Oscars
hmm…well, let’s me be blunt. The best animation short of the year wasn’t even nominated (cause the distributor forgot to submit the film). That film? Koji Yamamura’s Kafka’s a Country Doctor. This was a film with style AND substance. The most original and complex and provocative film in a few years.
The same can’t be said of Peter and the Wolf, Madame Tutli Putli, or that achingly bad Petrov film.They represent everything that is pathetic about the animation world. Technique and style is valued over substance.
Having said that, 2007 was a shitty year for films. One of the worst years I can remember, so hey, if you’re gonna pick five films, you could do worse (except maybe Claude Cloutier’s Sleeping Betty or Elizabeth Hobb’s the Old Man– maybe the underrated film of the year)
I am happy for Suzie Templeton. She’s a decent gal.
Mostly, I’m glad the NFB didn’t win. The Tutli boys are talented but a little to caught up in themselves. They come from a commercial background and it shows. Tutli is slick but lacking in substance. There is great potential there, but over time, Tutli will not stand with the animation Gods.
I’m also pleased that the NFB didn’t win. It pisses me off that they spend THOUSANDS of taxpayer dollars just trying to get their films nominated. I don’t necessarily blame the NFB producers and administrators. They need candy to give to the ignorant bureaucrats who only see the Oscars as an award worthy of more funding. It’s a shame cause like I’ve said before…the Oscar pool is shallow. A truer measure of success is found at the animation festivals in Annecy, Ottawa, Stuttgart etc… It’s a shame that the NFB–or rather their puppet masters–don’t take enough pride in that.
I’d love to know what the NFB spends on the Oscar campaign. I’m sure the public would like to know too.
Meanwhile, time to get back to more pressing things like NHL trade deadline deals.