Oscar for Best Animated Feature 2014

[disneyprincess11]

I'm really getting sick of Disney & Pixar always winning without deserving it.

THIS. The Academy are such butt-kissers, it isn't even funny. The voters are jokes. And I wouldn't be surprised if Disney buys the Oscar every year. Especially Brave. That was insulting

[Tristy]

So people are tired of Pixar winning and already they're tired of Disney winning even when it was just two awards so far? I personally would rather either HTTYD2 or Boxtrolls win (yes. I'm in the minority when it comes to Boxtrolls) but I'm still at least glad we do have a bit of a break from Pixar.

[DisneyJedi]

And if Monsters University were nominated last year AND won over Frozen or if Good Dinosaur weren't pulled last year, nominated this year and won over BH6, you'd complain by saying they won because they were Pixar movies.

[estefan]

Feast winning was even more insulting. I don't know if you watched the other nominees but Feast was literally the worst. Superficial fluff with the same, tired, regurgitated theme. If it wasn't by Disney and widely released, it wouldn't even have been nominated.

Get a Horse (which lost) and The Blue Umbrella and Lava (which weren't even nominated would like a word) would like a word. Not to mention Feast also won the Annie Award, which is only voted on by animators.

If The LEGO Movie had been nominated, it would have won Best Animated Feature. Which kind of blows holes in the theory that Disney was guaranteed a win. I do agree they should close the entire voting to strictly the animation branch, but let's not throw conspiracy theories around. Big Hero 6 was a widely loved and popular movie. That's why it won. Nothing to do with the distributor. And I say this as somebody who just liked, but didn't love the movie.

It will be interesting to see next year if Inside Out or Peanuts wins.

[DisneyEra]

[ce1ticmoon]

Umm... Okay. Some of you guys bitched that Tangled didn't even get nominated and Wreck-It Ralph losing to Brave. But when it comes to Frozen, Big Hero 6 and Feast winning on their respective Oscar categories, you complain that they only won because of the Disney name being on them?

Sheesh, no offense, but you guys are total hypocrites. True, I've ranted and raved when Tangled never got nominated and that WiR lost to Brave and I haven't even Song of the Sea or The Tale of Princess Whatserface, but do you see me ranting my ass off about BH6 and Feast's wins? No.

Well, I think both Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph were notably stronger than Frozen and Big Hero 6, so I don't find the reaction all too strange or hypocritical. Plus, it could be argued that the voters defaulted to the Disney films since there were no Pixar films on the ballot last year and this year (though Frozen definitely would have won last year regardless of whether or not MU got a nomination).

I'm still actually kind of surprised that BH6 won the award this year when it didn't take home any of the other major awards like the Annie, Golden Globe, or the BAFTA. While I enjoyed BH6 and thought it was a pretty good film, I agree with everyone else that most of the other nominees were better, as was The LEGO Movie. It's still mind-boggling to me how that one missed the nomination. Boxtrolls or BH6 should have dropped off in its place.

[Lady Cluck]

LOL!

DreamWorks won the very first Oscar in this category, 12 years before Disney won its first.

Frozen was the clear winner in its year. It was a return to the Broadway-style Disney musical that people were nostalgic for, it became a pop culture phenomenon, and it was against a fairly weak field. The Pixar film wasn't even nominated that year, for the record.

When Brave won the clear second place was Wreck-It Ralph, a Disney film. The other nominees just weren't as good, except for ParaNorman which was probably a little too niche.

The year before that, Rango won. There's also been Spirited Away, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Happy Feet (in addition to Shrek).


It's not always going to be Disney/Pixar winning, but Pixar was at the top of its game for a long time after this award was created and earned a lot of good will, and Disney has seen a major improvement in the quality of their films over the last several years, and quite frankly they deserve to win some Oscars in this category after having 0 for so long. They're the reason for the genre after all. It's really not the end of the world.

I also will never understand the fanboy attachment to How to Train Your Dragon 2. Just solidly mediocre. I fully expected it to win tonight, and I would have been disappointed but moved on. Ultimately I have no personal stakes in this.

I happened to like Frozen more than Tangled and Big Hero 6 more than Wreck-It Ralph.


I wish Japanese and other foreign animation would get more respect too, but that's true for all foreign films at the Oscars (the rules for the best foreign film category are ridiculous). Every once in a while one breaks through to be a factor in the major categories, but it's rare. I personally think just being nominated over the heinous Lego Movie was a victory for Kaguya and Song of the Sea.

[Disney's Divinity]

Too bad the fake Japanese cartoon won instead of the real one.

I agree.

