Brad Bird's Ratatouille and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis are the front runners for the Best Animated Feature Film category at the Oscars. Who will win?

Persepolis has made Ratatouille's life a lot harder.

On December 9th, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best movies of 2007. In the category of animated film, the LAFCA announced a tie: Persepolis and Ratatouille shared the honour. On the other hand, the New York Film Critics Circle called Persepolis their favourite animated film for 2007.

Ratatouille is still getting plenty of critical lovin'. The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association called the Disney/Pixar flick their favourite animated film of the year, while the Boston Society of Film Critics awarded director/writer Brad Bird Best Screenplay (the BSFC doesn't give out an award for Best Animated Film).

So, in in the race to Oscar night, how do these two films shape up?

Ratatouille: Another Great Film From Pixar

Despite barely cracking the $200 million mark at the domestic box office (the film cost $150 million to make), critics loved the Brad Bird film about a rat who wanted to be a chef. Critics raved about the movie, claiming it was another triumph from Pixar Animation. Ratatouille was named the "best reviewed film of mid-2007" by Rotten Tomatoes, receiving a whopping 97% Fresh rating. Its nearest domestic competition, Twentieth Century Fox's The Simpsons Movie, got an 88% rating.

It was only in Europe that Ratatouille's earnings matched the critical kudos. The flick broke records for an animated film in both France and Germany, and topped the international box office for five weeks in a row. The film ended up with $405 million in international receipts, according to Box Office Mojo, giving the flick a more-than-respectable $612 million worldwide.

Given that amount of critical love and box office, many thought that Ratatouille would be a shoo-in for the Best Animated Feature Film award at next year's Oscars. Others thought that Ratatouille should go for the Big Kahuna of Oscar awards: Best Picture.

However, Sony Pictures Classics' Persepolis has mounted a significant challenge for Pixar, and some people are wondering who will win this coming February 24th.

Persepolis: Controversy Sells

Persepolis, based on the bestselling graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi, detailed her life during and after the 1979 revolution that toppled Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi and ushered in the current theocratic regime.

The film first gained international attention when it won the 2007 Cannes Jury Prize, sharing the honour with Mexico's Stellet Licht. The Iranian government condemned the flick, claiming that it was "Islamophobic," and part of a convoluted French-American plot to destabilize Iran.

The Iranians then spent much of last summer trying to keep Persepolis out of the international film festival circuit, succeeding in Bangkok but failing in Ottawa.

Rotten Tomatoes gave Persepolis a 100% Fresh rating. However, it only received 20 reviews, barely enough to put in the list. Ratatouille also rocked a 100% Fresh rating after its reviews, but slipped slightly after 175 write-ups.

The Industry Professionals' Choice

Persepolis seems to be the sentimental choice among animators, but Ratatouille has earned a lot of respect.

"I'm personally divided over Ratatouille and Persepolis," says Jerry Beck at Cartoon Brew. "I'd be happy if either won."

"I would like to see Persepolis win the Best Animated Feature for a variety of reasons," says Sheridan College of animation professor Mark Mayerson. "It's rare for an animated feature to engage with the real world; most are fantasies. I would like to see more films like Persepolis, where animation grapples with the contemporary world in a way that isn't satirical.

"Besides that, Persepolis was a brave film in that it was made in black and white and it's still rare for animated features to be directed or co-directed by women. Should Persepolis win, it might encourage other producers to be braver in their choice of subject matter and artistic treatment."

Beck agrees with Mayerson's comments, saying, "While Ratatouille is perhaps the best animated film of the year, Persepolis is actually a more important animated film."

Does Persepolis Have a Chance for Oscar?

The good news for Persepolis is that AMPAS will honour foreign animated movies. Two foreign films have won the Best Animated Feature Film award since the category was first handed out in 2002. Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away triumphed in 2003 over four other nominees, the only time there has been a full slate. In 2006, Aardman Animation's Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit won in a field that included Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.

Here's the bad news: no foreign animated film has won the Oscar when a Pixar flick was nominated that same year. In 2005, when The Triplets of Belleville lost to The Incredibles, another Brad Bird film. Pixar has won the Best Animated Feature Film award three times out of five nominations.

The best indication of Persepolis' chances on Oscar night will come on February 8th, when the Annie Awards are handed out. The Annies, run by the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, have successfully predicted the eventual Oscar winner in five out of six years. If Persepolis wins the Annie, then it holds an excellent chance of taking the Oscar. The same also goes for Ratatouille.

Who Will Win? A Final Thought

AMPAS has a long history of playing it safe. Although Persepolis is an important animated film, there's less controversy associated with Ratatouille. It's a feel-good, state-of-the-art flick from a beloved animation studio, and it has a message everyone can get into. After courting controversy with last year's Happy Feet (a motion capture film with a strong environmental message), the Academy may want to play it safe with the Best Animated Feature Film category for 2008.

And Ratatouille fits that bill perfectly.