(Source: www.cartoonbrew.com)
To quote the raunchy French pun: seal fleece?
Thanks to an overwhelming display (some would say glut) of animated movies coming out this past year, everyone was expecting this year's Best Animated Feature Film category to have the full slate of 5 nominations. However, in what some are calling a stunning move, AMPAS only honoured 3 flicks with an Oscar nod. In the process, two fine DreamWorks flicks were excluded (Over the Hedge and Flushed Away), as well as Sony's Open Season, plus potential dark horses Renaissance and Paprika.
The three nominated movies are as follows: Disney/Pixar's Cars, Warner Bros.' Happy Feet and Sony's Monster House. All were high profile, big American studio releases and, with the exception of Monster House, all ruled the box office at some point last year.
So what happened? Blame the Weinsteins.
The Weinstein Company had two animated flicks to put up for Oscar consideration this year: Doogal and the partially-animated Arthur and the Invisibles. It's not surprising that the Weinsteins chose Arthur over Doogal. The latter film tanked with critics and moviegoers while the Luc Besson-directed Arthur has real art house cachet. And as movie producers, you want to put your best foot forward, right?
Unfortunately, AMPAS took one look at Arthur and the Invisibles and disqualified it from the category; it simply didn't have enough animation for Academy voters. This meant that there simply weren't enough nominations, hence only the 3 movies up for Oscar this year. Moral of the story? Submit everything you've put out this year for Academy consideration, even if it sucks. You can bet there's not a lot of love for the Weinsteins right now in Hollywood.
However, there is a lot to love about the Best Animated Short category this year. Check out the full slate of nominations: there's something from the National Film Board of Canada (The Danish Poet), Pixar (Lifted), Disney (The Little Match Girl), Fox/Blue Sky (No Time for Nuts) plus an independent short from Hungary (Géza M. Tóth's Maestro). Don't even dare ask me to forecast this one, kids, because they're all good.
So what's the upside of this year's Oscar nominations? For one, we're seeing more respected, big name directors associated with animated projects. Okay, so Cars' John Lasseter made his name with CG animation but Happy Feet director George Miller (The Road Warrior, The Witches of Eastwick) is a fresh face in the genre while Steven Spielberg is more closely associated with mega action blockbusters like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws. If more A-list directors dip their toes in the animation pool, that may result in stronger films for audiences. Will we see Martin Scorcese doing an animated flick one day? Could happen.
Also, since so many companies are trying their hand at CGI animation these days, that means there's a lot more chance for fresh talent to make their mark. Okay, so many studios are playing the "follow the leader" game with their stories and styles, but eventually that's going to work itself out when they realize that it's a zero-sum tactic. At that point, we may see some risk taking and some interesting stories among animated movies. And that's a good thing.
Fun Fact: Cars has two Oscar nominations this year: movie composer Randy Newman is up for Best Original Song with "Our Town."
