Best "animated" feature

Chamber005

Chamber005

Carbonite Member
I've not been a fan of this award category since its invention. Supposedly it was created to give appreciation to animated films, but all it really did was put them in a sub category to the almighty best feature so that there will never be another Beauty and the Beast -- never again, to my understanding, can an animated feature be nominated for best picture.

It got me wondering, though, what makes an animated feature animated?

Prior to Beauty and the Beast forcing the academy (and everyone else) to create the sub category of "best animated film", things like Osmosis Jones, Space Jam, Who Frame Roger Rabbit, Cool World, Fantasia and The Pagemaster (amongst several other Disney films) integrated live animation with actual actors, and in the case of Osmosis Jones -- they bid to be nominated for best animated feature.

Was Osmosis Jones (one of the best animated films of 2001 IMO) not nominated because it had live action, or was it not nominated because the academy thought it wasn't worthy?

If Roger Rabbit was released today, could it still be nominated for best picture (as it was for the Golden Globes), or would it be nominated as best animated feature? To me, Avatar is no more a live-action movie than was Osmosis Jones or Roger Rabbit or Cool World or Fantasia, yet all of those movie (with the exception maybe of Roger Rabbit) defined themselves as animated features.

I'm curious if anyone knows what the "cut-off" is for animation with regards award shows. Is there some literature on it that says X amount of minutes of animation-only screen action = animated film? Can a feature have a real person show up on screen once and define itself as a live action film (and then so bid for the category of "best feature")?
 
There is no 'cut off.' It's an individual judgment made each year on the nature and merits of the work submitted for the award.
 
Sad Max said:
There is no 'cut off.' It's an individual judgment made each year on the nature and merits of the work submitted for the award.
Click to expand...

Whoa, you lost me on "merit".

An animated film (correct me if I'm wrong) cannot be nominated for best picture. So where does "merit" come into play when deciding if a movie is animated or live action?
 
The 'merit' part applies to choosing what work (in whatever category one might place it) to put in for whatever award it's being put in, for.

As distinct from the 'nature' part, which is really what we're talking about here.

In any case, if Avatar can be nominated for Best picture, that's kind of a giveaway that animated (and/or part-animated) work can be put up for that category.
 
Chamber005 said:
I've not been a fan of this award category since its invention. Supposedly it was created to give appreciation to animated films, but all it really did was put them in a sub category to the almighty best feature so that there will never be another Beauty and the Beast -- never again, to my understanding, can an animated feature be nominated for best picture.
Click to expand...
Actually, according to the Academy's rules (#7) an animated feature CAN be nominated for best picture.
Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they comply with the rules governing those categories.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Sad Max said:
The 'merit' part applies to choosing what work (in whatever category one might place it) to put in for whatever award it's being put in, for.

As distinct from the 'nature' part, which is really what we're talking about here.

In any case, if Avatar can be nominated for Best picture, that's kind of a giveaway that animated (and/or part-animated) work can be put up for that category.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm...

So it comes down to their personal bid, then, you think? For instance, Osmosis Jones COULD have gone for best picture, but knowing they would lose that bid they instead went for best animated film? I wish they would have been actually NOMINATED as it would have provided the precedence.

So Enchanted could have entered itself for best animated film? See, I feel like they WOULD have if they COULD have. I wonder if there is ANY live action present in the film if the academy immediately foribids it from the animation category.

When's Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2 coming out so that we can test this theory! ;)
 
Blaine said:
Actually, according to the Academy's rules (#7) and animated feature CAN be nominated for best picture.
Click to expand...


Good link!

So 75% gets you into best animated feature. I looked around to see if anything would disqualify an animated feature from being nominated, but it doesn't seem like there is. Great to know. I feel a little better now, though I wonder if the academy will ever even CONSIDER an animated film in the best picture category if it's already been nominated for best animated film.
 
I don't think the rules are as hard and fast as you want to think they are.

Look at "Life is Beautiful" -- it was nominated for Best Picture in addition to Best Foreign Language Film. There certainly should be no problem with "Up" being nominated for Best Picture as well as Best Animated Film. Nor, in fact, should there be a problem with it being able to win both categories.

So could Avatar win both "Best Animated Film" and "Best Picture"? Sure, if that's the way the Academy voters decide to vote.
 
Barry_Green said:
So could Avatar win both "Best Animated Film" and "Best Picture"? Sure, if that's the way the Academy voters decide to vote.
Click to expand...

I wondered that too, but kind of assume they wouldn't let it happen, because associating Avatar with "Animated" would diminish it for the purposes of what it was shooting for.
 
Avatar would have to be entered as in the animated film category and I really doubt Cameron OR the studio do want that. I think they prefer not to identify it as an animated feature
 
I remember this year

Beauty and the BEast gets a nod and yet a film like Scorsese's Cape Fear is ignored.

I'm not into the CG / Animated films generally. Entertaining ? Yes. But taken seriously as art ? Bleh.
 
Sounds like someone hasn't seen "Up" yet... :D

Seriously, if I had a vote in the academy, I'd vote for Up. Whether it's animated or not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top