Disney at the Oscars 2010: UP, Princess and the Frog

[Babaloo]

Yay for Princess and the Frog and Secret of Kells nominations!

Nay for UP being up (pun not intended) for Best Picture. If the record that Beauty and the Beast held had to be broken, it should have been by another 2D movie (that would be even more beautiful and magical than Beauty and the Beast).

If the Best Picture entries were still five, UP would have never made the list. It was a slow year for good films (evident in District 9 being nominated) so the UP nomination was unavoidable/expected).

I kind of have to agree with you about this. Beauty and the Beast was nominated for best picture when there was only 5 nominations. I don't think Up, as much as I liked it, would have been nominated if there wasn't the upgrade to ten nominations (look at other award ceremonies). I'm happy that an animated feature has finally been nominated after 19 years, but...I don't know. This is just my rambling to myself . Anyways I'm extremely happy for both movies and hoping for their success at the Oscars.

As a side note, I thought that if both songs were performed at the Oscars, I though "Down in New Orleans" would've been sung by Dr. John.

[SpringHeelJack]

I think "The Princess and the Frog" is going to get shut out of winning best song purely because of the double nomination.

Yes, that would be the reason. Not that the songs are mediocre at best.

I always thought the same thing, but that they nominated two of them must say something about the academy, either that they see something in the songs I don't or that they have no idea what they are doing, pick one.

That they did nominate two shows more interest in those songs than I have. In particular I thought "Almost There" was interesting solely from its visuals. As a song... it was pretty blah. If anything, I'd have gone with "Dig a Little Deeper" instead of that.

[Luke]

It's pretty easy to tell what got the normal 5 nominations and what got the bonus. Look to the Best Directing category.

Would have made it with 5:
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air

Has the expansion to thank:
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
A Serious Man
Up

Now the only caveat to doing this is that the Academy will never give a Best Director nomination to an animated film, so <i>Up</i> could have been one of the five had they not expanded, but I doubt it. Very pleased with its BP nomination and with <i>District 9</i>'s. Those two alone make me happy with the 10-nominee field even if their chances of winning are miniscule.

[Barbossa]

I see the Oscars are pushed back to March this year. I take it's because of the Olympics?

[SpringHeelJack]

They've been in March many times before. It's not much new.

[KennethE]

I do believe that Pixar has never made a bad film yet; however, I am a bit baffled as to why "UP" got nominated recognition for Best Picture. "Ratatouille" (in my humble opinion, the greatest post-"Monsters Inc." Pixar film) and it got absolutely no recognition, as far as Best Picture is concerned.
I did enjoy "UP," but it did not seem like Pixar's best effort. Its screenplay was good, but nothing to get excited about. As for its score, I don't even remember the music in that film! It sounds like the Academy Awards is also jumping the Luxo Jr. bandwagon.

And to think, the only other animated film to be nominated for Best Picture was "Beauty and the Beast." Just look at all the GREAT Disney films (even a couple non-Disney films) that came out throughout the 90's and 00's, many of them far superior to UP.

(These are just my observations. I have nothing against UP.)

[ajmrowland]

That was back when they were doing only the Predictable Five.

[pap64]

I do believe that Pixar has never made a bad film yet; however, I am a bit baffled as to why "UP" got nominated recognition for Best Picture. "Ratatouille" (in my humble opinion, the greatest post-"Monsters Inc." Pixar film) and it got absolutely no recognition, as far as Best Picture is concerned.
I did enjoy "UP," but it did not seem like Pixar's best effort. Its screenplay was good, but nothing to get excited about. As for its score, I don't even remember the music in that film! It sounds like the Academy Awards is also jumping the Luxo Jr. bandwagon.

And to think, the only other animated film to be nominated for Best Picture was "Beauty and the Beast." Just look at all the GREAT Disney films (even a couple non-Disney films) that came out throughout the 90's and 00's, many of them far superior to UP.

(These are just my observations. I have nothing against UP.)

Like Andrew just explained, that was back when the Academy only chose 5 nominees for best picture.

Every year there are films that the Academy just plain shun, despite being successful AND having great critical and movie goer acclaim. I recall The Incredibles being a strong Oscar contender. So did Finding Nemo, Ratatouille and Wall-E. Wall-E, however, was the last drop since many, many, MANY film critics declared it as one of the best of the year, alongside The Dark Knight. Now both were unconventional films that didn't get nominated. Because of that, there was a bit of a backlash since many thought they were just as good, if not better, as the "predicable" bunch that got nominated. So that's why this year we have 10 nominees so the Academy doesn't get crap for not nominating truly outstanding films because of their genre.

