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Answerman - Oscar Schmoscar


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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 12:28 pm Reply with quote
This : "I honestly don't understand why people care."

I haven't cared about the winners in about 20 years. I have watched the "Who passed away this year" film clips off the DVR a few times, but usually skip the rest of the "show".

It's just plain sad.

Mark Gosdin
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GWOtaku



Joined: 19 Jul 2003
Posts: 678
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 12:47 pm Reply with quote
Very good & informative column this week, I particularly appreciate the full context on what's up with DBZ on home video.

On the Oscar subject, I mostly agree but I'll explain why I personally care about the Oscars anyway. It's not that I have lofty expectations of a Spirited Away situation repeating itself anytime soon. However, it seems to me taking home a statue isn't the only good - just earning a nomination to begin with is an achievement. What especially matters to me is that it's pretty much through the Oscars that I've become aware of some really great international, non-Japanese animation out there in recent years. Without it I'm sure I'd have been the poorer for not ever having seen Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist, just for one example.

And then there's the steadily expanding efforts of GKids ever since the fabulous The Secret of Kells made the short list in 2009. It may be unrealistic to expect the Oscar to not go to a major studio the vast majority of the time, but if the whole process can see an indie distributor like them get a number of out-of-the-mainstream but great films out there that probably wouldn't see the light of day in the U.S. otherwise, well. That makes it all worthwhile and a net good to me as an animation fan.
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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 12:56 pm Reply with quote
If I may be so bold, allow me to present the tl;dr versions:

1. DBZ brings money. Funimation wants money. Funimation releases DBZ as many times as possible.

2.Media Blasters may be on the ropes, but they are not out yet. They are also very secretive.

3.The Oscars are a joke, and don't really represent the best of anything, other then best marketing campaign.

How did I do?
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j Talbain



Joined: 27 Oct 2010
Posts: 279
Location: Toronto, Ontario
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 1:00 pm Reply with quote
DmonHiro wrote:
If I may be so bold, allow me to present the tl;dr versions:

1. DBZ brings money. Funimation wants money. Funimation releases DBZ as many times as possible.

2.Media Blasters may be on the ropes, but they are not out yet. They are also very secretive.

3.The Oscars are a joke, and don't really represent the best of anything, other then best marketing campaign.

How did I do?


Hit nail on head.
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KabaKabaFruit



Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Posts: 1869
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 1:03 pm Reply with quote
Justin Sevakis wrote:
Why did Spirited Away win Best Animated Film in 2002? Because Disney, Pixar, and John Lasseter, lacking a release of their own to push that year, got behind it and gave it a lavish Oscar campaign, likely to ensure Dreamworks Animation would walk away empty-handed. That sort of push by moneyed showbiz institutions is unlikely to happen a second time. There's an outside chance the Academy will remember Miyazaki this year for The Wind Rises, since he's now "part of the club" and has announced his retirement. (Also, The Wind Rises is getting a Disney release, so there's that.)

What?

Hold the phone! Wasn't Lilo and Stitch also a contender for Best Animated Picture Oscar that year? Heck, even I remember the late Roger Ebert saying that he didn't expect Spirited Away to win the Oscar that year only for the mere fact that Disney does not want a foreign license to compete against its own domestic work.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 1:40 pm Reply with quote
I like Oscar season. I think it's fun, I like trying to predict the winners and the show is usually at least fun to joke through.

I don't know anyone who takes it seriously who isn't in the industry and hoping for a win themselves. Most people just enjoy the game/spectacle of it.
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9812
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:16 pm Reply with quote
Justin, just for the record, age by itself does not preclude the enjoyment of anime. I've found it hard to get people interested in anime at any age.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:22 pm Reply with quote
It is a fun spectacle. It's also a great way to get publicity for lesser known films and documentaries. That's why I think the chance to be nominated is important for anime films, and why I asked the question (thanks for answering it!).

Every year there are some dark horse, lower budget movies that get a nomination, which gets critics and movie fans talking and that word-of-mouth, which ends up increasing the movies screening and revenue, and can keep the movie in the public consciousness for years longer than it would have otherwise. (Remember "Little Miss Sunshine" from 2006? It was developed into a musical!)

I understand the downside better now, that marketing and political stuff sounds awful. I never thought of the age of the average voter or their (possible) obsession with death angle. Now I gotta wonder if Grave of the Fireflies could've had a chance back in the day! (Based on all the other factors mentioned: nope).

