Animated Films, When Will An Animated Film Win The Coveted Best Picture Oscar?

[mahnamahna]

And WTF? The LEGO movie doesn't deserve to even be in the conversation of BP.

I suppose you're speaking of Tangled right? first HTTYD is horribly overrated. It'd have a 75-80% on RT if Pixar released it lol. HTTYD2 was much better IMO.

LEGO Movie certainly does. 8.1/10, 96% RT rating, on over 70 top ten lists for 2014. It's original, witty, inventive and hilarious. It'll be remembered long after Boyhood or American Sniper win BP. It's easily a top 5 pick for the year. I can see why Boyhood, Birdman and possibly Gone Girl are ahead of it as far as "quality". But to say a film that got universal raves isn't deserving of a BP non over two films that got less than 80% on RT is absurd.

What makes Theory of Everything, Imitation Game and American Sniper that much better than LEGO as far as qualifying for BP? It's certainly more creative than any of the BP nominees I've seen so far.

[CelestialFairyIX]

Tangled, in my opinion was ROBBED of everything.  I mean, it didn't even get a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination... 

[CoolioD1]

There's The Illusionist and then there's Toy Story 3. No other animated movies from that year are worth talking about really.

[The Panda]

Only one of those got the category expanded to 5-10 pictures, which the academy has promptly used to award movies which do next to nothing at the box office again.

Yup and that was Wall-E.

The Academy made sure to nominate two Pixar films in a row right after the Wall-E snub, and as far as I know TDKR got nominated for nothing.

[grim22]

Yup and that was Wall-E.

The Academy made sure to nominate two Pixar films in a row right after the Wall-E snub, and as far as I know TDKR got nominated for nothing.

 

Quoting the Academy president again:  http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/oscars-to-go-with-10-nominees-for-best-picture-instead-of-five/?_r=0

 

In a question-and-answer session that followed the announcement, Mr. Ganis said: “I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words ‘Dark Knight’ did not come up.” Earlier this year, “The Dark Knight,” a critically acclaimed blockbuster fantasy, was excluded from a list of nominees that included “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Reader” and the winner, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

[Empire]

Quoting the Academy president again:  http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/oscars-to-go-with-10-nominees-for-best-picture-instead-of-five/?_r=0

He only said that to shut up Nolanites.

[Ezen Baklattan]

I think we need to see more serious, adult-driven animated films for people to stop treating the Animation genre like childrens' fare. Most people have already developed this (fairly ugly) stigma towards animation. I'm not talking about comedies like South Park, The Simpsons, and so on, but something with a dramatic tone. The only way for people to stop treating animation as sub-par is for the genre to make its vast range clear to them. Moreover, we need such a film to be a mainstream success. The Wind Rises was a fantastic film, but made next to nothing in America.

[CloneWars]

I think we need to see more serious, adult-driven animated films for people to stop treating the Animation genre like childrens' fare. Most people have already developed this (fairly ugly) stigma towards animation. I'm not talking about comedies like South Park, The Simpsons, and so on, but something with a dramatic tone. The only way for people to stop treating animation as sub-par is for the genre to make its vast range clear to them. Moreover, we need such a film to be a mainstream success. The Wind Rises was a fantastic film, but made next to nothing in America.

The Wind Rises was meh. One of Miyazaki's weakest offerings.

 

I think for an animated film to have a real chance at winning BP, it would need to be the next Titanic in terms of BO and critical appeal. 

[CelestialFairyIX]

The Wind Rises was better than any of the animated films during its run but I agree with Clone, the movie itself was sub-par and nowhere near the level Miyazaki is known for, A.K.A. Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, etc.  However, as others have stated before me, the movie will have to be gargantuan and will need to come out during a weak year and will need to appeal to critics, the Academy (they're special critics, lol), and so on.  I don't know why but Inside Out, Good Dinosaur, and Moana are all giving BP vibes...  

