On Par With Pixar

Rating: 10/10 (20 September 2009)

I feel I need to make a comment, simply to dispute FordPrefect-42's completely inaccurate portrayal of this film. I can't imagine what pedestal of animation quality he holds to other films and what films those are if he considers CWACOM only "simple" animation? I saw the film with about 20 animators, all from major studios, in their 20's and 30's and everyone absolutely loved the film and raved about it. I've worked in animation for 12 years and I'm happy to see that someone else is finally making films equally as good as any Pixar movies. The film was engrossing from beginning to end. The script was excellent, the voice acting was fantastic, the animation was great, and it was highly inventive and creative. It was clever, all the characters were highly likable, and I laughed out loud at least 3 times, which, I almost never do. I absolutely love this movie and rank it up there with my Pixar faves, along with Iron Giant. You can tell that a lot of love and care went into this film as opposed to the typical studio, churn out, beat something to death and market the crap out of something. And very few studios do that anymore, other than Pixar and some smaller indie productions. It's all about the big money machine rather than letting artists and creatives do what they do best, which is sad and a shame. There is a reason why Pixar and TV animation studios like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon deliver over and over again. And that is because they trust the artists and animation professionals to do their job that they're trained to do and don't try to tamper with the creative process by throwing executives with zero creative or animation experience into the mix. Their is no better way to kill a film or show than let a team of creative execs. with no writing experience write the outline for the project. Cough...Disney. Get a clue people. Having a studio exec. with a law degree tell an animator with $150,000 animation education what he should be doing is a recipe for a heartless pile of crud. Hopefully, with success like Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, execs will finally realize that animators other than Pixar actually know what they're doing and release their choke hold that has been killing the life out of any good animation for the past 15 years.