Categories One-by-One: Animated Feature

[OscarGuy]

I finally caught up with the last of the five nominees. Here would be my personal rank.

1. How to Train Your Dragon
2. I Lost My Body
3. Klaus
4. Toy Story 4
5. Missing Link

None of them are bad movies, but Missing Link is the weakest film after The BoxTrolls in the Laika catalog.

Toy Story 4 is significantly inferior to all of its predecessors and I cannot understand the heaps of love the film has received.

Klaus is a sweet and creative story, but so terribly predictable. I was incredibly frustrated the second I figured out how the film was likely to reach its climax. That and Jason Schwartzman's inept vocal performance.

I Lost My Body was a terrifically inventive film and had a lot to say about memory and our connection to the past and the future.

How to Train Your Dragon was a terrific cap to a trilogy that has always impressed. I was with it the entire way and it kept surprising me as it went along. I knew how it would likely end, but how it got there felt fresh and satisfying.

I would have put Abominable and Frozen II in the place of Toy Story 4 and Missing Link personally.

[Mister Tee]

Okay, I've finally see all five, and can comment.

The Toy Story franchise owns a special place in Academy hearts. It wasn't the Disney Little Mermaid through Lion King run of the late 80s/early 90s that prompted the creation of this category; it was the emergence of Pixar with the two Toy Story's (and some other films) later in the decade that forced the issue. Plus, I'd argue the (unexpected) Toy Story screenplay nomination in 1995 was just as much an awards breakthrough as the Beauty and the Beast best picture nod had been.

The first two films of course predated the animation category, so Toy Story 3 became an easy way to acknowledge the entire series. And Pixar's impressive quality control around the series (there's no Godfather III dropoff to adulterate things) would make this edition an unobjectionable winner.

And yet, and yet. There is a bit of deja vu creeping into the series: the toys will get separated from their owners and have to race the clock to get back in time; some aspect of the sentimental relationship between kids and toys will be milked for a teary finale. That voter anonymous linked to yesterday expressed, I think, a widespread feeling that, good as this franchise has been, isn't there something dreary about voting for a movie with "4" in its title?

The advantage the film holds onto is split opposition.

The How to Train Your Dragon series has been very popular, both critically and commercially, but this chapter seems to have the same over-familiarity handicap as Toy Story. It's true none of the films have ever won -- the original had the bad luck to go up against Toy Story 3. But, had voters felt deep need to honor the franchise, they could have gone for the second edition; instead, they chose the fresher Big Hero 6. I can't see a better outcome here.

Missing Link winning the Globe indicated some of the resistance to just checking off Toy Story, but I can't really see the film going all the way to an Oscar. It's pleasant enough, but minor.

I Love My Body is the clear critics' choice. It's also the only film in the bunch that's unmistakably aimed at adults. Anonymous is correct to note that such a film has yet to prevail -- Persepolis, The Wind Rises and Anomalisa among those who've fallen short -- but it's possible that its having the lane to itself will help it prevail here.

The Annies haven't been much of a barometer of Academy sentiment, so Klaus' near-sweep there may not mean anything. But the film is beautifully drawn, classic animation style, and it works surprisingly well as a secret-origin story of Santa.

My fatalistic take is that this spread-out field will lead to a name-check win for Toy Story 4. But I think either I Love My Body or Klaus could prevail, which is enough to keep the category interesting.

[OscarGuy]

It's in my screener pile after 1917, but I've been trying to get through the shorts for a review before it releases to theaters.

[Okri]

Oscarguy, I'd be curious what you think of Klaus. It's my favourite of the four I've seen (missing Dragon).

[OscarGuy]

The only one of these I haven't seen is Klaus, but I should get around to it eventually.

The artistry in Missing Link is far ahead of its actual quality. This is more akin to the popular animated films of the past than it is to the creative and narratively complex films of Laika's past. It's the nadir of the company's production, but it is still rather enjoyable in places even if a bit daft.

I Lost My Body is creative as well, but in a different way. It's an inventive story told well. It's the most indie of the features present, something that a filmmaker like Wes Anderson might have made, though Anderson would have made it more visually stunning.

Toy Story 4 felt like an afterthought, an attempt to keep a franchise going when it was running low on steam. I've never been a great fan of the original, finding 2 and 3 far greater in their emotional resonance, but 3 feels like it was pushing far too hard to find itself and make an emotional connection with the audience. It's not a bad film, but it would easily rank third of the four nominees for me.

I found How to Train Your Dragon to be a most fun and inventive film. While not quite as good as the second chapter, it reminded me how much this series has tried very hard not to feel like the derivative in its separate outings, encouraging its characters to grow and adapt in ways that most animated films don't. This is personally my favorite of the four I've seen in an admittedly weaker year in animation than I can recall recently.

[Sabin]

I’ve only seen Toy Story 4. I have quite a few reservations about the film. It feels less like a story and more like a series of disparate plot threads thrown together. The plot itself (saving Forky) gets forgotten for spans of time in the center of the film while simultaneously making it feel like the smallest Toy Story film. That said, it has enough moments that are memorably weird, emotional, and funny to make an Oscar feel warranted and not like mindlessly checking off another box for Pixar. Also, this would only be the second Toy Story film to win one and ten years since the last one. Not like that actually moves the needle much.

Strange that Rashida Jones hasn’t come up this Oscar season. It really is massively truncated.

[Precious Doll]

The only nominee I enjoyed was Toy Story 4 (which reminds me I must purchase the Blu Ray if it has been released). I really wish the Academy would limit the nominees to 3 unless there are over 100 candiates. A shame a couple of more deserving films didn't make the cut.

[anonymous1980]

The nominees:

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4

This is an interesting category this year because there doesn't seem to be a clear front-runner unlike most years since this category's inception. I personally really enjoyed Klaus (I regard it as the best Santa origin story) but I don't think it will triumph here. I Lost My Body has the critics' vote (and my vote as well). But it's an art-house grown-up animated film and those types of films have yet to win here. Speaking of, Laika, an animation studio that has been churning out great work hasn't won this category. This could be a chance to award them through Missing Link and the Golden Globe triumph could be the boost it needs. But the film came and went long ago.

This category doesn't usually award sequels but every film in the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy got nominated and none of them won so this may be a chance to acknowledge the series as a whole but again, this film came and went early last year with minimal fanfare despite being the last of a trilogy. Speaking of that, the last Toy Story is the only sequel to date to win and at least some of that was due to the other two films released preceded the Animated Feature category. Toy Story 4 got good reviews and was successful but will they really default to this? I think the answer is very likely.