Here Are The 27 Films That Have Been Submitted For Best Animated Feature!

Posted on November 12, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!

I know that a lot of you are busy being depressed right now but fear not! Regardless of who won or who lost the last election, we still have Oscar season!

Oscar season is rapidly approaching and that means that it’s time to start trying to guess who and what will be nominated. Yesterday, the Academy released the names of the 27 films that have been submitted for Best Animated Feature!

Here they are:

The Angry Birds Movie,

April and the Extraordinary World,

Bilal,

Finding Dory,

Ice Age: Collision Course,

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV,

Kubo and the Two Strings,

Kung Fu Panda 3,

The Little Prince,

Long Way North,

Miss Hokusai,

Moana,

Monkey King: Hero Is Back,

Mune,

Mustafa and the Magician,

My Life As A Zucchini,

Phantom Boy,

The Red Turtle,

Sausage Party,

The Secret Life of Pets,

Sing,

Showtime!,

Storks,

Trolls,

25 April,

Your Name,

Zootopia

Myself, I’m hoping that Kubo and the Two String wins it all!

Here Are The 16 Films That Have Been Submitted for Best Animated Feature

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Seeing as how the Dazzling Erin and I went to see The Peanuts Movie on Friday night, it now seems appropriate to share the 16 films that have been submitted for consideration for the Best Animated Feature Oscar! Now, to make clear, these films have just been submitted for consideration. The actual nominees have not yet been determined.

But still, you know how much I love to share Oscar news!

Here are the 16 films:

Anomalisa,

The Boy and the Beast,

Boy and the World,

The Good Dinosaur,

Home,

Hotel Translyvania 2,

Inside Out,

Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet,

The Laws of the Universe — Part 0,

Minions,

Moomins on the Riviera,

The Peanuts Movie,

Regular Show: The Movie,

Shaun the Sheep,

The Spongebob Movie,

When Marnie Was There

h/t on this goes to Awards Circuit. I also saw the news on Awards Daily but everyone knows how I feel about that site.

The Nominees for the 42nd Annual Annie Awards Have Been Announced

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 42nd Annual Annie Nominations (honoring the best in animation) were announced today! You can see a full list of nominees here. Below are the nominations for best animated feature film, television series, and video game.

(Hopefully, at some point in the future, the Academy will finally start to give out an award for Best Voice Over Performance, which will make the Annies even more of an important precursor to the Academy Awards.)

Best Animated Feature
“Big Hero 6”
“Cheatin’”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“Song of the Sea”
“The Book of Life”
“The Boxtrolls”
“The LEGO Movie”
“The Tale of The Princess Kaguya”

Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production
“Archer”
“Back To Backspace”
“Bob’s Burgers”
“Rick and Morty”
“Mike Tyson Mysteries”
“Regular Show”
“The Simpsons”

Best Video Game
“Forza Horizon 2”
“Valiant Hearts: The Great War”
“Child of Light”

Here Are 2013 The Annie Nominations!

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 2013 Annie Nominations were announced earlier today. The Annies honor the best of the year’s animated features and television series. The race for the Best Animated Feature Oscar is unusually competitive this year so it’s interesting to note that Frozen, Monsters U., Despicable Me 2, and The Croods received the most Annie nominations this year.

Below are the major nominations. A full list of the nominees can be found by clicking here.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
A Letter to Momo –  GKIDS
Despicable Me 2 –  Universal Pictures
Ernest & Celestine  – GKIDS
Frozen –  Walt Disney Animation Studios
Monsters University –  Pixar Animation Studios
The Croods  – DreamWorks Animation
The Wind Rises  – The Walt Disney Studios
BEST ANIMATED SPECIAL PRODUCTION
Chipotle Scarecrow  – Moonbot Studios
Listening Is an Act of Love  – StoryCorps
Room on the Broom –  Magic Light Pictures
Toy Story OF TERROR! - Pixar Animation Studios

