Submissions for the Nominations for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2018 Oscars (Part 2)
Welcome back, fellow TopTenners and visitors! This is MSBS back with Part 2 as I take a look at more of the submissions for the nominations for Best Animated Feature Film at the upcoming 2018 Oscars. So in my previous post, I had an overview describing what is the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and I discussed my thoughts on 10 out of the 26 films submitted for consideration of being nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 90th Academy Awards. While most were good like Coco and Cars 3 and I gave praise to them, others like The Emoji Movie and The Boss Baby were panned by me. So now with the first 10 movies blown out of the water, it's on to the next 10 movies that I will be giving my thoughts on from this list. Let's proceed further, shall we?11. Ethel & Ernest: After suffering that devastating way to end off my analysis of the first 10 movies on the list by taking a look at The Emoji Movie, it's nice to get back on track with good movies by taking a look at Ethel & Ernest. So Ethel & Ernest is basically based off of a 1999 British graphic novel of the same name, as it follows the lovely life of the titular couple Ethel & Ernest as we experience their courtship from the 1920's up until their deaths in 1971 along with themes of social and political developments in the 20th century and London working-class life and concerns during that time period. The novel did win "Best Illustrated Book of the Year" at the 1999 British Book Awards, so I can see how Ethel & Ernest got an animated film adaptation. I'm not sure what to say about the film's quality, but I can guess its British homeland loved it (though, I don't have proof other than that it had a theatrical release and that BBC television broadcast the movie as well). North American audiences seem to have loved it as well for those who saw it. As for what I can say about the movie right now, all I can say is that I love its art style and 20th century setting of social and political developments that intrigue me. Considering I don't see many people talk about it, it may not be nominated unfortunately, but I guess Ethel & Ernest fans can have their fingers crossed for that possibility.
12. Ferdinand: It appears Blue Sky Studios is yet again trying to create a new franchise after having put up with all those pointless Ice Age sequels and never utilizing the Rio franchise to its fullest potential. However, after reading the premise of this movie, I feel like Ferdinand isn't that original. I mean, the plot is about a giant but gentle bull trying to escape his captors and return back to his family. We've already seen Ice Age and Rio encompass similar or identical plots like this where the main characters have to go on a journey to return something or return to something. So it only makes me think that Blue Sky should really try to craft more movies that aren't just animal journeys to a way home. Other than that, there might actually be some potential in Ferdinand if Blue Sky does it right. Who knows? Ferdinand might even be a step up from Ice Age and Rio altogether. JUST DON'T TURN IT INTO A SOULLESS CASH COW FRANCHISE, FOR PETE'S SAKE! But in all honestly, I'm not too sure if this could get nominated or not. Part of me says it might not since it pales in comparison to superior competitors like Coco and The Lego Batman Movie and maybe even Cars 3, but part of me says it will since it's a Blue Sky Studios movie.
13. The Girl without Hands: Just for the record, The Girl without Hands film is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name. However, I've never read of The Girl without Hands, let alone even hear about it prior to this post. Regardless, this 2016 French animated drama film draws me in the most with its vividly line-drawn and colorful art style that almost every French animated film is known for. Not sure what to say about the quality itself since I simply just don't have time to sit down and watch all these movies these days, but based solely on visuals itself, The Girl without Hands could have potential for nomination, though I see The Breadwinner beating out that film and all the other French animated films selected this year. Nonetheless, The Girl without Hands should be undoubtedly good in its own merit.
14. In This Corner of the World: And now we approach the first Japanese animated movie on this list. The plot of In This Corner of the World focuses on an 18-year old Japanese woman as she combats daily struggles in Hiroshima during the events of World War II in the Pacific and gets married, now having to find the will to live in this new courtship and the ongoing world war her country is swept in now. The movie itself is actually based on a manga of the same name, and it's animated by MAPPA, a Japanese animation studio best known for animating 2016's Yuri on Ice, so there's a pro right there. I can expect the movie to be fluidly and beautifully animated, but I think the one thing that will draw in people the most when watching this movie (and if I do watch this movie sometime in the future) is how it realistically depicts life before and after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. In other words, we get to see both the nature and traditional culture of Japan while we get to see the starkly contrasting militaristic violence depicted in the warfare brought upon by the merciless brutality that Japanese soldiers had. Even though the movie is a fictional account of the events of World War II, the movie still manages to give a realistic portrayal of how World War II impacted Hiroshima and Japan while crafting a touching story along with it. Overall, I feel In This Corner of the World does have potential to be a shoo-in for one of the nominations as a Japanese representative. I do see it being a runner-up to A Silent Voice as the quintessential anime movie to be nominated for this year's Academy Awards.
15. The Lego Batman Movie: I think we all know by now how everyone was disappointed and frustrated at the Academy for not nominating The Lego Movie for the 2014 Oscars. So here's to hoping The Lego Batman Movie will get nominated and avenge The Lego Movie for its undeserved snub. After all, I've seen myriads of positive critical and audience acclaim for Lego Batman. And for good reason. Granted, I've never been able to sit down and watch any of the installments in The Lego Movie franchise, but based on a few glimpses and reviews of the movie, I'm assured that it's worth quite the watch. If you liked Lego Batman from The Lego Movie, chances are that you'll love him even more in his own Lego Movie. From all the action-packed scenes and intricate and detailed homages and references to all past Batman media, The Lego Batman Movie would at first glance seem like a blatant product placement flick, but instead, it manages to make something clever and creative out of it for the better. If The Lego Batman Movie can be considered for Best Picture, then it should most definitely be considered for Best Animated Feature Film, be nominated, and if possible, ultimately win the award for this category if Coco doesn't.
