The Academy & Miyazaki: Big Day

By David Rasmussen
5th Mar 06

The day has finally come. The Academy Awards.
Of course I would be writing this a few days prior to the big day. About 4 days to be precise as I write this (March the 1st, 2006), and yet (as I write this) I am reminded that things took a rather weird twist soon after my last article on the topic came out.
Looks like the Academy was in a down and dirty mood with their voting as we saw independents and smaller feel movies rise to the nominations while “blockbusters” fell short of expectation.
But THEN AGAIN what did you expect? Look at the so called “blockbusters”! Look at them!
We have The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, the Witch AND the Wardrobe which, while nice, is no Lord of the Rings. After that it’s… dear god… Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith. Yeah. I heard some people actually wanted this nominated… why?!? Original classic Star Wars Episode IV I can see, but NOT EPISODE III!! No way. And then there’s Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Anyone who actually thought Peter Jackson’s King Kong was going to be nominated for Best Picture really needs to think it over. I mean, really, it’s KING KONG, people, KING KONG! As “touching”, “heartbreaking” and whatever big words critics used to rate it the movie was? It’s not Best Picture material! Even with Peter Jackson helming the movie it’s still not up there. Sorry, but just not happening.

On the other hand “not so big” movies have gotten the nod with nominations, with the top of the heap being the surefire winner Brokeback Mountain (being the obvious choice post Critics’ Choice Awards and, yeah, the primadonna bells and whistles of Hollywood ego rubbin’ known as the… bleah… Golden Globes).
Why Brokeback Mountain? You mean besides the fact it’s from Academy favorite Ang Lee (except for The Hulk which the Academy… and most fans of the Hulk… detested) who did everyone’s favorite asian hardhitter Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon? Well that’s because Brokeback Mountain is oh so Academy!
I mean really, check it out! It fit’s the Academy like a glove, matching their usual taste of movies in terms of gushing bleeding drama that pours from it’s frames like blood from gaping wounds… only without the excess of blood mind you. And to think that some critics out there are only interested in the whole “Gay Cowboy” thing which would hold them (as critics back) with their pure naivety on all parts… mixed occasionally with a bit of homophobia, of course, but it’s not like we like you Brokeback Mountain whiners to begin with, and you know who you are (so I don’t need to list the list of homophobic media circus clowns in this article do I). Then again Capote, Crash and Good Night and Good Luck also have good odds.

Anyway we’re not looking down the throat of Ang Lee’s big movie (having it cough and turn it’s head), or watching the writings of Capote, we’re checking the health of the (ahem) “Best Animated Feature” category (the bastard award of the animated biased Hollywood lear jet set made just to keep original Shrek fans from screaming bloody murder that the movie didn’t make it in the Best Picture category).
This year I was particularly concerned, with fears that we’d get stuck with a choice between Chicken Little (the KFC special) & Madagascar (the combo plate lunch)… so, just in case I forget to do it later, I want to personally thank Ang Lee for his fine movie Brokeback Mountain which (yes) most likely was the catalyst that brought about this brief (and yet oh so welcome) breath of change and revitalization to the nominations, because I am pretty darn certain that if it wasn’t for that movie (and the subsequent run of deserving movies as nominations) we might not have seen such a vibrant and worthy selection of movies for the Best Animated Feature award this year… in fact we’d probably be looking at a choice between the KFC dinner plate and the L&L Drive In combo platter… aka the chicken or the mixed animal meal.
I guess, however, if the nominations were coming up instead of the awards things might have been different.

Yes, I am referring to the recent passing of comedic icon Don Knotts, who (yes) was in Chicken Little.
Don’t believe me? If you are a scholar of the Academy Awards then you might remember the award I am about to mention. It was some years back, and a little foreign romantic movie called Il Postino (The Postman, aka “The Postman” that was actually good and DIDN’T star Kevin Costner) was up for Best Foreign Film and Best Actor after the movie‘s lead passed away suddenly. There was strong movies up for it but somehow it felt as if the movie would win, as if to honor and respect the memory of the actor who lead the cast in light of his passing. And, as expected, Il Postino did well and the actor who died prior to the awards got his Oscar after his death, and his movie got Best Foreign Film if I remember right.
So, in light of that as a backdrop to this thought, do you really and truly think that wouldn’t have happened this year in light of Don Knotts death in concerns towards Chicken Little‘s chances to win? Think again.
With Don Knotts’ illustrious career, the many starpower who respect and honor him (who also in turn are Academy Award voters) and the fact the Academy did it before for a talent who did not have as long and colorful a history as Mr. Knotts, yet was as deserving of the honor (the star of the aforementioned Il Postino), it would have been obvious that Chicken Little would have won, no question about it.
But things have come to be the way they have, and Chicken Little fell short to be counted out of the dance that happens (or has happened depending on when you read this). Still, Mr. Knotts, don’t think too badly of us. We’ll miss you Mr. Knotts, all the same, so don’t think too badly for us if we don’t regret Chicken Little’s failing to be nominated too greatly (you‘re still a great talent in my book!).

