There are times when I think the three nominations for most of the Animated Feature categories aren’t nearly enough. Then there are years like 2003 where it really feels like the Academy was stretching to get to three. Of missed films here, the only one I can really suggest is Tokyo Godfathers, and that is entirely by reputation. Unless you’re a big fan of Nickelodeon movies, 2003 was pretty dismal in animation.
Weeding through the Nominees
3: When I said it felt like the Academy was struggling to find three nominations here, I was thinking specifically of
Brother Bear. This film is pretty harmless, but it’s also not very good. I like that once the big transformation from human to bear takes place the animation style changes, as does the aspect ratio. And that’s pretty much what I liked. This is maudlin and sappy, and seems to believe that anything up to and including the death of a parent can be solved and made better with a sappy montage featuring Phil Collins. In any year with a couple of good nominees,
Brother Bear doesn’t get close enough to the ballot to sniff it.
2: I genuinely liked
The Triplets of Belleville, but I think it’s simply too odd, too strange, too visually eccentric and difficult for families to have actually had a shot at winning. In a perfect world, it would win maybe 30% of the time. Sadly, it seems that the members of the Academy who vote more or less decide that this category should be won specifically by a film that appeals to families and children, and that’s definitely not
The Triplets of Belleville. I like it though, and would have loved to have seen it win. That said, I still don’t think it deserves to be on top.
My Choice
1: No, the Academy did right by handing the statue to
Finding Nemo. I’m not sure I would have said this two or three years ago when I would have pushed hard for
The Triplets of Belleville, but now, a little older and wiser, I see the wisdom of this choice and the real story behind the story in the film. I like this movie a lot more now than I did 10 years ago when I first saw it, and that says something about the story it tells and the characters it includes.
Finding Nemo holds up, and it deserved to win.
Final Analysis
