Oscar for Best Animated Feature 2012

[estefan]

For those basing Guardians' quality on its marketing, remember Dragons' marketing? Wasn't very exciting, either. I'm surprised, considering Disney fans are well-aware that trailers deviate a lot from the final product, that we still fall into the trap of judging films based on the trailers.

I'm not to sure Frankenweenie will win the oscar, considering Corpse Bride, Coraline & Fantastic Mr. Fox didn't win in their repective years. The only films to win the oscar that was not a major CGI film was the anime "Spirited Away" & "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit". And neither of them had to go against any CGI film when they won in 2002 & 2005. Well, Ice Age was nominated when Spirited Away won, but at that time Ice Age was not the major franchise it is now.

In the case of Corpse Bride, Coraline and Fantastic Mr Fox, they were up against some strong front-runners. Up was a Best Picture nominee and Wallace & Gromit was, well, Wallace & Gromit (which has a massive fanbase within the Academy).

This year is interesting as there's no clear winner like earlier years. At this point, I think ParaNorman is the frontrunner, but Frankenweenie and Wreck-It Ralph seem like formidable competition and we'll see how Guardians is received upon its release.

[Disney's Divinity]

Of those 4, WIR probably has the least likelihood of winning. I can't picture critics jumping behind it like they apparently are with ParaNorman and RotG.

[toonaspie]

This seems like it's gonna be a lousy year as far as animated features are concerned. None of them scream Oscar worthy. Though chances are most likely Frankenweenie could be the winner. Curious to see if Rise of the Guardians lives up to the tour it's taking. I'm in the minority here but I think it looks really good and has potential.

I'm not to sure Frankenweenie will win the oscar, considering Corpse Bride, Coraline & Fantastic Mr. Fox didn't win in their repective years. The only films to win the oscar that was not a major CGI film was the anime "Spirited Away" & "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit". And neither of them had to go against any CGI film when they won in 2002 & 2005. Well, Ice Age was nominated when Spirited Away won, but at that time Ice Age was not the major franchise it is now.

LOL Ice Age doesn't even deserved to be compared to Spirited Away. Spirited Away didn't win because it was a nonCGI film. It won because it was a freaking amazing cinematic masterpiece that broke box office records in Japan and is directed by one of if not the most famous director of animated films.

I'm getting too ahead of myself here. Often each year there's always that film where you can tell it's gonna be a no-contest and that's normally Pixar's territory. However I wasn't wowed by Brave enough (neither were most people) to feel it was gonna wipe out the competition. When you look at the other films, the feeling was the same. I only took a guess for Frankenweenie because the ratings have been food and it is directed by Tim Burton but several other films are likely to be in the same boat of being good but nothing Oscar worthy. If Brave does win, I will be rather surprise but not surprised if it ends up going to another film. But the competition as far as films goes is going to be really weak because so far this year nothing screams Oscar worthy.

[DisneyEra]

I'm not to sure Frankenweenie will win the oscar, considering Corpse Bride, Coraline & Fantastic Mr. Fox didn't win in their repective years. The only films to win the oscar that was not a major CGI film was the anime "Spirited Away" & "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit". And neither of them had to go against any CGI film when they won in 2002 & 2005. Well, Ice Age was nominated when Spirited Away won, but at that time Ice Age was not the major franchise it is now.

LOL Ice Age doesn't even deserved to be compared to Spirited Away. Spirited Away didn't win because it was a nonCGI film. It won because it was a freaking amazing cinematic masterpiece that broke box office records in Japan and is directed by one of if not the most famous director of animated films.

I'm getting too ahead of myself here. Often each year there's always that film where you can tell it's gonna be a no-contest and that's normally Pixar's territory. However I wasn't wowed by Brave enough (neither were most people) to feel it was gonna wipe out the competition. When you look at the other films, the feeling was the same. I only took a guess for Frankenweenie because the ratings have been food and it is directed by Tim Burton but several other films are likely to be in the same boat of being good but nothing Oscar worthy. If Brave does win, I will be rather surprise but not surprised if it ends up going to another film. But the competition as far as films goes is going to be really weak because so far this year nothing screams Oscar worthy.

Then How did Howl's Moving Castle lose to Wallace & Gromit in 2005? It got lots of critical praise & grossed more money worldwide like Spirited Away did. And what about Ponyo in 2008, that wasn't even nominated. If Spirited Away had gone up against a Pixar film like Nemo or The Incredibles, it would of lost. As for Ice Age, it may not be award worthy, but don't under estimate it's boxoffice, the 4th film this year has grossed $850mil worldwide! Ralph & Guardians are not out yet, so until then, It's anyone's guess? And it's good that there is no favorite this year, unlike previous years when Pixar was a lock.

[qindarka]

Wallace and Gromit was a superior film to Howl's Moving Castle. Perhaps the only year where I agreed with the Academy.

Also, Ponyo is a bad movie, by some distance Miyazaki's worst. It didn't deserve anything, even with the poor quality of animated films in 2008.

[DisneyEra]

Wallace and Gromit was a superior film to Howl's Moving Castle. Perhaps the only year where I agreed with the Academy.

I think The Secret Of Kells should have won in 2009. That film's visuals make CGI look primitive.

[estefan]

Then How did Howl's Moving Castle lose to Wallace & Gromit in 2005? It got lots of critical praise & grossed more money worldwide like Spirited Away did.

Howl's Moving Castle was praised, but it's still considered one of his weaker ones.

