THE ANNIES

Let me start off by saying, apology accepted.

People lectured me for months about why WALL-E is a prime rib dinner compared to that Happy Meal that I know and love as Kung Fu Panda. They told me how WALL-E captured that elusive cinematic-ness, while Kung Fu Panda was… cute. How the lack of dialogue in WALL-E forced a more visually interesting storytelling method.

And the whole time, I stuck to my guns, believing in Kung Fu Panda. In light of a momentous occasion like this one, I’d normally google around for a great quote from someone important and pawn it off like I’ve been shedding the wisdom verbatim for years. I have, instead, opted to blockquote myself from AVT: Week 4

I’ve been very vocal about my undying love for Kung Fu Panda, but the rest of the world seems to have reached the consensus that WALL-E is the best animated picture of the year. That’s fine with me, I’m just gonna be that much louder when Panda wins it.

Wait, hang on, there’s more. Not only did Kung Fu Panda win best animated feature, it also won nine other annies, for a total of 10 Annies – every single feature category. EVERY SINGLE FEATURE CATEGORY. How many did WALL-E win? Zero. Zero Annies. Since 2001, when the Academy created the Best Animated Feature category, the Annie Winner is the Oscar Winner. (With the exception of 2007 when Cars won the Annie but Happy Feet won the Oscar.)

[ed.'s note: Kung Fu Panda was amazing, but WALL-E was transcendental. If Pixar doesn't get the Oscar, the Academy will lose any credibility it has left for snubbing The Dark Knight and Bruce Springsteen.]

Don’t get me wrong, I love WALL-E. I’m going to own WALL-E on blu-ray. No disrespect to any of the hard working people at Pixar. I DO HOWEVER, mean tons of disrespect to everyone who consistently wrote off Kung Fu Panda.

My boy Jamie Caliri scored a Best Animated Television Commercial Annie for his work on United Airlines’ Heart. Jamie’s been pumping out high-end stop-motion from Duck Studios for years. He started out as a photographer, then moved into music videos, and is now revolutionizing the world of paper animation.

Jamie and his brother Dynami collaborated on Dragon Stop Motion software which is an industry standard in stop-motion control.

Avatar: The Last Airbender also walked away with Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children. For my money, it’s one of the best cartoons on TV. Here’s a puppet version that’s not nearly as good:

OSCAR NOMINATIONS

Short Animated Film

LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES – In a world gradually flooding with water, an old man adapts to changing circumstances and looks back on his life.

LAVATORY LOVESTORY – A lonely lavatory attendant finds a bouquet of flowers in her tip jar.

OKTAPODI – An octopus fights to keep his beloved out of the cooking pot.

PRESTO – A carrot triggers a war of wits between a magician and his hungry bunny.

THIS WAY UP – A series of misfortunes befalls a pair of undertakers on their way to the cemetery.

Feature Animated Film

BOLT – When Bolt, the canine star of a popular television series, finds himself outside the confines of the studio in which he has spent his life, he is baffled to discover that the super powers he has on his show no longer seem to function. Convinced, however, that his beloved owner, Penny, is in danger, Bolt teams up with a worldly-wise cat and a frenetic hamster and sets off on an adventure that will change his life.

KUNG FU PANDA – Po the panda spends his days working in his father’s noodle shop and dreaming of becoming an expert in the art of kung fu fighting. When a dangerous snow leopard threatens the region in which he lives, Po is singled out by a wise monk as the Chosen One, the Dragon Warrior–a choice that comes as a surprise to Shifu, the martial arts master who must train him.

WALL-E – Several centuries in the future, when human beings have abandoned the earth for a series of orbiting spaceships, the lone remaining being on the planet is a solar-powered robot named WALL-E. As he continues to carry out his trash compacting duties, he gathers up unexpected treasures…including a tiny green plant that has somehow reappeared on the earth’s heavily polluted landscape.

I’ve been a bigger pusher of Oktapodi ever since I saw it last year. And we all know how I feel about Kung Fu Panda.

Another animated film snuck it’s way into the noms under the category of Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz with Bashir gets a lot of buzz across the board, and its definitely worth checking out. Filmmaker Ari Folman’s animated feature explores his own participation as part of the Israeli army in the 1982 Lebanon War. Unable to recall key parts of his actions during the war, Folman interviews other former soldiers and begins to piece together both his own past and the repercussions of a troubling period in modern history.

HER MORNING ELEGANCE

If you haven’t already, check out Yuval and Merav Nathan’s video for Oren Lavie’s song “Her Morning Elegance.” This video is a perfect example of how stop-motion can continue to be a fresh technique when backed by a strong narrative, thoughtful details and a bit of personal flare. Take notice of the one-shot approach.

For fun Facts about the video visit -
http://www.myspace.com/orenlavie

ACURA – WALL ART

Its the landscape that really sets this spot apart. Enlisting the director duo of Chris Hopewell and Ben Foley of Collision Films (previous work includes music videos for Radiohead and Franz Ferdinand), this RDX commercial uses stop-frame animation techniques while plugging into the street art phenomenon. Famed Bristol, UK-based street artist Sainty (Henry St Leger), along with a team of 17 graffiti artists and painters, brought this idea to life on a massive 100-foot by 40-foot wall. All art was done by artists, not CGI.

Wall Art opens with an RDX parked in front of a blank wall. This same wall is painted and repainted with cityscape scenes, hundreds and hundreds of times, to animate the background behind the vehicle. The 10-day shoot for Wall Art used more than 450 gallons of paint and 500 cans of spray paint, resulting in more than 400 layers of paint on the wall.

Epoch directing team Collision and RPA teamed up to create a completely in-camera animation film for the new Acura RDX. A whole lot of work and passion went into this amazing project. 10 long days, a lot of paint, a lot of sweat, and a lot of fumes. This was literally painted frame by frame.

Behind the scenes:

PSYOP COKE

No Superbowl is complete without a Psyop Coke commercial.

Tags: Animation, animation verytasty, Annies, Avatar, Bolt, Dynami Caliri, Heart, Her Morning Elegance, Jamie Caliri, Kung Fu Panda, La Maison En Petits Cubes, Lavatory Lovestory, Oktapodi, Oscars, Presto, Psyop, This Way Up, Wall Art, WALL-E