Rest assured, though, had this been implemented last year Wall-E and Dark Knight would have been nominated, no questions asked.

[Ostrum-Safari1992]

It's about time!

And I hope "Up" wins the Oscar. That will make me very happy. And maybe it can end this whole "animation is for kids" thing. I'm already seeing complaints like "It doesn't deserve it, it's animated". It better win, we need to have an animated film as a best picture winner.

Congratulations to Disney and Pixar.

[Ariellen]

I think "The Princess and the Frog" is going to get shut out of winning best song purely because of the double nomination. Seriously, having more than one song nominated from the same movie is usually a sure-fire way to lose.

Really? I know that Dreamgirls and Enchanted each lost out in the category with three Best Song nominations apiece, but I hardly think that history shows multiple nominations to guarantee defeat in this category.

I do admit that I don't know, without looking, how many films have had multiple songs nominated and what the outcome has been, but I know there have several victories for such movies. Off the top of my head, I think of The Little Mermaid ("Under the Sea" won, "Kiss the Girl" also nominated), Beauty and the Beast (title song won, "Be Our Guest" and "Belle" also nominated), Aladdin ("A Whole New World" won, "Friend Like Me" also nominated), and The Lion King ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight" won, "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata" also nominated). Dreamgirls and Enchanted famously lost in 2006 and 2007, but as recently as last year, Slumdog Millionaire won even with 2 nominated songs.

I'm not saying that the double nomination couldn't or won't hurt The Princess and the Frog's chances, but I don't think it guarantees victory OR defeat by itself.

[Flanger-Hanger]

Rest assured, though, had this been implemented last year Wall-E and Dark Knight would have been nominated, no questions asked.

Agreed, and they deserved too.

Frog getting song nominations surprises me since many critics said it was one of the film's weaker points. Maybe this was just a bad year for movie songs?

[Wonderlicious]

They've been in March many times before. It's not much new.

Wasn't the ceremony usually routinely held on March 25th?

Anyway, time for my opinions on the Disney nominations. I honestly have to agree that the only reason Up is in the Best Pictures list is because of the five extra places.

I also have to say that I kinda lament the fact that peace on earth seems more likely than WDAS truly succeeding like it once did, and the Oscars not helping. Sure, I liked Up well enough, and I don't want Pixar to get dragged through the dirt, but I predict without a shadow of a doubt that Up will also win the Best Animated Feature, thus being another nail in the coffin for traditional animation. I don't really resent Up getting the Best Picture nomination that much - I think that the Academy have had to really acknowledge the better popular films this year as opposed to the usual arthouse stuff, so I can't complain. Yet I doubt The Princess and the Frog will actually win the Best Song, despite earning a double nomination, simply because it's - dare I say it - Disney. I have yet to see The Princess and the Frog (it opens here on Friday), but I doubt my mind will change if I don't particularly like it. Shame.

EDIT: Alternatively, I'd like The Secret of the Kells to win, frankly for tactic reasons (a low-budget independent film as opposed to Up). And I also hope that A Matter of Loaf and Death wins the Best Animated Short Subject.

[pap64]

One thing I wanted to talk about... Anyone feel that some animation fans are being hypocritical about Avatar being nominated as an "animated film", even though the animation technique used is motion capture, a technique they crap upon whenever Zemeckis does it?

OK, let's be fair here. The motion capture Cameron used in Avatar is fantastic and leagues above anything Zemeckis has done in his last few films (Though A Christmas Carol was pretty good). But it's still motion capture, a style of animation fans refuse to see as animation since it's just people acting out the scenes and the computer is just reading their motions and mapping them out to a CG character.

So, why is it that they are now calling Avatar an animated film when only half of the film is animated, the other half is live action, yet these same people don't want to call A Christmas Carol an animated film because its a motion capture film, even though the movie is completely done and animated by computer?

Can someone explain this to me? Am I missing something when people say Avatar is an animated film? What are the differences between Avatar and A Christmas Carol?

[rj.disney]

I also have to say that I kinda lament the fact that peace on earth seems more likely than WDAS truly succeeding like it once did, and the Oscars not helping. Sure, I liked Up well enough, and I don't want Pixar to get dragged through the dirt, but I predict without a shadow of a doubt that Up will also win the Best Animated Feature, thus being another nail in the coffin for traditional animation. I don't really resent Up getting the Best Picture nomination that much - I think that the Academy have had to really acknowledge the better popular films this year as opposed to the usual arthouse stuff, so I can't complain. Yet I doubt The Princess and the Frog will actually win the Best Song, despite earning a double nomination, simply because it's - dare I say it - Disney. I have yet to see The Princess and the Frog (it opens here on Friday), but I doubt my mind will change if I don't particularly like it. Shame.

