even this thread is very old, but I was just back tracking some older post and I am sort of compelled to respond.
1. Telecine (TC) is actually Film->Video transfer, and yes, C has Spirit Datacine because, structurally, Centro has a post production devision, and animation is another devision, but M, as a whole, only has animation with no post facility.
2. For output to film (either video->film transfer, or in this case, data -> film transfer), film recorder is used. There are many different kind out there (using optical or electron beams), with various speed. The Domino C has actually is dated and slow compared to the new one in the market.
So back to the original question, why, certain CGI film has bad quality film output? Well, fillm recorder is not exactly what you see what you get, there's lots of technical thing in terms of color control (which I have no idea of) is actually controlled by skilled professionals (supposedly), however, even with a high speed and state-of-the-art film recorder, there's no absolutely guarantee of the output quality and color.
That is, you can color grade whatever you want during film to data transfer (TC), and add effect, compose and color correct like crazy and make it absolutely perfect the way you see it in your monitor, it's up to the film output facility (in house, or out source such as A L)
to control the final film negative.
I hope this help to clarify.
example of film recorder:
http://www.celco.com/Products.asp