[AniNate]

Is the issue really about animated movies or kids movies? Even if there is some big event animated film that wins best picture, it's probably not going to make it much easier for a Disney or Pixar film to get noticed.

[Jonwo]

The problem is that the likes of Disney, Pixar, DWA etc the animated films are aimed at a younger audience and to do a film that would potentially alienate that market would be risky. I would love to see a studio do an animated film that's more like Princess Mononoke but I don't see it happening. 

Edited January 19, 2015 by Jonwo

[Spidey Freak]

Tangled, in my opinion was ROBBED of everything.  I mean, it didn't even get a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination... 

 

The fact that they have that stupid "X number of animated movies need to be submitted for us to have 3+ nominees" rule for Best Animated Feature is a perfect example of the Academy being complete assholes to the medium.

 

Oh well, at least animation has it better than poor stunt folks, so I guess that's... something?

[AniNate]

The fact that they have that stupid "X number of animated movies need to be submitted for us to have 3+ nominees" rule for Best Animated Feature is a perfect example of the Academy being complete assholes to the medium.

 

Considering how pathetic most of the following year's entries were, it's understandable why they'd have that; though it's probably not going to be an issue going forward.

Edited January 19, 2015 by tribefan695

[Spidey Freak]

Considering how pathetic most of the following year's entries were, it's understandable why they'd have that; though it's probably not going to be an issue going forward.

 

Well, they could constantly change the number of nominees each year depending on the crop like how they do for BP nowadays (I mean, they didn't think much of having only four BAF nominees last year, which entailed shutting out MU entirely).

 

If they can reduce the nominee number based on quality, shouldn't the inverse be true as well i.e. increase the number if there are more quality films that deserve to be recognised? I just think it was harsh leaving Tangled out in the cold like that, especially now considering the movie's impact on WDAS's recovery.

[AniNate]

It's hard for me to have much sympathy for Tangled now that The Lego Movie has gotten the shaft with five nominees.

[Spidey Freak]

It's hard for me to have much sympathy for Tangled now that The Lego Movie has gotten the shaft with five nominees.

 

Well, both are exactly in the same range for me: charming, sometimes wonderfully so, but overrated by some.

 

Both equally deserved nominations though. 

[Empire]

Well, both are exactly in the same range for me: charming, sometimes wonderfully so, but overrated by some.

 

Both equally deserved nominations though.

I really like Tangled, but I think The Lego Movie is way better.

[CelestialFairyIX]

My nominees for Best Animated Feature, 2016 (Thus far) :

 

~ Inside Out, PAS / WDAS 

~ The Good Dinosaur, PAS / WDAS

~ Minions, UP

~ The Peanuts Moive

~ Ghost in the Shell (IF released in the USA, might not be released until 2017... wow, I feel old just typing that) 

 

IF GitS is not released:

 

~ Ratchet and Clank, for the heck of it  

 

Animated films that may earn a BP nomination:

 

~ Inside Out, I feel like this is guaranteed, one of the most intriguing concepts I have seen from PIXAR in awhile

~ The Good Dinosaur, seems like a heartwarming and emotional movie

~ Minions, if the delivery is as good as the advertisements, I'm sure it will earn a nomination

[Jonwo]

I would say that list looks about right but the last nomination probably will be When Marnie was There or Shaun the Sheep if either gets a US release or a run in LA. 

 

While Spongebob probably won't be nominated, I wonder if it'll be eligible as it's animated but there are live action elements, moreso than the Lego Movie. The Smurfs I think was submitted by Sony but not sure if was eligible or not. Monster Trucks also by Paramount is a CG/live action hybrid but it's unlikely to be eligible.

[AniNate]

Spongebob's probably going to be at least half live action. It's not going to be eligible.

 

My hope for Minions is that it's Illumination finally exploiting the characters for their full potential, and that whatever storyline they've cooked up with their English-speaking characters serves to support their antics, not excuse them.