As for Wallace & Gromit, the Academy adores the series. Of course, it helped that Curse of the Were-Rabbit was acclaimed, but the Oscar voters really love that cheese-loving inventor and his dog. All four of the shorts have been nominated, with two winning. And the year A Grand Day Out lost, it was to another Nick Park short. Have you seen Wallace & Gromit, because they're some of the funniest and most creative animated shorts I've seen. In fact, one of the reasons we have an Animated Feature category today is because Chicken Run had a big fanbase of Oscar voters, but not quite enough to get a Best Picture nomination. So this new category was created to honour animated features that mighty otherwise be ignored by the Academy's strong anti-animation bias.

And I disagree with toonaspie that nothing seems Oscar-worthy this year. ParaNorman definitely fits the bill. It took a lot of interesting risks for an animated film and it pulled all of them off. Everything from the humour to the more emotional elements to the main theme to the characters to the animation were exceptionally well-done. I think that has a very strong chance to win, though from the looks of things, Frankenweenie also has a big chance of winning (especially if they want to give Tim Burton an Oscar). And we haven't seen Wreck-It Ralph and Rise of the Guardians yet, so those could also be very enthusiastically received.

[ajmrowland]

Wallace and Gromit was a superior film to Howl's Moving Castle. Perhaps the only year where I agreed with the Academy.

Also, Ponyo is a bad movie, by some distance Miyazaki's worst. It didn't deserve anything, even with the poor quality of animated films in 2008.

Agreed about Wallace, but I loved Ponyo and think it`s really just misunderstood.

[estefan]

Disney has opened their "For Your Consideration" website for this year.

http://disneystudiosawards.com/

Nice to see they're giving all three of their animated films equal attention this year (plus Paperman, which I think has a good shot of winning).

At the moment, I think all three of Disney's entries have strong shots of getting Best Animated Feature nominations (depending on how Wreck-It Ralph is received). And I think ParaNorman and the requisite foreign indie film get the last two spots.

[ajmrowland]

Best Director is pushing it a little bit, isnt it?

and I didnt even know animated films could be nominated for Visual Effects and cinematography. The Academy really *is* biased.

[PatrickvD]

It would be pretty crazy is all three made the cut.

Right now, Frankenweenie is the frontrunner of Disney's submissions.

[Sotiris]

It's a shame Disney didn't submit the song "Into the Open Air" from Brave.

[monorail91]

I kind of wish Brave and Frankenweenie were also going for Best Picture...by far two of my favorite movies of 2012!

[Sotiris]

It seems that Hollywood is really pushing for Rise of the Guardians.

'Rise of the Guardians' Unveiled, Rises to Top Tier of Animated Contenders (Analysis)
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/r ... ers-379165

[PatrickvD]

It's all Katzenberg pushing it just as he tried to do with Pocahontas way back when.

But Variety just gave it a negative review so history will repeat itself.

[Atlantica]

I'm not really inspired by any of these to be honest....I did enjoy Brave though, and that was beautiful to look at.

Frankenweenie is too similar to too many other Tim Burton cartoons for my liking.

[PatrickvD]

I thought it would be interesting to look at the Rotten Tomatoes scores for the big animated features released so far to get an idea of which ones will most likely make the final five.

Dr Seuss' The Lorax
RT Score: 54%
Rating: 5.9

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
RT Score: 77%
Rating: 6.7

Brave
RT Score: 78%
Rating: 6.9

Ice Age: Continental Drift
RT Score: 38%
Rating: 5.1

The Pirates! Band of Misfits
RT Score 86%
Rating: 7.2

Paranorman
RT Score: 87%
Rating: 7.3

Hotel Transylvania
RT Score: 43%
Rating: 5.4

Frankenweenie
RT Score: 88%
Rating: 7.7

Based on reviews, the three stop motion animated features are the clear frontrunners. With Brave and Madagascar slightly behind. Smaller, independent animated features did not have enough reviews counted for a rating.

All eyes on Wreck-it Ralph and Guardians. Guardians so far has one rotten and one fresh.

[Philo & Gunge]

Based on what's been released so far, I think for now the nominees are looking to be:

• The Pirates! Band of Misfits
  Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
  Brave
  ParaNorman
  Frankenweenie

If Wreck-It Ralph and Rise of the Guardians deliver, then Brave and Madagascar will likely be out of the running. For the time being, I'm thinking Frankenweenie is set to win.

[qindarka]

They like to nominate token foreign, non-mainstream films though they seldom, if ever win. See The Triplets of Belleville, The Secret of Kells, The Illusionist, A Cat in Paris and Chico and Rita. Spirited Away may be the sole exception, but then again, it was rather mainstream. Can't think of any this year, though.

From the positive buzz surrounding the two yet to be released films, I do expect both of them to get great reviews and stand a good chance of nomination. This years field seems a little weak in terms of critical reception, you'd usually expect at least one animated movie to get a 90+ rating on RT (though I personally think relying solely on exact RT rating is simplistic and misleading).

On a sidenote, I also need to get around to watching Frankenweenie and Paranorman.

Also, to give my thoughts on the ones I have watched, Brave was good but should only win if this turns out to be a weak year. Pirates was decent enough but is Aardman's worst and has no business winning anything, and really shouldn't get nominated for that matter.

[estefan]

Even though Madagascar 3 was a lot more well-received, I don't think its chances are that high. And why I think Katzenberg is placing his Oscar chips on Guardians, which I guess is the more "prestige" film.

I guess it would be nice to see three stop-motion efforts get nominated, I think only ParaNorman and Frankenweenie will get in, as both are definitely the frontrunners at the moments.