I somehow think of the same thing. I am glad that an animated film got nominated for BP (about time!) but it also made me think of the other animated films which deserved to be nominated in their respective years, like Wall-E and Lion King.

I know how many in this site despise this film but I believe it was a strong contender and would have been nominated had it not been animated.

I remember reading articles which addressed how voters of the Academy (which consisted of actors, am I right?)were kind of unreceptive to BATB's nomination just because it was animated. I also saw a clip on youtube from the 1992 Oscars in which an actress presented BATB and said something like, "for the first time, a movie has been nominated for Best Picture even if it does not feature any actors on screen. We- the real actors- hope this does not continue as a trend. (Laughs)"

Kinda reflective of the ill feelings towards animated films being nominated if you ask me.
After that, there have been talks about how TLK deserved a nomination for Best Picture but got ignored simply because it's animated.

I am happy that Up got nominated. It's time to show what BATB showed when it was nominated that animation can be a medium for storytelling that even adults can appreciate.

I believe The Snow Queen has a chance of getting a nomination if it comes out as emotionally resonant to adults as BATB and Up had. But of course, the WDAS does not need to push themselves, they just need to be the best they can be. Remember how Katzenberg was criticized for using the Best Picture nomination as the inspiration for Pocahontas, and was still evident in The Prince of Egypt? Critics complained that they tried too much to chase after awards that they forgot to be entertaining. I still like both though. I can't imagine Pocahontas being made in another way

[zackiellovedisney]

I know people are going to get mad at me when I say this but this isn't a step up. There are ten nominations this year instead of the usual five so more movies are joining. I have to say this feat probably could have been done a lot earlier. Movies way back in the day like Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella probably could have got a nomination if there were more spaces. If there were ten spaces every time Up being in there might actually have been a normal sight.

[ajmrowland]

If I were at the ceremony, I'd pull a Kanye West and tell Avatar that it's a great movie, but UP deserves to win. I'd also tell it to "get out of our category".

And just wait till I play the "race" card.

[DisneyJedi]

I also have to say that I kinda lament the fact that peace on earth seems more likely than WDAS truly succeeding like it once did, and the Oscars not helping. Sure, I liked Up well enough, and I don't want Pixar to get dragged through the dirt, but I predict without a shadow of a doubt that Up will also win the Best Animated Feature, thus being another nail in the coffin for traditional animation. I don't really resent Up getting the Best Picture nomination that much - I think that the Academy have had to really acknowledge the better popular films this year as opposed to the usual arthouse stuff, so I can't complain. Yet I doubt The Princess and the Frog will actually win the Best Song, despite earning a double nomination, simply because it's - dare I say it - Disney. I have yet to see The Princess and the Frog (it opens here on Friday), but I doubt my mind will change if I don't particularly like it. Shame.

Honestly, I kind of think these stupid Awards shows are getting rigged these days, which is probably why Pixar movies win every single year in a row, and it's that which I find completely unfair!

[SmartAleck25]

Why is everyone being so down? This is great news! Though I guess you guys are making a point, but I'm just happy it got nominated.

[JDCB1986]

Honestly, I kind of think these stupid Awards shows are getting rigged these days, which is probably why Pixar movies win every single year in a row, and it's that which I find completely unfair!

I think Pixar wins every year because the Best Animated Feature category usually looks something like this:

• The unintelligent Dreamworks flick.
• The Disney/Pixar film.
• That indie film that a few critics fall head over heels for, but most people find quite unremarkable.
• Some anime.

That being said... this year I truly believe that The Princess and the Frog deserves the win over UP. I still find UP to be one of the weakest Pixar titles to date. In the past few years though, Pixar usually has the best film by a long shot.

[estefan]

And I also hope that A Matter of Loaf and Death wins the Best Animated Short Subject.

Oh, it's definitely winning. The Academy loves Wallace & Gromit and Nick Park. The only time he ever lost...was to himself.

Speaking of the animated short category, anybody else surprised at the lack of a nomination for Partly Cloudy? Admittedly, I don't love it as much as Presto, Luxo Jr and For the Birds, but it was still a very well-made little short. Sad to see Peter Sohn won't be joining Pete Docter and Bob Peterson to the Oscars, since he was partly the inspiration for Russell in Up.