Will the Best Picture race have two animated contenders? -The Hollywood Reporter
Spider-Man: Through the Spider-Verse, The Boy, and the Heron
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation; Courtesy of GKIDS
In 2002, the Academy Awards for the first time honored animated films with their own Oscar category, with the first winner being a DreamWorks Animation film. a partner. Before then, the attitude about rewarding animated features was that there were so few that they didn’t deserve a separate category; Honorary Academy Awards are given to groundbreaking films such as an animated/live-action film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? And computer animation toy story.
But with the founding of DreamWorks — and the expansion into other studios, such as stop-motion houses Aardman and Laika, the Irish company Cartoon Saloon, and the animation divisions of Sony and Netflix — an abundance of animated titles emerged that could rival the world of animation. Animation directed by the titans of Disney and Pixar.
While these two studios lead the pack with the most nominees and winners since the category debuted two decades ago (Pixar with 11 wins, Disney Animation with four), it’s still rare for an animated feature to find fame outside of this category. Especially the best ones. picture. But this year one – or even two! – Animation contenders can earn a spot among the top 10 photo nominees.
Sony Spider-Man: Through the Spider-Verse It is the sequel to the 2019 Animation Award winner, Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse, which marked the studio’s first win in the category and was the second film featuring a Marvel character to win an Oscar. (This iteration of Spider-Man is not, technically, part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but his Oscar win came the same year that Black Panther(Three for the original score, costume design, and production design.) The film was released to critical acclaim and commercial success, with a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a global box office gross of $690 million.
Aside from the stellar reviews, Through the spider verse – Co-directed by Kemp Powers, who co-wrote the Oscar-nominated Disney/Pixar film spirit – It received plenty of year-end accolades, including being placed on AFI’s list of the 10 best films of the year (alongside live-action contenders like Barbie, Moonflower Killers And Oppenheimer). Following the precedent set by the best photo filter toy story 3 Released in 2011, it is also an entry into the beloved Oscar-winning series featuring an all-star cast (Academy Award nominees Brian Tyree Henry and Hailee Steinfeld, Academy Award nominee Greta Lee and Oscar winners Mahershala Ali and Daniel Kaluuya) and dazzling sequences.
However, GKIDS The boy and the heron It could be Through the spider verseThe biggest competition in both categories. The film is written and directed by anime master Hayao Miyazaki, a three-time Academy Award nominee who won his second Academy Award for Animation for his film. kidnapped In 2003, the film topped the North American box office with earnings of $12.8 million during the weekend of December 9-10 – the best film ever recorded. The Hunger Games: Song of Songbirds and Snakes, Renaissance: A Beyoncé Film And the title of Disney’s fall animation he wishes.
The box office performance proves the strength of Japanese Studio Ghibli’s brand as well as the dedication of Miyazaki’s fan base. The film brings the 82-year-old animator out of retirement for what he says is his final film, and audiences have welcomed him back in droves. The Academy has one last chance to celebrate the cartoon auteur by giving him another Oscar — or a historic nomination for Best Picture.
This story first appeared in the December 15 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.
