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NEWS: Oscars' Academy Reveals Next Phase in Inclusion Initative, Expands Best Picture Field to 10

Aresef wrote:

I’m not sure how much this creates an easier path for anime to win another statuette.

This. Anime has two strikes against it, the Best Animated Feature Oscar was specifically made in order to avoid putting animated films into the Best Picture category. The Academy still largely see animated films as subpar art--a number have said they just ask their kids to vote for them. Back in '08 everyone thought WALL-E deserved at least a nom for Best Picture but that would step on the toes of the live action films so they threw into into Animated Feature and called it a day. Even if the Academy starts to seriously take non-English films seriously (they probably won't), it's a long way til they take "cartoons" seriously too.

Who cares?
It's not like normal people have a say in it. The Oscars is literally just a big celebrity circle jerk anyway

I understand what you are saying. But if you don't stay to a standard, then you leave yourself open to complaints and grievancies from all sides. A standard protects you, but having to explain deviations for different counties will be a painful process, and quite possible lead to an negative outcry from people who don't understand or care about your reasons.

muteprohet8726 wrote:

Who cares? It's not like normal people have a say in it. The Oscars is literally just a big celebrity circle jerk anyway

This. People forget that most award ceremonies were established by industry insiders to honor their peers. They weren't made to reflect popular and/or mainstream opinion.

What did everyone expect from something a bunch of old men control? It was a miracle that Spirited Away won back then. But as long as the Hollywood people don't stop thinking with their wallets (a.k.a Disney having basically a monopoly in the animation department), it's not going to happen again. Any other country could make an animated masterpiece, but if it's not Disney or Pixar (or in the rare chance they didn't do that we,, Dreamworks or any other American company), forget it.

I don’t understand why this is a problem—having a devoted animation category ensures that an animated feature wins every year. It’s not like an animated film ever won best picture before the category was added. For an award that appreciates animation completely, check out the Annie Awards.

Agent355 wrote:

I don’t understand why this is a problem—having a devoted animation category ensures that an animated feature wins every year. It’s not like an animated film ever won best picture before the category was added. For an award that appreciates animation completely, check out the Annie Awards.

My concern is that there's a lack of respect for animated films. The category is said to be created specifically to block animation from the "real" awards, similar to foreign language. The point is similar, why is it that these kinds of films must be relegated to a lesser category instead of competing with in big leagues? No one is upset that these categories exist, they're upset that they only exist to prevent these kinds of films from being honored at the topmost awards. If an animated film is truly one of the best of the year, the Oscars won't nominate it for best picture because they believe animation is a less valid form of film. That's why the nominations for animated film are criticized yearly, because there is little-to-no care put into what is nominated, and a documented lack of care to what wins. I mean, Boss Baby was nominated for best animated feature the year it was released.

The fight to get animation recognized as a worthwhile artistic medium in its own right is a good one, but one of the best ways to fight the stigma is to popularize under appreciated animated projects to as wide a mainstream as possible, which the animated features category does when it nominates movies like The Secret of Kells and Chico and Rita.