Animation Fall Preview 2010
The Illusionist (Sony Pictures Classics, Dec. 25)
Many predictors have at least two of the slots for Oscar's Best Animated Feature locked with Toy Story 3 and this film. Sylvain Chomet follows up his Oscar-nominated The Triplets of Belleville with this ode to comic legend Jacques Tati. Based on an unproduced Tati script, the film follows a vaudeville performer who fears his brand of entertainment is becoming a relic of the past. Chomet casts an animated Tati in the lead role and pays loving tribute to the master in every aspect of the performance. The entire idea of the production highlights the ideas that animation can explore that would take legions of visual effects artists and hundreds of millions of dollars to even attempt. Many supporters of the film believe this is the film that deserves to win the Oscar.
Rick DeMott is the director of content for Animation World Network, VFXWorld and AWNtv. Additionally, he's the creator of the movie review site, Rick's Flicks Picks, which was named one of the 100 best movie blogs by The Daily Reviewer. He has written for TV series, such as Discovery Kids' Growing Up Creepie and Cartoon Network's Pet Alien, the animation history book Animation Art, and the humor, absurdist and surrealist website Unloosen. Previously, he held various production and management positions in the entertainment industry.
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lol, sorry about a hair going through the leather straps that must be so easy to change!
I need to ask David do you work in cg? If you do you would know that it takes a lot of time and effort to create anything. I could have said so much about the toy story 3 trailer... a toys foot went through the carpet, woodys arm went through his hat and his glider when he was on the roof! But i didnt and did i notice them in the film no because they fixed it, why do you think companies have fix teams. Also is that hair really going to disappoint you?
Seriously? You're judging the hard work of hundreds of people for the past four years on ONE standee? Since when do the people who produce standees have ANYTHING to do with story production? You've seen the trailer. Rapuzel's hair is an INCREDIBLE accomplishment for dynamics and rigging, and no standee will deter any rational person from seeing this film.
I think that The Illusionist is defiantly is an Oscar contender. I don’t think it will be a box office hit because I think it will be marketed like all art films which is sad - I hope I’m wrong!
I'm also starting to have my doubts about Tangled. While I was at SIGGRAPH this year, I saw all the Disney standes on Tangled all over at the Geek Café. I quickly discovered that on one of the standes of the Horse character (a snappy white steed that name escapes me) that the hair on the horse was sticking though all the leather stapes on the settle and bridal. Come-on Disney! Is it wise to show off your flaws among your peers let alone make them so public? Especially when it involves a film that the subject matter involves hair or when Hair is one of the main characters of the story? Errgh! Come on John! Your one that inspired me to get involved in Computer Graphics and you allow this to happen!
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