The quest for completion during Oscar season can at times be arduous, not to mention tedious and expensive, especially when you don’t actually complete. As I do every year, I set the goal of finishing all the films submitted and accepted as eligible by the Academy for the Animated Feature prize. I knew from the time the Golden Globe nominations came out what our eventual nominees would likely be, but I always want to see everything so I can judge the competition as thoroughly as possible.
Since Animated Feature has no shortlist, the task is far more difficult, and sadly, once again I have come up short. Of the 35 official entries, I saw 31. That would be the totality in most years, but this time around, in a campaign that has already seen several records broken, I ended up finishing four from the target. Three of those films were just simply not available. ChaO was shown theatrically by GKIDS in the U.S. late last spring, but has yet to get a home video or streaming release. Olivia & Las Nubes was made available for free on YouTube in late December for a single week, and even though I found out about it at the tail-end, I was still unable to watch it in the final 48 hours I was supposed to have at my disposal, because the company made the video private. It’s beyond frustrating that you can Google the film and still see the video link for the full movie, but you can’t watch it. Then there’s Bill Plympton’s latest, Slide, which I think I saw as an unfinished work-in-progress at a festival two years ago. I know the gist of the story and saw basically 85% of it, with the rest filled in with animatics, but if there were any changes, I don’t know, and I didn’t have access, as its qualifying run was done in New York rather than Los Angeles. The last one that I could see, Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, I just didn’t, because I ran out of time, and also, it looks like shit. I remember cringing when I saw the trailer, and I’m honestly surprised it was eligible, because what the preview showed was mostly live-action. Had I more time before nominations, I probably would have held my nose and given it a shot, but because I didn’t, fuck it.
Still, 88.5% completion is nothing to sneeze at, and I’ll have plenty to discuss when I cover the category for the Oscar Blitz in a month’s time. Before we do that, however, there are still a few more candidates to clear off the review backlog, so let’s do that now. Most of the time I group my batch reviews together by some sort of theme, especially when covering the specialty categories. This time, though, it’s just whatever’s left. That’s not meant to denigrate these films, just an admission that I couldn’t think of a common link.
Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing
This was an interesting one, especially because it’s fairly unique as anime films go, at least from a story source perspective. Most anime movies are based on manga, popular anime TV series (which are usually themselves based on manga or light novels), or just original feature concepts. Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing, however, is based on a mobile game developed by Sega (if you just played the sting jingle from the 90s in your head after reading that, we can be friends). It’s apparently pretty popular in Japan, but I had never heard of it before the movie came out, and while the film itself isn’t bad, one of its biggest problems is a reliance on knowing the ins and outs of the game. If you don’t, the movie will not help you. You’re thrown straight into the action, vacillating between several groups of characters without context, and you’re left to stumble along until the plot slows down enough to let you catch up.
This movie is available through various VOD platforms and streamers, including Crunchyroll, I believe, so if you do want to see it, I’ll give you the CliffsNotes version of the game’s story so that you have a chance in Hell of comprehending the first two acts. The game, Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage, is a rhythm game (you tap notes as they slide down your phone screen, like a mobile version of Guitar Hero) developed around “Vocaloids,” digital, partially AI-generated virtual idol singers, the biggest star of which is Hatsune Miku, a voice bank depicted as a kawaii teenager with twin pigtails. Miku, along with the other digital singers, occupy “Sekai,” virtual worlds created by the real emotions of the humans who play the game. You encounter an “Untitled” song with no melody or lyrics, and as your character progresses and discovers their feelings, the song becomes real, the Sekai more detailed, and the users can enter and interact with the singers, particularly Miku, who have been adapted to fit the Sekai’s mood and genre.
In the game, and the movie, there are five different groups of humans forming various bands, and their Mikus conform to their attitudes. Leo/need is an all-girl high school pop punk band, and so when the members go into their Sekai, it’s a classroom, and Miku is a punk rock schoolgirl with an alt-style uniform. More More Jump! is a J-pop idol group. Vivid Bad Squad is more hip hop. Wonderland x Showtime is a revue troupe at an amusement park. Nightcord at 25:00 is something of an emo/EDM virtual group made up of young women overcoming personal traumas and depression through their music.
These are all fun characters. Unfortunately, we don’t spend all that much time with them in the movie, and if we did, it would run for three hours. I’m not sure there was a way around this, but that doesn’t excuse the bombardment of people to sort out. The real plot of the film is that there’s a drab, unadorned Miku who pops up on some people’s phones, attempting to reach them with her “Untitled” song. She has no memory of herself, her purpose, or what her own Sekai is supposed to represent, but unlike other Miku characters, she can go into other Sekais and interact with people there. It turns out that her Sekai – which we must remember that there’s a Sekai for every emotion – is for those who’ve given up, on their dreams, their friends, their lives. As such, Miku’s song can’t reach anybody, because her people feel like they’re beyond help or hope. Whether they’re putting too much pressure on themselves to succeed, or have lost their passions because of personal or outside influences, or just feel like they have no value as a person, Miku’s appearance and presence is a burden rather than an inspiration.
