If you haven’t heard by now, Paramount Pictures is launching full speed into a Best Picture campaign for the animated hit “How to Train Your Dragon,” and why not? When you’re talking about Pixar-level acclaim and a highly respectable box office take, it’s worth it to test those waters.
A lovely soiree last night toasting the forthcoming Blu-ray and DVD release of the film was an early stop on that journey. Last year you’ll recall the studio put together a similar event for the “Star Trek” home video release.
The party was held at the new Red O restaurant on Melrose and among those in attendance were DreamWorks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg and voice talents Craig Ferguson and America Ferrera. Ferrera was a delight to chat with, eager to dive into the recently announced sequel. I also had a nice talk with her fiancee, Ryan Piers Williams, a film buff and himself a filmmaker (Edinburgh hit “The Dry Land”). The film’s directors, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, were also in the crowd, as well as, randomly, actor Robert Forster. Mostly though it was a room full of BFCA, LAFCA and HFPA members, so the aim was clear.
By far the highlight for me, not to be too much of a below-the-line geek, was the chance to talk the sound design of the film with a true legend in the field, Randy Thom. Thom won an Oscar 27 years ago for “The Right Stuff” and again in 2004 for “The Incredibles,” but as of late he says he’s been pigeonholed a bit as an animation guy. He loves the work, though, and particularly delighted in manifesting sound elements for Toothless, the main dragon character in the film. He told me they used everything from whales to tigers to derive the unique sounds for the beast, and that, as morbid as it might sound, recording animals when they were sick tended to yield the most interesting material.
I also talked at length with Simon Otto, head of character animation on the film and a true DreamWorks vet who has been there since production began on “The Prince of Egypt” in 1997. (Next to all of the brilliant leaps in animation technology decorating his office is an old drawing table where he spent days hand-drawing cells for the studio’s introductory animated feature.) Mostly we talked about the field of animated features and how unfortunate it is that there likely won’t be enough to warrant five nominations. He’s very keen on seeing the anime “Summer Wars,” though, which is one of a handful of saviors that could potentially bring the tally up to 16.
I’ve always found that talking with animators during the season is a nice reprieve from the competitive air of these months. It’s truly all about seeing great work for these folks, and a legitimate desire to champion that work.
It was a lovely evening, though I spent most of it out of the fray rather than working the room too hard. There will be plenty of that throughout the season and hey, it’s best to just keep the reserve tanks full for now. But I’m happy the studio is serious about putting its best foot forward on this film. I still go back and forth on whether I’m higher on “Toy Story 3” or “How to Train Your Dragon,” to be honest. But it’s been seven or eight months since I saw the latter, so I’m eager to pop in the Blu-ray and give it another ride.
One final note: producer Bonnie Arnold was also in attendance, preferring a more secluded back room to the crowded restaurant floor. She’s a truly delightful personality who has been in the animation game since 1995’s “Toy Story.” I had the opportunity to sit down with her on the DreamWorks campus (as they call it) in Glendale earlier this week, so be sure to check back later today for that interview.
[Photo: DreamWorks Home Entertainment]
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16 responses to “Toasting the DVD release of ‘How to Train Your Dragon’”
I wonder if I’m still the only person who only liked How To Train Your Dragon. The technical aspects were great, not just for DreamWorks, but the story was pretty standard (and, I know it’s obnoxious nitpicking, but how did all the adults not pass on their accents to the kids?). Good movie–and in a year that I find relatively weak for likely Oscar contenders, I wouldn’t be completely shocked to see the campaign pay off–but not great.
And, another obnoxious nitpick, but the Oscar for the Incredibles would’ve been in early 2005 for the 2004 calendar year.
Josh, I am with you… I enjoyed the film, but in no way did I love it (my screen was dirty too, the 3D didnt even pop for me)…
***… but the Oscar for the Incredibles would’ve been in early 2005 for the 2004 calendar year.***
When referring to Oscar wins and nominations, it is standard to cite the year of a movie’s release, not the year in which it actually won.
