Kung Fu Panda Dominates 36th Annie Awards

Matrixhasyou on 01-31-2009 01:37 PM

Cool?

I thought Panda was okay compared to WALL-E. We'll know when what's up when the Oscar goes to..... WALL-E

WallEField on 01-31-2009 01:41 PM

The Oscar will go to WALL-E, no question. KFP was okay, but it wasn't on WALL-E's caliber. Fact is you can become a voting member of The Annies by paying a fee. DreamWorks just bought more ballots this year, plain and simple. Also, check this list to see which movie will really be remembered:

Time Magazine - http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10/article/0,30583,1855948_1863826_1863827,00.html#

Los Angeles Film Critics Association - http://www.variety.com/VR1117997085.html

Boston Critics - (Tie) http://www.incontention.com/?p=3469

Toronto Critics - (Runner Up) - http://www.awardsdaily.com/?p=4957

The Onion A.V. Club - http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/the_year_in_film_2008

Chicago Film Critics Association - http://www.chicagofilmcritics.org/

Lond Film Critics Awards - (Nomination for Best Pic, Not Yet Announced) - http://www.altfg.com/blog/awards/london-film-critics-awards-2009/

Online Film Critics Society - http://www.awardsdaily.com/?p=6103

The Golden Tomatoes - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/rtawards/wide/

KFP may win some minor Best Animated awards here and there, but WALL-E has already broken new ground by being declared BEST PICTURE by many critics groups for the first time ever.

Alterran on 01-31-2009 01:52 PM

Honestly, I didn't think Kung Fu Panda was all that great compared to Wall-E. I may be a Pixar fan, but I'm also a fan of good animation and storytelling in general--and I'm a martial arts person, which ought to have given Panda a leg up. Nevertheless, I still prefer Wall-E in terms of both quality animation and storytelling.

trgdr777 on 01-31-2009 02:03 PM

Kung Fu Panda was really funny, and it was a great surprise... but WALL-E is obviously the better film. I really enjoyed both films, but when it comes to quality, WALL-E is the clear winner.

grandmasterbleach on 01-31-2009 02:05 PM

i am extremely surprised at kung fu panda winning so easily. i loved wall-e personally, but i can say with a straight face that i liked kung fu panda more. i think it's all but guaranteed that wall-e will win in the academy but i just thought it wasn't quite as entertaining.

maxthesimpson on 01-31-2009 02:44 PM

absolutely ludicrous that KFP won everything. character design and animation? directing? Wall-E is unparalleled in nearly everything it accomplished, especially the categories i just mentioned. what a sham.

utkipp1 on 01-31-2009 02:44 PM

I have seen neither so i will not comment on that. But i don't think I have ever seen a single movie sweep and entire group of awards like this.

frogboy on 01-31-2009 02:52 PM

Kung Fu Panda was a stylish beautiful looking film that refrained from the pop culture references that plague the usual DreamWorks fare. I can understand the wins for production design, character design and voice artistry, but Wall-E is definitely superior in every other aspect. However, if a film had to beat Wall-E - I'm glad it was Kung Fu Panda. That film was better than it had to be and more than I expected. Still, Wall-E will win the Oscar - as it should.

Harry B. on 01-31-2009 03:00 PM

While I did enjoy KFP myself, and it is arguably much more kid-friendly, it does not belong in the same rarefied air as Wall-E and even Waltz with Bashir. For Wall-E to be shut out like they never even acknowledged it's existence is borderline criminal. It's ok though, I don't think Pixar is losing sleep over this. As much as I've questioned the integrity of the Oscars in recent years, I have faith that they will restore some order in the 22nd. The fact that Wall-E is nominated for 6 awards in 6 different categories including for Original Screenplay, and that it made a serious run at being an actual best picture nominee (which would've come to fruition imho had it not been for built-in biases among voters), is pretty much a giveaway that the animated oscar is in the bag and Dreamworks knows it.

Harry B. on 01-31-2009 03:01 PM

While I did enjoy KFP myself, and it is arguably much more kid-friendly, it does not belong in the same rarefied air as Wall-E and even Waltz with Bashir. For Wall-E to be shut out like they never even acknowledged it's existence is borderline criminal. It's ok though, I don't think Pixar is losing sleep over this. As much as I've questioned the integrity of the Oscars in recent years, I have faith that they will restore some order in the 22nd. The fact that Wall-E is nominated for 6 awards in 6 different categories including for Original Screenplay, and that it made a serious run at being an actual best picture nominee (which would've come to fruition imho had it not been for built-in biases among voters), is pretty much a giveaway that the animated oscar is in the bag and Dreamworks knows it.

Harry B. on 01-31-2009 03:03 PM

sorry for the double post guys

fortuosity on 01-31-2009 03:06 PM

These people were on drugs when they picked the winners. Maybe the last credible award show is now down the drain and in the pocket of Dreamworks.

arendr on 01-31-2009 03:08 PM

Yikes, that's pretty silly.

moviesandfastmachines on 01-31-2009 03:20 PM

I don't why everyone raves about WALL-E so much, I think it is extremely overrated. I mean it was pretty decent, but in my opinion one of the worst pixar movies. Only one I like less is cars. Monsters inc, the incredibles, finding nemo, and toy story 1 & 2 are all way better than WALL-E.

nathanpoitras on 01-31-2009 03:26 PM

Wall-E's still taking the Oscar though, and I think it takes 2,500 Annies to equal one Oscar. Kung Fu Panda is awesome though!

Castor Troy on 01-31-2009 03:29 PM

Holy effin bajeezus!

RamALamADingDong on 01-31-2009 03:31 PM

In all honesty I felt Kung Fu Panda was much better than Wall-E. Not that Wall-E was bad. The worst Pixar film (Cars) is still better than 90% of the stuff studios put out there.

Wall-E's first act was amazing but it felt like they didn't know where to go from there (and the director even admits many times on the DVD that he didn't know his ending despite what he was taught). The themes of consumerism and human-disconnect were too much of a punch in the face. And only Wall-E and EVE were developed, for the first time in Pixar history the secondary characters were uninteresting and underdeveloped.

KFP had a very concise story. All the characters were well developed. The story was touching and exciting. I'm glad it won.

WallEField on 01-31-2009 04:21 PM

WALL-E was better, period. There's no question about it, check pretty much everyone's opinions. There seem to be detractors in denial, but this isn't a question, it's a certainty.

Mr. Dufresne on 01-31-2009 04:30 PM

I can't judge KFP since I haven't seen it yet (I'll rent it eventually), but I highly doubt I'll like it better than WALL-E. WALL-E had almost everything I love in movies (good story, characters, good messages, romance, etc., etc. I don't think it's overrated at all (that honor goes to The Dark Knight. I think The Dark Knight is quite good, but not THAT good. The Animated Series runs circles around it).

Confounded on 01-31-2009 04:42 PM

Kung Fu Panda surprised me. I enjoyed it very much. I thought the voice-acting quality was amazing, it was about the only thing I think was "better" than in Wall-E. The humor was much lighter and more kid-friendly than Wall-E. But just like everyone else, I agree that Wall-E was superior cinema in almost every aspect. Which, for whatever reason, this set of awards decided to turn the act into a sham.

I feel bad for Wall-E for getting snubbed so ludicrously, but I doubt they care much. More than anything I feel bad for Kung Fu Panda. This obviously shoddy excuse for an awards selection only provides negative light. No real fighter feels good about winning when they know it's rigged.