rag doll creatures, for what? We don't know. But we enter the story at what appears to be a wartime city when "9" gains consciousness. The film is still pretty short at about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Enough time to develop the story and create and resolve conflict. Short enough to not get bored with the movie, but not long enough to really develop the background story as much as I would have liked.

The movie is very adult content, still ok for teenages, but Wood makes "9" seems like a childrens movie hero. I would have liked a deeper voice from him and a little more maturity from some of the scenes. The action was good but it was just ok in the end. The short film is almost like a really good movie trailer that doesn't reflect the film all that well. Might be worth your time, not for everyone.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472033/

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The Tale of Despereaux (2008)

It can be hard for me to find the time and desire to watch a film like this. If an animated film does not get an oscar nomination or make it on some sort of watch list then it at least needs some good marketing or star for me to want to see it.

The title character's voice is done by Matthew Broderick, a person who's career has faded over the last decade and he is left with animated voice over jobs. It also has Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, Kevin Kline, Frank Langella, and Stanley Tucci. So not a bad cast of voices.

I gave this one a shot and was slightly impressed. The story had too much violence for really young kids, but at the same time had no mature jokes for an older crowd. Clearly a victim of no clear target audience, and a hard to pronounce title [phonetically it would read des-pro]. With just an average storyline and decent CGI this could have been a Disney Channel show or straight-to-video movie without the B-List voices.

Not bad if you are looking for a new kids movie, but forgettable.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420238/

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Castle in the Sky: Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (1986)

Maybe I'm going thought a negative voting phase, but it sure seems like I've been voting pretty harshly lately. That or I'm just getting tired of Hayao Miyazaki's animated films, because I just didn't think this one warranted better than a 7/10. It is actually one of the most exciting and action packed films by Miyazaki and I think kids would really like this one a lot.

An interesting side note on this film is Disney's somewhat obvious attempt to hold back their competition. They bought the rights to the Miyazaki films and took over two years to dub this into English. It killed the marketing campaign and limited American exposure to this film. Disney seems to be embracing the success of the Miyazaki catalog and released the American dubbed version of Ponyo in less than month after the Japanese release.

Back to this film. It is a fantasy about a floating castle. The government wants to harness it's power, the pirates want its money, the girl is the princess of the castle trying to get home, and the boy is avenging his father's name and trying to prove it exists.

An exciting and well animated film. A little long clocking in at over two hours for a kids themed film is a bit much. If you like Miyazaki and Anime films you will probably like this one.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092067/

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Oscar Animated Short Films (2009)

The Oscars are now over and I have been able to watch all 5 nominees for animated short film, as well as two others that made the short list, e.g. the pool of 10 the 5 nominees were chosen from.

I have ranked the five nominations from my favorite to least favorite, then reserve comment on the other two until the end. The winner was Logorama, which I will boast was my prediction, yet I am still surprised the academy picked a film like this.

Film: French Roast
Director: Fabrice Joubert
Runtime: 8 min
Country: France
Vote: 9/10

This was my favorite of the nominees. The animation quality was excellent, the story was cute, and it was also funny. This is available on youtube and worth checking out.

Film: Logorama
Director: François Alaux, Herve de Crecy, & Ludovic Houplain
Runtime: 16 min
Country: France
Vote: 7/10

This is a very unique short film. Taking six years to create it uses thousands of logos to assemble a city which honestly is starting to look like most American cities. Overloaded with corporations and cookie cutter streets. There is a lot of vulgar language, and I'd be surprised if McDonald's doesn't make a stink of the representation of Ronald McDonald in this film.

Film: Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Director: Nick Park
Runtime: 30 min
Country: United Kingdom
Vote: 7/10

Nick Park has now won this category three times, twice with Wallace and Gromit, and also has an Animated Feature nomination from the same series. All of his awards have come from the same claymation style, and I personally feel this category is for showcasing new talent. This film just didn't fit for me. I love Wallace and Gromit, but this storyline was just not great. It was entertaining, and I would watch it again with my kids, but I can think of three better Wallace and Gromit films.

Film: The Lady and the Reaper: La dama y la muerte
Director: Javier Recio Gracia
Runtime: 8 min
Country: Spain
Vote: 6/10

This film is about a little old lady who goes to bed one night, ready to meet death and be reunited with her husband in the next life. Death comes and takes her away but a hero doctor comes along and brings her back. The film is a slapstick tug-o-war for the old lady between death and the doctor. It just didn't bring much of a storyline to the table. There was a lot of silly running around, yet not something necessarily for kids. Just ok for me...

Film: Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
Director: Nicky Phelan
Runtime: 6 min
Country: Ireland
Vote: 5/10

This is a film about a grandmother that changes up fairy tales and scares the crap out of her grandson right before bed. Not a big fan of the animation style, and for a such a short runtime I wanted her interpretation to at least be funny for the viewer. It just wasn't and I wouldn't watch it again, you can however find it on youtube in HD.

So these are the two films I felt should have received a nomination instead of the Wallace and Gromit and Granny O'Grimm shorts.

Film: Partly Cloudy
Director: Peter Sohn
Runtime: 6 min
Country: USA
Vote: 7/10

I don't want to contradict myself when I say a Pixar film should replace a Nick Park film because Park has too many nominations. The thing you have to understand is that just because it is Pixar does not mean the people involved in this film have been nominated before. Peter Sohn has been a production artist on an assortment of Pixar films, but this is his first as a director. The story was cute, but I could see how they could go either way on this.

Film: The Cat Piano
Directors: Ari Gibson & Eddie White
Runtime: 8 min
Country: Australia
Vote: 6/10

Once again, I'm not falling out of my chair because this wasn't nominated. It was however a favorite of many that watched all 10 on the short list. It is the artistic styling I expected the academy to like, and had it been nominated I would have picked it for the win. Especially since what I like the most is never the winner, e.g. French Roast and last years Presto. You can find this on youtube as well in very high quality.

So for a final note, I have seen all of the nominations from this category for the last 6 years, and all of the winners from the last 22 years. In my opinion this was a very strong year, all seven of these films got a 5/10 or higher and some pretty bad ones have snuck through in past years. With a little work anyone can find all of them on the internet. If I get any comments on this post or requests I will review some of the past years and winners.

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