16. The Lego Ninjago Movie: Yeah... I actually really had high hopes for this and would have been willing to defend it, but critics seem to say otherwise with all the mixed reviews. Not to mention that most people I know on here were disappointed with the film and wished that it could have been better. While I would probably watch it if I manage to watch The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie for the first time just for the sake of being into The Lego Movie franchise and being a fan of the first two seasons of the Lego Ninjago TV show (key words: FIRST TWO seasons), it's very sad to see that the The Lego Ninjago Movie didn't turn out as well as me and everyone wanted it to be in terms of success and reception. I can see if there are some truly dedicated fans that would want The Lego Ninjago Movie to be nominated, but considering it's seen as inferior to The Lego Batman Movie, to put it bluntly, it's a fat chance that Lego Ninjago will get nominated. Perhaps Warner Bros. shouldn't have shoehorned two Lego movies in the same year and should have just released them in their own separate years to allow for more development for Lego Ninjago...
17. Loving Vincent: Out of all 26 movies, Loving Vincent arguably has the most unique art style out of them. I mean, come on. The movie uses oil painting for its animation. OIL PAINTING. It's not often we see a movie that has oil painting as its main art style. We've all seen hand-drawn movies, computer-animated movies, stop-motion movies way more often than oil painting movies. So it's kind of like a breath of fresh air for those who want to see a different art style for movies that's rarely used. NO, WAIT! This is actually the FIRST fully-painted animated feature film to have ever been made! As for Loving Vincent itself, the plot seems interesting as it revolves around the mystery surrounding the death of a famous painter named Vincent van Gogh in 1890 France. One can never go wrong with an old-fashioned artist mystery fiasco. And given the milestone Loving Vincent has set for animated movies, I'm BEGGING for this to be nominated. I mean, it should be likely to be nominated, am I right?
18. Mary and the Witch's Flower: Fun fact: Studio Ponoc, the studio that animates Mary and the Witch's Flower, was founded by several former Studio Ghibli animators. So I can't be the only one who feels that this movie gives off Spirited Away vibes, let alone Studio Ghibli vibes. It's Studio Ponoc's first feature film, and from what I've heard, it seems to be a pretty good movie for what it is. The movie is based on a book called The Little Broomstick, and the movie tells the story of a young girl named Mary who finds a mysterious flower that gives her the power to become a witch, which lasts for one night only. Think Kiki's Delivery Service with a Ponyo-like female witch protagonist traveling in a Spirited Away-like journey. I really want to see this movie if I ever have the time, whether it be online or for rental DVD. Oh, and Mary and the Witch's Flower is the 7th highest-grossing Japanese film at the Japanese box office this year in 2017. But as usual, other cash cow franchises like Yo-kai Watch and Pokemon outdo it. Either way, Mary and the Witch's Flower is a worthy contender for being nominated out of the 5 Japanese animated movies submitted this year. Though, I still believe A Silent Voice will be nominated out of all of them.
19. Moomins and the Winter Wonderland: Where we got Loving Vincent as the first fully-painted animated feature film, here we have a stop-motion animated feature film known as Moomins and the Winter Wonderland. Considering it's close to the holiday season as we speak, I'd say this was a pretty convenient and coincidental choice for one of the nominations for Best Animated Feature Film. I never knew about the Moomins film franchise prior to making this post, and there seems to be a lot of movies in its catalog, so I'm curious as to if the Moomins film franchise itself is more beloved than I thought. Maybe so, maybe not. As for the plot of the film itself, it just revolves around this Moomin called Moomintroll where instead of taking a winter slumber, he decides to explore the vastness of the winter wonderland of Moomin Valley and then discovers Christmas, and with it, its true meaning as well. I did like stop-motion Christmas specials like all those Rankin/Bass Productions ones and It's a SpongeBob Christmas!, so this movie might be a worthwhile Christmas flick. But I don't really see it being nominated though, unfortunately. That's just my guess.
20. My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea: Phew! This has been quite a long list to go through, and now we're on our final movie for Part 2 of this blog post series. So My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea is a 2016 American animated teen comedy drama film about two sophomores named Dash and Assaf who are best friends and the only writers for the school newspaper. Things start getting a bit conflicted when Dash gets jealous of Assaf being assigned solo assignments and then Dash reports a false story about Assaf having erectile dysfunction. Later, as Dash is doing research, he learns that the school is in poor condition, but nobody believes him especially after lying about Assaf's alleged erectile dysfunction, but then an earthquake hits and causes the whole school and all the students within it to sink into the Pacific Ocean. I'm not sure where the synopsis goes from there, but it does make it sound like the movie is worth a watch. Critics have praised its trippy animation style, and it seems to be a pretty decent coming-of-age disaster film all-around. I'm not sure what to make of it, but it might be good on its own merit. Though, I'm pretty sure it won't make it to the final nomination process, unfortunately.
And with that, I now close off Part 2 of this blog post series of analyzing the movies being considered for nomination at the 90th Academy Awards. Thankfully, there weren't any bad movies this time around in this part of this blog post series. Based off of what nominations can be scavenged from these 10 movies other than Coco and The Breadwinner from the previous post, I think Loving Vincent will likely be nominated out of all these 10 here. In This Corner of the World and Mary and the Witch's Flower do have a shot at one of them being the Japanese representative for Best Animated Feature Film, though I still believe A Silent Voice has it in the bag out of all 5 anime movies selected this year. Anyways, thanks for reading this post and feel free to discuss in the comments about the potential nominees for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Until then, peace!
Stay tuned for Submissions for the Nominations for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2018 Oscars (Part 3)
Comments
Quite a few nominations. - visitor
The last one made me go what the fudge..? - TwilightKitsune
Lego Batman Movie is the best of these - visitor