Once we get through this massive dump of exposition and cast, we do get into some pretty great stuff. The central Miku’s song is broken and distorted, and Miku herself can only remember a few lines of it. When she appears on people’s devices (a conceit of the game), it’s like bad reception on an old television. The five bands, who’ve never met one another despite them all living in the Shibuya area of Tokyo, each take it upon themselves to write their own original songs in the style and spirit of Miku’s while doing a live performance, in hopes that those who can’t – or won’t – listen to Miku reaching out to them, might get that all too crucial message to give themselves a break. A world of problems can’t be solved with a song, but sometimes a song can be a relief, a respite, an invitation to let out all the pent up frustrations and fears you have, and that can be the first step towards returning to normal and pursuing happiness once again. If Miku can be saved, her Sekai can at least offer a sort of virtual community so those who hear her can begin to heal.
That’s some really powerful stuff, and it’s presented beautifully. Each of the five groups makes their own song, performed in a triumphant medley that’s expertly edited, and I admit I got a bit misty-eyed, even though I’m not a fan of all the various genres displayed (never really cared for idol groups, to be honest, apart from BabyMetal). In a weird way, that climactic performance reminded me of The Colors Within from last year. I think if you paired that film’s themes with this one’s music, you’d get something phenomenal. As it is, this is fine, though it does take a while to truly get into it, thanks to the clunky introduction for anyone who hasn’t played the game.
Grade: B-
Out of the Nest
I haven’t done a “Worst Trailer in the World” video since July, but I’m very tempted to do one for the upcoming animated film, GOAT, about an anthropomorphic goat who wants to play basketball, because it’s one of the stupidest ideas I’ve heard in a long time, and the previews look awful. Two things are stopping me right now. The first is time, as most of my schedule during late January through the middle of March is devoted to the Oscar Blitz, so I may be in a crunch. The second is Out of the Nest, a co-production of Thailand and China that somehow manages to do even worse things to animated ungulates, like having them star in a Kung Fu Panda knockoff.
In an ancient kingdom inhabited solely by animals, a group of seven heroes once fought together to defeat an evil wizard and save their empire. Somehow, a bloodline of chickens were crowned as emperors, with every new leader being introduced to the world in a ceremony where their hair is immaculately styled. In the film’s present day, the new emperor is about to take the throne, and a cocky goat apprentice named Arthur (I have no cast information, as there’s no listing on IMDB and I didn’t care to screengrab the credits when I watched it) who thinks he’s just the bee’s knees (no bees were harmed in the making of this film… I hope). When it turns out that he’s too arrogant and not that good of a hairdresser (he thinks everyone should have a 2008 Justin Bieber bob), his master, a toad, scolds him. As the coronation draws near, the soon-to-be emperor’s seven children – still unhatched eggs – are kidnapped by “The Order of the Claw,” a group of bandits/assassins made up mostly of reptiles. In a later attack on Arthur’s temple, he comes into possession of the eggs, with Master Toad ordering him to flee and protect them.
As you’d expect, Arthur is reluctant and bitchy most of the way, and eventually, the eggs all hatch, with each chick sporting a different color and personality. Arthur styles their hair (is no one going to point out that birds don’t have mammalian hair on their heads?) and gives them stupid names based on their appearances (because that’s never been offensive). Hijinks ensue as the “Claw” continues to pursue them and the former septet of heroes reunites to aid Arthur on his quest.
This is all standard kiddie adventure stuff, and again, the animation style looks like those cheap imitation DVDs you find in the bargain bin where they clearly did a ripoff of Kung Fu Panda and other similar movies and shipped it out before the pale imitation finished rendering. Apparently one of the creators once interned at Pixar, but I’m guessing he was the guy who got coffee for the real artists and storytellers, because if this is what he came up with, he clearly didn’t learn anything during his tenure.
A few weeks ago, I said that I had softened a bit on KPOP Demon Hunters, and not just because it’s the presumptive winner of the category at this point. I don’t like that movie, for a number of reasons that I argue are still valid despite the flick’s popularity, but I have reconsidered some things, and in hindsight, I might give it a higher grade if given another chance. A big part of that is because of movies like Out of the Nest, which was somehow accepted by the Academy for consideration despite it having almost nothing to offer audiences or the animation professionals who vote on the nominees. The girls from HUNTR/X annoyed me, but I’ve seen far worse animated fare since then, so a lot of the grades for those are curved to the point where they might share the same letter, but objectively the Demon Hunters are better.
Grade: D
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
I’ve got a confession to make. I’ve never really watched SpongeBob SquarePants. I’ve always been aware of it, but it debuted on Nickelodeon just after “my time” as a viewer of children’s shows, so I couldn’t really get into it, or even really give it a chance. I’ve seen tons of clips over the years, and when I was in college it was one of several shows I would occasionally watch while high for 15 minutes, but that’s about it. I know who the characters are. I know some of the weird lore. I know Squidward is basically my unintentional spirit animal. But I don’t think I’ve ever actually sat down and watched a single episode from beginning to end, to say nothing of the movies.
