Academy Award Nominations for Best Animated Feature Film of 2008

Bolt becomes the first 3D Disney nomination (not counting Pixar films) since the Best Animated Feature Film Award appeared in 2001.

BOLT
Chris Williams and Byron Howard



ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY
These are the first Academy Award nominations for Chris Williams and Byron Howard.

FILM SYNOPSIS
When Bolt, the canine star of a popular television series, finds himself outside the confines of the studio in which he has spent his life, he is baffled to discover that the super powers he has on his show no longer seem to function. Convinced, however, that his beloved owner, Penny, is in danger, Bolt teams up with a worldly-wise cat and a frenetic hamster and sets off on an adventure that will change his life.


KUNG FU PANDA
John Stevenson and Mark Osborne



ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY
This is the first Academy Award nomination for John Stevenson.

This is the second Academy Award nomination for Mark Osborne. He was previously nominated for:

MORE (1998) -- Nominee, Short Film (Animated)

"More" was a claymation short about a factory worker.

FILM SYNOPSIS
Po the panda spends his days working in his father's noodle shop and dreaming of becoming an expert in the art of kung fu fighting. When a dangerous snow leopard threatens the region in which he lives, Po is singled out by a wise monk as the Chosen One, the Dragon Warrior--a choice that comes as a surprise to Shifu, the martial arts master who must train him.



WALL-E
Andrew Stanton



ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY
Including his nomination this year for Original Screenplay for WALL-E, this is the fifth Academy Award nomination for Andrew Stanton. He was previously nominated for:

FINDING NEMO (2003) -- Winner, Animated Feature Film
FINDING NEMO (2003) -- Nominee, Writing (Original)
TOY STORY (1995) -- Nominee, Writing (Original)

FILM SYNOPSIS
Several centuries in the future, when human beings have abandoned the earth for a series of orbiting spaceships, the lone remaining being on the planet is a solar-powered robot named WALL-E. As he continues to carry out his trash compacting duties, he gathers up unexpected treasures...including a tiny green plant that has somehow reappeared on the earth's heavily polluted landscape.


==================================

So that's it! No independent films made it this year! Bolt is Disney's first 3D film to get a nomination. They previously made Dinosaur (before this award), Chicken Little, and Meet the Robinsons. They also distributed Valiant and The Wild.

Of course, Wall-E is the obvious winner. The other two don't match the range of emotion and don't break as much "ground." If there were independents involved, they would be wildcards. But with three corporate films from Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks like this, Wall-E is obviously the winner. That will be Andrew Stanton's second Oscar, tieing him up with Pixar giants, John Lasseter and Brad Bird.


Enjoy!

- TAE

Only 3 Nominations this year

DreamWorks often gets shunned from the Academy's "Best Animated Film" category.

From DW's 3D films, I think only Shrek (won; beat Monster’s Inc.), Shrek 2 (lost to The Incredibles), Shark Tale (lost to The Incredibles), and Kung-Fu Panda (TBD Feb 22 09) have been nominated. (So Shrek 3, Madagascar 1 and 2, Over the Hedge, Flushed Away, and Bee Movie didn’t get nominated; DW has had more non-nominations than nominations: 4/10 or 40%.)

The Academy can nominate up to 5 films, but often they only nominate 3. Is it easier to get a nomination here than in the live-action film category? Yes, but still over half the animated films don’t get nominated.

Plus Annie Awards nominated three other animated films for picture and director categories this year that the Academy didn’t honor:

· $9.99 (2008) - Tatia Rosenthal

· Tale of Despereaux, The (2008) - Robert Stevenhagen; Sam Fell

· Vals Im Bashir (2008) - Ari Folman

(“Tale” was from the director of Flushed Away; it was a great film.)



Bolt is the first Disney 3D film to get nominated (Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, Valiant, and The Wild didn’t make it).

- TAE

Pixar president accepts first Oscar of ’09

Pixar president accepts first Oscar of ’09.



BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Host Jessica Biel wore Oscar de la Renta, but it was bearded, buttoned-down Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull who got whoops and whistles at the first Academy Awards presentation of the year.

Attendees yelled and stood for Catmull, president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, as he accepted an Oscar statuette Saturday night for a lifetime of work in computer animation. He said he was inspired by early Disney films "Peter Pan" and "Pinocchio," then name-dropped collaborators George Lucas, Steve Jobs and Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter.

"In each of the communities that I've been in, we know that when we make the movies look good, we make each other look good," Catmull said. "It's really been a great adventure."

Pixar celebrates its 23rd birthday this year and is set to release "Up" — its 10th feature — in May. Its "WALL-E" is favored to win the animated feature category at the main Oscars ceremony Feb. 22.

From:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29084865/

Pixar Academy Award Winners

If Wall-E takes the Academy Award for best animated feature, that will be the second Academy Award for Andrew Stanton. He currently has one win (directing Finding Nemo) and three nominations total (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004056/awards).