BEST ANIMATED SHORT SUBJECT
Despicable Me 2 – Puppy  – Universal Pictures
Get A Horse!  – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Gloria Victoria  – National Film Board of Canada
My Mom is an Airplane  – Acme Filmworks
The Numberlys –  Moonbot Studios

BEST ANIMATED TV/BROADCAST COMMERCIAL
Despicable Me 2 – Cinemark  – Universal Pictures
Sound of the Woods – Acme Filmworks
The Polar Bears Movie  – CAA Marketing

Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children
Bubble Guppies  – Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Disney Sofia the First  – Disney Television Animation
Doc McStuffins  – Disney Television Animation
Justin Time  – Guru Studio
Peter Rabbit – Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Children’s Audience
Adventure Time –  Cartoon Network Studios
Beware the Batman  – Warner Bros. Animation
Disney Gravity Falls  – Disney Television Animation
Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness –  Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Regular Show –  Cartoon Network Studios
Scaredy Squirrel –  Nelvana Ltd.
Teen Titans Go!  – Warner Bros. Animation
The Legend of Korra  – Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Archer  – FX Networks
Bob’s Burgers –  Bento Box Entertainment
Disney Tron Uprising  – Disney Television Animation
Futurama  – 20th Century Fox Television
Motorcity  – Titmouse Inc.

Best Animated Video Game
Diggs Nightcrawler  – Moonbot Studios
Tiny Thief  – 5 ANTS
The Last of Us –  Naughty Dog

Best Student Film
Chicken or the Egg  – Ringling College of Art and Design
Kellerkind – Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg
Miss Todd  – Kristina Yee
Move Mountain  – Kirsten Lepore
SEMÃ•FORO –  University of Southern California
The Final Straw  – Ringling College of Art and Design
Trusts & Estates  – CalArts
Wedding Cake –  Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg

Here Are The 19 Films Eligible To Be Nominated For Best Animated Feature

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oscar season continues! The Academy today released it’s list of the films that are eligible for Best Animated Feature. Here are the 19 films that are in the running.

Per Academy Rules, no less than two and no more than 5 of these films will ultimately be nominated.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Epic
Ernest and Celestine
The Fake
Free Birds
Frozen
Khumba
The Legend of Sarila
A Letter to Momo
Monsters University
O Apóstolo
Planes
Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie — Rebellion
Rio: 2096 A Story of Love and Fury
The Smurfs 2
Turbo
The Wind Rises

It’s Annie! Here are the latest Annie Nominations.

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In one final bit of film award news, the latest nominations for the Annie Awards were announced yesterday. The Annie Nominations honor the best in animation and, as a result, they really act as a precursor for only one Oscar category: Best Animated Feature Film. Films that win at the Annies often end up getting nominated for Best Animated Feature but, oddly enough, they rarely seem to win the actual award. (For instance, How To Train Your Dragon won the Annie for best feature over Toy Story 3.)

Below is the list of this year’s film-related nominations. Brave, Rise of the Guardians, and Wreck-It Ralph lead the nominations this year with ten each.

Best Animated Feature
“Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
“Frankenweenie” – The Walt Disney Studios
“Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
“ParaNorman” – Focus Features
“Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
“The Pirates! Band of Misfits” – Aardman Animations
“The Rabbi’s Cat” – GKIDS
“Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Directing in a Feature Production
Genndy Tartakovsky, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Joann Sfar, Antoine Delesvaux, “The Rabbi’s Cat” – GKIDS
Remi Bezancon, Jean-Christophe Lie, “Zarafa” – GKIDS
Rich Moore, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Sam Fell, Chris Butler, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features

