Transformers issued a smackdown at the summer box office while blowin' stuff up real good. © Paramount Pictures.

Another summer comes to a close, and with it, my eighth year at AWN. Rather than expound at length on a single subject, I would like instead to share with you some of my observations during this long, very hot summer. In many ways, this was a notable time for animated movies, TV shows, and other cultural events related to animation. Some were good, some were bad, but all were of interest. Let's take a moment from those waning beach days, fantasy football drafts and end-of-summer hookups. Turn down the Modest Mouse and Amy Winehouse (or, if you are so inclined, Queens of the Stone Age), and share some perspective on animation-related events from the soon-to-be-late summer of 2007.

The Transformers Movie
I must admit, I never understood or liked this animated series. Not because it was aimed at young boys, because I've enjoyed some series that were. Not because the Transformers were a third-rate version of superior giant robot anime; some of our animated shows would be great if they were fourth-rate versions of anime. Not because they were based on toys; good writing and animation can, if inspired, supersede a cartoon's corporate origin. Thundercats very nearly pulled this off. No, it comes down to something far simpler, like the premise.

Here we have two camps of robots, one unmistakably good and one irredeemably evil. One must think that they were crafted somehow, by somebody. That somebody possessed awesome intellect and talent. That somebody perfected artificial intelligence and then topped it by creating machines that could reconfigure themselves into various combat systems without disturbing a central power core or breaking any vital components from the previous configuration. Finally, that somebody placed social instincts into these awesome constructs. Who knows what sort of civilization might have been possible, given the union between those mighty minds and their mechanized helpmates?

What do we get instead? An overblown tribal feud in which these magnificent marvels smack the carburetors out of each other until the screen flows black with 10W40. Yes, robots whose superior, independently functioning minds cannot produce dialogue above the level of a poorly written comic book. Eons of nonstop fighting. Cheesy names like Grapple, Red Alert, and Ironhide. That's what we got. How can we ever expect kids to grow up and appreciate great science fiction?

Well, after various permutations and spinoffs, including robot animals as feisty as any Transformers could be, we got the live-action CGI movie in which lots of things got blown up continuously while the rowdy robots showed their smackdown stuff, recorded at what seemed to be ten million decibels. Kids cheered. Critics...ah...didn't hate it...Most importantly, $300,000,000 rolled into Paramount and DreamWorks, and it's easy to see that II is in the works, oh yas. So...who needs the sort of civilization that might have been possible given the union, etc.? Hell, just let those 'bots jack each other up. Me, I think I'll give it a pass.

Ratatouille
I loved the movie, yes I did. Many things impressed me, and although there were some narrative inconsistencies, Brad Bird comes out of this with head held high and reputation enhanced. What struck me the most, however, was the upward spiral of synergy between CGI animators and voice artists in this film. As animated characters become increasingly complex and expressive, they are capable of subtleties in their acting that older, 2D characters were rarely capable of. Although character acting goes back to the 1930s, many character designs were too limited to carry well-drawn emotions and facial expressions. Mouth movements had their limitations as well. In some studios, notably UPA, none of this even mattered much.

Now it seemingly matters more than ever. CGI characters must meet every demand that the voice artists throw at them, and throw back a few twists of their own. And when the characters are humanoid, the ante goes up even further. (This is one the factors, perhaps a subconscious one, that made The Incredibles such an outstanding film). Remy the rat shares extensive screen time with people, from his gastronomic alter ego Linguine to the jolly chef Gasteau, and with other human characters such as Collette, Skinner, and Anton Ego. Ratatouille, among other things, proves that in future CGI films acting will have to be more convincing than ever.