waltz with bashir
Posted by dermot on February 1, 2009 at 8:24 pm
A friend posts a tirade about the idiotic animation awards ceremony:
For me, considering there was a film out there like Waltz with Bashir… and the fact that it DIDN’T win anything, but got a nomination like some kind of half ass nod is a damned crying shame.
Now fine. Fair enough. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. In terms of the particular animation vernacular, Dreamworks, Disney and Pixar have been pushing the extremes of a specific type of animation for a long, long time. They’ve done quite a service to the industry and really truly have made some beautiful stuff with it. So of course as an animator I fully acknowledge the quality and value of what they produce. Like many, I strive to achieving some of that standard to an extent.
But for sh_ts-sake, it isn’t like we haven’t seen the same damned p_ss poor see-saw formulaic story telling that says jacksh*t from them for years.
1) introduce breakout character
2) introduce problem
3) musical number + comedic setpiece
3) Solve problem.
4) everyone goes on their merry way and all in the world is grand.Now for those of you who haven’t seen Waltz with Bashir, please do, or when they come out with DVD please pick it up, just for the very fact the type of remarkable achievement it actually is in terms of having something of value to SAY to the world. It isn’t one of these money guzzling corporate productions that has nothing significant to offer in terms of world perspective. It doesn’t sell a happy idyllic world like the ones these corporate monsters have been offering since the dawn of corporate america. Even better, it doesn’t rely on reinforcing shitty orientalist stereotypes.
Waltz with Bashir actually has something significant to say to the world. In a non-linear narrative to boot. It isn’t programming people to think everything is going to be fine at the end of the day.
I suppose its sort of a sad reflection on our industry in that apparently our narrow definition of “animation” happens to be celebrated and only encompass in the narrow elitist standards and definitions of “Classical animation” set up by a man who is now a frozen head in a bottle plotting world domination in the forthcoming apocalypse.
Apparently animation doesn’t have anything to do with the medium or messaging that we corroborate it with. It really is just artistic masturbation… nothing more significant to offer than a pornographic money-shot for the bigwigs who want to see ‘l33t skillz, and crazy CG’s to compensate for bad storylines, bad comic book movies and money hungry producers.
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