Which of these animated films take the fifth spot in the Oscar race?
Tuesday, January 15, 2019 at 1:15PM by Nathaniel R
Our final Oscar predictions continue with Animated Feature. Though we've learned never to wholly trust consensus in this race (that shocking omission of The Lego Movie!) we're assuming that Spider-Verse, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs and Ralph Breaks the Internet will be nominated. One spot is free.
In Ye Olden Times (i.e. a couple of years ago before Oscar opened this category up to all voters, instead of just animators) we'd assume that that would be it for the mainstream titles and we'd also get Early Man (animators love Aardman films) or Japan's Mirai in there. But under the new rules we have to assume that The Grinch is a strong possibility since it's a massive hit (#7 of the whole year). But will anyone really put it at #1 on their ballots with Incredibles 2 (even more successful and more beloved) right there for the taking? Ruben Brandt Collector is memorable and stands out from the foreign pack in aesthetics but a qualifying release only was a bad move on Sony Pictures Classics part and it likely won't have been widely seen enough to garner many votes. Early Man didn't have the impact that Aardman films usually have (it's the lowest grossing of their features) so we're going with Mirai since it hails from a respected filmmaker, it honors Japan's robust industry, and it was boosted by that Golden Globe nod.
Related:
Animated Oscar chart | Reviews of Other Longshot Contenders Not Listed Above: MFKZ, Tito and the Birds, On Happiness Road, The Night is Short Walk on Girl, and Lu Over the Wall
Reader Comments (9)
Mirai better get nominated for Best Animated Feature or else!
Ruben Brandt has actually been more available in Los Angeles than Mirai, which only played here on a couple of day events.
Brandt has been playing for several weeks at Beverly Hills Laemmles for guild only members.
Kelly, interesting. Strange then that it never played here.
I have a hunch Ralph Breaks the Internet won't make it in, leaving room for both Mirai and Ruben Brandt to sneak in ...
@Dieter: Sounds wonderful for me! That would be Line-up as well. But I cant get the Spider-Man Hype. Visuals are stunning but storytelling medeocre. Hope Dog of Islands is the first Gold for Mr. Anderson.
after seeing Ralph Breaks the Internet just yesterday, i really think it could miss out.
Isle of Dogs, The Incredibles 3 & Spider-Man are very good bets, then i think Mirai will get in, and the last spot is between Ralph & Early Man, and in the end - i see Early Man taking this spot. love for Aaardman & this kind of animation will prevail.
I found so stupid that this category exists, animation is not a "genre" Is just another technique to do a movie, and also need more diversity in style and content from their nominees. Anyway
My dream 5 nominees will be:
Early Man
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ruben Brand Collector
Spider-Verse
Is still a shame that a piece of art like Mary & Max won't be nominated
GKIDS mostly campaigns with screeners. They do qualifying releases for their films that they want to campaign for and event one/two night only releases for everything else.
Mirai seems like the most likely fifth slot. Summer Wars seems to have come very close when it was eligible (meaning love for the director) and GKIDS have gotten nominations more years than not since 2010: The Secret of Kells, Chico & Rita, A Cat in Paris, Ernest & Celestine, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Song of the Sea, When Marnie was There, Boy and the World, My Life as a Zucchini, and The Breadwinner.
Aardman films do well with the animation branch, but Early Man was released in February and didn't do great at the box office for a more family friendly contender.
We can't be sure, though. The category sometimes goes for box office and The Grinch could easily slot in if that's the case. I also see On Happiness Road being the kind of serious the Academy often goes for here in foreign language animation. I could also see this being another two GKIDS year if they campaign smart. I just don't know which of their other three films was actually being campaigned. I think I've seen the most for MFKZ but that's not really in the mold of this category.
I am rooting for Early Man just for the greatest AARDMAN staff and for Nick Park! I hope Nick wins!