Oscar for Best Animated Feature 2014

[RyGuy]

I'm a big fan of How to Train Your Dragon, but I agree that it is a tad overrated. It's definitely a story that has been done to death. Yet, it is a very well-crafted film that is touching and heart-warming, with a very well-developed relationship between the two main characters at the heart of the film. And the soundtrack is exhilarating.

I couldn't agree more!

Trolling or not (I vote not) I LOVE your sense of humor Lady Cluck! This cracked me up.

[DisneyEra]

Well, here is Rihanna's character Tip from Dreamworks Home. She will be the first black character to lead a Dreamwork's animated film.

[ce1ticmoon]

Well, here is Rihanna's character Tip from Dreamworks Home. She will be the first black character to lead a Dreamwork's animated film.

Honestly, those designs don't do anything for me. But the Almost Home short film looked better than I expected, so I'll be cautiously optimistic.

[disneyprincess11]

She looks cute, but really, really young.

[estefan]

I believe the character is a kid, so she's supposed to look young. And, of course, in animation, it's not unusual for adults to voice children.

[Lady Cluck]

Well, here is Rihanna's character Tip from Dreamworks Home. She will be the first black character to lead a Dreamwork's animated film.

That looks HORRIBLE.

[PatrickvD]

That looks HORRIBLE.

Yeah that's how I react to Rihanna these days as well.

Also, how telling is it that Disney's first black lead was voiced by the lovely, talented and award winning Anika Noni Rose, while Dreamworks picks Rihanna to voice their first black leading lady... Classy move, Dreamworks...

[Disney's Divinity]

Also, how telling is it that Disney's first black lead was voiced by the lovely, talented and award winning Anika Noni Rose, while Dreamworks picks Rihanna to voice their first black leading lady...

I agree.

Although I'm sure Rihanna's speaking voice can't possibly be worse than her singing voice. Right? Right...?

[ce1ticmoon]

Hey, you never know. We may be surprised... ? I'll wait to pass judgement until I've at least heard her voicework in the trailer.

And I think it's clear that Disney and Dreamworks are striving for very different things. While I can't say I'm a fan of most of them, and the quality is generally a notch or two below Disney and/or Pixar, I think there's a place for films like those from Dreamworks. And I definitely think the generally negative image that Dreamworks has garnered over the years has negatively colored even some of their good films.

[disneyprincess11]

Also, how telling is it that Disney's first black lead was voiced by the lovely, talented and award winning Anika Noni Rose, while Dreamworks picks Rihanna to voice their first black leading lady... Classy move, Dreamworks...

THIS. I can't stand Dreamworks' need of hiring as much every celebrities and pop stars as they can for their movies. So glad that at least 99% of FROZEN's cast was unknown Tony nominees. (I really wouldn't count Idina and Josh as celebs up until now)

[Warm Regards]

People sure are happy with Dreamworks and their efforts with Home:

http://www.policymic.com/articles/87797 ... ign=social

DreamWorks Animation Studios has announced the addition of a black female heroine (gasp!) to its repertoire of white dogs, green ogres, snails, Neanderthals, pandas, white people and Antz. In doing so, it joins an elite club consisting of ... well, nobody.

Not one major Hollywood studio has released a 3D animated feature starring a black character.
...
But the bigger story is the significance of having a young black girl anchor a major Hollywood feature. Needless to say, it's a rare occurrence. Quvenzhane Wallis is making waves in the live action realm with starring turns in Beasts of the Southern Wild and the upcoming Annie adaptation, but otherwise, the landscape is sparse. After decades of animated features that celebrate myriad shades of white girl-ness — with a dash of Pocahontas, Mulan and Tiana thrown in for good measure — it's refreshing when a studio realizes that other people exist and have stories worth telling.

As far as economics, DreamWorks could reap major benefits from this move. A recent study conducted by UCLA's Bunche Center for African American Studies concluded that films with higher rates of onscreen minority involvement are generally more profitable. In 2011, the margin was about $90 million in favor of diverse films. While it's unclear how these numbers translate to animated features, it would certainly help researchers figure it out if there were more to choose from.

It's kinda unfortunate that it had to be an alien movie (not a fan of those generic designs) but hey, maybe the whole "famous singer voices a character" can market the film for the better.

