Continuing on with my series analyzing the Oscar nominated animated feature films each year I am at 2004.
I’d love if you could take a look at the video and if you like it give it a thumbs up. It’s a bit longer than any of my other videos but I had lots to say on The Incredibles!
My thoughts on the other films is basically Shark Tale is a complete failure. I didn’t like the animation. The lead character is a complete jerk. The world building isn’t good. They don’t look like fish and there are no bubbles. Most importantly I didn’t laugh once. I personally think Home on the Range was a better film that year! I had never seen Shark Tale before last night and I can see why I avoided it.
Shrek 2 I think is the strongest of the series. It has the most interesting story, more of the jokes work and it has a pretty good villain. I still have some of the same issues as Shrek and it could have been about 15 minutes tighter but it definitely deserves the nomination. Oh and I did like the music especially Jennifer Saunders.
What do you think of 2004? I’m guessing most of my readers will agree with me The Incredibles was the correct winner for the year.
Shark Tale is one of my least favorite animated films. When I was a child I watched Disney sequels and all sorts of second-rate junk no one remembers anymore. I had very limited critical faculties until I was around 11-12. I tried hard to like anything I watched or read, and lived in fear of “bad movies”, which I couldn’t define except to know they weren’t good of course.
I never liked Shark Tale. Ever. Nothing about it. The storyline is cliched, the characters are loathsome, all of them. Just thinking about the film makes me feel unclean. I hate that it even continues to exist to be discussed.
I hadnt seen it till last night but I completely agree. It was awful
It would get a big fat F from me. If you watch the video I explain why but I thought it failed on every level.
Shark Tale has no business to even get a nomination. There were a few foreign movies which would have deserved that spot more. Everything about Shark Tale is just wrong. The character design (creeeeeeepy), the cliché story, the painful puns.
I also like Shrek 2 better than the first Shrek. It is at least watchable, and yes, I agree having an actual story and a creative one even helps. Plus, it is not as mean-spirited as the first one.
But naturally The Incredibles deserved the win. It is one of Pixar’s best if not THE best Pixar movie.
Agree 100% on this one!
You know, Howls moving Castle has its fault, but it excels in animation and is not a bad watch overall.
I love that movie but it is nominated in 2005. The next set is all 3 movies I really love with Wallace and Gromit, Corpse Bride and Howl.
Is it? It was released in 2005, though it is sometimes difficult to tell in which year foreign movies are eligible.
Yeah that is true.
The story is too adult. Roger Ebert said that he wondered how many children would be familiar with The Godfather or could relate to adult problems like gambling something at the races to pay off a debt. I had never seen The Godfather or any mob-related films when this came out, and I definitely agree.
The trouble with DreamWorks is they seem too joke-centered and based on parody aimed at adults. Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon are among the few that got it exactly right. This I find it hard to see how it could appeal to anyone. Finding Nemo was pure. It wasn’t commercialized. It was based on a simple story anyone could relate to with likable characters. That’s why I think it will hold up over the years. And hopefully this will be forgotten.
Yeah I blame Shrek for turning Dreamworks to such as you say joke centered fare. Most of the time they are watchable but Shark Tale was the worst Dreamworks I’ve seen.
You’d think the Academy would save me from such duds! Sigh…
There was also this pattern back then that studios somehow got an idea what kind of movie DreamWorks was making and then a movie with a similar theme was suddenly in the works. It was especially bad with DreamWorks, and I am not just talking about the Antz debacle. Pixar makes a movie with fish, DreamWorks makes a movie with Fish. Pixar makes a movies about Superheroes, DreamWorks makes a movie about Sueprheroes.
Very true and we still see that today where we will get the doubles especially if something is a hit. Like last year we had 2 Hercules movies.
It does serve to illustrate the differences between Pixar and DreamWorks well, though, and why Finding Nemo is a colossal score, while Shark Tale (which takes every opposite approach from casting to story) is an immense fail.
Also, Megamind did come out 6 years after The Incredibles, so that might not be a case of copying Pixar.
I think Megamind may have been a copy of Despicable Me which were both about villains same year.
Yeah, The Incredibles.
Awesome video once again! Yeah, I honestly think that Incredibles was the right one to win Best Animated Feature that year. However, I wouldn’t have minded if Shrek 2 won either mainly because I agree with you and anyone else who says that Shrek 2 is better than Shrek 1 and possibly all the other Shrek films too. Shark Tale I would maybe give a D. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s not great either. Although I will say that I do like it at the end when Lenny’s (I believe he’s the shark voiced by Jack Black) dad decides to love him for who he is like everyone else has. It kind of makes me think of the scene with Jim and Silver towards the end of Treasure Planet. Now, granted that film was better than at least Shark Tale, for sure. Still, you hopefully get my point. Anyway, great job on this again. I’ve enjoyed your opinions regarding Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Oh, and I’m also curious, did you also dislike say All Dogs Go To Heaven 1 since that also had gambling and other dark themes like that?
I get what you are saying and I did like that moment. I guess it was a little too little too late for me but I can see why that would be a D for you.
I think Home on the Range is the only film I have heard you give an F too? They both aren’t very good movies.
I’m so glad you like this series. I’m having a lot of fun doing it. 2005 will be tough because I like all 3 of the nominees and they are so different.
As for All Dogs I haven’t seen it since I was a little girl and liked it then. It’s not that there can’t be some bad behaviors but when a character is predominantly shown to be selfish and unkind it is hard for me to root for the movie. I also had issues with the setting of Shark Tale and how it didn’t look like the water and they didn’t look like fish. Other stuff bugged me but the character was off-putting. One of these days I will have to rewatch All Dogs Go to Heaven 1.
Yes, you’re right, I did give Home On The Range an F. Granted the music was more original and had some fairly good animation and thing like that, but still. Speaking of All Dogs Go To Heaven, did you also see All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 or the All Dogs Christmas Carol?
What other films do you think are deserving of an F?
All Dogs Christmas Carol is so bad. I talked about it during Scrooge Month. http://54disneyreviews.com/2014/12/01/scrooge-7-a-terrible-movie-all-dogs-go-to-heaven-christmas-carol/
Wow, yeah, it was pretty bad, wasn’t it? Oh well!
In answer to what else I think should have received an F, I think A Troll In Central should have received that grade. Also, 101 Dalmatians 2, both the cartoon and live-action version should have received that. Oh, and Rent as well, mainly because it was way too inappropriate for say a musical.
Agree on all those although it’s been a while since seen live action 101 Dalmatians but dont remember liking them
Gotcha!
Yeah, the Incredibles hands down, though I wouldn’t be upset if Shrek 2 won. Any other film, even Home on the Range should have been nominated over Shark Tale.