Oscar for Best Animated Feature 2021

[estefan]

Producers Guild Award nominations announced:

Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

“Encanto” (Walt Disney Pictures)
Producers: Yvett Merino, p.g.a., Clark Spencer, p.g.a.

“Luca” (Pixar)
Producers: Andrea Warren, p.g.a.

“The Mitchells vs. The Machines” (Netflix)
Producers: Phil Lord, p.g.a. & Christopher Miller, p.g.a., Kurt Albrecht, p.g.a.

“Raya and the Last Dragon” (Walt Disney Pictures)
Producers: Osnat Shurer, p.g.a., Peter Del Vecho, p.g.a.

“Sing 2” (Illumination/Universal Pictures)
Producers: Chris Meledandri, p.g.a., Janet Healy, p.g.a.

[Farerb]

BAFTA - Nominated in the Animated Film category:
ENCANTO
FLEE
LUCA
THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES


https://twitter.com/BAFTA/status/148921 ... 4b_Rw&s=19

[Farerb]

Not related to awards but I think this is the best thread to post this I think, this graph shows the amount of engagement on social media for each of the three films that were released this year, we can see that Encanto got a good start on its opening day but then decreased for the following month until it was released on streaming and became a phenomena, Luca has a steady decrease, though interesting that it increased after two weeks. Raya and the Last Dragon is one of those films that came and went and now it's apparent that no one cares about it, little impact.


https://twitter.com/almanaquedisney/sta ... s4TYg&s=19

[Sotiris]

I think what prevented Raya from creating a bigger impact was the early release date, costing extra upon release on Disney+, and the fact it wasn't a musical. Songs drive a lot of the popularity for WDAS films, especially female-led ones, and not having songs to raise its profile and function as an additional element of interest and engagement hurt its reach. People have come to expect female-led Disney movies to be musicals. I even recall some people online saying they went to see it thinking it was a musical. They were casual fans who thought the trailers just hid the musical aspect of the film like they usually do and when they went to watch it in theaters, they were disappointed to find out that wasn't the case.

[Farerb]

I agree that it's because of the lack of music and I think it's true for all their non musical films, even Zootopia.

[Disney's Divinity]

Are the Disney+ streaming debuts still $29.99 to begin with? Or did they lower the cost at some point?

Anyway, I think Encanto has benefitted from the straight-streaming methods becoming normalized. With the films at the start of the year and in 2020, it was still relatively a new thing, but Disney is training--to their detriment--audiences that animated films are for streaming only rather than seeing in theaters. WDTAB going viral likely also drew attention to the movie on streaming, because many people were curious about the source of the song once it started to get so much play. I don't think there's anything unusual about Raya, both it and Luca similarly flatlined not long after their release. I can't quite remember whether Raya had been available on streaming release day in a simultaneous release with the theater release v. Encanto not being available on streaming until a couple of months later. (Would you know right off, Sotiris?) I know Luca went straight to streaming and I suspect Raya was a simultaneous release; which says Disney was right to separate the theater release day from the streaming release day a few months apart with later films because it meant release day interest would happen twice like with Encanto rather than once.

I think it's sad the way people pit films against one another, Encanto v. Frozen, Encanto v. Raya, Frozen v. Moana, Frozen v. Tangled, Tangled v. TP&TF etc. I still remember how TP&TF was dumped on here back when Tangled came out all those years ago; it kind of made me laugh then when the same thing happened to Tangled not long after when Frozen came out. It seems to happen more often with the female-lead films; I rarely see people wanting to crap on Luca by comparing it to Soul or vice versa, for example, or BH6 v. WIR. I wonder if it has something to do with the way our culture puts women in competition with one another constantly, it must extend to even female-lead films and female fictional characters.

As I said in the Disney Princess line thread, it will be interesting to see whether or not Encanto will be able to sustain a franchise despite all this attention? I don't believe Moana managed to do that, despite being #1 in streaming for several years now. And Zootopia can't either despite having made a billion just like Frozen did. Frozen really is a unique situation in driving its own franchise years down the road at this point much like TLK, more than I believe people would like to admit.

[Farerb]

I've seen a lot of people saying that Luca is not "up to Pixar's standards" or comparing it to Soul, or pitting Soul and Onward against each other, or the Toy Story films. Even in Disney films I remember that are competitions between "guy films" - Aladdin vs The Lion King, Aladdin vs Hercules, Hunchback vs Hercules, Hercules vs Tarzan, Hercules vs Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis vs Treasure Planet.

