Film

‘Kung Fu Panda’ dropkicks ‘Wall-E’ at Annie Awards

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The Annie Award winners for 2009 were just announced (Jan. 30). The Annie’s are the like the “Oscars for animation” (one of the staffers at school said that). And would you look at that…controversy!!!!

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‘Kung Fu Panda’ dropkicks ‘Wall-E’ at Annie Awards by Tom O’Neil

“Kung Fu Panda” shut out all competition, including critical darling “Wall-E,” at Friday’s Annie Awards, winning 10 categories, including best animated feature. Does this sweep signal trouble for “Wall-E” at the upcoming Oscars?

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Since the Academy Awardsintroduced a separate award for best animated feature in 2001, the winners of the two prizes have matched up every year except 2006, when “Cars” won the Annie, but “Happy Feet” danced off with the Oscar. And last year’s double winner “Ratatouille” was also the clear leader at the Annies, winning nine of its 14 nominations and far outpacing the other two eventual Oscar nominees — “Surf’s Up,” which won two of 10 nods, and “Persepolis,” which went zero for four.

Although film critics ranked “Wall-E” as one of the top-rated movies of the year, those truly in the know about the art of making animation — members of the International Animated Film Society, who bestow the Annie Awards — were far less impressed. Of this year’s three Oscar contenders, “Kung Fu Panda” led going into the Annie Awardswith 16 nominations to eight for “Wall-E” and five for “Bolt.” Numbering triple nods in both character animation and voice acting and double noms in storyboarding and production design among its record tying tally, “Kung Fu Panda” won all 10 categories in which it was competing. And offshoots of “Kung Fu Panda” were also winners at the Annie Awards. The video game claimed an award and TV spinoff “The Secrets of the Furious Five” took four more.

Winners of the Annie Awards were announced at a kudofest at UCLA’s Royce Hall. The Annie Awards website has a complete list of winners and nominees.

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My Take:

I was entertained by Kung Fu Panda, but I was wowed by Wall-E.  Now supposedly the winners are voted upon by experts in the animation field (even though I also read you can purchase a ballot?), and I am no expert (I’m just a student what do I know) so I can’t speak on the technical merit of the films too much. What I can say is that I always appreciate “art with a message.” To me, Wall-E had more of message (i.e. critique of consumerism, albeit a safe message that wouldn’t offend kids and parents) than Kung Fu Panda (which I must admit was more entertaining). 

I was at school today, and a staffer had a good point that these films were initiated some years before they actually come out. So the politics of these films are mostly accidental.

That may be true, but like most things in life, we don’t live in a vacuum and you can’t separate out the politics. 

Anyway, Good Job Kung Fu Panda! but I’m hoping Wall-E takes the Academy Award.

Review: From Burger It Came (Sundance Short Film 2009)

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From Burger It Came/ dir. Dominic Bisignano/ 7 mins/ 2008

fromburgerI have to hand it Dominic Bisignano. He made a film that is both all over the place (in terms of animation) yet at the same time clear and concise (in terms of message). 

From Burger It Came deals with the paranoia of AIDS back in the 1980s. A time when nobody had any idea what AIDS was, and had no idea how AIDS was contracted, spread, etc. 

The story starts out very simply; Kid eats mysterious burger from cafeteria, then has this sudden fear that he has gotten AIDS. The rest of time expands on the kid’s fear of AIDS.

The narration of  this story is set to American folk music and has 4 parts that are intertwined. One part is the first person account of the story. The second is the mother’s account of the paranoia. The third is a conversation between mother and child about the fear of AIDS. And the fourth part is a 1980s teacher educating a class on the popular ideas of AIDS during that time (many of which were very, VERY wrong). It seems like it would be confusing but all these parts converge to outline the fear of AIDS back in the 1980s and the folksy music give it that “what the f… is going on” type vibe.

To compliment the narration and music, the animation and visuals match the crazy nature of what people thought AIDS was back in the day. The style ranges from 2-D cut-outs (via Monty Python) to old 40’s style animation, to 3-D animation, to digital paint. And when viewing this film, your eyes are so bombarded with various images and cartoons that you can’t help but be confused. 

Hence the point of this 7 minute film. Discussing AIDS in the 1980s was practically useless. Add in the fear and paranoia of AIDS with the simple fact that hardly anyone knew anything about this disease during the 80s and you get confusing jumble of misguided images and messages. I, myself, never really knew about all this until Magic Johnson “retired” from the NBA because of the HIV virus. 

In my experience, to truly get this film, you have to watch it several times. I will admit, I threw my hands up at first viewing and thought “what was that?” In truth it is a very weird film. I expect nothing less from  Dominic Bisignano, a CalArts Experimental Animation student.

Sundance 2009 Short Films on iTunes (FREE!!!)

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For anyone interested, iTunes has 10 Sundance 2009 Short Films available for download for FREE!!! (act now, it’s free until January 25, 2009).

Go here to get them: http://www.itunes.com/sundance

Here is the list of short films on iTunes with descriptions:

Acting for the Camera —An acting class. Today’s scene: the orgasm from ‘When Harry Met Sally.’

Countertransference —A comedy about an awkward woman with assertiveness problems who seeks the questionable help of a therapist.

HUG—Drew is a musician with a contract ready to sign. When Asa, his friend and manager, realizes Drew is off his meds the across-town drive to sign the contract becomes significantly more complicated.

Field Notes From Dimension X: Oasis —Captain Fred T. Rogard muses in isolation on planet Oasis.

From Burger It Came —An animated film that recounts early 1980s-era Cold War fears of a young boy in middle America. Using a variety of techniques, the visual narrative is colorfully assembled over semi-documentary audio conversations between a grown adult recounting his fears and his mother’s memory of the time and her own concerns.

I Live In The Woods —A Woodsman’s fast-paced journey, fueled by happiness, slaughter, and a confrontation with America’s God.

Instead of Abracadabra—Tomas is a little bit too old to still be living with his parents, but his dream of becoming a magician leaves him with no other option.

James—A young man grapples with the impulses and thoughts about beinggay.

Magnetic Movie—Natural magnetic fields are revealed as chaotic ever-changing geometries, as scientists from NASA’s space sciences laboratory excitedly describe their discoveries.

This Way Up—Laying the dead to rest has never been so much trouble.

I’ll be doing a review on From Burger It Came soon.