How To Train Your Dragon was an admirable effort, literally a first for a non Pixar film where an animated film was a straight narrative film and not a spoof or bagful of cultural references.
But there was nothing transcendental about it, I guess it simply came as a shock that a non Pixar (and non Ghibli :P)animation was a good story well told. But I would never compare it to Toy Story 3 which frankly had me by the balls by the end of it. How To Train Your Dragon handily beats Toy Story 3 in animation, visuals, music, sound even in 3D. But Toy Story 3 has an infinitely better script and characters. Its a pretty old-fashioned film in that sense, it has suspense and catharsis, but it is essentially just a script, and voice actors doing their bit, nothing fancy, very plain visuals and animation, very lo-tech infact, but it manages to make a magnificent film out of all that.
And you could hardly say it has Pixar level acclaim. 98% on RT means general approval, that everyone likes it. But its 7.8 score shows that it wasn’t “loved” as much as say TS3 which has a stately 8.8.
“How To Train Your Dragon was an admirable effort, literally a first for a non Pixar film where an animated film was a straight narrative film and not a spoof or bagful of cultural references.”
Please tell me you are not serious about this. Reading the above makes it sound as if Pixar invented narative driven animated films. I am going to have to assume that you were talking about CGI films only because there are literally thousands such films that were made all around the world. And as for CGI, sure we’ve seen our fair share of meta-films, many of which came from DreamWorks, but HTTYD is hardly the first to put the story first.
Not that Pixar is reference free either. I like My Neighbour Totoro too but the Totoro is Toy Story 3 was more than just a cameo (and I, for one, didn’t feel like they did the character or its toy version, justice).
My opinion on Toy Story 3 is the exact opposite of Red’s. One needs keep in mind that Toy Story 3 has to maintain a certain visual constency with the beloved first film which is already 15 years old. With that in mind, the Pixar guys did a tremendous job of making the film loop pretty, modern and realistic all while staying well within the established boundaries. I was especially impressed by the soft color pallete of the film. Great work. Even if I have certain reservations about some of the work, especially towards the end of the film, and even if the animation wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen I would never call Toy Story 3 plain.
That said, I think Pixar completely dropped the ball on the story. Oh, it was clever alright, and there were parts that worked very well, but none of it’s smarts could hide the tastefullness of the final third. The movie never found an emotional center for me. I found it to be deeply manipulative, unpleasand and, rather calculated.
The Deux Ex machina and everything before it has got to be the absolute nadir for Pixar, imo.
red_wine: Grasping at straws. It’s plenty fair to say Pixar-level acclaim.
I had more fun watching Dragon than TS3 and ultimately found it to be a better film and experience.
Pete, I mean animated films in recent times. Of course there have been exceptions, but I in general find non Pixar Hollywood made animation efforts to be nigh unbearable. Many foreign studios are doing good work though.
And I say plain in comparison. Look at these gorgeous films coming out today, you have Dragon, Tangled, Legends of Gahoole, Christmas Carol, even Pixar’s own Wall-E & Up (not to mention Avatar), compared to them, Toy Story 3 is probably the plainest CG animated blockbuster.
Kris: Lets wait for the best of year lists, we’ll see how many critics champion TS3 and how many champion Dragon (specially near the top of their lists). :P
I don’t care much about Rotten Tommatoes ratings but all I’m saying is, in a world where culling reviews yields 98% approval for How to Train Your Dragon, 99% for Toy Story 3, 98% for Up, 96% for WALL-E, 96% for Ratatouille, etc., it’s fair to say “Pixar-level acclaim.” I’m sure Toy Story 3 will be on more lists at the end of the year, but let’s not be precious about Pixar to spite a clearly well-received film.
