Oscar for Best Animated Feature 2019

[Sotiris]

I'm a bit surprised Toy Story 4 won. Not only because the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs gave the award to other films, but also because in the anonymous Oscar ballot interviews, one member voted for Klaus, one for Misssing Link, and one for I Lost My Body. So, I believed this year Academy members were taking the category seriously. The Lion King losing the Oscar to 1917 was less of a shock as the same thing happened at the BAFTAs. Hair Love was my least favorite of the nominees so I'm not glad it won. It's interesting that one of the few times I consider a Pixar short worthy enough to win, it doesn't.

[Disney's Divinity]

I guess their check wasn't cleared last year. With that being said no one here would have said the same thing about Frozen II had it been the one that won.

Wouldn't they? Frozen discussions are 90% negative, so I find that hard to believe really.

I think you're right, Marce82, in that any Toy Story film has an edge since it's part of such a beloved franchise even if most voters haven't watched the animated films.

[DisneyJedi]

Seriously, as much as I loved Toy Story 4, the one thing that comes to mind for me about the movie winning is that moment from South Park when Kyle repeatedly screamed “SHENANIGANS!!!”

Why do I get the feeling Pixar may have cheated/bought the award/bribed and/or bullied the Oscars committee to give it to them?

[Farerb]

Why do I get the feeling Pixar may have cheated/bought the award/bribed and/or bullied the Oscars committee to give it to them?

That's not something that happens, otherwise an American film would have won Best Picture.

[Farerb]

And Fareb, I'm not sure what you mean with your Frozen 2 comment.

Wouldn't they? Frozen discussions are 90% negative, so I find that hard to believe really.

I actually get the feeling that Frozen is rather loved here while Pixar and the other Revival films are despised. But maybe that's just me.

[DisneyJedi]

I mean, Disney IS a huge corporation. Who’s to say they’re not above bribery or bullying to get their way?

Think about it: Why would they almost always win the Best Animated Film Oscar?

[estefan]

There are over 8000 Academy members. That's a LOT of money for Disney to spend, if they decide to bribe Oscar voters. And if Oscar votes were easily bought, what's to stop Netflix from also doing the same? Netflix managed the most nominations out of any distributor, but only came away with two wins.

I think "Toy Story 4" won, because it's part of an incredibly popular and beloved series of films that people have a lot of sentimental attachment towards. And the film was critically acclaimed and a box-office smash. If you look at the history of the category, the winners are often box-office successes and have sentimental value. "Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" is the lowest grossing Best Animated Feature winner and it still made close to $200 million worldwide. And that one, like "Toy Story 4", was also helped by Academy voters' affection for that series and its characters.

But it's worth remembering there are over 8000 voters. As the Annie and BAFTA results and those anonymous ballots revealed, many probably voted for Klaus, others for Missing Link, others for I Lost My Body and others for How to Train Your Dragon 3.

I can tell you if I was an Academy member, "Toy Story 4" would have gotten my vote in the category, because it was my favourite of the five (it was even my favourite movie of 2019, period). And Disney hasn't paid me one cent to have that opinion.

Next year will be interesting, what with three animated Disney releases. And Netflix is continuing to invest heavily in animation, as they have new films coming up directed by Glen Keane, Henry Selick and Kris Pearn and they have the US rights to the new "Shaun the Sheep" movie. One movie I have a good feeling about is Sony Pictures Animation's "Mitchells vs. The Machines", directed by "Gravity Falls" writer Michael Rianda, produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and said to be combining hand-drawn and CG animation.

[Disney's Divinity]

TBH, estefan, I would only expect you to vote for the Disney/PIXAR film in any given year... So saying you would pick TS4 over the others as well doesn't really surprise me.

But I agree, TS4 was allowed to coast on the Toy Story franchise's reputation in general. Klaus up against a PIXAR film, with all their power and pull? It never stood a chance anyway. In a certain way, I'm glad it didn't win, because its existence doesn't change the fact that hand-drawn animation is pretty much dead.

[estefan]

TBH, estefan, I would only expect you to vote for the Disney/PIXAR film in any given year... So saying you would pick TS4 over the others as well doesn't really surprise me.

Not necessarily. Ferdinand would have gotten my vote in 2017, The Red Turtle in 2016, Tale of the Princess Kaguya in 2014, The Wind Rises in 2013, Happy Feet in 2006 and Spirited Away in 2002 (also Wallace & Gromit and Rango in their respective years, but they weren't up against Disney movies, anyway).

And had The Peanuts Movie been nominated in 2015, it would have gotten my vote over Inside Out. While I do think highly of the movies currently being produced by Walt Disney Animation and Pixar, I don't think they're the only animation studios making quality work and I also would have been ecstatic if Klaus or How to Train Your Dragon 3 won. Missing Link would have been neat, too, as I have a lot of admiration for Laika and their talented artists.

[DisneyJedi]

I still find it biased and completely unfair that they basically glossed over the other nominees in favor of Toy Story 4. That’s kind of like two parents holding one out of five of their other children as the favorite and giving them all the praise while barely giving the other four children any recognition.

[estefan]

DisneyJedi, something I would recommend (and is the reason I stopped getting bothered by awards show results) is just create your head canon/alternate history for the Oscars with your own choices. I have a file I keep on my computer with all of my personal Oscar votes.

For example, Thomas Newman lost his 15th Oscar nomination last night. But in my alternate Oscars, he already won his first several years ago for "American Beauty." And then he won again a few years later for "Finding Nemo."

A lot of people were greatly annoyed that "Crash" won Best Picture. But that didn't happen in my alternate history. "Capote" won that year instead.

[MrXemnas1992]

I don't think it was an instance of Disney/Pixar buying the award so much as picking it out of laziness, "oh toy story 4...my kids liked it. toy story has always been good. meh, i'll vote for it"

Klaus did get a limited theatrical release which did qualify it for the Oscars, but there's still a stigma/bias towards Netflix "direct to streaming" films being nominated for the same awards as theatrical films.

I do agree the Klaus deserved it more, but Toy Story 4 was still quite good...i dunno.

[Farerb]

I mean, Disney IS a huge corporation. Who’s to say they’re not above bribery or bullying to get their way?

Think about it: Why would they almost always win the Best Animated Film Oscar?

Why didn't FvF or Jojo Rabbit win best picture? Or Endgame and The Lion King?

[Marce82]

Well, fareb.... I can sadly say I have seen Frozen 2 three times (I paid only once).... and I think storywise, it's pretty terrible (seriously, most story beats make NO sense). Lovely visuals. But very glad it wasn't nominated for best animated feature.

[Farerb]

Well, fareb.... I can sadly say I have seen Frozen 2 three times (I paid only once).... and I think storywise, it's pretty terrible (seriously, most story beats make NO sense). Lovely visuals. But very glad it wasn't nominated for best animated feature.

I only saw it twice, but I plan to watch it again either on digital or when my copy arrives. Yes, I agree the story is not good and you can see where they needed to go one way but didn't because of fans' reaction or corporate decisions (which is why Arendelle wasn't destroyed and rebuilt).
I did like it however because I like the first one and I like the characters and I even liked it better than Toy Story 4 though I do think that Toy Story 4 is the better movie. I didn't really mind that it won cause I didn't really care for the rest TBH.