Oscar for Best Animated Feature 2021

[Farerb]

The reactions online make me believe that I'm in a minority over this, so you might like it. There are some similarities to Aladdin, especially the relationship between the boy and the Dragon.

[D82]

Maybe the best part is the one you didn't watch, although many times I don't agree with the consensus either. We'll see.

[Sotiris]

I'm not so sure about that. Tangled was WDAS's 50th film and a musical, apart from having good reviews and being successful at the box office, and wasn't even nominated.

It wasn't nominated because there weren't enough available slots and the other two films that were nominated were really strong. If there had been five spots instead of three that year, it definitely would have.

And The Princess and the Frog featured Disney's first Black princess and didn't win either.

It's not 2009, anymore. Things have changed. Diversity now plays a crucial role in getting good reviews and scoring awards.

The points you mentioned could help the movie, but I think whether it ends up being the frontrunner or not will depend mainly on the quality of the film itself.

What's of "quality" or not is pretty subjective. Not to mention, award shows don't always select the winner based on the number of positive reviews. Things like buzz, politics, and popularity all play a part.

[blackcauldron85]

We just watched Wish Dragon- it was really good. It of course had similarities to Aladdin, and minor Frozen similarities, and Cinderella, but it was a really satisfying film.

[thedisneyspirit]

Did everybody here forget how the Oscars cream themselves over Pixar? They should just stop nominating other movies and just announce on the premiere day that the new Pixar movie has already won.

[Farerb]

Where is Anne Frank? premiered on Cannes:
https://youtu.be/htzlVFazClI

It is a hand drawn film from the director of Waltz with Bashir. I wonder if it has a chance at competing in the Oscars next year.

[Sotiris]

Sony sold all of the animated films they had lined up for this year. The only one that survived was Peter Rabbit 2.

‘Hotel Transylvania 4’ Skipping Theaters as Sony Nears Over $100 Million Deal With Amazon
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/hote ... 235042371/

[Sotiris]

We have two new Oscar contenders. Both have good chances of getting nominated. Fingers crossed that two 2D-animated films will be able to break through this year instead of the usual token.

GKIDS Acquires North American Rights to Studio Chizu’s “Belle”
https://gkids.com/2021/06/14/gkids-acqu ... zus-belle/

Netflix Acquires Animated Feature ‘The Summit of the Gods’
https://deadline.com/2021/08/netflix-ac ... 234824854/

[Sotiris]

The awards site Next Best Picture has posted their top contenders for the Animated Feature category. In the article, they mentioned that Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio has been pushed back to 2022. My guess is that two other Netflix contenders, Cartoon Saloon's My Father's Dragon and Henry Selick's Wendell & Wild have also been delayed. Even though Netflix tends to release projects the last minute, the fact we have had no updates on them in so long, makes me believe they've been postponed for either 2022 or 2023. Where Is Anne Frank has yet to secure American distribution, so its eligibility status remains uncertain. Flee, even though it has garnered stellar reviews and already won a bunch of awards, is not exactly the animation branch's cup of tea. For one, it's a documentary and while there have been animated documentaries submitted in the category in the past (25 April, Another Day of Life, My Favorite War), none of them managed to break through. For another, the animation is primarily rotoscoped and while rotoscoped films have been nominated before (Chico & Rita, Loving Vincent], branch members aren't particularly fond of this technique. Lastly, the film handles a heavy subject matter, told in a dramatic fashion, and members seem to have an aversion to those types of films. However, I can see Flee going the Waltz with Bashir route and getting nominated in the Documentary or International Feature category or both. Ron's Gone Wrong has zero chance of getting nominated. It has no buzz at all and based on the trailers alone, it looks like a very generic and forgettable film.

Best Animated Feature

Belle
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
Ron's Gone Wrong
Vivo
Where Is Anne Frank

Source: https://www.nextbestpicture.com/latest/ ... emy-awards

[estefan]

I agree that Ron's Gone Wrong probably won't be nominated for Best Animated Feature, as Disney will likely support their own home-grown productions over a film they adopted in the Fox merger.

However, I think you're underestimating the potential quality of the film. The director and writers previously made "Arthur Christmas" and the other director made several episodes of "Shaun the Sheep." That gives me hope the movie could turn out to be something quite charming and funny.

[thedisneyspirit]

Praying Luca wins for gay representation. How's that for the Pixar age of reheated buddy comedies??

[Farerb]

I think neither Ron's Gone Wrong nor Vivo will be nominated, unless by some chance Belle isn't released this year. Currently I predict the nominees will be:

- Belle
- Encanto
- Luca
- Raya and the Last Dragon
- The Mitchells vs the Machines

[Sotiris]

The same reporter for Variety who was predicting Encanto to win is now predicting Luca. I guess he wasn't impressed by Encanto's first trailer. I still think Encanto will be the one to beat. Also, there's no way Sing 2 has a better chance of getting nominated than Raya. That's just silly.

Best Animated Feature

01. Luca
02. Flee
03. The Mitchells vs. The Machines
04. Encanto
05. Sing 2
06. Belle
07. Raya and the Last Dragon
08. Vivo
09. The Boss Baby: Family Business
10. Ron's Gone Wrong

Source: https://variety.com/feature/2022-oscars ... 235071947/

[Disney's Divinity]

I think Luca for sure. The two Disney films will divide for the PIXAR favor to dominate. Even if it was just Luca v. Encanto or Luca v. Raya, I still think Luca would win for being a White male coming of age story by fratbro PIXAR anyway. I suppose the best chance for Disney is Encanto, not because I think it'll be better than Raya but because of the Miranda factor.