I think The Lego Movie, Big Hero 6, and HTTYD 2 are all overrated; I haven't seen The Boxtrolls, but it didn't look like a winner either (or sound one, from the reviews I've read).

[ce1ticmoon]

LOL!

DreamWorks won the very first Oscar in this category, 12 years before Disney won its first.

Frozen was the clear winner in its year. It was a return to the Broadway-style Disney musical that people were nostalgic for, it became a pop culture phenomenon, and it was against a fairly weak field. The Pixar film wasn't even nominated that year, for the record.

When Brave won the clear second place was Wreck-It Ralph, a Disney film. The other nominees just weren't as good, except for ParaNorman which was probably a little too niche.

The year before that, Rango won. There's also been Spirited Away, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Happy Feet (in addition to Shrek).


It's not always going to be Disney/Pixar winning, but Pixar was at the top of its game for a long time after this award was created and earned a lot of good will, and Disney has seen a major improvement in the quality of their films over the last several years, and quite frankly they deserve to win some Oscars in this category after having 0 for so long. They're the reason for the genre after all. It's really not the end of the world.

I also will never understand the fanboy attachment to How to Train Your Dragon 2. Just solidly mediocre. I fully expected it to win tonight, and I would have been disappointed but moved on. Ultimately I have no personal stakes in this.

I happened to like Frozen more than Tangled and Big Hero 6 more than Wreck-It Ralph.


I wish Japanese and other foreign animation would get more respect too, but that's true for all foreign films at the Oscars (the rules for the best foreign film category are ridiculous). Every once in a while one breaks through to be a factor in the major categories, but it's rare. I personally think just being nominated over the heinous Lego Movie was a victory for Kaguya and Song of the Sea.

I do agree it's a bit premature for people to say they are 'tired' of Disney always winning the award, when this is only their second win in the main category, with last year being their first. That said, I thought the other nominees this year (outside of Boxtrolls) were notably stronger than BH6, and that seems to be the consensus among critics and the animation community and/or enthusiasts as well. So I can entirely understand the upset.

And while I haven't always agreed with all of Pixar's wins in the past, they were indeed at the top of their game for a long time. Their only winning film that I thought was truly undeserved was Brave. Their other winning films were either the best of the nominations, or close enough that I don't take issue with their win. And the people who think Pixar always win should note that two of their recent films didn't even get nominated (and rightly so).

As for last year's win, I'm fine with Frozen's win. While I think it's overrated, it was a solid film. It wasn't the stand-out, but I never thought The Wind Rises should have been the clear front-runner as many did. It is far and away Miyazaki's weakest film alongside Howl's Moving Castle. Not to say it isn't a solid film, but I honestly place Frozen, The Croods, and The Wind Rises around the same level. Ernest & Celestine would have been my pick for the year.

As for the 2013 award, you said that ParaNorman was "probably a little too niche" for it to have a chance at winning. And the thing is, that's probably truly a big reason why it didn't snag a win, when it shouldn't be. The niche U.S. films don't stand a chance, let alone the foreign ones, because nobody has seen them and the voters aren't even required to see them. So while it's understandable that we take interest in these awards and root for the films that we think are deserving, we know how flawed the system is and we just have to accept it for what it is. Animation is considered the kid's table, and unfortunately, I don't see that changing any time soon.

All that said, it's nice to see a lot of these foreign films get represented at the Academy Awards at all. Lots of credit to GKIDS. The problem is, anything not picked up by GKIDS still doesn't get much attention or fanfare, unfortunately. But baby steps, I suppose.

[unprincess]

Opening up the voting to all the members was a huge mistake and has ruined the integrity of the awards in these categories.

well there's gonna come a point when if Disney or other big box office mainstream animated films keep winning, the more indie and foreign animation studios are going to get fed up and either protest or boycott, or just not bother submitting their films at all. Be interesting to see how this all turns out.

I have only seen one of the 5 nom'ed films(HTTYD2) so I cant judge but everything about BH6 Ive seen/heard makes it seem pretty generic. It would have been nice if one of the foreign films had won.

As for Feast, I cant wait to see what excuse they still have for not making a hybrid animated feature film using these techniques that continue getting them so much praise and accolades.

[ce1ticmoon]

I liked The Lego Movie moderately well. I don't necessarily see it as a snub. Either way, part of me is glad to see two hand-drawn animated films nominated. Who knows if that'll happen again for a decade or two.

I know this is a completely belated response (I hadn't been keeping up with this forum for a while), but this is the second year in a row that two hand-drawn films were nominated. There were also two hand-drawn films nominated in 2011 and 2009. There were four nominated in 2002, though that was just before the complete demise of hand-drawn animated films in the US studio system. As long as GKIDS keeps increasing their distribution of foreign films in the way that they have, I don't think there will be any problem with getting more hand-drawn films nominated in the future.