The thing is, though, I know I’d probably love it. The abject silliness, the absurd designs that feel like an underwater version of Ren & Stimpy, Tom Kenny’s perfect voice work, it’s all right up my alley. Hell, the first trivia question I ever wrote that aired on a game show was about Patrick. For whatever reason, though, I’ve let this piece of animated Americana (I think it’s the longest-running cartoon aimed at kids, and in the top 5 all-time) just pass me by.
Well not this time. I’ve gone hardcore on completing Animated Feature before, but never in a year where there was an eligible SpongeBob movie, so with The Search for SquarePants, I decided to dive in head-first. In the immortal words of our protagonist, “I’M READY!”
And honestly, it was pretty good.
I’ve heard some people balk at the fact that this movie was made in 3D rather than the traditional hand-drawn 2D format of the show, and I certainly get it, but it honestly didn’t bother me. Much in the same way that lots of other animated shows (The Simpsons, South Park, Bob’s Burgers) are given an oddly cinematic sheen to their style, the choice to go CGI here is probably just a novelty, and it didn’t detract from the overall experience. Maybe that’s because I haven’t watched the show enough to be married to the art style, I don’t know. Honestly, if there was something for fans to truly scream about, it’s the fact that Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) and Plankton (Mr. Lawrence, no relation as far as I know) are reduced to quickie cameos.
The story, nonsensical though it is by design, is that SpongeBob (Kenny) has “grown” so much that he’s finally tall enough to ride the roller coaster at the local theme park. When he and Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) go there, however, SpongeBob freezes up in fear over the absurdly dangerous dips, and chickens out. Over at the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob’s boss, Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) teases him for being scared, as does Squidward (Rodger Bumpass). Krabs tries to toughen SpongeBob up by telling him that he used to be scared as well, until he became a swashbuckler, even capturing the notorious “Flying Dutchman.” Naively inspired to be more like his employer, SpongeBob and Patrick do some charmingly idiotic things to earn a Swashbuckling Certificate like the one Mr. Krabs has, inadvertently releasing the Dutchman (Mark Hamill) from his captivity. Cursed to a ghostly eternity of torment, the Dutchman can only be freed if he finds a pure soul to take his place. Seeing that innocence/stupidity in SpongeBob, he recruits the eager sponge (plus Patrick) into his ghost pirate crew, takes them into the Underworld, and leads SpongeBob through a series of trials to complete the undoing of his punishment. Mr. Krabs, realizing what he’s done, recruits Squidward and SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary to go rescue him.
All of this stuff is monumentally silly, and I love it for that. I can see why audiences have been charmed by this shtick for over 25 years. The jokes are rapid fire, and always right in your face, but never in a way that feels intrusive. I love that the access point to the Underworld is Davy Jones’ Locker, which is a literal smelly locker in a gym. Apparently that’s a running gag in the show, but even as a neophyte, I couldn’t help but giggle. Regina Hall plays the Dutchman’s assistant Barb, who’s halfway between Waylon Smithers-esque lickspittle and Riley Freeman from The Boondocks. Hamill himself dusts off his animated Joker voice and makes it a little more gravelly for the Dutchman, a treat for the kids as a funny villain and for the adults looking for an extra tug at their nostalgia strings. Even the butt-based humor is more mature than you’d expect, with a well-placed brick falling behind SpongeBob being simply his “lucky brick” that he dropped in a moment of fear, followed up by a similar moment for Patrick, only for him to admit he doesn’t have a lucky brick. As toilet humor goes, that’s very clever.
There’s an infectiously lighthearted joy in all of this zaniness that’s pretty hard to resist. I even got a kick out of the live-action climax taking place on a real roller coaster (it’s the one at the Santa Monica Pier; as a Los Angeles resident I’m legally obligated to adore it), though obviously pushed to absurdist extremes. The misanthropic Squidward gets some very positive moments to show off rather than just being a sad sack. And while there are some forced tropes here and there, particularly a shoehorned means of making SpongeBob and Patrick have a third act conflict, I was genuinely surprised at the overall mature moral that courage comes in many forms, that friendship and the simple joys in life matter more than grandiose accomplishments or the accumulation of wealth and power, and that the willingness to trust in others is its own form of strength. For all the madcap mayhem in this flick, those are some solid lessons for the younger viewers.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to actually watching all 300+ episodes of the show, or the other three movies, for that matter. But I can honestly say that I enjoyed my first real experience with this franchise and these characters, and for the first time ever, I feel like I might actually be missing out on something. That counts for a lot.
Grade: B
***
That does it for this edition. Until I cover the category for the Blitz, this is a wrap on animation coverage for 2025. Now it’s time to get into the 2026 material. We already have a new anime film on Netflix and the aforementioned goat basketball flick coming in February, and the new trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie just dropped today with a super adorable Yoshi!
Sigh, I’m a glutton for punishment.
Join the conversation in the comments below! Did you see any of these films? Am I an idiot for just now recognizing the quality of SpongeBob? What would your “Sekai” look like? Let me know! And remember, you can follow me on Twitter (fuck “X”) as well as Bluesky, subscribe to my YouTube channel for even more content, and check out the entire BTRP Media Network at btrpmedia.com!
I Actually Paid To See This 