Nina Paley’s offbeat indie animated feature Sita Sings The Blues recently was accepted into the prestigious 58th annual Berlin International Film Festival, where it’ll be having its world premiere next month. But as Paley writes on her website, “The bad news is, she’s programmed in a theater that doesn’t do Digital Cinema. That means unless I have a 35mm print by February, her one and only World Premiere will be on, well…video. I can’t let that happen.”

I’ve heard positive words from numerous people who have seen work-in-progress versions of Sita. The film, which Paley started production on in 2004, is uniquely personal, tackling the story of breaking up with her husband in India, combined with an unlikely mashup of Indian mythology and 1920s American jazz. Paley made the film entirely on her own, without a producer or studio backing, and still needs $20k to create a 35mm master. She is accepting tax-deductible donations through this website. It’s a worthy cause for animation fans who have a few extra bucks to spare.

UPDATE: Nina Paley wrote in one of the comments on her blog that everybody who donates will receive a credit in the finished film. But she says that credits will be closed Monday, “since that’s the latest I can render everything out from my computer.” So head over and donate now.

Is anyone surprised that Persepolis wasn’t nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar? No foreign animated film submitted by its home country has ever been nominated in this category.

And its interesting to note that Persepolis wasn’t even the first animated nominee from France. In 1953 France submitted Jean Image’s Johnny The Giant Killer. In 1975 Belgium submitted Tarzoon, Shame Of The Jungle.

For the record, here’s a complete run down of previous animated films submitted to the Best Foreign Film category:

1953: France, JOHNNY THE GIANT KILLER
1975: Belgium, TARZOON SHAME OF THE JUNGLE
1982: Romania, QUO VADIS HOMO SAPIANS?
1986: Hungary, CAT CITY
1994: Japan, POM POKO
1997: Croatia, LAPITCH THE LITTLE SHOEMAKER
1997: Japan, PRINCESS MONONOKE
1999: Argentina, MANUELITA
2002: Chile, OGU AND MAMPATO ON EASTER ISLAND
2005: Luxembourg, RENART THE FOX
2007: France, PERSEPOLIS

None of them made it. Most of these entries were submitted in the years before the Academy recognized animated features. Unlike some of my colleagues, I’m grateful the Academy’s Best Animated Feature category exists. With the exception of Beauty And The Beast, the organization has failed, time and again, to recognize the art. The industry simply does not consider animation in the same league with live action. Eliminating the Animated Feature Oscar will not change how Academy voters consider animation. Having that award at least brings us to the table.

To some the Best Animated Feature category may be a “ghetto”, but ultimately it’s up to us to raise the consciousness amongst the filmmakers, the Academy and the public.

A few random notes on the French animated feature Persepolis:

• Upon winning the best animated feature prize from the NY Film Critics Circle, Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi said, “In France, they always call the New York critics tough bastards. So thank you, my bastard friends.” Animation director Michael Sporn responded on his blog, “It’d be nice to hear what she might say if she wins an Oscar. She’ll get my vote.”

• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced yesterday the nine films which are advancing to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category. Persepolis, which was France’s entry, was snubbed and didn’t even make the shortlist. I’ve been opposed to the Oscar’s Animated Feature Film category from the very beginning for the simple reason that it continues to ghettoize the art form. Academy voters don’t feel compelled to recognize the merits of animation as film when they know that a special category exists solely for animated features. As the art form continues to mature with films like Persepolis, the flaws of the Animated Feature Film category will only become more and more evident.

• Whoever said animation isn’t a powerful medium and can’t be used to instigate positive change in society? Chicago’s Daily Herald has an interesting article titled “Local Iranians hope Persepolis will open eyes about their homeland.” Says one Iranian interviewed in the piece, “I think Americans are generally very open-minded, but there isn’t a lot on the news about the people of Iran, just its government. Persepolis shows how important it is to see that a country’s government and its people can be different.”

• The box office numbers for Persepolis are deceivingly tiny. While the film placed 28th on the charts last weekend with $187,000, it is performing remarkably well considering that it is only playing in 18 theaters. In fact, it had the second-highest per-theater average of any film playing last week, behind only Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. If there’s any question why the animated art form is viewed so poorly by the general public, it’s because a film like The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything can open in 1300-plus theaters while an animated feature like Persepolis remains virtually inaccessible to the general moviegoing public. One can only assume that distributor Sony Pictures Classics will move Persepolis from its current platform release into a wider release once the Oscar noms are announced next week.

