2017 Best Animated Pictures

Per goal #45, I'm watching every film nominated for Best Animated Picture and this week I finished those nominated for this year's Academy Awards.

• Kubo and the Two Strings - overall, my favorite. The animation was stunning, and I do have an affinity for origami. I also loved the music - especially the Regina Spektor cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
• Moana - but I also loved this one! Again, great music - thank you, Lin! But most of all, I loved the story. I loved that Moana was in line to be the chief with no man to qualify that position. I loved that she saved her people and opened up the world to them again. Tears were shed.
• My Life as a Zucchini  - this one was enjoyable, but in a more subtle way. When his mother dies, Zucchini is sent to live in an orphanage and the movie follows his experiences there. There's some heavy material, but it's treated in a light manner. We watched the making of and saw how they created the models and filmed the dialogue - all the kids were untrained actors, just regular kids - and I really liked that.
• The Red Turtle - Hands down the worst film on this list, and also a terrible film in general. The animation is beautiful, as Studio Ghibli had a hand in it, but from what I understand, they let the director have free reign on everything else. I think it was supposed to symbolize man's relationship with nature or something, but I didn't find the story gripping. It felt like a short film that was stretched out for a longer run time.
• Zootopia - I also loved Zootopia. I think it was really close between this, Kubo, and Moana for me, so it's quite alright that Zootopia won. This was probably the funniest of the five, and it had a great message. Also a shout out to Shakira/Gazelle's "Try Everything" - I got chills when Judy was listening to it riding into the city for the first time.

I'm really enjoying this goal - I just wish it was possible to see them all before the Oscars themselves, but some weren't released in the US until after. I had already seen Kubo, Moana, and Zootopia when the list was announced, but I had to wait for Zucchini and The Red Turtle. Many thanks to the Orem Library for their excellent DVD collection that make it possible for me to watch those two.