I have said it before, but How to Train Your Dragon continues to be my favorite movie of the year. Better than Toy Story 3, The Kids Are All Right, Inception, Winter’s Bone, and The Social Network. HTTYD was a simple story well-told that hit on a lot of levels. It had a message of understanding in not only father-son relationships, but also mankind-nature relationships and environmentally themed movies are difficult to pull off (I’m looking at you Avatar). The visuals were phenomenal (Deakins), and the score and sound were also great.
The reason I think HTTYD is more deserving of awards (not better, but more deserving of awards) is because Toy Story 3 had the luxury of starting off with an assumed knowledge of these characters. The script had virtually zero exposition considering they expected you to know Woody and the gang. So obviously they could craft a story free from the troubles of explaining things to the audience (Inception anyone?)
I’m not saying TS3 cheated, but HTTYD accomplished an equal emotional experience and as weighty of a message when it had to work a little harder for it. Also dragons are really cool. Like really cool.
I dont think there will be room for 2 animated films in the Oscar Best Picture nominations. Toy Story 3 is pretty much locked in as one of the nominees. I just don’t see AMPAS missing this ONE and ONLY oppurtinity they will have of acknowledging the CG animated film that ushered in the CG animation era. That would be like Return of the King not winning any major award beyond the technical aspects. At the very least Toy Story 3 will walk away with the animated oscar.
HTTYD was great. Its visuals were great and technically better than Toy Story 3, but as fantastic a story it was, I found Toy Story 3’s to be more powerful. HTTYD, Tangled, Despicable Me, and the rest will just have the misfortune of being released in the same year as Toy Story 3.
It has been a banner year for animation, but like Will above, I don’t see the Academy nominating a 2nd Animated film among the 10 BP nominees. Toy Story 3 is pretty much etched in stone to be a dual nominee in both BP and Best Ani. Feature.
Call me crazy, but even with only 5 BP slots, I actually believe Toy Story 3 would make it. While I hold Ratatouille and Wall-E as the high mark for Pixar (with the latter sitting on top), Toy Story 3 has one thing going for it that those two didn’t. All 3 were critical sensations, but Ratatouille and Wall-E divided general audiences. On the other hand, Toy Story 3 was pretty much universally loved.
For a while there I was ranking Toy Story 3 far ahead of Dragon, but then I realized my response to Toy Story 3 was purely nostalgic, and it has significant flaws. Whereas, How to Train Your Dragon is wonderful, exactly the sort of thing children should be watching. And it’s anti-war, and its hero is kind of a scientist/engineer as opposed to a warrior. And goddamn, it’s not surprising to hear that Deakins consulted on it, because at times it’s achingly beautiful, something CGI films rarely achieve.
Not only was HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON my favorite animated film of the year, it’s one of my favorite films period. It was so beautiful and the story was heartfelt and the ending… I mean, wow, what a brave ending for an animated picture that had so much to say. So many animated movies just look like popping eye candy and come off a little lame to me — I found DRAGON really sophisticated and (dare I say this around my five year old niece) GROWN UP. It was simply an enjoyable, beautiful film. I’m glad they are running a campaign and with ten best pictures, I think it’s totally more than possible that we could see two animated films in the mix.
I am a huge fan of the movie, and I think this film is going to be a nominee for Best Animated Feature… but Best Picture. I don’t know.
It would be in my personal 10 of the year, but is it the Academy’s Top 10? Maybe not. Because it’s March release and it’s competition with Toy Story 3, another equally amazing animated film, could make it be forgotten my the Awards come by.
But also there is a chance they think the movie is highly awesome and start to give it nominations for awards it deserves (like “Adapted Screenplay”, “Original Score”, “Sound Mixing”), which may mean a Best Picture nomination.
Only time will tell…
Another thing… For “Best Animated Feature”, the Academy may decide to give the award to Dragon. Why? Because Pixar has one this award for three years in a row, as it should, but certain people (not me) think that it’s time for a change, meaning that they will give the award to Dragon or another film.
I would be one happy guy if the Academy gives Dragon an award besides “Animated Feature”, but for Best Picture… I would be ecstatic!