GOLDEN GLOBES: Here's who will win Best Animated Film...

Note: At our most humble, we can freely admit: Despite our blinding insights and a general sense of cinematic omniscience, this blogpost contains absolutely NO spoilers. Nada. Zilch. ... Rats.

Oh, this will be good: The showdown that doubles as a stylistic throwdown.

At tonight's Golden Globe ceremonies, the category of Best Animated Film will pit not only narratives and cinematography, but also technology: Stop-motion vs. "hand-drawn" animation vs. CGI.

The five films nominated for animation are: "Coraline" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (both stop-motion); "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and "Up" (CGI); and Disney's old-school "The Princess and the Frog."

A coupla weeks ago, we handicapped the animated films nominated by the Producers Guild of America. Since four of the five Globe nominees are the same as the PGA noms -- the Globes went with "Meatballs" instead of "9" -- we'll break 'em down again for the Globes. Let's take a closer look:

"CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS":

What "Cloudy's" lead voice actor BILL HADER tells Comic Riffs about his film: The character Flint Lockwood is "unconventional and an outcast, but as [the character] Sam Sparks says in the film: You should own that. That's something I figured out midway around my freshman year in high school. That being that way is cool."

Why it likely won't win: Line for line, "Cloudy" is probably the single funniest film of the five nominees -- and Hader's line delivery is warmly hilarious. But Foreign Press voters are also hungry for two things -- "art" and "arc" -- and "Fox," "Coraline" and "Up" are more boldly able to flaunt either their artiness or story arc, if not both.

"CORALINE":

What "Coraline" writer NEIL GAIMAN tells Comic Riffs about his film:
"I loved that everything was handmade. Everything. It was so personal.
What I [also] loved about 'Coraline' and [director] Henry Selick is that Henry used the 3-D in Coraline as a storytelling tool. I also hope that people won't try and make everything in 3-D."

Why it could win: Neil Gaiman just got engaged to be wed and -- well -- it just might be his month. Well, that and the fact his film is a stop-motion kaleidoscope of dazzling color and movement and composition.

Why it won't win: There's a subterranean "Fox" that could sneak off with the Globe, as well as an airborne "Up" that looms as the high-flyin' favorite.

"FANTASTIC MR. FOX":

What "Fox" filmmaker WES ANDERSON tells Comic Riffs about his film:
" I grew up on the Rankin-Bass animated specials. I'm 40, and I cannot express how revved-up my brother and I were when the holiday specials [came around]. ... For me, there's nothing quite like actual, old-fashioned stop-motion. Which is why we were using digital cameras -- there wasn't even a movie camera [on set]. It all goes into the hard drive -- our [technology] was about as high-tech as you get outside of NASA."

Why it could win: (a) George Clooney's voicework; (b) warm old-timey charm; (c) Meryl Streep's voicework; (d) wry wit and precious sets; (e) the Oscar-winning pedigree of George Clooney and Meryl Streep's voicework.

Why it might not win: "And the award goes to...Pixar" is (deservedly) heard so often in Hollywood, one could imagine the geniuses at Pixar's Emeryville studios having built an entire army of utterly charming robot-voters. The microchip that spews that phrase never wears out. Neither, it seems, does Pixar's invention and soul.

"THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG":

What "Frog" filmmaker RON CLEMENTS [with co-director/writer JOHN MUSKER] tells Comic Riffs about their film: "Depicting Disney's first African American princess? Why, we felt no pressure -- no, NONE at all."

Why it won't win: The last hand-drawn Disney feature that deserved a Globe was 1994's "The Lion King" (which took home for the gold for Best Motion Picture -- Comedy/Musical).

"UP":

What "Up" co-director BOB PETERSON tells Comic Riffs about his film:
"You tell the truth of how people would react. ... We're always concerned about the relationships -- are we telling the truth? Jokes are one thing, but we sacrifice thousands of jokes if they get in the way of the emotional narrative."

Why it will win: By knowing when to shut the heck up. "Up's" near-wordless sequence of a lifelong romance told in montage (and sweet, sweet music) is a minutes-long masterpiece within a movie. In a competitive race with "Fox" and "Coraline," that sequence seals the deal for "Up."

Bottom line: If anyone traffics in more gold than the Globes's Foreign Press Association, it's Pixar, the Midas of animated motion -- everything it renders by computer seems to turn to gilded hardware.

That is Comic Riffs's pick -- what is yours?

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THE RELATED READ:

The 'Riffs Interview: WES ANDERSON introduces his fantastic 'Mr. Fox'.

NEIL GAIMAN recalls his first impressions of San Diego Comic-Con.

The 'Riffs Interview: Pixar's BOB PETERSON on his path to co-directing "Up."

The 'Riffs Interview: "SNL's" BILL HADER embraces his inner nerd to voice "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."