More Chances For a Little Gold Man

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences becomes more generous:

The Academy has relaxed the rules for winning an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, allowing more individuals to take home statuettes.

In rule changes approved by the AMPAS Board of Governors, the filmmaker with producer credit will now receive an Oscar in the category, along with the film’s credited director. In cases where a two-person team has shared director credit, a third statuette can be awarded.

In the past, the Animated Feature Oscar went to the single individual with the most creative input into the film, typically the director. In only two cases over the 12 years of the category – including the most recent winner, “Brave” – two credited directors received statuettes.

Because you can never have enough shiny awards ...

But what this is REALLY about is ... animated features are no longer the sleepy little sub-category that Disney Feature used to occupy all by its lonesome.

Now, animated features are big business, and lots of our fine conglomerates are making them. Disney, Universal, Viacom, Fox-News Corp. Sony, are in the cartoon biz, and delighted with the box office results.

In fact, cartoon features are the most profitable type of feature at the world box office. As the Nikkster reminds us:

Judged just by genre, average revenues for the decade’s 101 animated films ran 108.4% ahead of costs. DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek 2 led the category with a 462% margin. The 71 sci-fi/fantasy films had a margin of 108.1%. ...

This might have a teensy bit to do with the Acadmey's willingness to hand out more glittering trophies. Because if there's one thing the AMPAS does really well, it's being careful not to bite the big fat hands that feet it.