Monday, February 23, 2009

Spreading the Gold Statues Around

I always find it, I donno, aesthetically pleasing when somebody besides a monster conglomerate wins a little gold man.

The 12-minute film, which means "House of Small Cubes," centers on an old man reflecting upon his life as floodwaters slowly rise at his home. It marked the first Academy Award nomination and win for Kato, who wrote and directed the piece.

"It's so heavy," said Kato of the award. A native of Japan, he struggled with his English in good humor before a star-studded audience. "Thank you very much. Thank you, my supporters. Thank you, all my staff. Thank you, academy ... Thank you, my company. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.".

Three cheers for Kunio Kato.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was this really a surprise? Personally I'd find it more pleasing when a small company wins the little gold man for the big prize - Best Animated Feature - than the Animated short.

Weren't all the nominees in that category (except for Doug Sweetland's Presto) all small-company releases? Seems to me the smaller companies always win the animated short prize. If I recall correctly, Pixar won best short often when they were relatively unknown.

I know it's hip to root for Goliath to lose and all, but personally I feel like even the individual animators who work at the monster conglomerates deserve just as much of a chance to be recognized than the smaller Davids. Because then maybe they'd have some capital to start their own business.

Floyd Norman said...

I agree! Three cheers for Mr. Kato. I was delighted.

Anonymous said...

CONGRATS TO KATO! Most deserving! Great story telling with a lot of heart!

Presto was fun. Great animation but lacks depth.

I feel like even the individual animators who work at the monster conglomerates deserve just as much of a chance to be recognized than the smaller Davids.

It's not about the animators. Its about the animated short as a whole.

Steve Hulett said...

I know it's hip to root for Goliath to lose and all, but personally I feel like even the individual animators who work at the monster conglomerates deserve just as much of a chance to be recognized than the smaller Davids.

The Goliaths walk away with the prize more often than not.

Anonymous said...

Good for the little guy, but I wonder if anybody even watched this show?

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