Which toon gets the Oscar?
which animated movie has the best shot at Oscar gold?
Nov 10, 2006 Dominic von Riedemann
Yes, it's Oscar time again, when we look at the flicks from the past year, and figure out which ones will be honoured at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's annual love-fest. So which animated films will AMPAS voters pick?
2006 was a monster year for animated film, but the general consensus among animation lovers was "too much quantity, not enough quality."
Far too many movies this year shared similar themes, plots, images, gags, and even characters. Whether it was animals out of their natural habitat (The Wild, Open Season, Flushed Away, Ice Age: The Meltdown), animals interacting with humans (Curious George, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, The Ant Bully, Over the Hedge) or animals just acting nutty (Barnyard: The Original Party Animals, Happy Feet), movie watchers could be excused if they thought they were seeing the same flick again and again.
"I think part of the reason these films haven't done well is that people thought they'd already seen it," Animation Guild president Kevin Koch told The Hollywood Reporter. "Another factor is that there's a relatively small community of creative people who move from studio to studio.
"But the bigger factor," he says, "is that we've got some new studios wanting to jump into the game, and they've carefully studied what the successful studios -- like DreamWorks and Pixar -- are doing and have tried to follow that model. They've tried to make their films similar to what they've seen succeeding, so the films feel less from the heart, less individual and a little more calculated and corporate."
With so many studios wanting to get in the CG game (and so few talented animators and writers to go around), it's inevitable that so many movies looked the same this year. Also, the increasing cost of moviemaking meant that studios weren't as willing to take risks on fresh ideas, preferring a variation on the old tried-and-true.
So who's got the best shot at an Oscar nomination or (dare I say it) a win?
Disney/Pixar is always a shoo-in for a nomination: they're the heavyweight champs of the CG pack, with artwork that stands head-and-shoulders above the competition. On the downside, Cars was probably the least exciting flick to come out of that studio since 1998's A Bug's Life. Massive props to John Lasseter for such an unusual vision that obviously came from the heart, but the execution paled in comparison to Pixar's previous triumphs. However, Cars was very different from most CG films that came out this year, and you can't deny the brilliant animation. Those two factors could give it an edge.
Fox's Ice Age: The Meltdown was a quality sequel that lost out to Cars in domestic box office, but absolutely hammered it overseas, making well over $400 million. Good box office is always an asset to a movie's Oscar chances.
"The general consensus (on Ice Age: The Meltdown) was that it was a good sequel, and it did very well," Cartoon Brew co-editor Jerry Beck told The Hollywood Reporter. "It wasn't a (Pixar's 1999 release) Toy Story 2 where people said it was better than the first, but it was a well-made, competent sequel to a very successful franchise."
"(Sony Pictures Animation's) Open Season is probably a shoo-in," adds Cartoon Brew co-editor Amid Amidi. "It's a quality effort and the first from a new studio, so the nomination will be a welcoming to the pack. That and Cars are the only sure bets."
Amidi also thinks Happy Feet and Flushed Away are contenders, since both of them came out at the end of the season and were preceded by good buzz. However, Flushed Away may find itself hampered by the disintegrating relationship between DreamWorks and Aardman. DreamWorks may ignore Flushed Away as a way of punishing Aardman, and instead promote their own Over the Hedge as possible Oscar fodder.
That flick was a solid box office contender, making $155 million domestically. It showcased some well-executed animation and voice work from Garry Shandling and Steve Carell, among others. Unfortunately, its plot was almost undistinguishable from other CG films that came out this year. But Over the Hedge's box office might ensure it a berth come nomination time.
However, the Academy does occasionally reward the artistic efforts, and ignore the big moneymakers. Witness previous Oscar nods to such films as Aardman's Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle and Sylvain Chomet's The Triplets of Belleville. None of these films rocked the box office but their unusual vision convinced Academy voters to honour them with nominations and wins.
This year's dark horse contenders include Curious George (a sentimental nod as the last cel-drawn animated movie released so far), Everyone's Hero (another sentimental nod as Christopher Reeve's last film) and the French cult film Renaissance, which pushed the boundaries of motion capture technology.
There's also Satoshi Kon's Paprika, this year's sole anime entry, which has yet to be released in L.A. County. AMPAS is well aware that anime is an up-and-coming artform: witness their inclusion of Hayao Miyazaki as an Academy voter this year. Should Paprika become eligible for a nomination, it may find itself as this year's "artistic" choice.
The Oscar nominations will be announced January 23rd, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.
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