So then we have three movies to consider, three movies that are on the short list for 2005.
Howl’s Moving Castle from Studio Ghibli & Hayao Miyazaki, Wallace & Gromit : Curse of the Were-Rabbit and finally Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride from… yes… Tim Burton. Let’s start with him.
Tim Burton, who in his own right and his own way, has a place in the hierarchy of animation like Hayao Miyazaki, and the movie he bought to use this past year : Corpse Bride (based on a 19th Century Russian fable about a man who ends of engaged to marry the Corpse Bride).
Sure, of course Miyazaki won’t be losing any sleep over this announcement since Tim Burton basically squanders his animation skills and talents like nobody business. With only an occasional movie here and there he really doesn’t do much in the animated feature business to even be considered a serious contender in the artform. He should rock harder in animation, but with only the occasional tidling in the art he isn’t a serious threat to the powers that be… and by that I don’t mean Disney who thinks an animated movie is a fill-in-the-blanks resume where you chose your talking animal/inanimate objects and fill in some done to death plot to substitute for a lack of imagination or vision that Disney so dearly needs, but will never have.
To date only a few movies of the modern era of animation in America are worthy of your time to watch (list to be compiled by each and every one of you, who all have your favorites that you will never forget), yet this list pales to the long excellent list of works of Hayao Miyazaki (who has created splendor that spans both the present generations and generations yet to come). But he’s coming up shortly…

Next we have Wallace & Gromit’s Curse of the Were Rabbit. No, this isn’t a throwaway nomination for it too rocks when you look at how good it is.
Wallace & Gromit, they who have fans as high as a certain member of British Royalty, rock on in their newest movie Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The intrepid duo aim to please, having done things in the past like built a rocketship to travel to the moon because they were too cheap to go to the local store to buy cheese for crackers, or who once accused their cute neighbor (who Wallace had a crush on) of being a vicious deranged psychopath… yeah, that lovable duo who “exterminate” pests when they’re not inventing things (or in Gromit’s case knitting sweaters) in their business known as “Anti Pesto“… yeah, I get it, “anti pesto“.
Sure, Wallace & Gromit has enjoyed seemingly the same amount of exposure here in the states as… say… the sport of Rugby or Futbol (Soccer), and yet (like Rugby and Futbol) this dynamic duo have infected enough people with their wit and humor that they got the vote for Best Animated Feature of 2005 (which is good in my opinion). It’s nice to see some people actually watch something other than the endless parade of Disney movies when they select their “Best Animated Feature” nominations. Kudos and hooray.

And finally the movie we don’t need to talk about because we all know it by heart.
The latest and greatest of the one who is the master of his art. He who makes Disney pale in comparison, and should shame other animators in America regret their underwhelming filmmaking habits.
Hayao Miyazaki. He who has shaped at least two (if not more) generations of animated film goers, and opened us to beautiful worlds of wonder and grace that entertained us, touched us (in a good way), and showed us the best of humanity. The true master of the animated domain.
Tim Burton could be this strong. If he made a stronger effort in the animated field he could have used Nightmare Before Christmas as his launch and excelled past that, creating stronger and stronger visions that entertain and entrance at the same time… and yet he didn’t. Some of you have already said you felt that Corpse Bride was not as strong as Nightmare Before Christmas, and you might be right.
It’s great, but Tim Burton only dabbles in the art and that is a shame. He could do better, he could become a great in animation, but he’s too much into live action fare like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and so forth. Shame, real shame. He should work harder on it, and bring his imagination onto the field of animation in stronger and stronger ways with each release, but it seems to me that animation is only a passing fad to him which is a real shame. Think I said that enough? Yeah… I did.

