Pixar's tenth feature film, Up, directed by Pete Docter, made history moments ago, becoming the second animated motion picture ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.).Nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California by new Academy president Tom Sherak and actress Anne Hathaway.
In addition to its Best Picture nod, Up received four other Oscar nominations, for a total of five, as follows:
- Best Animated Feature Film
- Original Screenplay (Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, and Tom McCarthy)
- Original Score (Michael Giacchino)
- Sound Editing (Michael Silvers and Tom Myers)
My sincerest congratulations to Pete Docter, Jonas Rivera, the entire Up cast and crew, and everyone at Pixar and Disney on this milestone occasion.
Up is the first entirely computer-generated film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. It is also one of the first two 3-D movies to be so nominated, the other being James Cameron's Avatar.
Ever since Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs came out in 1937, animated films have struggled to receive major recognition from A.M.P.A.S. For nearly twenty years, Disney’s 1991 masterpiece Beauty and the Beast held the distinction of being the only animated film to be acknowledged in the most prestigious Oscar category.
In 2001, the Academy introduced the Best Animated Feature Film category, recognizing the best animated features of the year. While it brought special attention to animated movies, the new category also had the side-effect of creating a "ghetto" for them each awards season.
Pixar’s critically-acclaimed films thus faced a big challenge in being recognized in the Best Picture category. Preceding the 80th and 81st Academy Awards, there was talk that Pixar’s 2007 and 2008 releases, Ratatouille and WALL-E, could be nominated. Of course, those hopes went nowhere, although both were awarded the Best Animated Feature Film prize.
But things changed this year with the increase in the number of Best Picture nominees from five to ten (a move not without historical precedent). Academy voters had room to nominate a larger variety of films; this greatly benefited Up. Also key was The Walt Disney Studios' robust "For Your Consideration" campaign for the film.
The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony (hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin) takes place on Sunday, March 7 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood at 8 PM ET/5 PT. It will be telecast live on the ABC television network in the United States and CTV in Canada. For international broadcast information, check local TV listings.
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20 comments:
We didi it! I am so happy to see that animated features are being taken serious. In the words of the great Brad Bird:
“People think of animation only doing things where people are dancing around and doing a lot of histrionics, but animation is not a genre. And people keep saying, “The animation genre.” It’s not a genre! A Western is a genre! Animation is an art form, and it can do any genre. You know, it can do a detective film, a cowboy film, a horror film, an R-rated film or a kids’ fairy tale. But it doesn’t do one thing. And, next time I hear, “What’s it like working in the animation genre?” I’m going to punch that person!”
wORK_
I'm so glad Up got it's Best Picture nomination; personally, I thought Ratatouille and WALL•E both deserved it as well in their respective years. If only they had done the ten film thing a bit sooner...
However, as much as I would love to see Up win Best Film, I think (and hope, but not as much as for Up) that Avatar gets it.
Yes! Finally! Some great nominees this year. ;)
Let me preface this comment with the fact that I work in animation and VFX (14 years), I've even directed my own animated short film, and I hope to one day get into feature length directing.
But the chances of another animated film winning best picture are slim to none. The ratio of academy members who work in live action to those who work in animation is seriously one sided, and the last thing they want to see is another "toon" talking away the main award of the night from "real life people".
I seriously hope I am wrong, I really do, and I congratulate Up for it's nomination, but I think the Academy was just throwing a bone in order to appease some of the industry.
Animated films for the most part will never be taken serious by the majority of the live action voting members of the Academy. Which is sad, as on a per film basis, animated films are more successful at making money than their live action counterparts.
I've been waiting for this for a long time - this is amazing. The people at Pixar must be so proud, I knew they could do it. Congratulations! :)
Great News!! Congrats Pixar!
Yay! Although Wall-E should have been given the nomination and win last year, it's wonderful to see Up get the recognition it deserves. Does anyone think it has a chance of winning for Best Picture? Anyone disappointed that Pete Docter didn't get a Best Director nom?
YES! This was my favorite film of 2009. My daughter is a senior majoring in Animation (focus on storyboarding) at Brigham Young University. Our family has always been huge PIXAR fans because you always do it right! And...story rules. CONGRATS!!
YES!!!!! I KNEW IT!!!! I knew that last a cute little boxy robot cracked the glass that separated Animation and best picture, now this year, a flying house with ballon is going to BREAK IT!!!!
Hey, I was looking around on the Oscar site, and I noticed that Partially Cloudy didn't get a nomination for Best Animated Short Film. Guess I'll be rooting for A Matter of Loaf or Death.
Can I hear a "woop woooop!" ^_^
I'm so happy it got a nom for best picture - Animation is finally getting there, first stop Oscar next stop CONQUERING THE WORLD!!
I'm so happy for Pixar. Although Wall.E should have gotten the same recognition (or more), Up's nomination is more than deserved.
Yippeee
I'm so glad Up is nominated for Best Picture! I've seen 7 of the nominated films, and 3 of the nominated films for Best Animated. How many have you seen, Mike?
THIS, my friends, is one of the best days in animation history. History in the making--
I can't begin to express my joy for Pete Docter and the rest of the Pixar team. I was so incredibly sick of "it's a cartoon, it doesn't count" or "you do animation, so you sit at *that* table". No more segregation. Brad Bird put it best most definitely, that animation can do everything live action can do.
Seriously, I almost shed a tear. Congrats to Pixar. They should be very, very, very proud...
I'm glad I'm not the only one that got emotional about this! Up was a masterpiece from Pixar that deserves recognition beyond the animation community! (Although I still cheered at the Golden Globes when it won both of its nominated awards)
Thank God. Now Disney and Pixar are equal and those balloons aren't gonna be popped.
Whether animated films are still segregated is still up for debate. However, I am very happy that Up did get the nominations it received. You know what really tears me up though? Fantastic Mr. Fox (and The Princess and the Frog) were nominated for Best Animated Film too, but they aren't going to win. We all know Up is going to win Best Animated Film, but I really loved FMF and PatF too. FMF was underappreciated.
On an unrelated note: Mike, please tell me you are going to do a photo/film screenshot edit in the future that compares the rock-that-Carl-mistakes-for-a-man to the Oscar statuette (sp?). I think the similarities are too obvious. This edit (Carl holding the statuette and looking into the distance) was good, though.
YES!!! Best picture nomination! :D
Finally, some justice for Wall-E, still pissed at the Acadmey for snubing Wall-E last year, and I'll never forgive them for that, but at least I can take this as an "I'm sorry," let's hope that we're all justified with Up getting best picture.
At least then I can start watching the awards again. But then I still want them to give a the Al gore award they gave him and take it back to give to Wall-E since Wall-E has more fact and truth then Al's movie.
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