Maybe it feels that way to you because films with female protagonists are what Disney has been mostly releasing since 2009, and maybe if you have an issue with that, it's better not to perpetuate threads that will ultimately result in this vs that discussions, like ranking threads or Renaissance vs "Lasseter" era threads where The Princess and the Frog is pitted against The Little Mermaid and has no chance of winning, just a thought

[Disney's Divinity]

That has more to do with comparing Lasseter to his betters than anything else; and the listing in that thread is completely random according to their release order--BH6 v. Pocahontas, TLK v. Frozen, Zootopia v. Hunchback, Moana v. Hercules, Encanto v. Tarzan, etc. So what? And I'm pretty open that I have a vested interest in comparing Lasseter to people I believe were better than him--because I don't like him or the buddy roadtrip formula he foisted onto Disney, and I'm grateful it's finally breaking away bit by bit.

Moreover, it was interesting to note so many unexpected parallels. It made me think in a way that they were attempting to imitate the Renaissance or use it as a direct blueprint when Lasseter was there. I don't think general ranking threads do that either, since all their films are included in those rather than just the female-lead ones.

[Farerb]

That wasn't really my point, I don't really mind those threads though I do find myself less interested in participating in them. My point was that comparing movies is something that is common in fandoms and I don't think that Disney is any different. If anything I noticed there's less conversation in general and it evolved in a way that the majority of people will like their films no matter what, unlike 10-15 years ago. Anyway, these comparisons happen in every fandom - most notable example I can give is MCU vs DC. While it's true that there are people who belittle female oriented media, these people likely don't care about either Tangled or Frozen to participate in a Tangled vs Frozen debate, it's usually people who care too much about either one.

[Sotiris]

Are the Disney+ streaming debuts still $29.99 to begin with? Or did they lower the cost at some point?

They didn't. All of the premier access titles (Mulan, Raya, Cruella, Black Widow, and Jungle Cruise) were $29.99.

With the films at the start of the year and in 2020, it was still relatively a new thing, but Disney is training--to their detriment--audiences that animated films are for streaming only rather than seeing in theaters.

It's very shortsighted of them. They're willing to sacrifice present and future revenue to strengthen Disney+ and appease Wall Street. Closing down all their international channels is another example of that. Disney+ should have been used to supplement Disney's legacy businesses, not substitute them. Non-franchise films won't have the ability to perform well in theaters anymore. Movies like Frozen or Zootopia won't have the opportunity to ever reach blockbuster numbers. Their performance on Disney+ and how that translates to revenue (new subscribers? retention rate?) remains unclear.

I don't think there's anything unusual about Raya, both it and Luca similarly flatlined not long after their release.

Luca was the most-streamed movie of 2021, so it definitely performed better than Raya. It had the power of the Pixar brand whereas Raya had nothing "extra" to put it over the top or make it stand out.

I can't quite remember whether Raya had been available on streaming release day in a simultaneous release with the theater release v. Encanto not being available on streaming until a couple of months later. (Would you know right off, Sotiris?) I know Luca went straight to streaming and I suspect Raya was a simultaneous release; which says Disney was right to separate the theater release day from the streaming release day a few months apart with later films because it meant release day interest would happen twice like with Encanto rather than once.

You're right. Raya was a simultaneous release, Luca was a streaming-exclusive release, and Encanto was released on Disney+ 30 days after its theatrical debut.

I think it's sad the way people pit films against one another, Encanto v. Frozen, Encanto v. Raya, Frozen v. Moana, Frozen v. Tangled, Tangled v. TP&TF etc. I still remember how TP&TF was dumped on here back when Tangled came out all those years ago; it kind of made me laugh then when the same thing happened to Tangled not long after when Frozen came out. It seems to happen more often with the female-lead films; I rarely see people wanting to crap on Luca by comparing it to Soul or vice versa, for example, or BH6 v. WIR. I wonder if it has something to do with the way our culture puts women in competition with one another constantly, it must extend to even female-lead films and female fictional characters.

I think that has to do with female-led Disney films being more popular and stirring up more interest and passion from the fanbase than their male counterparts. There's not a lot of interest for Big Hero 6 or Wreck-It Ralph separately, so it stands to reason people wouldn't be bothered to compare and contrast the two.

