Yes, Animated Films CAN Be Nominated For Best Picture

Just a little FYI post. As most of you know I’ve been pretty up in arms about the fact that the last 2 years in a row, the #1 critically rated films of the year (Ratatouille and Wall-E) never got nominated for best picture at the Oscars. This brought up a question that a lot of people either asked or suggested they knew the answer to.

With a Best Animated category, are animated films even eligible for the top prize at the Oscars? Many people argued that they weren’t eligible, and many argued that they were. So instead of guessing, I just decided to call the Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences and ask. The answer:

YES. Animated films are perfectly eligible for the Best Picture awards at the Oscars even with the Best Animated category there.

That doesn’t mean they WILL be nominated… just saying they are eligible.

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60 thoughts on “Yes, Animated Films CAN Be Nominated For Best Picture

  1. Hey John,

    You said that Wall-e was the number one critically acclaimed movie of the year, but I have found that to be false on two different websites. On both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, they list 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days as the highest rated movie of the year. You were correct in saying Ratatouille was the highest rated movie of the year according to those websites.

    Zach

    1. I go to Metacritic sometimes as well because they often take in reviews that don’t get counted on Rotten Tomatoes. I still frequent Rotten Tomatoes more though.

  2. Here’s an analogy for you:

    Suppose we’re twenty years down the road.
    And they’ve managed to perfect CGI to the degree that actors can be absolutely, positively replicated and created. I mean, seamlessly.
    Let’s suppose that as a result of the popularity of these CGI films, new categories are created, just as ‘Best Animated Film’ was created.
    Now, lets further suppose that as a result of this situation, we have a movement to allow the best of these performances into the ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Actress’ categories. You know, the ones for ‘real’ people to win.

    Let me ask you this: how would you feel? How would you feel about an ‘actor’ created by technology being considered for…or winning…the ‘Best ‘Actor’ Oscar? Even if, according to critics and audiences, the performance was ‘the best’?

    THAT is how I react to the notion that an animated film be considered for ‘Best Film’.

    Am I being a ‘snob’? Damn-skippy I am. Movies are ‘moving pictures’. Motion photographs. They’re celluloid representations of ‘real life’. Like ‘theatre’, only on film.

    Animated films? They’re a surreal representation. They’re ‘motion drawings’. And for me, no matter how ‘good’ they get, they should never be considered for ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars.

    More to the point, talk to the producers, the studios, the ones with everything at stake: there’s no way they’d let this happen. It would be an absolute negative vote against their livelihood. If you believe they will, that they’ll ever go along with having an animated film awarded the top statuette…well, clearly, you’re John. I mean, ‘wrong’.)

    1. We’re not talking about actors/actresses here, we’re talking about Best Picture, regardless on whether a film is live action or animated, if it is one of the best films in a particular year, it should be eligible.

      Now if the Best Picture category would be called Best Live Action Picture, then yes, no one should be saying that an animated film should be nominated in that category.

    2. All films, whether they be live-action or animated, are merely “representations” of real life. That kind of argument doesn’t hold water.

  3. The Best Animated Film award was created because so many animated films (at the time) were better than the live-action counter parts. Beauty and the Beast was the only animated film to get a Best Pitcure nom and that was 1991. The Best Animated Film award was not created until 2001. By then Pixar had released Toy Story (1995), Bugs Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999). Sadly the first year of the award Monsters Inc. was beat out by Shrek. I’m afraid that as long as there is a seperate award for Animation that animated films will not get a Best Pic nom.

    Of course that could all change with the announcement this week the Best Picture category will be expanded to 10 films instead of 5. Here’s a quote from the New York Times about the announcemnet:
    “In a question-and-answer session that followed the announcement, Mr. Ganis said: “I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words ‘Dark Knight’ did not come up.” Earlier this year, “The Dark Knight,” a critically acclaimed blockbuster fantasy, was excluded from a list of nominees that included “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Reader” and the winner, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

    None of those films were as widely seen as “The Dark Knight” or “Wall-E,” another favorite that was snubbed, adding heat to a debate about whether the Oscar voters had drifted too far from the audience.

    Sidney Ganis, quoted above, is the president of the Academy.

    1. they shouldve expanded the nominees to 10 last year so dark knight, wall-e, and the wrestler wouldve been nominated and everyone would be happy.

