Animated Feature Films

This year's Animated Features do not have a bad one in the bunch (and that's saying something, there is usually at least one I don't like). The stories are compelling, the animation is fantastic, and none is like the other. I highly recommend all of them!

Flow - 2 nominations

Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman

Flow is also nominated for International Feature Film from Latvia.

This is a beautiful film visually and thematically, where a cat whose home is devastated by flood assembles a small crew of friends traveling the seas and looking for a safe refuge. There are crazy characters and gorgeous vistas, dangers and moments of comfort. (and some scenes where you kind of wonder what was flowing into the filmmakers systems, a bit of a cuckoo drug trip) This is not a dual screen movie, and if you can, it's worth it to see in the theater. The visuals are just too stunning.

Inside Out 2
Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen

Riley and her more complex set of teenage emotions are back and trying to navigate the challenges of popularity, loyalty, and the most essential questions of maturity and human relationships, all while playing hockey. Joy, Anger, Disgust, Sadness, and Fear welcome Ennui, Anxiety, Envy and Embarrassment to their emotional attic, and these more complex emotions mean more difficult experiences for the team - especially Joy - to navigate. While Joy is looking for ways to sequester hard emotions, Anxiety is taking control and developing a self-talk that is not healthy for poor sweet Riley. The sequel does a great job of bringing the chaotic but optimistic tone of the first film into the second one, and it's worth a watch for sure.

Memoir of a Snail
Adam Elliot and Liz Kearney

Let's start with our most important announcement - Memoir of a Snail is NOT an animated movie for children. It explores adult themes and follows twin sister Grace separated from her beloved brother Gilbert after their alcoholic father dies. She has an intense snail collecting hobby and they each go to foster homes that are less than ideal and moreover, Grace's life becomes a series of difficult and devastating losses. But she survives by befriending an older woman named Pinky who puts joy and spirit back into her life. Meanwhile, Gilbert has no such refuge, except for one child who is kind to him in the abusive home he lives in. When tragedy strikes, Grace realizes that she should have been looking for her brother rather than spending money on snail paraphernalia. Now, I know this is going to sound a little bit crazy, but Memoir of a Snail is my Hidden Gem Award winner. It's emotional gravity and brilliant storytelling (and wonderful animation) was a surprise that knocked me out.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham and Richard Beek

OMG, W&G do it again! And this time, the film manages to bring back an old familiar character from a prior film - an evil penguin who has been locked up in prison thanks to our leads, and now he wants revenge. Wallace continues to be an incredible inventor, but this time, he invents an AI robot garden gnome who will do all of your chores unless his coding turns him into pure evil! When he builds a tiny, evil, robot garden gnome army, they set to the task of framing Wallace. Ever on the case and never fooled by shenanigans, Gromit must save the day and set the world right before the penguin escapes and Wallace is locked up forever. As always, a delightful film, funny, sarcastic, and yet totally relevant to the AI landscape of today's world.

The Wild Robot - 3 Nominations
Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann
The Wild Robot is also nominated for Original Score and Best Sound.

The Wild Robot is another film that I recommend seeing in the theater. An incredible film of a robot who crash lands on a deserted island who takes up mothering a baby goose. "She" protects the baby at all costs, and learns what it means to love, to let go when your baby grows up, and how to create community. She shares the spirit of needing a village to raise a child, and what a mother might be willing to sacrifice to save her child. Everything that this robot has learned about humanity changes her to her core, and when fighting with the company that created her, there is nothing she wouldn't give up to protect her child. The animals on the island are not only voiced by terrific actors, the whole experience of the movie is action packed and worth every moment. You'll note that The Wild Robot is actually nominated for 3 Oscars including Original Score and wowee, it's worth a listen event without the film.