I don't think they will open up the nomination process to all Academy members as some seem to be fearing. But if they do, then yes, I'd start worrying then.

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't feel differently about what I said. 2009 included the Disney nom, and Disney is no longer making hand-drawn films. Studio Ghibli is struggling financially--one of the films nominated this year. I expect the obligatory foreign film (most likely hand-drawn) which never wins to continue, but besides that? I'd love to be proven wrong, but not holding my breath.

[ce1ticmoon]

I don't feel differently about what I said. 2009 included the Disney nom, and Disney is no longer making hand-drawn films. Studio Ghibli is struggling financially--one of the films nominated this year. I expect the obligatory foreign film (most likely hand-drawn) which never wins to continue, but besides that? I'd love to be proven wrong, but not holding my breath.

You're right that there has been a Ghibli and/or Disney nomination in almost every one of those years I mentioned, which I admittedly didn't consider. With no new Ghibli releases on the horizon due to their situation, I can see your concern now.

Still, we had two hand-drawn, non-Ghibli films get nominated as recently as 2011. Plus, it's very apparent that GKIDS is really picking up their pace and getting aggressive with the number of animated films they are distributing. I really think visibility for foreign animated films has never been higher. While I don't think they will ever have a real chance at winning any time in the near future, I'm pretty hopeful we'll continue to get a good number of nominations and I don't feel like I have to hold my breath to be hopeful.

[Disney's Divinity]

I'm happy you feel that way.

[Avaitor]

I agree with "The Bigger Picture" being the best short of the year. I'm just happy that "The Dam Keeper" didn't win. What a misguided, mediocre little thing that was.

"Feast" is cute, but let's be honest, it borders on animal abuse. The dog shouldn't have been eating half of that stuff.

[disneyprincess11]

"Feast" is cute, but let's be honest, it borders on animal abuse. The dog shouldn't have been eating half of that stuff.

[Lady Cluck]

As for the 2013 award, you said that ParaNorman was "probably a little too niche" for it to have a chance at winning. And the thing is, that's probably truly a big reason why it didn't snag a win, when it shouldn't be. The niche U.S. films don't stand a chance, let alone the foreign ones, because nobody has seen them and the voters aren't even required to see them. So while it's understandable that we take interest in these awards and root for the films that we think are deserving, we know how flawed the system is and we just have to accept it for what it is. Animation is considered the kid's table, and unfortunately, I don't see that changing any time soon.

It's not just animation, it's the awards in general. Most winners need a combination of studio money behind them and a well-performed endless ass-kissing campaign.

A recent example is Jennifer Lawrence winning Best Actress for a hammy over the top performance in a big Hollywood production, over Emmanuelle Riva who gave a brilliantly layered and complex performance in a foreign film that portrayed death as real, unrelenting, and dark. Jennifer Lawrence was the media darling ingenue so of course she was going to win over an 85 year old French actress in a film most people would find uncomfortable to watch, so I just consider the nomination a victory. She'll be a part of the history books for that.

As a film buff in general, I've learned that the Oscars are just silly entertainment fodder rather than a ceremony to honor the truly best films of the year. There are too many extra variables that play into it for it to be pure, but that's fine. Every now and then something I love rises to the top, which makes it more fun, but ultimately whoever the Academy chooses to honor isn't going to change my taste.

[estefan]

As a film buff in general, I've learned that the Oscars are just silly entertainment fodder rather than a ceremony to honor the truly best films of the year. There are too many extra variables that play into it for it to be pure, but that's fine. Every now and then something I love rises to the top, which makes it more fun, but ultimately whoever the Academy chooses to honor isn't going to change my taste.

That's my attitude towards the Oscars as well. Any institution that seeks to award something as subjective as the best movie, we'll never agree with 100% and I just see it as a fun, silly awards show.

And we may gripe about the Animated Feature category and its occasional issues, but to its credit, it's helped bring more attention to the works of Sylvain Chomet, Tomm Moore and other foreign independent films. GKIDS might not even exist or receive the funds to distribute these films without the category drawing attention to those movies.

[Avaitor]

^This is a great point. Some people groan when foreign films are nominated for Best Animated Feature, but I always support it, as I constantly find great new films from the selections. I love Disney and Pixar as much as everyone on here, but there is so much more to the industry beyond them.

[DisneyEra]

Well things should be back to normal over the next few years if Pixar wins for Inside Out this year, Dory next year & TS4 in 2017.