Toon Zone Talkback - "Ratatouille," "Peter and the Wolf" Take Oscars

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This is the talkback thread for "Ratatouille," "Peter and the Wolf" Take Oscars.

I'm disappointed the rat flick won. I'm somewhat surprised "Peter & the Wolf" won the shorts category. I was certain sympathy for J. Lennon would win it for "I Met the Walrus" even though I felt the technical achievement in "My Love" deserved the most recognition. I enjoyed "Peter & the Wolf" very much, especially the classic score that inspired the piece.

I believed they used the "wolf" cue in "A Christmas Story" each time the bully showed up to terrorize Ralph & co.
 
I hated Peter and the Wolf. Shocked it got anything.

I liked Ratatouille a lot, but I'd have voted Persepolis for Best Picture of all things.
 
Ho hum. Maybe I'm not qualified to comment, since I haven't seen any of the feature noms, but I was kind of hoping Persepolis would win on principle, and I don't think I was the only one. Well, congrats to the chaps at Pixar anyways; I skipped Ratatouille at the cinema but I'll definitely be buying the DVD.

I saw Peter and the Wolf when it was on UK TV at Christmas a couple of years back. The story had pacing problems, but the visuals were lush indeed.

Side note: Brad Bird is now the first director to win the BAF Oscar more than once.
 
It's a bit surprising that Persepolis didn't win since it has a lot of "critic appeal", but then again, Ratatouille made several critics' top 10 movies of the year lists. Not animated movies, just movies in general. I think at least one critic even had it as his #1.
 
As I mentioned in my review for Persepolis, there is no way I can believe that Ratatouille was a better animated film. I liked Ratatouille quite a bit, but it's also a bit lumpy and strange (evidence that it wasn't Brad Bird's idea in the first place and needed a lot of hammering to get it into shape for release) and, at heart, it's real achievements are technical. Persepolis is new and different and really exploits the medium in interesting ways, and it's also just a far better movie.

This doesn't really matter, except that I was guessing that an Oscar win for Persepolis would mean a much wider release than it's getting. Without that Oscar win, I suspect Sony will just let the movie do its art-house run and then push it out to DVD.

EDIT: One other thing. Man, was that ceremony boring. Jon Stewart wasn't too bad, but those montages were INCREDIBLY dumb.

--Ed
 
Honestly, I can't say Persepolis was a better film... because it's a film you just can't find playing anywhere. I have to wait for DVD to actually see this one. Personally, I thought the race really was hot between those two films, and that Surfin' penguins thing was just added as a third nominee since they wanted to zetz it to Dreamworks (which doesn't explain Barry B. Benson the Bee handing out the award for Short).

But I really think Rat deserved a win, even if Persepolis was better. Now before someone comes in and snarfs all over Pixar, Rat only one 1 of the several awards it was nominated for. Lost both sound awards to Borne, and Juno won best screenplay (I really gotta see that film now, it does look quite good).

I still feel the Oscars going to Brad Bird is Karma's way of saying it's sorry for people not flocking to Iron Giant. I'm a huge Brad Bird fan, myself.
 
Yay for Ratatouille? I have yet to see that film, but considering the great reviews, it was a shoo-in. And I'm guessing it deserved it, Brad Bird does good work (I actually liked The Iron Giant more than The Incredibles). It would've been lovely to see Persepolis win, which was an amazing movie btw, but I didn't think it would. If only it was nominated for best foreign film...*sigh*.
 
I think the reason that Brad Bird's film won is cause that Persopolis was a politically driven film. We live in a Government concered age now. I admit Persopolis was a good film and a amazing graphic novel, but to be honest, I don't think people want to see a animated film about a little girl growing up during the Islamic Revoultion. There was much turmoil in that time period, and I admit, I do want to watch Persopolis, but I believe the point of thetrical animation is to get away from a political climate like that. Ratatouille was good and a great concept, and I prefer it over The Simpsons Movie, and this coming from a Simpsons Fan!
 
It looks like a light hearted "Look! Horrible War happening" film. And we all know comedy usually takes a back seat to depressing stuff. This coming from some of the richest people on Earth.... or at least this country. What do they have to be depressed about?

Gah... I really wish there was a tie. Both films look like they deserved the win. That is, if I actually seen Persepolis. It plays at midnight in art house theaters. I hate that.
 
To me, that's exactly why I think Persepolis SHOULD have won the Oscar. If we aren't willing to recognize the accomplishment of tackling something weighty in a theatrical animated film, then we're really no better than the "Cartoons Are Just For Kids" crowd.



It isn't. Not by a long shot. There's humor in the movie, no doubt, but there's lots of stuff in it that isn't funny at all. Even a lot of the funny bits are done with the blackest of black humor that usually pops up in totalitarian societies.

-- Ed
 
"Ratatouille" sure deserved the Oscar, but I think "Persepolis" probably pulled a close second!
I never saw "Peter and the Wolf," but it looked great! It probably deserved to win as well.
 
So we should give out Oscars based on politics and message. Got it.

Eh. I'm happy for Rataouille. I think its the only nominated movie I saw this year. Or even cared about seeing. In any category, probably.
 
The only film of the three I saw was Ratatouille, so I wanted it to win by default.

That said, I REALLY wanted to see Persepolis- if only it was showing in a theater near me. What little footage I've seen of it, the movie looks to do some cool things with the animation medium.

As for Surf's Up... I heard it was better than Open Season, so I wouldn't be averse to seeing it sometime. Don't know if it was truly Oscar-worthy, though, since I haven't seen it.
 
Disney and Chuck Jones have done better versions of Peter and the Wolf in animation. There was also the Tiny Toon Adventures take on Peter and the Wolf called "Buster and the Wolverine".
 
Have you even seen this version of Peter and the Wolf? If not, how can you accurately say that Disney's and Chuck Jones' versions are any better or worse?

Also, "Buster and the Wolverine" was a parody of Peter and the Wolf.
 
Nah! I was razzing the Acadamy again. When was the last time a comedy won best picture? I always make the joke that Hollywood pretends it's liberal, when in fact it only goes where the money is, and party politics are only something to cash in off of. Was their one documentary besides Sicko that didn't have to do with Iraq or any War torn part of the world? I was half expecting the Israeli foreign film to win Best Not In America film.

But If I actaully was able to see Persepolis, I'd probably like it. But then again, You see out right crap like Norbit hit every single theater, and films like Persepolis only appear in 2 art house theaters as midnight movies. And everyone knows Midnight movies are for B-movies, Cult movies, and Cult Musical parodies of B-Movies. Plus, I'm a cheapskate and like to see Matenees....
 
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