Studios Want Oscar Recognition for ‘Inside Out 2’ and ‘The Wild Robot’ Beyond Animated Feature. Will Voters Embrace Them?
It’s been a banner year for animated movies, with artists using the medium to tell stories about robots, cats, snails and the full spectrum of human emotion. These films are just as bold and boundary pushing as the dramas, musicals and historical epics that are seen as top contenders for Oscars. Yet they aren’t getting the same level of attention from the pundit crowd.
Well, if there was ever a time for things to change, it’s now. Heavyweights DreamWorks Animation and Pixar have launched awards campaigns for “The Wild Robot” and “Inside Out 2,” which are virtual locks to nab best animated feature nominations. But, these movies also aim to break into major categories, notably best picture. And you know what? It shouldn’t be an either/ or scenario. Why not both?
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Notably, “The Wild Robot” just won the SCAD Savannah Film Festival Audience Award, beating out 122 narrative feature films, including best picture contenders such as Sean Baker’s dramedy “Anora,” Brady Corbet’s historical epic “The Brutalist” and Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical “Emilia Pérez.” That’s quite an achievement.
Indie distributor IFC Films is also campaigning for Adam Elliott’s adult-animated “Memoirs of a Snail” to secure a rare original screenplay nod. While animated movies have earned screenplay nominations before — such as “Toy Story” and “Inside Out” — they’ve historically gone to Disney or Pixar films. DreamWorks’ “Shrek” (2001) remains the only non-Disney movie to receive a screenplay nomination.
Why has the industry found it so difficult to embrace animated films in categories usually reserved for live-action productions?
Oscar campaigns often revolve around compelling narratives — the struggle or dedication behind a project or how long it took to create. While live-action epics like “Oppenheimer” and “Dune” are praised, animated storytelling is too often overlooked. Animated films require complicated creative processes, from storyboarding to voice acting to rendering entire worlds from scratch, and the final product is equally deserving of top honors.
Morgan Neville’s animated biopic “Piece by Piece” is hoping for a slot in best documentary feature. Only one animated film — Danish entry “Flee” (2021) — has earned this recognition. And in the international category, Gints Zilbalodis’ “Flow,” representing Latvia, is vying for a spot.
In addition, Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham’s stop-motion film “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” is coming off its world premiere at AFI Film Fest and currently holds a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. Netflix certainly wouldn’t mind the film getting a shortlist slot for composer Lorne Balfe or perhaps even visual effects, where “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) and “Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016) — the only two stop-motion movies to be nominated in the category — found recognition.
While Paramount Pictures’ animated prequel “Transformers One” didn’t achieve the big box-office numbers the studio had hoped for, Oscar winner Josh Cooley’s (“Toy Story 4”) origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron boasts impressive sound design, visuals, and an uptempo score by Brian Tyler that is worth considering.
Animated films are often perceived as being “just for kids.” This stereotype discredits the complex themes these movies explore. After all, films like “Coco” and “The Breadwinner” delve into the subjects of death, resilience and cultural identity with a sophistication that resonates far beyond the “family-friendly” label. Yet animated directors hardly ever see their names featured in critical discussions, reinforcing the marginalization of the medium.
Since the Academy expanded the best picture category to 10 slots in 2009, some Oscars analysts have predicted that animation will have more sway with voters. Recent titles like “Soul,” “Pinocchio” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” have come close, but only three animated films — “Beauty and the Beast,” “Up” and “Toy Story 3” — have made the cut.
Wouldn’t it be great to see a record-breaking day for animation, especially when one of this year’s contenders, “Inside Out 2,” stands as the highest-grossing animated movie of all time?
“I’ve worked on many animated campaigns, and it’s always hard to get them seen,” one veteran awards strategist tells Variety. “They’ll usually watch the big Disney movie, but anything beyond that gets difficult. I wish it weren’t like that.”
So do I.
Below are this week’s Oscar predictions (in alphabetical order) in all 23 categories. Official category pages won’t be updated until Thursday, Nov. 14.
Oscars Tracking
(Nov. 7, 2024)
Best Picture
“Anora”
“Blitz”
“The Brutalist”
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Gladiator II”
“A Real Pain”
“The Room Next Door”
“Wicked”
Director
Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez”
Sean Baker, “Anora”
Edward Berger, “Conclave”
Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist”
Ridley Scott, “Gladiator II”
Actor
Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”
Daniel Craig, “Queer”
Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”
Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”
Actress
Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”
Angelina Jolie, “Maria”
Mikey Madison, “Anora”
Tilda Swinton, “The Room Next Door”
Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”
Supporting Actor
Yura Borisov, “Anora”
Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”
Stanley Tucci, “Conclave”
Denzel Washington, “Gladiator II”
Supporting Actress
Danielle Deadwyler, “The Piano Lesson”
Ariana Grande, “Wicked”
Saoirse Ronan, “Blitz”
Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”
Zoe Salda?a, “Emilia Pérez”
Original Screenplay
“Anora”
“The Brutalist”
“A Real Pain”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
“September 5”
Adapted Screenplay
“Conclave”
“Emilia Pérez”
“I’m Still Here”
“The Room Next Door”
“Sing Sing”
Animated Feature
“Flow”
“Inside Out 2”
“Memoir of a Snail”
“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”
“The Wild Robot”
Production Design
“Blitz”
“The Brutalist”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Wicked”
Cinematography
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Maria”
“The Room Next Door”
Costume Design
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Maria”
“Nosferatu”
“Wicked”
Film Editing
“The Brutalist”
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Gladiator II”
Makeup and Hairstyling
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”
“A Different Man”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Nosferatu”
“The Substance”
Sound
“Blitz”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Mufasa: The Lion King”
Visual Effects
“Dune: Part Two”
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
“Gladiator II”
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
“Twisters”
Original Score
“Blitz”
“The Brutalist”
“Conclave”
“The Room Next Door”
“The Wild Robot”
Original Song
“Winter Coat” from “Blitz”
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Piece by Piece” from “Piece by Piece”
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight”
Documentary Feature
“Black Box Diaries”
“Dahomey”
“Daughters”
“No Other Land”
“Sugarcane”
International Feature
“Dahomey” from Senegal
“Emilia Pérez” from France
“I’m Still Here” from Brazil
“Kneecap” from Ireland”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from Germany
Animated Short
“An Almost Christmas Story”
“Back to Normal”
“Humantis”
“Remember Us”
“Silent Panorama”
Documentary Short
“I Am Ready, Warden”
“Julia’s Stepping Stones”
“Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World”
“Motorcycle Mary”
“A Swim Lesson”
Live Action Short
“Dovecote”
“The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”
“Motherland”
“Ripe!”
“Room Taken”
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