Ranking the Best Animated Feature Winners - From Worst to Best

Another Oscar ceremony has passed and another animated film has been crowned as the best of the year. Frozen was awarded the Best Animated Feature prize, marking the first win for Walt Disney Animation Studios in that category. But, how does it compare to the previous winners? Let's take a look at the films that have won in this category since its inception in 2002.

Do All Pixar Films Exist in the Same Universe? Well, No, But this Theory's Magnificent.

I'd say it's extremely unlikely that you haven't thought about the possibility that the talking fish of Finding Nemo exist in the same universe as the talking rats of Ratatouille or the talking insects of A Bug's Life. In fact, a lot of Pixar's filmography could well be interlinked. Well, Cars kinda scuppers all of that... But nonetheless, I doubt you've thought about in as much detail or as cripplingly hilarious a fashion as Jon Negroni.

According to Negroni's "Pixar Theory", which is making the rounds online, A Bug's Life is post-apocalyptic, Monsters, Inc. is set in the distant future and the witch from Brave is actually a time-travelling Boo looking for Sulley through time and scattering Easter eggs to help him find her. Oh, and "Wall-E is basically Robot Jesus". The theory is so massively extensive, at least some of it has to be true... right?

Check out the hilariously ridiculous and ridiculously hilarious theory in all its extensive glory here.

Pictures of the Day: Infographics Break Down Prequels and Power

Today we've got two cool (and massive) infographics for you. To save on the length of this post, I'll just link you.

The first is in honour of Pixar's Monsters University and explores the ups and downs of previous Hollywood prequels, including The Phantom menace, The Godfather Part II and The Hobbit. Check out that mammoth infographic here.

The second explores "The Power Behind Your Favorite Films" and highlights the feasibility (or infeasibility, actually) of some of the big screen's most famous outings. Alongside Superman and Back to the Future, this includes three Pixar films' rather outlandish premises: WALL-E, Monsters, Inc. and Up (pictured at the top). Check that one out here.

Best of the Last Ten Years A113Animation Awards - Shortlist Update

To celebrate the best of the best of animation, A113Animation is running a special "Best of the Last Ten Years (2001 - 2011)" A113Animation Awards. We ran an initial poll, to generate a longlist, and the two highest scoring films from that poll automatically advanced to the final shortlist, those films being WALL-E and Toy Story 3. We're now running four polls to narrow down the remaining contenders, the winning film from each poll group joins WALL-E and Toy Story 3 in the final. Now we know two of those films.

The polls for Groups 1 and 2 concluded today. Group 1, our Facebook poll, was won by Pixar's Up, only recently pulling away from Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away. Group 2, which was on the blog, on the right sidebar, was won by Finding Nemo, in what was essentially a two-horse race with Monsters, Inc. - Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was the only other film to get a vote in Group 2!

So, the currently all-Pixar shortlist of nominees in the final stands like this, in order of votes received:

• WALL-E
• Toy Story 3
• Finding Nemo
• Up
• TBD - Group 3
• TBD - Group 4

As you can see, we've still got two polls left to go! The polls for Groups 3 and 4 will be put up (3 on Facebook, 4 here on the blog) later today, and will run for two weeks, until 28th, when the final poll will be put up!

Keep your eyes glued to A113Animation for more updates!

UPDATE: 23:23 (GMT)

The polls for Group 3 (here) and Group 4 (check our right sidebar here on the blog) are now up. Have your say and make sure your favourite isn't left out of the final!

Best of The Last Ten Years A113Animation Awards Longlist

A few weeks ago, we announced our special A113Animation Awards. This time, we're honouring the "Best Animated Film of the Last Ten Years (2001 - 2011)" (well, actually, that's eleven years... but still), and giving you a say! Since we announced the competition, we've had a poll up on our official Facebook page, to cast your vote in the first round, making sure your favourites go through to the next round! The rules were that any film that receives a vote will progress to the longlist, with the two highest voted films going straight through to the final shortlist nominees. The other films will be subject to more rounds of voting. We also counted votes we received on Twitter. The final tally for the "A113Animation Award for People's Favourite Animated Film of the Last Ten Years" can be viewed after the jump break. And the longlist for A113Animation's choices follows after.

John Carter Blu-ray Review

This is a belated review, yet I feel an important one.

Pixarians Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E) and Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) recently branched out their résumés, into the field of live-action, Bird with the fourth instalment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, and Stanton with the Disney sci-fi epic, and highly controversial, John Carter. Whilst Bird's live-action debut was released to the critical acclaim that Pixar directors are accustomed to, John Carter was received far less enthusiastically.

John Carter - 10 Minute Clip

Despite having the utmost faith in Andrew Stanton, the visionary director behind Pixar's Finding Nemo and WALL E, I had thus far been underwhelmed by John Carter; the trailers looked a bit generic, making little of the fact that this is the story that inspired Star Wars and Avatar, instead making it look like a mash-up of Prince of Persia and Avatar.