[estefan]

Netflix has updated their awards page for their movies.

The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Vivo and Wish Dragon are being submitted for Best Animated Feature and Robin Robin will be submitted for Best Animated Short. I assume Back to the Outback will be added to the website once the marketing starts up.

[Jules]

Netflix has updated their awards page for their movies.

The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Vivo and Wish Dragon are being submitted for Best Animated Feature and Robin Robin will be submitted for Best Animated Short. I assume Back to the Outback will be added to the website once the marketing starts up.

That's so weird. So the three SPA films will be represented as Netflix films rather than Sony/Columbia films?

They do open with the Columbia Pictures logo, don't they?

[estefan]

The Walt Disney Studios awards page is up.

Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Luca, Raya and the Last Dragon, Cruella and Encanto are the only movies included so far, with Luca and Raya being the only ones with listed categories. Eternals and the 20th Century Studios movies will likely be added later.

[D82]

^Thanks for letting us know. They're not promoting Luca and Raya for Best Picture. I know they have no chances in that category, but it used to be among the categories listed for their animated films, right? Though, maybe there have been some exceptions. I don't remember it right now.

[Sotiris]

Netflix has updated their awards page for their movies. The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Vivo and Wish Dragon are being submitted for Best Animated Feature and Robin Robin will be submitted for Best Animated Short. I assume Back to the Outback will be added to the website once the marketing starts up.

I'm surprised they didn't include My Little Pony: A New Generation on their awards website. It may not have a strong chance of getting nominated, but it got better reviews than Wish Dragon. I hope it will be submitted regardless along with indie theatrical films such as Extinct, Firedrake the Silver Dragon, Green Snake, New Gods: Nezha Reborn, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, Seal Team, Secret Magic Control Agency, Stand by Me Doraemon 2, and Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop that weren't included either.

As I suspected, Netflix will likely not submit any of their TV films for the Oscars. They'll probably choose to submit them to the Emmys instead. They released a lot of TV films this year, most of which were based on a pre-existing show or property.

In other news, Hotel Transylvania 4 has been pushed back to January 2022. I understand they moved the release to avoid competition with The Addams Family 2, but I don't see the business sense in releasing a Halloween movie in January.

‘Hotel Transylvania 4’ Heads to Amazon, Sets January Premiere Date
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/hote ... 235081967/

They're not promoting Luca and Raya for Best Picture. I know they have no chances in that category, but it used to be among the categories listed for their animated films, right? Though, maybe there have been some exceptions. I don't remember it right now.

I checked the WDAS and Pixar titles of the last decade. Those listed for Best Picture on Disney's FYC website are: Soul, Onward, Toy Story 4, Frozen II, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Incredibles 2, Coco, Zootopia, Moana, Finding Dory, Inside Out, and Toy Story 3. Those that weren't are: Cars 3, The Good Dinosaur, Big Hero 6, Monsters University, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Brave, Winnie the Pooh, Cars 2, and Tangled.

[Sotiris]

It's been confirmed that the animated documentary Flee will be submitted in both the Documentary and Animated Feature categories. It will also be submitted for Best Picture. Additionally, it has a high chance of getting selected as Denmark's entry for the International Feature category as the doc is one of the three films shortlisted for this purpose. Denmark's final candidate will be announced on October 25, 2021.

Indie film distributor Neon is hoping to make a statement with its awards consideration plan for the animated documentary “Flee.” Tom Quinn, co-founder of Neon, told Variety that Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s story of a gay refugee who fled to safety in Denmark from his home in Afghanistan as a child, will be submitted for Oscar best picture consideration in addition to the documentary, animation and foreign language categories.

Source: https://variety.com/2021/film/news/flee ... 235079984/


Josep has been picked up for U.S. distribution and will most likely be submitted for Oscar consideration. This marks the fifth strong indie contender of this year. The others being The Summit of the Gods, Flee, Cryptozoo, and Belle. Perhaps it would be a good idea for an Animated International Feature or an Animated Independent Feature category to be established since it has become incredibly difficult for foreign and indie films to break through in the Animated Feature race. The fact that only once a foreign-language film has ever won despite the consistent high-quality submissions is a problem.

Distrib Films has acquired U.S. rights to a flurry of high-profile foreign-language films, including the Cesar Award-winning animated feature “Josep.” “‘Josep is a historical, personal and artistic tale about a dark period of European history, when, under dictator Franco, Spanish refugees flee to France to find themselves in concentration camps until further notice, treated like no human being should be,” said Scippa Kohn. The executive said the film targeted a more mature audience than typical family-driven animations but he added that the company will showcase the film in select “theaters and festivals, as well as on educational streaming, DVD et VOD.”

Source: https://variety.com/2021/film/global/jo ... 235080224/


Where Is Anne Frank has yet to secure U.S. distribution, but the director seems committed to having his film compete this award season.

After spending eight years making his animated re-imagining of Anne Frank’s diary, Folman has been extra cautious about partnering with a North American distributor for this Oscar season. “I’ve considered a few offers, but it’s very important that it’s someone who understands that this is not an art house movie — it’s a children’s movie,” he said. “And with all this work, you have to see it in a theater, but I’m worried about people not going to the cinema and watching everything at home. I’m hoping for the best.”

Source: https://www.indiewire.com/2021/09/where ... 234667241/