If anything I noticed there's less conversation in general and it evolved in a way that the majority of people will like their films no matter what, unlike 10-15 years ago.

That's an interesting observation. I think since the advent of social media, Disney films have been picked apart so much, it left everyone exhausted. It became incredibly tiresome having the defend your favorites for the umpteenth time from the same accusations and criticisms, which often got personal, so people stopped engaging in those types of conversations altogether.

[Disney's Divinity]

Movies like Frozen or Zootopia won't have the opportunity to ever reach blockbuster numbers. Their performance on Disney+ and how that translates to revenue (new subscribers? retention rate?) remains unclear.

I agree. While streaming views gauge interest level, it feels as if that interest often doesn't translate to anything tangible (merchandise sales). I suppose it would be worth looking at soundtrack sales as well as home media sales to get a greater picture, too.

You're right. Raya was a simultaneous release, Luca was a streaming-only release, and Encanto was released on Disney+ 30 days after its theatrical debut.

Good. My memory becomes hazy sometimes. I think the two different release dates (one for theaters, one for streaming) will cause the films released later in the pandemic to have two peaks. They may have these charts for some of their live-action films released during the pandemic that would be useful.

[Farerb]

That's an interesting observation. I think since the advent of social media, Disney films have been picked apart so much, it left everyone exhausted. It's become incredibly tiresome having the defend your favorites for the umpteenth time from the same accusations and criticisms, which often get personal, so people now rather not engage at all in those types of debates.

I don't think that's social media, I think that's mostly in message boards, but message boards have been less active when it comes to Disney films mainly because I think that's an older generation and most of Disney's older fans lost interest in modern Disney.

I think social media (Twitter, Facebook, Tick Tock) have become superficial to a point where they don't really discuss anymore, I hardly saw anything negative regarding either Raya and the Last Dragon or Encanto. There was that one Lindsay tweet which wasn't even negative but more of an observation and people literally drove her out of the internet because of that. I think that trend of picking apart Disney films was more common in early 2010's but it doesn't seem to be the case now as far as I can notice, but last May I sort of "cleaned" my Twitter feed and stopped following certain individuals, I kept following mostly news outlets or people in the industry and was more aggressive when it came to blocking people, so my Twitter will be mostly just news, so that might be a reason why I see less and less of that.

[Sotiris]

Two animation/live-action hybrid films, Space Jam: A New Legacy and Tom & Jerry, have been nominated for multiple Razzie Awards. Update: Space Jam: A New Legacy won the Razzies for Worst Actor, Worst Screen Couple, and Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel.

[D82]

Two animation/live-action hybrid films, Space Jam: A New Legacy and Tom & Jerry, have been nominated for multiple Razzie Awards.

I'm surprised they didn't nominate Eternals for anything. I thought they would take advantage of the fact that it's the first MCU movie to get a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm glad they didn't, though, since I didn't think it was that bad.

Denmark has selected "Flee" as their entry for the International Feature Film category at this year's Oscars. This marks the 21st animated film to have ever been chosen by a country as its Oscar candidate.

1953: France, Johnny the Giant Killer
1975: Belgium, Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle
1982: Romania, Quo Vadis Homo Sapiens?
1986: Hungary, Cat City
1994: Japan, Pom Poko
1997: Croatia, Lapitch the Little Shoemaker
1997: Japan, Princess Mononoke
1999: Argentina, Manuelita
2002: Chile, Ogu and Mampato on Easter Island
2005: Luxembourg, Renart the Fox
2007: France, Persepolis
2008: Israel, Waltz with Bashir (nominated)
2011: Singapore, Tatsumi
2011: Czech Republic, Alois Nebel
2013: Uruguay, Anina
2014: Latvia, Rocks in My Pockets
2015: Palestine, The Wanted 18
2016: Switzerland, My Life as a Zucchini
2019: Japan, Weathering With You
2019: China, Ne Zha
2021: Denmark, Flee


The film has also been submitted in the Best Animated Feature category, making it the 8th animated film to ever compete in both categories.

Persepolis (2007)
Waltz with Bashir (2008)
Alois Nebel (2011)
Rocks in My Pockets (2014)
My Life as a Zucchini (2016)
Weathering With You (2019)
Ne Zha (2019)
Flee (2021)


Even more notable, "Flee" becomes the first film to ever be submitted in all four feature categories (Picture, Documentary, International, Animated) at the Oscars.