Aw, I guess it's just hard to give up the dream: a great anime film wins an Oscar! Film becomes world famous! Everybody in the film world starts paying attention to anime, and the anime industry makes more money and creates more quality mainstream content! Woo-hoo!
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KabaKabaFruit



Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Posts: 1869
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:25 pm Reply with quote
DMonHiro wrote:
1. DBZ brings money. Funimation wants money. Funimation releases DBZ as many times as possible.

I wonder if people will end up realizing that this release of DBZ is nothing more than Malibu Stacy with a new hat? People already know the story. At this point, they are simply dishing out money for questionable picture that won't really matter in the long run anyway when they realize that the only thing they really want to see is cartoon characters punching each other's lights out.
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Tenchi



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 4463
Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer.
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:38 pm Reply with quote
KabaKabaFruit wrote:

Hold the phone! Wasn't Lilo and Stitch also a contender for Best Animated Picture Oscar that year? Heck, even I remember the late Roger Ebert saying that he didn't expect Spirited Away to win the Oscar that year only for the mere fact that Disney does not want a foreign license to compete against its own domestic work.


Both Lilo and Stitch and Treasure Planet, actually. But I think Disney was aware that the critical momentum was with Spirited Away, so, in the end, that's what they focused their campaigning on just to ensure that Dreamworks wouldn't take the Oscar for... umm... Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Uh, did anyone actually think that Spirit would win for 2002? I sure didn't.

I am in the minority of anime fans who was rooting for Lilo & Stitch, though. I just found Spirited Away a bit too scattershot and "precious".
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FlamingFirewire



Joined: 03 Jun 2013
Posts: 461
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:50 pm Reply with quote
That's exactly what I thought was going on with those DBZ releases - they just are not appealing to the purist fanbase - they are appealing to the person who walks through Wal-Mart and says "I remember that show! Oh, it's on blu ray - this must mean it'll finally fill my 16x9 screen and look like modern cartoons! Perfect!"

It reminded me of the amazon reviews from fans for the Read or Die BDs - they called them a rip-off because the video didn't "fit the screen" - their widescreen television. *sigh*
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 3:02 pm Reply with quote
Tenchi: If Shark Tale managed to get in, anything's possible.
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se37



Joined: 08 Dec 2007
Posts: 229
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 3:09 pm Reply with quote
FlamingFirewire wrote:
That's exactly what I thought was going on with those DBZ releases - they just are not appealing to the purist fanbase - they are appealing to the person who walks through Wal-Mart and says "I remember that show! Oh, it's on blu ray - this must mean it'll finally fill my 16x9 screen and look like modern cartoons! Perfect!"

It reminded me of the amazon reviews from fans for the Read or Die BDs - they called them a rip-off because the video didn't "fit the screen" - their widescreen television. *sigh*


My grandfather was like that, but in the opposite way. He HATED letterbox and movies in the original format (this was back in time during old 4:3 tube TVs). So he would buy the "formatted to fit your screen" since he felt people who did the 16x9 were just lazy in making it fit on the TV.
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KabaKabaFruit



Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Posts: 1869
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 3:23 pm Reply with quote
Okay, despite the fact that this new version of DBZ is catering mainly to the mainstream Toonami fans, FUNimation wants to get the opinions of the fans from the Kanzenshuu DBZ fan community about this release. The Q & A will be published in an exclusive future article.

So.......yeah. Confused
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 3:31 pm Reply with quote
Thank god those filthy casuals don't watch anything beyond never-ending Weekly Shounen Jump action anime.

Quote:
An Oscar winner can get an extended theatrical release (or re-release) and bring in hundreds millions of dollars of additional revenue for the film.


Doesn't that fully explain why producers want to win? And for actors and other people involved with filmmaking, an Academy Award is a great way to further your career through recognition. So of course involved insiders will take it seriously, but those who don't know how the meat is made won't follow all of the cynicism, they just like the award show and seeing Hollywood stars and elite all in one place. I guess it's mostly just uninvolved film buffs like you, Zac, and other critics who really abhor the Oscars and other award shows.

Quote:
Why did Spirited Away win Best Animated Film in 2002? Because Disney, Pixar, and John Lasseter, lacking a release of their own to push that year


Did you forget Lilo & Stitch on purpose? That's most certainly a Disney film that the Disney company would want to push to a win.


Last edited by walw6pK4Alo on Fri Nov 08, 2013 3:38 pm; edited 1 time in total
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