I saw only six animated films last year, so it was easier for me to decide which one not to nominate (an easy choice, really). I suppose I'm being too generous in allowing five nominees for a category with so few contenders, but what of it? Only one will win (another easy choice), but the others deserve this brief moment in the limelight for merely existing. Animated movies are tedious and difficult to produce, after all. So here are my nominees for Best Animated Feature of 2014:
The
Boxtrolls (Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi)
The
Boxtrolls (Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi)
Laika
continues to push the envelope in terms of what can be accomplished
through the blend of CG animation and traditional stop-motion method.
Their story material may have some limitations, but Stacchi, Annable
& co. tell it with wit and a meticulous attention to craft, and
they're clearly not afraid of going a little bit dark.
How
to Train Your Dragon 2 (Dean DeBlois)
Here's
an example of a blockbuster sequel that truly delivers, and with
fiery confidence to boot. Not only is it Dreamworks' most thrilling
adventure to date, but also its most thematically robust and
elegantly handled as well, no doubt the byproduct of having a single
writer-director in Dean DeBlois.
The
LEGO Movie (Phil Lord, Christopher Miller)
It's
hard not to have a good time watching this manic comedy from Lord &
Miller, a definite step up from their kid-centric Cloudy with a
Chance of Meatballs series. Their premise for this one is just as
wonderfully weird, but also appreciable on more grown-up levels. The
laughs aren't always consistent, but they are plentiful.
Song
of the Sea (Tomm Moore)
This
jaw-on-the-floor stunner is so earnest and imaginative that we may
have to start calling Tomm Moore the Irish Miyazaki. It's as visually
rapturous as The Secret of Kells, but far more engaging on a
narrative level. Maybe I'm going soft in my old age, but what a
magical spell it casts!
The
Tale of Princess Kaguya (Isao Takahata)
This
visually splendid swan song from the great Isao Takahata draws on
inspiration from ancient Japanese folklore and gleans from it several
adult themes about the pursuit of happiness, truth and artifice, and
the cyclic yet finite nature of life. A tad slow, sure, but it leaves
a lingering melancholy that's hard to shake.
Just missed (but not really):
Big Hero 6 (Don Hall, Chris Williams)
