When you saw the list of animated features that qualified for Oscar consideration you may have scratched your head when you saw the likes of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and The Smurfs. After all, these were CG/live-action hybrids and hardly 100% animated films. Of course the rules state that an animated feature film is a feature in which “a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75% of the picture’s running time.”
The question is, who checks to see just what percentage of a film is animated? I also wonder why films like The Smurfs and Alvin and the Chipmunks are considered but not a film such as Transformers: Dark of the Moon. What’s the difference? And now things are even more confusing as Steve Pond at The Wrap reports The Smurfs has been disqualified and yet Alvin and the Chipmunks remains in contention. What? And please don’t get me started on wondering why Avatar wasn’t considered an animated film again.
Of course, as I have been saying for the last few years, there is no sense in looking at the Oscars as a logical beast. After all, when you’re trying to consider something the best there are no certain rules that will help you reach such a lofty, exclusive and unquantifiable qualifier. It’s why I look at the Oscars as a game to be played rather than any sort of sign of quality. And it’s a game I love to play. So, with The Smurfs out and over a month since I last looked at the Best Animated Feature category, I have shuffled the board and have a new front-runner.
First off, Rango is looking more and more like the winner to me after being named the Best Animated Film of the year by the National Board of Review along with the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC film critics. It also appears to me the race for that top spot appears to be between three films, Rango, The Adventures of Tintin and Puss in Boots. All three scored nominations from the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes, which leaves two open spots.
One of those final spots I quickly filled with Arthur Christmas since it too scored noms from both the BFCA and HFPA, but I don’t get the feeling it has as much support as the other three. And then there was one…
If I continue to go by the Alois Nebel did themselves a real disservice in not getting out in front of critics and voters. As a result it looks like the noms this year will be dedicated to studio fair across the board.
So I was left to consider two films for one spot and Cars 2 was the easy one to push aside. It is my impression most believe this to be “lesser Pixar” and as a result Kung Fu Panda 2 gets my fifth and final spot, but Cars 2 still isn’t my first runner-up, that belongs to Rio, which I actually have a sneaking suspicion may be able to score an upset and actually bounce either Kung Fu Panda 2 or Arthur Christmas. I just wonder which screener Academy members’ children will be reaching for this holiday season, that may end up being the one that secures that final nomination and it just as easily could be Cars 2 as it could be Rio, or, Winnie the Pooh anyone?
All that said, here’s my top five as of this moment for Best Animated Feature and things could change quickly depending on how The Adventures of Tintin is received by domestic audiences as it has just now hit theaters. It has already done massive numbers overseas ($239 million), but it already lost out to Chipwrecked on its opening day. A sign? You tell me.
You can see the rest of my Animated Feature Film rankings right here.
- Rango (dir. Gore Verbinski)
- The Adventures of Tintin (dir. Steven Spielberg)
- Puss in Boots (dir. Chris Miller)
- Arthur Christmas (dir. Sarah Smith)
- Kung Fu Panda 2 (dir. Jennifer Yuh Nelson)
