This week has been a pretty difficult one and while laying around in my grief hasn't gotten me far, I will say that I relied a lot of films to distract me from my sadness. Ironically watching the film Inside Out, was more therapeutic than any phone call or text. Inside out is the perfect animation film describe human emotions and development. There's joy, sadness, anger, disgust, and fear (all of which are characters in the film) and all of which make being a grown up extremely difficult.
Here is the trailer for anyone who hasn't seen the film, there's excellent animation and the story line is probably the best I've seen in any children movie. Plus: The animators and designers really put in an extreme amount of effort and attentiveness in the every aspect of the film, like the 'command center'.
I learned a lot re-watching this film but mostly that sadness is equally as vital to our well-being, as happiness.
"Take her to the moon for me, Joy." This quote documents a very sentimental moment in one of the best movies I saw all summer: Inside Out. Inside Out is the newest Disney Pixar film that premiered in June of 2015. It takes place inside the brain of 11-year old Riley as she goes through a major transition period moving from her homey town in the Midwest to a foreign life in San Francisco. It is a definite breath of fresh air as it is unlike anything I have seen before. Disney does an amazing job of articulating a very complex concept (the human mind and emotions) for all audiences. Adults will get a kick out of it just as much as children and will understand it on a whole other level. The reason why this movie has such an impact is because it is relatable; we are all human and we all experience emotions, both good and bad. From the animation to the metaphors in this film, it is completely clever and creative.
The five emotions: fear, disgust, anger, sadness and joy are all given human characteristics and sit in a control room behind Riley's eyes. They see her life before her and adjust the controls according to how she should be reacting in certain situations. Joy is ultimately in charge, as Riley's goal in life is to be happy. Riley's memories are released from her brain as glowing balls, color-coordinated to her emotions. Her brain is an alternate world for the emotions to explore including places such as "the subconscious", "abstract thought" and her "islands of personality". The whole concept of the film is how Riley struggles when Joy and Sadness get lost outside of headquarters (which is where they control her emotions from). Controlling Riley's mind is left up to Anger, Disgust, and Fear. They are very lost on how to take control and result in Riley experiencing what seems like depression to her parents and new classmates. She dresses in black and has random outbursts of anger and disgust, but ultimately she is numb, lacking the two most common and important emotions we feel: joy and sadness.
This film is very psychological and gets into the real details of what we experience inside the head; some things we may not even be aware of. For example, "abstract thought" is a place in Riley's head where she thinks about concepts that are unreal or difficult to understand. When she is going through her rut, she has to comprehend the abstract thought of loneliness which is an unfamiliar situation after moving and losing her emotions. Inside Out is sentimental film that depicts the themes of family, loneliness and the importance of feeling all emotions: even sadness. It is a breath of fresh air from other kids movies as it depicts life and emotions in a very realistic way and on a whole new level of maturity.
Take a second and let this fact sink in: The Academy Awards have been around for 86 years, and over that entire stretch of time, an animated film has been nominated for best picture only 3 times. Full-feature animated films weren't around until 1937 when Walt Disney's Snow White blew everyone out of the water, but over those 77 years, the only animated movies to get recognized as having the potential to be the best film of the year were Beauty and the Beast, Up, and Toy Story 3. I'll buy the first two losses - Silence of the Lambs beat out Beast and the Hurt Locker beat Up, both really good films - but if you're trying to tell me that the King's Speech is better than Toy Story 3 in any single regard (apart from maybe the use of the word "fuck") than you're a liar and I hate you.
We're currently in the midst of an animated film "revival," of sorts, and I for one couldn't be more excited. Disney, in particular, is really hitting their stride with a string of great animated films, including Frozen, Wreck-it Ralph, and this year's Big Hero 6. There's some big films coming from Pixar too; they may have taken a few missteps by greenlighting unnecessary sequels to Cars and Monster's Inc, but they've got movies in the works about dinosaurs and emotions (which has the potential to be their best yet) that both look pretty incredible.
The question is: are they Oscar worthy? Academy voters tend to shy away from anything that's too - for lack of a better word - different. It's the same reason that Birdman probably won't win best picture this year; these movies are dangerous. The voters want something safe, like Colin Firth as a king with a speech impediment or literally any other British actor doing Britishy things; they don't want Michael Keaton marching in his underwear through times square or anthropomorphic toys teaching lessons about friendship, as sad as that may be. However, as the average age of Academy voters becomes younger (E.G. all the old people are dying), there's the potential to have more openness to the possibility of an animated movie taking home the big prize.
After all, there's nothing that "real" films do that animated films can't. I'm of the opinion that voice acting is still very much real acting, and story-wise, animated movies can pack as much of an emotional punch - hell, more usually - than traditional films. There's also more room for creativity. Sure, Matthew McConaughey can take a spaceship through a black hole, but Carl Fredrickson can attach his house to balloons and float to South America. We're willing to suspend our disbelief way more when we're watching animation, and this allows for basically endless situations and possibilities.
So, short answer, yes, I think it's possible that an animated film will win best pictures, for all that it matters. And I'm definitely not the only one. When it comes down to it, awards don't really mean shit; you should only judge a movie based on your overall enjoyment of it. That being said, I don't know anyone who hasn't immensely enjoyed a single animated film over the past 5-10 years, and I think it's about time the Academy reflected that.