However, as we approach its release date (Friday) and the review embargo is lifted, more and more good things are being said about Andrew Stanton and Disney's adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's classic Barsoom novels. But, what's got me most excited is embedded above, Disney have released a ten minute clip from towards the start of the movie, showing the events leading up to the titular character's arrival on Mars, and they're brilliant.

A mix of intensity, epic scope and comedy, John Carter looks set to keep Stanton's immaculate reputation intact and possibly help launch Disney's next franchise come Friday.

Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton Teaming Up

Yes, you read that right, the two famed Pixar directors who brought us, Monsters, Inc. and Up, and Finding Nemo and WALL E, respectively, were recently announced to be working together on a project - an animated short film.

Despite the Oscar winning pair's very hectic schedules - with Stanton directing the live-action space epic, John Carter, for Disney, and Docter directing the Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind - Andrew Stanton told us in a recent interview with Ain't It Cool News of the collaboration, which allows him to return to animation at Pixar whilst working on the John Carter franchise.

Stanton said:

"As a matter of fact I’m developing a short film with Pete Docter. There’s an idea that he and I have had for years that we are finally getting around to doing which is kind of funny. We are both way too busy, but we just love the idea of doing this one little project together"

Via Pixar Talk.

John Carter Trailer, Poster and More

Over the past week, there has been a glut of new images, including stills and a new poster (above), from John Carter, acclaimed animation director Andrew Stanton's (Finding Nemo, WALL E). The striking new red poster, gives us some little hints at the film's story and the message about finding one's place in the world, or in another. However, most of the new revelations in terms of the massive battle scenes and in terms of story come from the images and the brand new theatrical trailer (below).

The trailer (above) showcases far more of the plot than we saw in the mystery shrouded teaser. We are shown some of the huge, epic battle scenes that span the adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's sci-fi series, as well as a look at the romance of the film and how, exactly, Andrew Stanton is translating the character to the big screen. The film, which reminds me of a cross between Avatar and Prince of Persia, looks intense and vast; the only thing that concerns me is that it looks, although I'll be more than happy to be wrong, like it could be a vast CG pig-out. Sure, it looks a tad corny, but the huge talent behind it that has made Pixar's classics so great, promise a great film, and my hopes are still high.

We've also been treated to a few awesome images from the film, showcasing its action and epic scale. You can see some above and below and view the rest over at The Pixar Times.

Trailer via IGN.

New Disney Universe Pictures

IGN have just uploaded a lot of new pictures from the upcoming Disney game, Disney Universe. In addition to the characters we have already seen, today we get a whole cast of characters from Pixar's WALL E, including WALL E himself (above) and EVE, BURN E, MO and WALL E's pet cockroach (below), as well as seeing Celia from Monsters, Inc. and Donald Duck.

 

I must admit, this game looks really good.

John Carter Teaser Trailer

The first teaser trailer for Pixar director, Andrew Stanton's first voyage into live-action, John Carter, has debuted online. The teaser is intense, fantastical and mysterious and I love the epic feel of it, it feels like a cross between Avatar and Prince of Persia, in the best possible sense.

John Carter is a Disney film, but is directed by Pixar brain trust member and WALL E director, Andrew Stanton. Stanton's feel for scope has clearly transferred from animation to Live Action very well, as the film has an epic, fantasy adventure feel to it. The music and the action all seem top notch, I'm sure we could have done without "Destiny" and "Fate" being slipped in there, they're so overused that they're not effective anymore, nonetheless, the trailer looks fantastic and I can't wait to see how Stanton transfers Edgar Rice Burrough's sci-fi book (which will be 100 next year, when the film comes out) onto the big screen.

The film debuts in American theatres on March 9, 2012 (not sure yet when it will debut here in the UK and elsewhere) and the trailer will be attached to showings of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which opens tonight!

Thanks to The Pixar Times for the trailer.

Prince of Persia meets Avatar

Interview: Mo Alcaraz of The Road to Pixar Team

Yesterday, I published my interview with Marco Bongiorno of the 'Road to Pixar' team, who are planning a trip to Pixar in a life-sized replica of the famed Pizza Planet Truck. The team have some big stuff coming on the Fourth of July, so today, to build to that, I'm publishing another interview, with Mo Alcaraz, who answers much the same questions in some very different ways:

A113Animation: Firstly, for those of us that may not know what 'The Road to Pixar' is about, tell us a little bit:
Mo Alcaraz: We feel that movies inspire us and stick with us through the course of most (if not all) of our lives, and Pixar movies are no different. We also like the disruptive nature of injecting pop culture into a living breathing society, hoping to engage people's curious nature. By building the Pizza Planet truck from the Pixar films and driving across California, we hope to blend the two.


A113: The ultimate goal is Pixar, obviously, what are your thoughts about Pixar?
MA: To me, Pixar embodies the perfection combination of storytelling, technology, and art. What I hope are primary ingredients in my life's work.


A113: What is your favourite Pixar film; why?
MA: Toy Story 3. Although all Toy Story films have themes which are reflected in us, the third installment has the most diverse and powerful themes of relationships, attachment, growing up, finding love, losing/gaining hope, and home.


A113: Who is your favourite Pixar character; why?
MA: Eve - "Wall-E", she is strong, flies, and has integrated weapons.


