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2003 Animated Feature Oscar Analysis

2003 was a pretty good year for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. It wasn’t quite as good as the previous year which had five nominees and this one has three, but that’s because the overall year wasn’t all that strong, and they picked the best, though in the box, movies. All three are pretty good, but none of them are great in my opinion. And I need to preface that this is probably the closest it turns out in this series for me when it comes to the actual ranking of the movies as all three are extremely close in quality. 

My Ranking of the Nominees:

3. The Triplets of Belleville

Again, this goes to show that the competition was tough this year as this French charmer gets the last spot and it is such a good movie. Yes, the plot itself isn’t all that great or exciting, but the mesmerizing level to detail devoted to its endearing characters and wonderfully traditional animation is to be respected. It’s a goofy, weird movie where that frog supper sequence is the highlight for sure. It’s also well paced, directed and particularly well scored. It lacks dialogue, but the score and sound design are splendid.

2. Finding Nemo

I know that to many people out there Finding Nemo is one of the greatest Pixar films of all time. Not to me, though. The humor is hit-or-miss, some scenes are too silly and the overall film lacks maturity that the greatest of the company’s films possess. But it does solidly deal with parental anxieties and short-term memory loss. It also has memorable characters, a lot of emotion on its sleeves and particularly great CGI animation. The entire world of ocean was created here and it still looks stupendous.

1. Brother Bear

Yes, I know that this would be shocking to many people, but in my opinion Disney’s Brother Bear was the best nominee this year. Yes, its ending is too happy, but the rest of the movie is not only incredibly emotional and sweet, but also downright serious and dark at times. The central relationship between Kenai and Koda is simply beautiful to witness. The film works as an adventure flick, but above all else it’s a great look at brotherhood. It continues to be the most underrated Disney movie of all time, the one that gets so much pointless criticism when in fact it’s a beautiful flick that is one of their best from this decade. I am so glad that the Academy recognized it.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Oseam – This South Korean film is emotionally manipulative at times, but simply terrific as a slice-of-life tale which was incredibly emotional in some of its sequences. I also loved its charming animation and a more serious storytelling approach. This year, the Academy went good, but safe. However, these two films are better than any of their picks.

Tokyo Godfathers – This movie not getting a nomination just goes to show the bias of the Academy when it comes to the art and craftsmanship of anime. Satoshi Kon is overrated to me, but this is undoubtedly his crowning jewel. It’s a pleasantly weird tale of outcasts getting together which also features a groundbreaking inclusion of a transgender character.