It's really impressive what this film is achieving. I don't think it'll get a Best Picture nomination, but it'll be interesting to see if it gets in in the other three categories as most are predicting. It's curious, though, that it's not the favorite to win in any of them.

Speaking of international animated films, I'm a bit surprised Belle is not doing better this awards season. It seemed it was going to be a strong contender, but finally it hasn't been nominated to any major awards, right? It didn't even make the BAFTA shortlist. It could still be nominated to the Oscar, but at this point, it seems unlikely.

[Farerb]

I'm surprised they didn't nominate Eternals for anything. I thought they would take advantage of the fact that it's the first MCU movie to get a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm glad they didn't, though, since I didn't think it was that bad.

I'm surprised they didn't nominate Cinderella for anything.

It's really impressive what this film is achieving. I don't think it'll get a Best Picture nomination, but it'll be interesting to see if it gets in in the other three categories as most are predicting. It's curious, though, that it's not the favorite to win in any of them.

Speaking of international animated films, I'm a bit surprised Belle is not doing better this awards season. It seemed it was going to be a strong contender, but finally it hasn't been nominated to any major awards, right? It didn't even make the BAFTA shortlist. It could still be nominated to the Oscar, but at this point, it seems unlikely.

I actually saw that people think that Belle has a better chance than Flee, because they look at the technical aspect of animated films as well, and from what I was told Flee's animation is not that impressive (from what I was told, I haven't watched the film).

My guess - Encanto, Luca and The Mitchells vs The Machines will definitely be nominated and the other two nominees will be chosen from this pool: Raya and the Last Dragon, Flee, Belle and Sing 2.

[D82]

I'm surprised they didn't nominate Cinderella for anything.

It's true, that movie also got bad reviews and seems like the type of film they would nominate.

I actually saw that people think that Belle has a better chance than Flee, because they look at the technical aspect of animated films as well, and from what I was told Flee's animation is not that impressive (from what I was told, I haven't watched the film).

I haven't watched it either. Maybe you're right. If the rules hadn't changed and only the animation branch selected the nominees, I think Belle would've had a high chance of being nominated, but as it is now, I'm not that sure. I believe it's still possible, though.

My guess - Encanto, Luca and The Mitchells vs The Machines will definitely be nominated and the other two nominees will be chosen from this pool: Raya and the Last Dragon, Flee, Belle and Sing 2.

I could see them snubbing The Mitchells vs. the Machines too like the Golden Globes, but most likely it'll be like you're predicting. My predictions are the following:

Encanto
Luca
Flee
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon

[estefan]

I think Belle still has a chance. The director's previous film Mirai was nominated and this is just as acclaimed.

The other big awards shows (Producer's Guild of America, BAFTAs, etc.) tend to favour the bigger animated films over the independent and foreign ones, but the Academy will still find a spot for them. For example, I Lost My Body was ignored by most of the other awards groups, but still got an Oscar nomination. Ditto The Red Turtle and When Marnie Was There.

We'll see what happens in a few hours, I guess.

[D82]

Link to watch the nominations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avbXw0kOlQc

The other big awards shows (Producer's Guild of America, BAFTAs, etc.) tend to favour the bigger animated films over the independent and foreign ones, but the Academy will still find a spot for them.

That's true, but I think they used to nominate more independent or foreign films before the change in the rules. Although, only three seasons have passed since then, so it's difficult to tell for sure.

[Sotiris]

The Oscar nominations are out. Encanto was also nominated for Best Original Song ("Dos Oruguitas") and Best Original Score. Flee was also nominated for Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature, making it the first film ever to score a nomination in all three categories. Disney's Us Again surprisingly didn't make the cut in the Best Animated Short category (and rightfully so). Disney received a total of 23 nominations (24 if you count Spider-Man: No Way Home). I'm very disappointed Belle didn't get nominated. The changes to the rules allowing everyone to vote for the nominations instead of just branch members as well as the influx of new inductees in the branch that work on studio films has really hampered the ability of independent and international films to get recognized. Belle, The Summit of the Gods, and My Sunny Maad were much more worthy than most of the films that got nominated.

Best Animated Feature

Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon

Best Animated Short

Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Box Ballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper

Best Visual Effects

Dune
Free Guy
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home

Source: https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2022

[Sotiris]

Eight categories, including the animated short one, won't be telecast live at the Oscars.

Oscars: Eight Awards Won’t Be Telecast Live This Year
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235097888/