  4. Of course, all you pro-animation people realize that it matters not one whit what anyone outside the Academy thinks about any film, any star, any director, right? You could come up with an absolute consensus that Actor A performed as nobody else in the history of thespianism, that they are as beloved as any deity, that all children are being named after Actor A, regardless of sex…

    …and the Academy is under no obligation to pay any of this any heed, and instead, vote as it sees fit, not awarding Actor A with a statuette?

    If I were a psychologist, I’d be tempted to undertake a study on the tendency of some people, seen most prevalently online, to construct barriers to objective thinking. I’d call it ‘The Manifestation of Parochial Thinking in Order to Create a Self-actualized Reality: Living in a Bubble’.

  5. I agree with John that animated film should be allowed in the run-in for Best Picture. However, I didn’t think WALL-E deserved a nomination and I haven’t seen UP yet.

    By the way, this is how the Oscar voting works:

    All Academy members chose five films, which are ranked in order of preference. For a movie to receive a nomination alone it must be ranked first by at least a fifth of the voters. However, complications arise when only two or three movies receive that coveted first place spot. When that happens, the Academy takes the film with the lowest number of No 1 votes and reallocates those votes to the second choices on the ballots.
    But what frequently happens is that only two or three movies cross that threshold. In this case, the Academy takes the movie with the lowest number of No 1 votes and reallocates those votes to the No 2 choices on the ballots.

    Here’s the link:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4643297/Oscars-2009-the-complex-voting-system-explained.html

  6. furhtermore, I love how we “allow” the governement to sponsor consumerism, by offering tax credits and deductions of rinterest paid on certain things, to allow that industtry to grow. Like that is going to provide the necessary industry to further our ideals and values…

    I know SOOOOO many financial planners who would tell people that if they want a new car, no problemn get a Home Equity loan or Line of credit in order to finance their lifestyle, and get that Mercedes Benz you’ve always wanted, in order to avoid taxation (e.g. deduct the interest on the car loan for the beneift of the tax payer) WTF is wrong with us?

    Good god, YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU OWN!!! Make the money to buy the car WITHOUT financial beneifts and then lets see whrere we stand as a country.

    Not to be political, but Huckabee and Paul hafve it right…let taxation be based on an individuals consumption…

  7. OMG…

    How can Animated films NOT be considered…

    E.g. Wall-E’s “silent” commentary on our consumptionist world (pre-recession even!), and how “we” let the masses shove “consuming” down our throat…not to mention our idleness and video game couch potato mentality….

    Wrapped around a decent sotry, this is a aperfect movie to teach our children to not take things for granted, and strive to strike a balance with “our” world.

    To me Wall-E is 100% period. I haven’t seen Up yet, but I’m sure it’s better than Bee Movie, Madagascar, and Monsters Vs Aliens (Yawn…) and other dreck we see in this genre…

  8. Maybe it was just me but weren’t most of the reviews for Ratatouille, and Wall E, simply good, and not great? I mean most reviews were positive hence the high rating on Rottentomatoes, but I think most just called it good but not great.

    Of course it’s all subjective.

    1. In that case, look at the average rating for each movie. Ratatouille has an 8.4 and WALL-E has an 8.4 as well. To put that into perspective, No Country for Old Men, the Best Picture winner of 2007, has an average rating of 8.5, so I guess the reviews really are great to match the score.

  9. they should just get rid of best animated category because in years when pixar films get nominated its a no brainer whose gonna win, but how the fuck did the fucking dancing penguins movie beat cars and shrek beat monsters inc.

    1. a lot of people i know don’t like it, so ive come to understand and accept that a lot of people don’t feel the same way i do about that movie.

  10. Can you give me the number too john? I need to call them and ask them what the hell they were thinking when they gave the Best Picture award to Chicago. Thanks.

  11. “Up” is not the best picture of the year. Up is a cute cartoon that will be forgotten in a few months (if not weeks). I think you guys just rave about it because compared to anything else out there it’s more enjoyable which isn’t saying much. It’s a milk shake, an egg cream, a root beer float. It’s not a main course. And I guess I do have an “anti animation bias”. But as far as the Academy goes if they think “Slumdog Millionaire” was Best Picture than I don’t see why they wouldn’t nominate anything. I’ve said it before-animated/cartoons should NOT be Best Picture’s. That’s why there’s Best Animated.

    1. UP is better than just a cute cartoon, while it is, its deeper than that and has meaning, and btw i dont think ANYONE will forget it in a few weeks and slumdog millionaire is one of the best movies ever made!

  12. Isn’t there this notion that an animated film can be taken “out of contention” for Best Animated Film in order to have a shot at Best Picture?

