this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2025
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Best animated film of 2024 according to Césars and Oscars and it's from Latvia (with help from Belgium and France)

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[–] [email protected] 93 points 3 days ago (2 children)

And its the first major movie completely made in Blender! An amazing free and open-source 3D modelling program from the Netherlands

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Wait, Blender is Dutch? Cool!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Yeah the foundation is in Amsterdam I think.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I only watched the first bit of it but remember the perspective seemed strange and then a few times it was "shaky" as if the camera man had moved while holding the camera. Was that a stylistic choice by the makers or a learning curve coming into animating within a 3D modeler like that?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

Stylistic, it takes extra effort to do that

[–] [email protected] 51 points 3 days ago (1 children)

And created using Blender, open source!!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

That was the strangest/best shout-out at the Oscars.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Wait what I didn't see it, did they call out blender during the speeches.or something?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago

Yeah, he thanked a bunch of people and slipped in Blender. Unless it was a slip and he meant to thank Bender from Futurama…

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

So is the Oscar winner of the short film category, it's 20 mins and free on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VrLQXR7mKU

I really enjoyed it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Thanks for the share! I gave it a watch and was definitely worth the award. Phenomenal acting, story is solid and doesn't slow. There's micro expressions that really relay the emotion and tension perfectly. Crazy good.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Not available for my country.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 days ago

I loved how the capibara was the wise guide!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I just finished this with my 6 year old last night. It was so good.

[–] Tiger 9 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Watched it with my kid, loved it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What ages would you say this is appropriate for?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

Having just watched it with little ones I mostly concur - any - but would suggest that with kids <= 6 be a watchful parent/guardian during some of the more intense scenes. Not due to anything graphic, just a few emotionally harrowing bits where I saw my co-viewers gripping the armrests with widening eyes, so had to whisper that I think it will all be fine in a moment.

[–] Mouselemming 2 points 3 days ago (2 children)

How did they feel about the bird scene?

[–] Tiger 1 points 2 days ago

All good with everything, we thought it was inspirational and awesome but nothing drastic.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

The fight, or the "ascent"?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Congratulations to Latvians. Must be amazing to have 6 toes now.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (5 children)

It's decent, not amazing. It's been a pretty weak year for animated films. Couple of years if I'm being honest.

Inside Out 2 just made me want to watch the original again. The Wild Robot was certainly no Iron Giant.

I think the last nominated movie at the Oscars that I genuinely loved was Klaus.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Comparing Wild Robot to Iron Giant is a bit of a stretch. 2 completely different themes. I get the theme of ‘robot finding it’s reason for existence’ but it’s a theme of overall ‘who am I’ (Iron Giant) vs ‘how do I raise this child/animal’ (Wild Robot). I honestly believe a lot of themes in Wild Robot aren’t properly grasped unless you’ve had a kid or raised one. That movie cuts to the core quite a bit around being a parent and always questioning if you’re doing enough and what will be best to provide the best future for your child. Also around how to be supportive even when your child is facing difficulties like bullying. Iron Giant is more of a ‘fun’ movie about if a giant robot was found by a child and the innocence of youth vs hardened hearts of adults. Just not a good comparison.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

I'll have to give it a chance again I guess. I turned on Flow the other day, made it ~5-7 mins in and gave up on it. I'm sure the budgets were no where near the same but I think I ended up watching Elemental instead. Overall it was pretty decent. Not as good as some but still made me fucking cry like animated movies are so good at.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

I won't argue with you on the rest, but I certainly agree that Claus was lovely.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 days ago

The Wild Robot was better than the Iron Giant because it criticises capitalism.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

I saw the whole thing when it was playing at a kava bar i was at. There was music playing over it but there's no dialogue so it works out. Excellent bar movie

[–] Mouselemming -1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

By all accounts it's a very well made film. I'm not going to watch it for my own reasons. Just in case, here's a chance to check whether you're going to be okay watching this (or another film, it's a good site generally):

https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1312794

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I think you will be pretty safe watching this movie if that is your question tbh

It is absolutely an emotional ride, but if you are doesthedogdie-ing, you're good

[–] Mouselemming 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

My personal issue is that I've had recurring dreams where I die by drowning. It's very difficult to wake up once I've drowned, or to escape the dream past a certain point. After decades of it, I've learned to wake up immediately upon seeing any water, and/or if anyone talks about swimming. Then I have to go do something that will plant a different story before I can rest again. It doesn't always work; the last time I died ::::by being caught in a carnival-type ride that, instead of starting along the tracks, was suddenly enclosed, with water pouring down from the ceiling and filling the space, drowning all of us as we struggled to get out of the straps.::: EDIT: anyone want to help me black that part out? ::: doesn't seem to be working.

Anyway, even though the cat survives, I don't need to go feeding my demon any new ideas.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (4 children)

I briefly click through it after downloading and thought I accidently downloaded one of those chinese knock-off movies. But apprently it really is supposed to look like that.

Guess the story must be really, really good if that was the best animated movie that year.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Way to announce that you only approve of certain art styles...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Luckily nobody needs my approval. But yeah, I don't particularly like it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

I thought the animation looked amazing

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I haven't watched it yet (besides a few clips I've seen here and there), but I'm reminded of how so many games in the 2010s got caught chasing graphical fidelity. That led to a surge in interest in indie games, many of which had objectively shitty graphics, but an art style that was deliberate and interesting. A recent game in that vein that I have played and loved is Signalis, an incredibly artistic survival horror game.

Gaming and animated movies are obviously two completely different mediums, but I reckon we can use the same lens here; I'm going to wait until I've seen this movie (or at least, substantial chunks of it) before I judge it. As you suggest, it being voted best animated movie suggests the story must be great, but what I'm really intrigued by is how well this particular animation style works to support its characters and story

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

but what I’m really intrigued by is how well this particular animation style works to support its characters and story

Yeah, I'm as well, especially since it's apprently a silent (no speaking) movie, so the animation really has to do all the heavy lifting. It's only 85 minutes, I might give it a try (I've made it through 3 episodes of Arcane before dropping that because of the animation style). Something about that kind of 3D animation style just looks weird to me and constantly breaks immersion.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

I actually quite liked the visual style, to each their own I suppose