Sam Summers at Vox is concerned:
... [T]his year, as the result of a controversial rule change, voting for the Academy's Best Animated Feature nominations will also be opened up to any member who wishes to participate.
This could mean a significant shift in focus for a category with a history of reaching outside the Hollywood studio system for its nominees, and one that plays a big part in raising the profile of foreign, independent, and stylistically diverse animation.
Until the rule change last Spring, independent animated features grabbed nominations because the nominating committees exerted a lot of control, and committee members liked indie features. This (apparently) didn't sit well with entertainment conglomerates (cough ... Warner Bros. ... cough) that found their big-budget movies shut out of the race for a shiny gold trophy. And the Academy, which has an obvious mission to keep the power players in Tinsel Town happy, hustled to correct the problem.
It might be a little premature to say that the rule change will mean Scooby Doo Gets a Dalmation In Trouble will gain a nomination while The Red Turtle will lose one, but it probably makes the commercial crowd-pleasers more viable in the Motion Picture Academy sweepstakes.
It's a shame, since indie animated films are way better than the big animated productions of Hollywood nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThough the day Pixar loses an Oscar to an animated film (hand drawned or stop motion), then we would know if the Academy respects the animation as a medium (because so far, it hasnt)
PS: how do you know about WB wanting nominations to their animated films?
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