The Academy Awards, Animation, and France

J

JR0626

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So far, the only animated film to get nominated for Best Picture is Beauty and the Beast, which took place in France.

The only PG-13 film to get nominated for Best Animated Feature so far is The Triplets of Belleville, which was made in France.

This year, Ratatouille, a movie taking place in France, is getting some genuine Best Picture where similar Pixar hits like Finding Nemo didn't, and Persepolis is being submitted for Best Foriegn Language Film by France whereas Japan didn't even bother for Spirited Away.

Does anyone else see any connections? Have any theories about it?
 
I guess I should point out that, although Spirited Away was not submitted for Best Foreign Film, it did win Best Animated Feature Film, so far the only anime movie to have done so. And I think Ratatouille's Oscar buzz probably has more to do with it being a Pixar film rather than because it's set in France. Pixar films get nominations almost automatically. I don't really think French or French-themed films have any more of an inside track than any other type of film. I'm more chagrinned that we don't see more anime films nominated for Best Animated Feature. Second-rate CGI junk gets nominated every year, while films like Tokyo Godfathers and Ghost In The Shell 2 are ignored. If ever there was a film that should be a shoo-in for a nomination this year, it should be Paprika, but I'll put money on the Oscar going to either Ratatouille or Beowulf.
 
Listen. I think that Paprika deserves a nomination just as much as Ratatouille. I refuse to call anything Pixar did (even Cars) "CGI junk" (it's not a Dreamworks, film after all :deedee: ) but Ratatouille was something special. I have never heard dialogue that sharp in a movie that wasn't rated R, or something independent that no one gave a crap about. The soliloquy the critic gave at the end was one of the most brillaint things I've heard in years. And the film once again proved how underrated Brad Bird is ans an animator. If it was between at least those 2 films, then we'd have stiff competition.

Beowulf I'm holding judgement on. I HATE realistic CGI that replaces live actors. I want things to look like a cartoon, not live action. The plot may be good, but it looks like a celeb filled action flick from the previews.
 
Motion capture films cannot be nominated for Best Animated anymore thank God. So Beowulf can't be nominated for Best Animated Feature.
I guess that the Academy is finally coming to the conclusion where you can't have mo-cap movie nominated for Best Animated because... mo-cap isn't animation.

I hope Ratatouille wins this year. I wouldn't be horribly downhearted if Surf's Up wins either...
 
I would. it looked like something even Dreamworks would be too embarassed to do. I have heard a lot of people do like it, but what I've heard before was that it was just terrible.
 
Actually, it was MUCH better than Ratatouille.

Of the animated movies I saw this year, my rankings are:

1. Meet the Robinsons
2. Bee Movie
3. Surf's Up
4. Ratatouille


The people who thought it was terrible just didn't get the humor. It was way too sophisticated for most people.


There's a loophole though. As long as it's 3/4ths animated, the remaining 25% can be mo-cap, live-action or whatever.

Meaning Happy Feet would still be eligible if it were made after the rule change.
 
Well, then how come it has more buzz than either Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles ever had? It wasn't quite as good as those movies (though still good, of course, just not what everyone is making it out to be).

Just to let you know, Paprika was eligible last year due to some festival showings. Sony really dropped the ball with that one (and Tokyo Godfathers, which had the same problem of being dumped into a 1-theater Oscar-qualifying release months before it was actually rolled out into lots of theaters).
 
I seem to recall you being one of Ratatouille's biggest pushers when it first came out.

And I thought Ratatouille was advertised rather poorly myself. I probably wouldn't have watched it had it not been for all the great reviews and the simple fact that Pixar did it.
 
I pushed it because it's great, and I want great movies some level of success. I never claimed it was the best thing since Pinnochio like some other critics have. The thing is, I've seen plenty of animated movies just as great or greater, and the fact they were passed over while Ratatouille (and previously, Beauty and the Beast) is actually being considered in the running for Best Picture is odd. As such, my France theory. Don't get me wrong, though. If Ratatouille does get nominated for Best Picture, I'll be very happy.
 
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