Animation Discussion, No. 653, I think

This space has been used many times for animation discussions, possibly 652 times before, today will be no different. Again because my comments aren't working for me, let me start with Toy Story 4.

Part of my experience was that it was Cass's first experience in the theater. Another part is the movie itself. It was better than the cash grab it seemed it would be when it was announced. Pixar doesn't really cash grab, anyway,  

It tries to mine obsolescence as a human enterprise, which is novel and new. It has funny moments, it has tear-jerking moments, it has a complex antagonist whom you come to root for, unlike Lotso from the third movie, it has Keanu Reeves, it has terrifying minions and even a terrifying protagonist in Forky. 

Okay, Forky isn't fully terrifying...just a Frankenstein's monster toy voiced by Buster from Arrested Development. 

It's worth watching, a serviceable fourth installment of a beloved series. It's not as good as the third installment, but that's not really fair, since no Pixar movie is as good as Toy Story 3. It makes for an interesting and satisfying quartet.

We watched, and eventually let Cass watch, Ralph Breaks the Internet:

I enjoyed it. It seemed like their rendition of the Internet was very similar to Futurma's same from their Emmy-award winning episode where Leela thinks she's found someone from her planet (back when she thought she was an alien). The first edition, Wreck It Ralph, played off the notion of playing into stereotypes, being who people assumed you to be, how to change that, and how friendship can exist and grow in that environment. I had low expectations and ended up thinking it was great.

I had tempered expectations for this movie, and it turned out pretty good. All the Disney princesses in one place was pretty entertaining. Ultimately it was about letting go...and the visuals are great.

It was up against Incredibles 2 for an Oscar this year. Both lost out.

The winner:

Beating out Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet? It must be pretty good...

We watched it recently with Cass (he kept seeing it in the instant queue on Netflix and eventually we put it on). We were trying something new for Fridays since our favorite Friday night restaurant closed. So we put it on and made finger foods.

Holy smokes is it good! The animation got to the point of being so realistic that they could get funky with it. Backgrounds sway into and out of focus, shading will occasionally be the dot forms you'd see in comics, and the actual real world seems manifested in the colorful blobs making up the distance. The animation is more cutting edge and experimental than I was expecting, and while Pixar and Disney do very special things with animation, with the craft and the storytelling, nothing they've put out pushes the edge of design like this Spider-Man project. 

The story leans into the weirdness, but has heart and humor and what feels like real stakes. It almost makes me want to go find some Miles Morales Spider-Man comics, because I know they exist.

There's definitely no reason to be upset at this Oscar outcome.