    I think that was a discussion regarding Wall-E at one point?
    Am I wrong or right John?

  13. I think that if an animated picture is nominated for best picture then it shouldn’t be nominated for best animated because that’d be kinda lame. Or remove the best animated category all together and maby replace it with best family film or something. But maby that category would just be dumb.
    What do you think would be the best thing to do?

  14. No, I think they’re are too many differences between the two mediums. You wouldn’t nominate Wall-E or that old guy from Up for best actor.

    1. Hey Rocket,

      No you wouldn’t, because it’s not an actor. But UP is a movie. The category is “Best Picture”. If it’s the best movie, it should be nominated.

      Right now UP is the highest critically rated film of the year. Should it not be nominated?

      If you say “no”, then the “Best Picture” category becomes a sham… because it’s not actually for the best pictures.

  15. Oh, boy… Here we go again.

    I’m too pooped to get up on the old soapbox, so I’ll just leave this thought with you: try to check your pro-animation bias as you do this, but check out what the roots of AMPAS are, and also, consider who makes up the largest portion of the voters.

    This isn’t a question of them being ‘snooty’. (But it is about protecting their interests.) And to compare the Oscars and the Grammys, is silly: apples and oranges.

    Beside; I’ll bet my first-born that you will never, EVER see an animated film win Best Picture. I guaran-fucking-tee it.

    1. “Pro animation bias”?!?!?!

      What the hell are you talking about? Pro animation bias?!?!?!

      All I’m saying is that animated film should not be discriminated against if they are indeed the best movies of the year.

      The critics agreed that for the last 2 years running, Pixar Films were the best films of the year. To suggest that they should be at least NOMINATED for best picture is just plain simple common sense, not a “pro animation bias”

      All I’m arguing is that there shouldn’t be an anti-animation bias.

      Once again, the name of the award is “Best Picture”, not “Best Live Action Picture”

      Best movie should win best movie. Period.

    2. Again, go back and take a look at what the roots of AMPAS are. Be realistic about what comprises the Academy, what its priorities are, who it –overwhelmingly– represents.

      And in case *my* bias hasn’t been made clear enough, there is a ‘Best Animated Film’ category for a reason. Until they get rid of that, logic says that one won’t ever win ‘the other category’.

      But I’m sure you’ll still be ranting about this when your own thirtysomething-teenagers have their own thirtysomething-teenagers.

    3. John,

      -“The critics agreed that for the last two years running, Pixar Films were the best films of the year.”

      How do you figure? Maybe I’m missing something, but just because Rotten Tomatoes says it was the most widely liked film of the year, does that really mean that they think it’s the best picture of the year? I bet if you rounded up all the top film lists of the year, the Pixar films would not be at the number one spot. Did any print critics even have Wall-E as their number one film of the year (I never heard of any, but I’m not a rabid follower of critic statistics). Do explain.

    4. Show ’em John. If you look at Up, it is definitly Best Picture material. It has a great story, it is well thought out, and funny too (and much more). It has every thing a Best Motion picture should have, plus more.

    5. Hey Matt S.

      Rotten Tomatoes gagues all the critics, print and online. Ratatouille and Wall-E got the highest critic approvals of all movies in their repective years.

      And let’s look at Wall-E:

      Boston Society of Film Critics – Best Picture

      Broadcast Film Critics Association – Nominated for Best Picture

      Chicago Film Critics Association – Best Picture

      Empire Awards – Best Picture

      Film Critics Circle of Australia – Best Picture

      London Critics Circle – Best Picture

      Los Angeles Film Critics Association – Best Picture

      Online Film Critics Society – Best Picture

  16. I think it’s a shame that Pixar has been hitting it out of the park with every release (except Cars) and I think this will be the year the Academy finally recognizes them with Up.

  17. I got ya john. I was really pissed about that. Its like they have already judged it for being animated and thus is not worthy of being the best picture. This is complete BS. Walle was exceptionally better than Slumdog. It would also be another case entirely if Walle was even nominated, but it was not, so it just shows the the academy awards inability to accept movies that they deem too kid friendly or family friendly. I think Up was so sad and serious at times was so that the academy would take it more seriously. What do u think John

  18. The academy has always been too snooty for my taste. They always look down on animated and comedy movies. The academy needs to take note from the grammys. For example, U2 (my fav band) won for best rock album and for album of the year in 05′. If the academy strikes out with Up then I will never watch the Oscars again. What am I talking about…I still will. Lol.

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