[Sotiris]

Nine feature films have been selected for competition at the 2014 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. There seem to be a lot of worthy selections this year. Click on the hyperlinks to watch the trailer for each entry.

01. Asphalt Watches
02. Cheatin'
03. Giovanni's Island
04. Last Hijack
05. Lisa Limone and Maroc Orange: A Rapid Love Story
06. Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants
07. The Art of Happiness
08. The Boy and the World
09. The Fake


The Fake was submitted to last year's Oscars but did not manage to earn a nomination while Cheatin' will be submitted to this year's. The Boy and the World won this year's top prize, the Cristal for a Feature Film, as well as the Audience Award. Cheatin' won the Jury Award and Giovanni's Island the Jury Distinction. Boy and the World has been picked up for U.S. distribution by GKids which will be submitting it for Oscar consideration in 2015.

[Lady Cluck]

I like the unique art style but no way in hell is this winning anything

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBw5YScs8iQ[/youtube]

[2Disney4Ever]

Well, here is Rihanna's character Tip from Dreamworks Home. She will be the first black character to lead a Dreamwork's animated film.

It's DreamWorks and, in predictable DreamWorks fashion, it's CGI, so what do I care? Out of their recent films I've only seen Puss in Boots and Rise of the Guardians, and that's only because it was part of a group outing to the movies. Otherwise I wouldn't normally go out to see these movies out of my own free will.

[DisneyEra]

Well, here is Rihanna's character Tip from Dreamworks Home. She will be the first black character to lead a Dreamwork's animated film.

It's DreamWorks and, in predictable DreamWorks fashion, it's CGI, so what do I care? Out of their recent films I've only seen Puss in Boots and Rise of the Guardians, and that's only because it was part of a group outing to the movies. Otherwise I wouldn't normally go out to see these movies out of my own free will.

DreamWorks Animation, like a lot of other studios relies on Franchises to bring in $$. They just lost over $150million via write-offs for their recent CGI flops "Rise of the Guardians, Turbo & Peabody & Sherman". But their Franchises "Shrek, Madagascar, HttyD & Kung-Fu Panda" will continue to make them hundreds of millions via sequels/spin-offs. Home was just recently pushed back from this year's Thanksgiving to a late March 2015 release in favor of the Madagascar spin-off "Penguins of Madagascar". HttyD2 will dominated the Box Office this summer but in Summer 2015, they should be worried:





DreamWorks B.O.O. could suffer from the other 2 films via repeat business. Pixar has never had a flop & the Minions are clearly one of the hottest animated properties of today. If Home flops next spring, there could be more write-offs for DreamWorks Animation to come with original films.

[Sotiris]

Trailer for Song of the Sea which will be released in the U.S. this fall through GKids.

[2Disney4Ever]

DreamWorks Animation, like a lot of other studios relies on Franchises to bring in $$.

DreamWorks also relies on CGI to bring in $$. That's how their kind of studios operate and think, and I'm just disappointed that Disney themselves are not above that anymore.

[Pokeholic_Prince]

I saw "How to Train Your Dragon 2" the other day and I really think it has the strongest chance of winning. It is truly a spectacular movie that is legitimately better than the first. It's dark, emotional deep, and filled with a great story and has amazing action.

[Disney's Divinity]

I saw "How to Train Your Dragon 2" the other day and I really think it has the strongest chance of winning. It is truly a spectacular movie that is legitimately better than the first. It's dark, emotional deep, and filled with a great story and has amazing action.

I'm glad to hear that, considering I was worried it wouldn't live up to the original. Plus, I might not see it until it's on DVD/Blu-Ray, so it's nice to hear how much others have enjoyed it. (Sometimes even movies I plan to see in theaters--Maleficent--I seem not to get around to seeing...)

[disneyprincess11]

I saw HTTYD 2 a couple of weeks ago and I just finished Lego Movie. I LOVED both of them and thought they were brilliant especially Lego.

I honestly think it'll be Lego Movie vs. HTTYD 2 in a very close race with HTTYD 2 winning & Lego Movie being the upset. But, Book of Life looks very promising.

I think it's going to be:

Lego Movie
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Book of Life
Big Hero 6
Foreign Film