[Ratatouille's] five nominations rank as the most ever for a computer animated film and rate second among all animated films, only surpassed by the six received by Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." That picture, done in the traditional Disney style in 1991, stands as the only animated film to ever be nominated for best picture.
If not for the best animated feature category, it's safe to say "Ratatouille" would have been strongly considered for best picture ....
So the press speculation begins: Was Ratatouille denied its just rewards?
I'm one who thinks that Beauty and the Beast was the best of '91, but I was also realistic. I thought then and I think now that there was no way an organization composed largely of live-action workers was going to reward a feature from one of the more disdained corners of show biz with a "best picture" statuette. You'll see the head of the Motion Picture Association of America become President of the Industrial Workers of the World first.*
So Ratatouille will have to settle for its "best Animated" award and be content with that. Because there's one thing I'll stake my next Thanksgiving turkey on: the big R won't be taking home the "best screenplay" Oscar. Brad wrote an animated screenplay, you see. And a non-WGA screenplay at that.
* This is an obscure capitalist/socialist reference, if you're wondering.
Posts
21 comments:
Before you start scraming about 'Rat' being robbed wait to see if it evens wins the best animated statuette.
Even without the Best Animated category it would've been unlikely to be nominated in a year where there are still many other good live-action film were left unnominated.
I love that RAT gets more noms than any animated film in history, and there is still talk of it being "robbed". (eye roll)
You can't be robbed of something that was never in your possession.
Brad and Pixar will live. And Brad has future live-action noms to look forward to.
I meant to type: "...than any computer animated film in history..."
You people are missing the point...
the "Best Animated Feature" category puts animated features at the kiddie table. The category should be eliminated and animated features should have to compete with the rest of them.
There Will Be Blood vs. Ratatouille?
Are you kidding?
There Will Be Blood vs. Ratatouille. GREAT competition. Both worth films. Certainly better than that juvenile piddle juno. Brad did get nominated for screenplay. But Harley Jessup should have gotten nominated for Production Design. There certainly weren't many better looking films this year.
That should read "Both worthy films."
Here's my main point:
Animation has been placed in its own special little ghetto by Hollywood's mainstream almost from the get-go.
"Snow White," the biggest grosser of all time (as of 1938) got a special Oscar. Okay, I can dig that. It was something that had never been seen before. Brand new.
But come on. In the seventy years since, there has been exactly ONE animated feature nominated for Best Picture.
One.
Naturally, it failed to win.
Now. Consider all the pieces of live-action crap that have gotten nominations over the last seven decades. Looked at that way, it's real apparent real quick that Hollywood, "mainstream" Hollywood, has minimal respect for animated features, and it's pretty much always been that way.
I LIKED Rat, but did not LOVE the film. The bar would seemingly be very low to have this cute little bistro film get major feature awards. Cheers, Bob
its an award show. its marketing, and as such, markets to the benefit of all hollywood product, regardless of genre. if it were truly about auteurs and the quality of their films, it would have one genre award and would let the chips fall where they may.
One thing worth thinking about: how many live action films are made each year compared to animated films?
Is it a surprise that a 'genre' that makes up such a tiny percentage of all film production has gotten less nominations?
I think best animated is a good thing. Gives special recognition to the unique aspects of animated films without loosing them in the shuffle with the rest of the pack.
I agree that animated features may not get their just praise, but even if they did their oscar nods would still be extremely limited.
If you want to talk about ghetto's, talk about best foreign language picture.
"Consider all the pieces of live-action crap that have gotten nominations over the last seven decades."
Nominations? Hell, consider all the live-action crap that has WON the best picture Oscar. "Titanic" immediately comes to mind...
titanic exactly. marketing. and why argue about not getting respect from a marketing venue. unless you want the dough. and last i checked this blog, there's no shortage of that in the happy little world of global animation franchise building.
Marketing isn't what made Titanic a success. It didn't open all that big. It was huge word-of-mouth that put it on top, generating hordes of, mostly female, repeat viewers. Adult women loved that movie.
If marketing were all it took, Bee Movie would have been #1 in 2007.
It wasn't "adult women" who made Titanic a success. It was teenybopper girls with a crush on DiCaprio. The film Titanic itself isn't that great.
Certainly not as good as Ratatouille, which deserves to win Best Picture as well as Best Animated Picture.
The problem with Ratatouille is that the other live action films it would be agains would have to raise the bar of quality to even be considered in the same LEAGUE as the expert film making in Ratatouille. I agree, the only one as good is There Will Be Blood.
wow...I'll say it - because I certainly hope others are thinking it - DILUSIONAL!!!
As decent a film as ratatouille is it certainly isn't a best film nominee and certainly in a year where there are many live-action films that had to be left off the list.
I doubt even Brad Bird would consider it a best film nominee.
There's even a real good chance it won't win best animated film.
It isn't even Pixar's best film. Or even Bird's best film. In fact I'd rank it below Iron Giant and the Incredibles.
Brad did a great job of fixing a severely damaged idea, but it still has huge problems.
My guess is Persepolis will win Best Animated Film (though I don't agree with that). But the best film that made the list was easily Surf's Up. It had none of the problems that either of the other two films did.
It is nice for a change that a film other than a DW film is getting bashed by this group of adolescent film students and critics.
That's because dw films have stopped being worth mentioning.
Anonymous said...
"wow...I'll say it - because I certainly hope others are thinking it - DILUSIONAL!!!"
Yes! Most non-Pixies feel the same way..."Cars" disappointed as well. You are not alone my friend.
And "Surf's Up" is a terrific film...nice to see it getting the recognition it deserves. If Pixar had made it people would want to put it in a time capsule:)...
By the way Pixies, I LOVE most Pixar films, TS, and TS2...Monsters, Incredibles, etc. Just not swillin' the Kool-Aide on everything that rolls out of there.
Could that last anonymous be Floyd posting anonymously...or maybe Brad?
Post a Comment