Writing in a Feature Production
Chris Butler, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Gideon Defoe, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” – Aardman Animations
Hayao Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa, Karey Kirkpatrick, “From Up on Poppy Hill” – GKIDS
John August, “Frankenweenie” – The Walt Disney Studios
Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, Irene Mecchi, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Phil Johnston, Jennifer Lee, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Storyboarding in a Feature Production
Emmanuela Cozzi, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Johanne Matte, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Leo Matsuda, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Lissa Treiman, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Rob Koo, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” – DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Feature Production
Adam Sandler as Dracula, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Alan Tudyk as King Candy, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Atticus Shaffer as “E” Gore, “Frankenweenie” – The Walt Disney Studios
Catherine O’Hara as Weird Girl, “Frankenweenie” – The Walt Disney Studios
Imelda Staunton as Queen Victoria, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” – Aardman Animations
Jim Cummings as Budzo, “Adventures in Zambezia” – Saltzman Communications
Jude Law as Pitch, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Kelly MacDonald as Merida, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios

Editing in a Feature Production
Catherine Apple, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Joyce Arrastia, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Mark Rosenbaum, “Secret of the Wings” – DisneyToon Studios
Nicholas A. Smith, ACE, Robert Graham Jones, ACE, David Suther, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Tim Mertens, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Music in a Feature Production
Alexandre Desplat, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Bruce Retief, “Adventures in Zambezia” – Saltzman Communications
Henry Jackman, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Joel McNeely, Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda, “Secret of the Wings” – DisneyToon Studios
John Powell, Adam Schlesinger, Ester Dean, “Ice Age: Continental Drift” – Blue Sky Studios
John Powell, Cinco Paul, “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” – Illumination Entertainment
Mark Mothersbaugh, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Patrick Doyle, Mark Andrews, Alex Mandel, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Feature Production
Dan Nguyen, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
David Pate, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Jaime Landes, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Phillppe LeBrun, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Pierre Perifel, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Travis Hathaway, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Travis Knight, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Will Becher, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” – Aardman Animations

Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Erik de Boer, Amanda Dague, Matt Brown, Mary Lynn Machado, Aaron Grey, “Life of Pi – Orangutan” – Rhythm & Hues Studio
Erik de Boer, Matt Shumway, Brian Wells, Vinayak Pawar, Michael Holzl, “Life of Pi – Tiger” – Rhythm & Hues Studio
Jakub Pistecky, Maia Kayser, Scott Benzu, Steve King, Kiran Bhat, “The Avengers” – Industrial Light & Magic
Mike Beaulieu, Roger Vizard, Atushi Sato, Jackie Kochler, Derek Esparza, Richard Smith, Mac Tyrie – Columbia Pictures – “THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN” – Sony Pictures Animation

Character Design in a Feature Production
Bill Schwab, Lorelay Bove, Cory Loftis, Minkyu Lee, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Carlos Grangel, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Carter Goodrich, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Craig Kellman, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” – DreamWorks Animation
Heidi Smith, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Yarrow Cheney, Eric Guillon, Colin Stimpson, “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” – Illumination Entertainment

Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Andrew Nawrot, Joe Gorski, Grant Laker – “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Andrew Schneider, “Ice Age: Continental Drift” – Blue Sky Studios
Andy Hayes, Carl Hooper, David Lipton – “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Bill Watral, Chris Chapman, Dave Hale, Keith Klohn, Michael K. O’Brien, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Brett Albert – “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Jihyun Yoon – “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” – DreamWorks Animation
Joel Aron – “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” – Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.

Animated Effects in a Live Action Production
Jerome Platteaux, John Sigurdson, Ryan Hopkins, Raul Essig, Mark Chataway, “The Avengers” – Industrial Light & Magic
Stephen Marshall, Joseph Pepper, Dustin Wicke, “The Amazing Spider-Man” – Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation
Sue Rowe, Simon Stanley-Clamp, Artemis Oikonomopoulou, Holger Voss, Nikki Makar, Catherine Elvidge, “John Carter” – Cinesite
Willi Geiger, Rick Hankins, Florent Andorra, Florian Witzel, Aron Bonar, “Battleship” – Industrial Light & Magic

Best Animated Short Subject
“Brad and Gary” – Illumination Entertainment
“Bydlo” – National Film Board of Canada
“Eyes on the Stars” – StoryCorps
“Goodnight Mr. Foot” – Sony Pictures Animation
“Kali the Little Vampire” – National Film Board of Canada
“Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare’” – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox TV
“Paperman” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
“The Simpsons — ‘Bill Plympton Couch Gag’” – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox TV

The 2010 Oscars: Best Animated Feature: The Toadsuckers Have Spoken

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Hollywood Mainstream Establish Toadsuckers (aka., the HMETS) who hand out the Academy Awards (and, even though I rarely agree with them, I still love them for it because I love tacky award shows), have announced the 15 films that are eligible for this year’s Best Animated Feature Oscar.

