Received some great news the other day; following Disney/Pixar’s run of three fabulous films (Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up), the studio’s excellence was finally recognised as the latter was actually nominated for the Academy Award for ‘Best Picture.’ An animated film has only been nominated in this category once before; ‘Beauty and the Beast’ back in 1993. Yesterday’s announcement was probably only made possible due to the fact that the list of nominees was extended from 5 to 10, but it’s a fantastic achievement nonetheless, and highlights that extending the capacity of the list was a very wise decision – the overall list provides some diversity at least.
As for its chances of actually winning (which would be a first for animated features), I will watch with anticipation, but I know it’s unlikely. It probably has ‘Best Animated Feature’ in the bag, but to me that’s like shoving Avatar in a ‘Best Action Feature’ category and seeing it win against 2012… Yeah, well done and all, but so what? Granted the list of nominations for BAF this year are decent (The Princess and the Frog and Fantastic Mr Fox being among them), but last year WALL-E beat the likes of ‘Bolt’ and ‘Kung-Fu Panda’ to the statue. For me, WALL-E was a true masterpiece and just to compare it to the others is more insulting than it would’ve been had it not been nominated at all. It seems to me that the category was created with good intentions (so that future animated classics could be recognised in some way, rather than leaving empty-handed save for ‘Best Original Song’), but in the eyes of many people it further reduces animation to ‘kids’ cartoons:’ good in their own way but not legitimate competition against ‘real’ films. As someone that’s very passionate about animation in all varieties, especially the Disney-Pixars and the other gem or two that crop up every so often (Happy Feet, Shrek, Spirited Away), I find this prospect quite degrading. However, all in all, a very nice and long awaited outcome. I’m very happy.