A113: When can we expect the next big update?
MA: Tomorrow


A113: Will you be making a stop on the journey to see Cars 2; what do you make of the idea of Pixar making a sequel to arguably their weakest film?
MA: I think it helps promote their new expansion of Disney's California Adventure, by bringing added awareness. Will it be the "redeeming" film? I don't know.


Keep you eyes peeled tomorrow for updates on their website and another interview here.

New Mars Needs Moms Trailer

Disney just uploaded the second trailer for Imagemovers Digital's upcoming motion-capture animation film, Mars Needs Moms. Whilst the trailer seems just to be, more or less, a rehashing of the previous trailer, it further showcase the eerily beautiful animation created by mo-cap.

Imagemovers' previous films (A Christmas Carol, Polar Express) haven't exactly been groundbreaking, but this does like quite good. Personally, I think it has a feel of WALL E about it.

The film is due to be released (in America) on 11th March this year. The film is also set to be the last film from Imagemovers Digital before it's closure later this year.

Thoughts?

2011 Annie Awards, How to Train Your Dragon wins 10, Toy Story 3 Shut Out

Controversy is certain to surround the 2011 Annie Awards and it may well be a year that lives in infamy, mere months after Disney and Pixar publicly withdrew support for the Annie Awards and for ASIFA, due to allegedly unfair voting process, - and the fact that DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, buys each new DreamWorks member of staff an ASIFA Hollywood membership, automatically giving any decent DreamWorks film an edge - and in a similar vein to 2008 (when WALL E was shut out in favour of Kung Fu Panda), Toy Story 3 was COMPLETELY shut out.

While this was to be expected as Toy Story 3 was not officially submitted and only received 3 nominations, it's still disappointing. On the other hand, DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon swept the awards and won a gigantic 10, including all of the individual achievement awards that Toy Story 3 wasn't even nominated for!

Perhaps most importantly, How to Train Your Dragon won the Best Animated Feature Award, beating out Despicable Me, Tangled, The Illusionist and, of course, Toy Story 3. Congratulations to How to Train Your Dragon, it's certainly a fantastic film and one of my favourite animated films of all time and, as previously stated, at this point it seems pretty certain that Toy Story 3 is going to win the Best Animated Film Oscar, so it's nice to see HTTYD get some recognition. However, the fact that it won 10 awards and (the Best Picture nominated) Toy Story 3 won none, is only going to raise questions and controversy. As we saw in 2008 with Kung Fu Panda, I feel that the controversy is going to overshadow the achievements of How to Train Your Dragon.

Congrats to DreamWorks and consolidation to Pixar (who did manage to scoop the Best Animated Short Subject award for Day & Night, along with Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg, Matt Groening winning the Winsor McCay Award), but it's certain that ASIFA needs to have a close look at their process in the near future.

I'm not shocked at this, just disappointed.

Full list of awards and recipients here.

Thoughts?

Happy 25th Anniversary of Pixar

25 years to this day on 3rd February, 1986, Pixar was born. When Apple head honcho, Steve Jobs bought the Lucasfilm Graphics Division back in '86, I'm not sure even he knew how huge it would become. Since 1986, Pixar have produced 11 consecutive hit animated films and left a mark on critics and audiences alike that may never be matched.

Pixar, later bought by arguably the biggest film company of all time, Disney, has a legacy unmatched in the film industry and John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and the whole team changed the landscape of animated films forever.

I wish Pixar a sincerely heart felt congratulations on their 25th anniversary and can only wish them the best for the future, not that they need it!

On a side note, Kung Hei Fat Choi, happy Chinese New Year!

Pixar Wars

Whilst trawling through the Internet, I found some super awesome artwork from an artist and sculptor called Sillof, this artwork combined characters from Star Wars and characters from Pixar to awesome effect. I encourage you to check out Sillof's full range, however you can see all of his Pixar Wars artwork here.

Below you will find some of my favourite character shots. Enjoy.

Pixar: 25 Magic Moments

Just thought it would be a good idea to share my thoughts on a recent show I watched, Pixar: 25 Magic Moments that showed yesterday on BBC Three. The documentray was brilliant, really fascinating, interesting and funny. Whilst a lot of the clips and interviews (specifically the ones with John Lasseter) were just the ones from The Pixar Story, it featured lots of new information (including an interview with Emily Mortimer - who voices Holley Shiftwell in the upcoming Cars 2), and some great interviews with Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Randy Newman, Michael Giacchino and Billy Crystal, among others. I really reccomend watching it, you can check it out on BBC iPlayer for a limited time.

Also as requested by a blog reader, here is the U.K. WALL E Trailer. Enjoy it Tom.
Also, time for yet another poll. The poll, which you will find to the right, is to determine which animated film, or films, you think will make the biggst impact this year, 2011.

Pixar, "Imagine Your Planet"

Pixar has just uploaded a new video showing onto their official YouTube channel. The video covers environmentally friendly alternative power, as well as the creativeness and imagination of Pixar. There are some interesting comments about some scenes from WALL E.