I didn’t watch the Oscars. Actually I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full awards show. That’s not out of any measure of protest on my part, I simply don’t care.
Professionally, there’s always the impulse to check up on the animated categories to see who gets the nod. This year I was actually kind of stoked to see How To Train Your Dragon in the running and I’m a little disappointed it didn’t win. Don’t get me wrong, I love Pixar and Toy Story 3 was great, but in my ever humble opinion, Dragon kicked it’s butt up and down the silver screen. It’s easily the best thing to come out of Dreamworks since The Iron Giant and it deserves way more attention than it got.
If you haven’t seen How To Train Your Dragon yet, I urge you to check it out. It’s a beautiful piece of work. The designs are really charming, funny and the character acting is utterly brilliant. (I completely fell in love with Toothless and I want one!) The effects department was absolutely on their toes. I’ve never seen so many different kinds of fire! Every detail was so well thought out. Visually, it’s a beautiful film.
And the story?! The story telling was excellent. The pacing was fast when it needed to be and slow when I wanted it to be. The characters were funny, flawed and oddly relatible for Vikings. The ending was a jaw dropper for me. I guess I’ve gotten a little cinical about productions that go for the fluffy-bunny-syrupy-buy-our-toys-now endings and without giving anything away, Dragon’s ending was surprisingly daring. I’ve never read the books so I can’t compare the two, but as a stand alone, that film is wonderful.
