Time for American animation to grow up?

So this weekend Persepolis finally got a long-awaited Irish (limited) release. Being the excitable type, I skipped along to an early evening showing on Friday, and expected good things after months of positive feedback from across the sea. The hype was justified. Persepolis is one of the most refreshing cinema experiences I have had in quite some time. It is one of those increasingly rare cases where it seems that something completely unique is unfolding in front of you. The art-style is wonderful, each frame a delight. Not since Belleville Rendez-Vous has an animation seemed so stylistically fresh and original.

However, what struck me most about the film is how fantastically intelligent it is. Usually, animation is not the place for social commentary: but Persepolis is a deliciously dark biopic, laden with black humour, fascinating Iranian history and challenging examinations of religious oppression and political dictatorships. And it is all tied together through an instantly accessible coming-of-age story. It is a completely engrossing narrative, and is one of the most thematically rich films I have seen recently.

That got me thinking about other recent animation milestones. Such thoughts instantly reminded me of Spirited Away, which in my opinion, remains the pinnacle of animation as art. I remember being stunned when I finished watching it for the first time, unable to fully comprehend the wealth of stunning imagery I had just witnessed. While not as socially aware as Persepolis, it is possibly even more attractive than the stark black-and-white imagery of the latest French release.

Other Studio Ghibli films – from the environmental concerns of Pom Poko to the touching humanity of Grave of the Fireflies to the very small-scale stories of Only Yesterday or Whisper of the Heart – also do something completely unique with the medium, providing experiences unlike any other. Such experimental pieces comfortably sit side-by-side with the more generic films from the studio, and hence it has the most innovative and eclectic catalogue of material out there. Other Japanese animators – Satoshi Kon springs instantly to mind – are equally imaginative: Kon in particular comfortably letting his imagination run riot (Paprika) or producing more subtle tales (Tokyo Godfathers or the remarkable Millenium Actress). While a lot of Japanese animé still remains generic, misogynistic, immature and giant-robot / tentacle-rape populated, Japan is also producing some of the most exciting animation around.

Which brings us to America. The Disney corporation has long been the royalty of American (and pretty much all) animation, from the time they made history by releasing the feature length Snow White. Today, Disney itself may have shifted its concerns somewhat (abandoning traditional animation altogether at one point, only to overturn that decision with next year’s The Princess and the Frog), but the torch has been passed to sister company Pixar: the technology loving company who gave the traditional Disney cartoon a much needed boot up the arse. And other companies have jumped on the CGI bandwagon popularised by Pixar’s already timeless Toy Story: from Fox to Dreamworks, it would seem that American cartoons are being produced in ever increasing numbers.

The quantity is certainly there, but what about the content? I think few would doubt the quality of Pixar’s output. From Toy Story to Ratatouille, pretty much all of their output has been gold, with a couple of bronzes along the way (A Bugs Life?). Brad Bird’s pre-Incredibles hand-drawn animation The Iron Giant is an often overlooked gem. Shrek was a fine little comedy (although I gave up on the franchise after the second instalment), while Fox’s Monster House was joyful childhood fantasy that invites favourable comparisons to My Neighbour Totoro or The Goonies.

The quality of these productions is hard to deny. What they do, they do exceedingly well. But… I can’t shake the niggling feeling that there is something missing. In the rush to provide top rate commercial entertainment, it seems that the American animators have lost something massively important along the way: that thing is originality.

Again, I love Pixar, but even they have been guilty of lacking ambition. Since Toy Story, few of their films have strayed from the tested Pixar formula (the delightful Incredibles being the notable exception). Otherwise they have just had a habit of personifying this and that: we’ve had fish, monsters, cars, rats and insects. The films themselves are generally family friendly buddy comedies with a heart of gold. And this is perfectly acceptable in many ways – what they do, they do better than anyone else out there. But imagine what they could do if they broke from tradition and made something completely original and unique. They have the resources. They have the talent. But they don’t seem to have the balls. The Incredibles showed what they could achieve when they let one of their rank’s imagination run wild – spectacular action and even some light social commentary on the nuclear family. It was a step in the right direction. Next year’s Up also looks like it could be something different than the norm. But will it be as refreshingly original and intelligent as Spirited Away or Persepolis? And why have they yet to stray from a very rigid stylistic approach? Where is Pixar’s My Neighbours the Yamadas?

Outside of Pixar, the animators are showing considerably less flair. Disney seemed to have passed on the dreaded talking animal syndrome to every American studio currently producing animated feature films. While Pixar are very guilty of this particular crime, they at least do it competently. That much cannot be said of others. Indeed, with the exception of Monster House, I’m struggling to think of one recent animation that didn’t involve some god-damn animal blabbering away. Let us see: we’ve had fish (The Reef, Shark Tale), squirrels (Over the Hedge, Ice Age), elephants (the admittedly rather competent Horton Hears a Who!), ants (the imaginatively titled Antz, with an added and entirely superfluous Z) and fuck knows how many others. Heck, Over the Hedge and Horton alone feature a veritable Noah’s Ark between them. Why aren’t they trying anything else? I can’t be the only one fed-up of hearing computer generated donkeys sprouting increasingly inane pop culture references (Shark Tale, I’m looking at you!).

There is of course always the argument that CGI pictures in particular cost the GDP of a small country to produce, and often the best part of half a decade is spent producing said films. Monetary and time concerns are definitely an issue, but Pixar must have swimming pools over-flowing with bills at this point. Would they not be willing to invest that in something more experimental and not as immediately commercially viable? Studio Ghibli has spent as much money making risky experiments as they have creating more audience friendly and talking animal laden fodder like The Cat Returns or Kiki’s Delivery Service. Is the American animation industry really so money hungry that they can’t give truly talented directors like John Lasseter or Brad Bird the money to make something offbeat and original? If they can make such fine commercial films, they must surely have lots of creativity to spare. And I’m not certain a more offbeat production would be commercial suicide: after all, Spirited Away was the biggest Japanese box office draw of all time.

I must stress once more that I am not dismissing these productions. I adore Pixar, and Ratatouille was one of the most enjoyable films of last year. But I am just a little frustrated they stick so rigidly to tradition and formula all the time, limiting the creativity of the makers. Persepolis reminded me of the sheer joy unique animation can provide. To me it is a shame that they are being left behind by other productions. Even more so than live action cinema, it is a medium that knows no boundaries except for the imagination of its creator. But all the resources are being pumped into Shrek 4, Ice Age 3 or Over the Hedge 2: that is a helluva lot of talking animals. Perhaps the audience would be more willing to embrace these more predictable franchises if they were released alongside more ambitious works? Maybe WALL-E or Up will finally provide us with a truly jaw-dropping American animation. But as of April 2008, we’re not there yet. As entertaining and likable as Finding Nemo or Monsters, Inc. are within their formulaic boundaries, is that really enough?

I remember as an eight year old kid sitting there in pure bliss as I watched the revolutionary Toy Story play out on screen. As great as a lot of the stuff that followed has been, American animation has yet to recapture that sheer wonderment in my mind, while Spirited Away and Persepolis have. These films have proven that cartoons are not just for kids anymore. Perhaps it is time that the American animation industry realised this, dropped the yammering animals for a while and grew up.