Those films are:

“Alpha and Omega”
“Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore”
“Despicable Me”
“The Dreams of Jinsha”
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“Idiots and Angels”
“The Illusionist”
“Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”
“Megamind”
“My Dog Tulip”
“Shrek Forever After”
“Summer Wars”
“Tangled”
“Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue”
“Toy Story 3”

A few things to note:

In order to be nominated, the eligible films (which, apparently, are submitted for official consideration by their studios) must play in Los Angeles by the end of the year. So far, Tangled, The Illusionist, Summer Wars, and The Dreams of Jinsha have yet to open. Don’t get me wrong. They all will open but until they actually do, they’re only theoretically eligible to be nominated.

Number two, Toy Story 3 and How To Train You Dragon aside, it’s been kind of a crappy year for animated films, hasn’t it? What the Hell is My Dog Tulip?

Number three, I should give credit for most of this information to the Awards Daily web site. It’s a good site for tracking the Oscar race but it’s a terrible site if you’re interested in anything beyond a middle class, mainstream perspective on film. It’s the type of site where Roger Ebert’s word is God and William Goldman is quoted without a hint of irony. Just from a critical perspective, I like to think of Through The Shattered Lens as being the anti-Awards Daily.

Number Four, under Academy rules, there will only be three nominees for Best Animated Feature. (If 15 films are eligible, the Academy can nominate up to 3 films. If more than 15 are eligible, the Academy can nominate 5.) Since Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon would appear to be locks, that only leaves one space open. My personal choice for that slot would be A Town Called Panic — oh, wait! It’s not eligibile! Bleh.

Okay, then out of the eligible films, I personally would give the third nomination to Megamind and the actual Oscar to Toy Story 3.

For Your Oscar Consideration

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s November and that means that we have now officially entered Oscar season. For the next two months, movies specifically designed to win awards will be released in theaters across America. Movies like Fair Game, The King’s Speech, True Grit, For Colored Girls, Another Year, and 127 Hours will be presented for “your consideration,” as they always put it in the Oscar ads. Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to seeing quite a few of those films. Fair Game looks like its going to be a bit of a pain (seriously, Sean Penn, it’s great you were right about Iraq and all but get over yourself) and For Colored Girls seems like it’ll be one of those films that people are scared to admit disliking. However, The King’s Speech looks like it might be a funny and sweet little movie and 127 Hours looks like it might be the film that proves that James Franco is a major hottie who could use and abuse me in any way he…uhmm, sorry, where was I? Oh yeah — Oscar season!

The unfortunate thing about Oscar season is that often it seems that movies that were released before the end of the year are either totally forgotten or only given a few sympathy nods. So, here’s my personal list of a few contenders that, though released pre-Oscar season, I think are just as deserving of consideration as Fair Game.

1) Best Picture — Exit Through The Gift Shop

People either love this film or they hate it. I love it. I think it’s a great mindfuck and, as of now, it’s my favorite film of 2010. In a perfect world, it would not only be the first documentary to be nominated for best picture but the first one to win as well. Unfortunately, the Mainstream hates having its mind fucked. Which is why I say — Grindhouse Victory for Exit Through The Gift Shop!

2) Best Picture — Animal Kingdom

This grim yet compelling Australian crime thriller plays like an unromanticized version of The Town, which is probably why it will be no where to be seen once the nominations are announced. Animal Kingdom also features award worthy work from actors Jacki Weaver, Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Pearce, and director David Michod.