John Lasseter:

2 wins, 6 total nominations
Won: Best Short Film, Animated for: Tin Toy (1988)
Won: Special Achievement Award for: Toy Story (1995)
Nominated: Best Short Film, Animated for: Luxo Jr. (1986)
Nominated: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for: Toy Story (1995)
Nominated: Best Animated Feature for: Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Nominated: Best Animated Feature for: Cars (2006)




Brad Bird:

2 wins, 4 total nominations
Won: Best Animated Feature for: The Incredibles (2004)
Won: Best Animated Feature for: Ratatouille (2007)
Nominated: Best Writing, Original Screenplay for: The Incredibles (2004)
Nominated: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for: Ratatouille (2007)



Andrew Stanton:

1 win, 3 total nominations
Won: Best Animated Feature for: Finding Nemo (2003)
Nominated: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for: Toy Story (1995)
Nominated: Best Writing, Original Screenplay for: Finding Nemo (2003)



Jan Pinkava:

1 win, 2 total nominations
Won: Best Short Film, Animated for: Geri's Game (1997)
Nominated: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for: Ratatouille (2007)



Ralph Eggleston:

1 win, 1 total nomination
Won: Best Short Film, Animated for: For the Birds (2000)



Pete Doctor:

0 wins, 3 total nominations
Nominated: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for: Toy Story (1995)
Nominated: Best Animated Feature for: Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Nominated: Best Short Film, Animated for: Mike's New Car (2002) (V)



Gary Rydstrom:

0 wins, 3 total nominations
Nominated: Best Sound Editing for: Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Nominated: Best Sound Editing for: Finding Nemo (2003)
Nominated: Best Short Film, Animated for: Lifted (2006)



Bud Luckey:

0 wins, 1 total nomination
Nominated: Best Short Film, Animated for: Boundin' (2003)



Roger Gould:

0 wins, 1 total nomination
Nominated: Best Short Film, Animated for: Mike's New Car (2002) (V)



Mark Andrews:

0 wins, 1 total nomination
Nominated: Best Short Film, Animated for: One Man Band (2005)



Andrew Jiminez:

0 wins, 1 total nomination
Nominated: Best Short Film, Animated for: One Man Band (2005)

Enjoy!

- TAE

RYAN (Entire Film)

Academy Award winner of 2005. And Weirdtastic!

2005 OSCAR for Best Short Animation

Ryan is based on the life of Ryan Larkin, a Canadian animator who, 30 years ago, produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. In the film, we hear the voices of prominent animators and artists discussing Ryan's work, and from waitresses, mission-house caretakers and homeless people who make up Ryan's life. These voices speak through strange, twisted, and disembodied, computer-generated characters--which combine to reflect the film's creator, Chris Landreth. In the words of Anais Nin, "We don't see things as they are. We see things as we are."

Some strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

Partly Cloudy ™ Pixar

Should be this year's Oscar winner for animated short.

- TAE

What film will win the Academy Award for Best Animated Film of 2008?

I think we’re going to have quite a showdown for best animated film of this year: Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, Bolt, Tale of Despereaux, and Horton Hears a Who.
Wildcards “$9.99” and “Waltz with Bashir” join the fray.

Here are some of this year’s Annie Award nominations…

Directing in an Animated Feature Production

Nominees:

· $9.99 (2008) - Tatia Rosenthal
· Kung Fu Panda (2008) - Mark Osborne; John Stevenson
· Tale of Despereaux, The (2008) - Robert Stevenhagen; Sam Fell
· Vals Im Bashir (2008) - Ari Folman
· WALL·E (2008) - Andrew Stanton


Best Animated Feature

Nominees:

· $9.99 (2008) - Sherman Pictures/Lama Films
· Bolt (2008) - Walt Disney Animation Studios
· Kung Fu Panda (2008) - DreamWorks Animation
· Vals Im Bashir (2008) - Sony Pictures Classics; Bridgit Folman; Les Films d'Ici; Razor Films
· WALL·E (2008) - Pixar Animation Studios



Apparently, Bolt was really good, but it had poor direction? Hmm. =^)


Which movie do you think will take it?

I think it will go to Wall-E, with Kung Fu Panda giving it a solid run.

The two wildcards also look promising, so we could have an upset. Although $9.99 is really artsy and amazing, you just can’t get emotion from stop motion. It looks too fake. The attempts just make me laugh. =^)




If Wall-E takes it, that will be the second Academy Award for Andrew Stanton. He currently has one win (directing Finding Nemo) and three nominations total (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004056/awards). That would tie Stanton with Brad Bird and John Lasseter for most Pixar Academy Award wins (2 each).




The other possibilities are: Madagascar 2, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Space Chimps, Igor, Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, Delgo, Roadside Romeo, and Fly Me to the Moon.


I think $9.99 and Vals Im Bashir are the “wild cards.”

“Waltz with Bashir” is mostly Israeli and looks like they took live-action video, filtered the backgrounds to look “cartoony,” and rotoscoped over the humans (similar to Scanner Darkly) and added some original animation as well: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2591555609/

$9.99 is an artsy, Australian, stop-motion: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3236430617/



Enjoy!

- TAE