Which leads us to the end… who deserves to win?
And thus we come to the crux… and, yes, an actual dilemma.
Should the award go to he who deserves it the most… or he who has the ability to take the art further and excel it into directions we have yet to see?
We don’t want to talk about it. We don’t want to think about it. We don’t like the idea that this is going to happen because it means the end of an era we don’t want to see come to an end… but it is going to happen.
One of these days Hayao Miyazaki is going to hang up his gear one final time and bid farewell.
We’re going to see, within our lifetimes, the retirement of Hayao Miyazaki. There’s no stopping it. Sooner or later he’s going to call it an end and ride his stallion off into the bright shining sunset, ending his career and walking into the annals of legend as one of the greatest talents of the 20th and 21st Century that we have had the pleasure to bear witness to. It’s not a happy thing to think of, but it will happen.
So, then, what then? How many more movies do we have left to enjoy? And, PS, how many more movies will Disney have a chance to piss away in their jealousy and ignorance with shameful minimal release schedules? We don’t have much time, you know, and yet Disney couldn’t care less. But Disney is Disney and Disney cares only about Disney, and no one else. If they say otherwise? They’re lying.
We don’t have long. Maybe a few more movies left before Miyazaki takes his bow and decides he’s ready to take the rest of his days in quiet retirement… so then what do we do then?

Maybe we need to look forward, and start grooming an American talent who will not let greatness fade when Miyazaki steps down for future generations to pick up the torch and carry it onwards, and will work in his own ways to bring wonder and spectacle to the screen in his own vision and mindset.
Maybe we need to compel Tim Burton to take the art seriously, and step up to the bat to remake it into something we (the animation loving fanbase) can truly be proud of.
Of course that is if Tim Burton gets the point from the award, and doesn’t misconstrue… which he no doubt will. So then we’re stuck with the touchy feely subject of winning… and losing.
If Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride wins it might be seen as an encouragement to the next great talent, he who will in his own way become greatness and make movies that we will be talking about for years to come (like the Nightmare Before Christmas which is one of the best I’ve seen personally).
Of course if Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride wins it might be seen as a smack of Americism (run up the flag and salute it) and might bring up the R for Racist card… maybe. Then again maybe not.
If Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle wins, however, it would be seen as another acknowledgement of the greatness that is Hayao Miyazaki, and the many works he’s done to date.
Of course if Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle wins it might be seen by Tim Burton fans as an affront to them, who probably thought the movie was chosen to not irritate us Miyazaki devotees (who will cry out “racism” and complain mightly about the loss… maybe.) Then again maybe not. Who knows?
Then of course if they pick Wallace & Gromit they’re copping out either way and -- well -- the movie’s nice but not as good as either Corpse Bride or Howl’s Moving Castle. But I digress.
Touchy feely? Maybe. Of course the Academy won’t notice much since they don’t seem swayed by argument or complaint… except now. But that’s a story concerning the Best Documentary Feature Award if I heard right, and not of the Best Animated Feature category and… well… ok, but briefly!

There’s apparently a controversy going on there, if you haven’t heard about it yet here it is…
Besides movies like March of the Penguins and so forth there is a documentary concerning Palestinian suicide bombers, and why they seemingly do what they do. This movie, which I guess humanizes them and justifies their acts, obviously does not sit well with victims who have recently approached the Academy about disqualifying the movie… only then the question comes : why did it get picked in the first place?
Since people voted it into the selection in the first place it makes me wonder if it is on the short track to victory in it’s category… and if that’s the case what would happen now with this request to remove the movie from the selection process? Well, by the time this posts the answer of it’s fate will probably be already known, but still I wonder… what the heck is this all about?

Well that’s that. In a nutshell.
Odds are favorable that Howl’s Moving Castle is going to walk away from this one with it’s award.
With only one serious threat to consider, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, it seems like a sure thing.
But that is only speculation, speculation that will only be resolved when the award is given.
Of course should the award be bum rushed right out at the start of the show I’d guess that Howl’s Moving Castle won… the Academy can’t seem to give Miyazaki his awards fast enough, lest we remember how quickly they got him his award for Spirited Away. All he needs now is Lifetime Achievement (an award earned in spades many times over) and we’ll be happy soldiers of the army of Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki. Oh yes, we’d be most happy then. You betcha.

-- David Rasmussen 5th Mar 06