3) Best Picture — Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Yes, it crashed and burned at the box office and it’s been the victim of an anti-Michael Cera backlash but Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was one of the best and most original films of the summer. If the best movies succeed by creating their own unique worlds, then Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World deserves to be recognized as one of the best.

4) Best Picture — Never Let Me Go

Mark Romanek’s low-key but affecting adaption of Kazou Ishiguro’s award-winning novel takes a familiar Sci-Fi plot — clones are raised in seclusion so that their organs can eventually be harvested — and turns it into a haunting meditation on life, death, love, and fate. Carey Mulligan, who deserved the Oscar last year for An Education, holds the film together with quiet strength while Kiera Knightley and Andrew Garfield make the most of the more showy supporting roles.

5) Best Actor — Patrick Fabian, The Last Exorcism

Yes, Fabian will never be nominated because The Last Exorcism was a box office flop, a horror film, and it had an ending that generated a lot of negative word of mouth. However, I believe that Fabian gave the best performance of the year (so far) in this film. One reason why that over-the-top ending upset so many viewers was because Fabian had kept the film so grounded in reality that the sudden appearance of the supernatural almost felt like a betrayal. Incidentally, I think that Fabian’s performance was meant to be an homage to former child evangelist Marjoe Gortner. (And yes, I realize that’s like the 100th time I’ve casually mentioned Marjoe Gortner on this site. It doesn’t mean anything. Or does it?)

6) Best Actress — Noomi Rapace, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Mainstream has pretty much already declared Annette Bening to be the winner for her work in The Kids Are All Right but the Grindhouse knows that 2010 was the year of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

7) Best Actress — Katie Jarvis, Fish Tank

Fish Tank probably played too early in the year to be properly remembered by the Academy but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the best films of the year. Playing an angry but naive British teen, Katie Jarvis gives a fearlessly vulnerable performance. Just consider the harrowing scene where, after kidnapping her older lover’s daughter, she realizes what a mistake she’s made.

8 ) Best Supporting Actor — John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone

While I hope Winter’s Bone, at the very least, receives nominations for best picture, best actress for Jennifer Lawrence, and a best director nod for Debra Granik, I fear that John Hawkes will be forgotten. That’s a shame because Hawkes, arguably, gives the strongest performance in the film. As Lawrence’s drug addicted uncle, Hawkes is both scary and heroic. If Lawrence represents hope for the future, Hawkes epitomizes the doom of the present.

9) Best Supporting Actress — Chloe Grace Moretz, Kick-Ass

If Moretz is nominated, it’ll probably be for her performance in Let Me In. However, good as she was in that film, I think her performance in Kick-Ass is even better. Playing the controversial character of Hit-Girl, Moretz was the film’s foul-mouthed, borderline-psychotic heart.

10) Best Cinematography — Twelve

Yes, Twelve is a dire film that manages to turn a good book into a silly melodrama but the movie is gorgeous to look at.

11) Best Original Score — Machete

As performed by the band Chingon (which features the film’s director, Robert Rodriguez, on guitar), Machete’s score was much like the film itself: over-the-top, shameless, and a lot of fun. In much the same way that Hans Zimmer’s score made you believe in the world of Inception, Machete’s score literally forces the viewer into the proper Grindhouse mindset.

12) Best Original Song — “Pimps Don’t Cry” from The Other Guys

Oh, why not?

13) Best Feature-Length Documentary — Best Worst Movie

A charming documentary about the making of that infamous film, Troll 2, Best Worst Movie is also a look at how a movie can be so amazingly bad that it eventually becomes a beloved classic.

14) Best Animated Feature — A Town Called Panic

This surreal, French, stop-motion film only played for a week down here in Dallas and I nearly didn’t get to see it. I’m glad I did because, seriously, this movie — oh my God. The best description I’ve heard of it comes from Empire Magazine where it was referred to as being “Toy Story on absinthe.” Of course, since apparently California can’t even handle legalized weed, it’s probably hoping too much that they’ll be willing to drink the absinthe.