Part Eight: The Quarter-Finals - Final Five Films
I am narrowing down the ninety minute movies significantly again in this round. It is with a heavy heart that we shall say farewell to some exceptional films today, but today’s winners will duke it out for a spot in the finals in the conclusion to this unpredictable series!
Before we get to the eliminations, let’s examine which films have made it this far, as well as the new way I will be assessing today’s winners and losers. First of all, this is a very animation-heavy set of quarter finalists, with three traditionally-animated Disney films, two animated movies that combine traditional methods with CGI, one fully computer-animated film, and two stop motion films. In addition, there is one war film, one coming-of-age drama, one musical romance drama, and one Disney live-action remake. Since we will be losing more than half of them today, let me touch on each one briefly before we look at the prioritization matrix.
CONTENDERS
Lilo & Stitch (2002): two of my favourite things about this Disney adventure are the ways it blends old school techniques like the watercolour backgrounds with that slightly more modern aesthetic to the character designs and animation, as well as science fiction and action with the typically-family-friendly plot, characters, and comedy. It’s no wonder Stitch has become one of the most iconic Disney character from the 21st century so far; this original introductory story for him (as well as the other half of the title and her family) holds up as something unique.
The Lion King (1994): in a similar way to the previous Disney film, The Lion King has become an instantly recognizable name, but it’s even bigger than just one character. The original film spawned so much merchandise and so many follow-ups because of the strength of the story, the cast, and the perfected hand-drawn animation. It also holds the unique distinction of being the only movie here to not feature a single human character.
Tarzan (1999): compared to Lilo & Stitch, Tarzan was poised as a bigger Disney production for its time, but it has faded into the past a bit more by comparison, though remains just as thrilling and endearing as it ever was. The voice cast is stellar, the animation somehow looks more modern and yet as recognizable as any Disney movie before it, and the visual design of the environments and action makes it feel huge and epic, yet it’s also intimate and emotionally resonant, making it a well-rounded cinematic experience—and, it must be stressed just how epic that Phil Collins soundtrack is!
Pinocchio (1940): I’m not surprised the oldest film remaining in the competition is an animated one, nor am I surprised that it’s from Disney. Pinocchio is the definition of timeless, to me, because it took the source material of, at the time, an already-half-a-century-old tale and spun it into a grand adventure with a protagonist who was unlike any other before him, alongside many other memorable personalities. The whole cast of expressive characters helped prove that animation was a cinematic art form where anything was possible, and some things just couldn’t be done to the same level of immersion, nor inspire the same pureness of joy, in live-action filmmaking.
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993): as an adventure film lover, Homeward Bound was one of my first adventure movies, and like Pinocchio, it’s a timeless one. The trio of dog-and-cat characters are made so lovable by their voice actors, personalities, and determination to help each other survive, but the world they find themselves in is full of surprises both harrowing and humorous, and like more than one other film here, it really knows how to tug on your heartstrings.
The Iron Giant (1999): what was that about heartstrings? Oh yeah, The Iron Giant’s story of a young boy befriending a gigantic talking robot channels a little Spielbergian magic and gets the waterworks going by the end, but it’s a funny, surprising, and impactful animated feature that has garnered greater appreciation in the time since its initial release, thanks to its reliable narrative features bolstered by memorable original characters.
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005): the 2000s was perhaps the best decade for stop motion animated features, and two of the best from that decade are still in this competition, with the first being this Aardman production. It proved the beloved duo of man and dog first introduced two decades earlier could carry a feature-length narrative, which deftly plays on the tropes of classic horror movies while also providing a number of big laughs and eye-popping sequences.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009): the second stop motion masterpiece of the 2000s that’s still here hails from one of the most unique directors working today, the quirky Wes Anderson, and this is only his first of two (so far) stop motion films, as well as the only one that’s an adaptation of a classic Roald Dahl story. With a huge cast of lovable characters, several of which generate multiple unique laughs, and a storytelling structure that makes it as compelling for adults as it does for kids, it’s going to be tough for some of these other films to outfox Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Paths of Glory (1957): even if you ignore the directing credit for this one, Paths of Glory still stands out as an atypical war film on the merit of its everlasting visual and cerebral power, because it doesn’t center on the battlefield for the whole runtime, but rather touches on bigger philosophical issues surrounding war and reaches for the humanity that struggles in the midst of these conflicts. Great performances, great technical filmmaking, and the kind of film that grips you right until the credits roll.
Once (2007): To paraphrase something Ted Lasso said one time, Once is so good you might want to see it twice. What it lacks in production quality it more than makes up for with heart. The improvisational style, setting, and relationship between the two main characters makes it stand out not just in this competition but amid all the musical-romance-drama combos I can think of, primarily for its songs and the talent of the two leads.
ELIMINATIONS
Now, for this round’s elimination process: the prioritization matrix. It may look complicated at first, but once I wrapped my head around this method, it became even easier than the CAWSPEEL system. What it comes down to is matching each film and picking one or the other in terms of priority. Which one would I rather watch right now? Which one could I not live without? Instead of thinking about all of them all at once, I just thought about pairs of films, regardless of genre or content, and put in the chart which one would win. What I will be left with are five films with the highest scores, meaning the highest occurrences of being the priority. Let’s check out the results.
Here they are, folks, the final five films going to the semi-finals! At number one, with 11 points, is Homeward Bound! I really did not expect this, because I wasn’t even sure if it would survive the genre elimination challenge when I started using the CAWSPEEL method. I gave it enough careful thought that it just managed to continue on, and then it really kicked butt when up against these films. At number two, with 10 points, is Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is another one that surprised me. Through these last two rounds I’ve come to realize how much I really love this movie; it is my favourite overall stop motion film, but I didn’t expect it to make it to the final five over so many others. At number three, with 9 points, is Stand by Me, which I think is a real frontrunner as we get closer to the finals. At number four, with 8 points, is Toy Story, one of only two animated movies to make it this far, which is notable considering how many survived the initial elimination round back when I did animated and family films. Finally, beating out Once for the last spot in the semi-finals, with 7 points, is Pinocchio, the last traditionally animated film standing.
We are rapidly nearing the finale to this series on movies under 90 minutes, with the next installment being the semi-finals, where three of the finalists will be eliminated, and the remaining two films will go on to the final round!
