March 4, 2010: Runaway
Watching the packaged up Oscar-nominated animated short films for 2009 in the theatre, I had wondered whether they would stretch to feature length. Well, it turns out that they don’t, so some filler was added. I was confused at the point when this film started, because I knew I had seen 4 of the 5 nominated films (yes, I was counting), and now some other movie I had never heard of was starting. I quickly realized that Runaway was just filling time, and I was confused because I couldn’t yet be expected to understand why the final Oscar nominee was saved for last.
Runaway is a 9-minute Canadian film, which depicts a train hitting a cow on some train tracks and losing control, triggering all manner of troubles on the train, even as the posh first-class passengers continue to eat and drink and play billiards. The extreme hills and valleys of the terrain match the swoops and circles of people’s stylized faces, making for a surreal and very specific look.
The problem is that this film isn’t very innovative. The story progression is funny enough but it’s pretty simple, and we’ve seen the same thing before, particularly from Canadian animators, for decades. If this wasn’t a Canadian presentation of the Oscar-nominated animated films, I doubt that Runaway would have been included.
Don’t bother yourself with this one.
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