One of the most unexpected surprises at theaters last year was the box office success of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Nearly everybody expected a modest showing, better performing than the Underdog pic, but certainly not a blockbuster. The film, however, is now Fox’s second highest grossing film of the year (behind only The Simpsons Movie), and with over $160 million to date, it is showing no signs of letting up. By the time it leaves theaters, it will have surpassed the grosses of The Simpsons Movie, Ratatouille and 300.

Obviously, we’re going to be seeing a lot more CG Alvin over the next few years. But perhaps this will also convince Viacom (Paramount Home Video) to release the awesome original Sixties animated series, The Alvin Show, produced by Format Films. It’s amazing that nobody at Viacom has awakened to the fact that they’re sitting on a goldmine with this TV series. Then again, this is the same company that owns the libraries of Terrytoons, Puppetoons, Famous and Fleischer (including Betty Boop). Apparently, their home video strategy is “We don’t like to make money.”

Despite the film’s box office success, it’s still an embarassing project to be involved with if you’re a major part of its creative team and you consider yourself to also be an artist. This became clear when actor Patton Oswalt made an offhand comment on his blog about how he and comedian Brian Posehn were both offered the role of Ian, the agent, and how they both rejected it because of its awfulness. David Cross, who took the role, was so peeved by the notion that he was a sell-out wrote a five-point blog post defending his decision to be involved in the movie. Thankfully, the film’s animation director Chris Bailey, doesn’t have to write a blog post defending his work on the film. Because unlike live-action actors, animation artists have no choice but to work on shit. It’s the only game in town sadly.

The current film Juno is one of the smartest, sweetest and funniest films now playing. The icing on the cake is the hand made cut-out style animated opening titles (thankfully at the beginning of the film, where they belong) that really set the tone.

They were created by L.A.’s Shadowplay Studios. Studio founders Gareth Smith and Michael Horowitz specialize in mixed media — check out their short film This Guy Is Falling (2000). And check out Juno when you get a chance.

Thought that Orangina spot was disturbing? Click here to see the trailer for a Spanish Brazillian rip-off of Ratatouille.

For additional laughs, check out the Amazon link and read the reviews. Pixar, what have you wrought?

I suppose it could be worse. I suppose someone could try making a knock-off of Bee Movie. Nah, that’ll never happen.

(Thanks, Floyd Bishop)

From IMDB comes this listing of the top grossing films of 2007 (U.S. Theatrical box office, in millions):

1. Spider-Man 3 • $336,530,303
2. Shrek the Third • 320,706,665
3. Transformers • 319,014,499
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End • 309,404,152
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix • 292,000,866
6. The Bourne Ultimatum • 227,137,090
7. Ratatouille • 206,435,493
8. The Simpsons Movie • 183,121,527
9. Wild Hogs • 168,213,584
10. Knocked Up • 148,734,225

Three of the films were pure animated features (Shrek, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie) and another four relied heavily on CG special effects (Spider-Man 3, Transformers, Pirates and Harry Potter). In addition to these figures, it should be noted that Bee Movie grossed $122,651,629. and Meet The Robinsons, Surf’s Up and, (cough) Beowulf were modest successes in their own right. Enchanted is doing great and although I don’t consider it an animated film, Alvin and the Chipmunks has become a huge Christmas holiday hit.

All in all, it’s been a great year for animated films - and results like these reassure Hollywood that animation is still viable, popular - and big business.

Here’s to a great 2008! Happy New Year!

Coraline, Wall • E, Kung Fu Panda… 2008 has many exciting animated features scheduled for release. But is anyone anxious to see this?

I admire the fact that this is an independent production — something I frequently champion on this blog — created by a group of dedicated animators out of Atlanta, with an all-star voice cast and an ambitious trailer. But the character designs are, to me, unappealing and the character animation lacks the sophistication the big studios (Pixar, Blue Sky, etc.) have long perfected.

The film is apparently in post production and the producers are seeking a theatrical distributor. My guess is it’ll go straight to video.