MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Knickknack’: Gimmick Worth Waiting For
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“Knickknack,” the latest film from Pixar’s award-winning computer animation team of John Lasseter, William Reeves and Eben Ostby, made its belated debut in “The Second Animation Celebration: The Movie!” earlier this week at selected theaters. It was worth waiting for: “Knickknack” is even better than “Luxo Jr.” and the Oscar-winning “Tin Toy.”
The film centers on the little snowman inside one of those tacky souvenir paperweights filled with plastic snow. His elaborate but unsuccessful attempts to escape from his tiny prison are reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote’s baroque schemes. The slightly artificial movements of computer animation are well suited to these plastic characters. There are no distorted humans, like the monstrous baby in “Tin Toy,” and the swirling snow inside the paperweight would be a nightmare to animate by hand.
A sure crowd-pleader, “Knickknack” may well earn Pixar its third Oscar nomination.
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