# The Animated Feature Oscar Race **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2002, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-feature-oscar-race/136557 "2002-11-13T08:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-feature-oscar-race/136557/21 "2002-11-14T16:35:56Z")
ArchiveGuy: > [@](#): > > Then again, the most striking and original animated film last year–Waking Life–got the shaft over the innocuous Jimmy Neutron, which shows that the Academy still is only willing to see Animated Features = Kiddie Flicks. I hope you don’t mean this as a slap to _Jimmy Neutron_. I don’t know how good _Waking Life_ was, because I never saw it, but darned if I didn’t enjoy _Jimmy Neutron_ a heck of a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-feature-oscar-race/136557/22 "2002-11-14T18:47:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*I didn’t see “Spirit” (the noble Indian and his noble steed movie), and neither did anybody else… and yet, I’d be willing to bet a quarter that it will win the Oscar anyway. > > It has two things going for it: > > 1. It couldn’t be any more politically correct. > 2. There’s no serious domestic competition. > \*\* _Lilo and Stich_? Did better critically & much better commercially. ---
**Author:** ![Fish42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@Fish42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish42)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-feature-oscar-race/136557/23 "2002-11-14T19:07:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy \* > \*\* > This requires a little clarification, I think. There do not _have_ to be 16 eligible films. There can be as few as 8. If there are 16, then the nomination slate can be as high as 5, but if there are 8-15, then the nomination slate can be no greater than 3. You’re more-or-less right about the 7.5 scoring; if only one film receives that score, then that film will receive a Special Achievement Oscar instead of competing for one with a slate of nominees. \*\* A question for completeness’ sake: If no film gets a score of 7.5 or better, does this mean the ‘Best Animated Feature’ category will be dropped from the Oscars for that year? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-feature-oscar-race/136557/24 "2002-11-14T19:50:03Z")
Yes. According to the Oscar Rules for Animated Feature IV ©: > [@](#): > > If none of the productions receives an average score of 7.5 or more, the committee shall recommend to the Board of Governors that no award be made for Animated Feature Film that year cmkeller says: > [@](#): > > I hope you don’t mean this as a slap to Jimmy Neutron. I don’t know how good Waking Life was, because I never saw it, but darned if I didn’t enjoy Jimmy Neutron a heck of a lot. Hey, I liked it better than the overrated _Shrek_, too, but given the fact that the Academy knew the Pixar & DreamWorks were shoe-ins, they could’ve gone for the most visually inventive and ambitious animated film that year, but instead they went with the charming (but safe and oh-so predictable) CG kiddie film to join the other two CG kiddie films. ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-feature-oscar-race/136557/25 "2002-11-14T20:58:11Z")
BTW I checked the box-office figures for Spirit and it made 80 million dollars which is sub-par for a big-budget animation but not a massive flop or particularly sub-par for an Oscar nominated film. So I wonder if the voters will play it safe and nominate one movie from each of the three American studios (ie. Lilo, Spirit and Ice Age) instead of giving a second nomination to Disney with SA. It would be a shame but it seems quite possible. OTOH the Oscarwatch sight marks SA with a red asterix for having the most buzz in the category. ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-feature-oscar-race/136557/26 "2002-11-14T20:58:34Z")
BTW I checked the box-office figures for Spirit and it made 80 million dollars which is sub-par for a big-budget animation but not a massive flop or particularly sub-par for an Oscar nominated film. So I wonder if the voters will play it safe and nominate one movie from each of the three American studios (ie. Lilo, Spirit and Ice Age) instead of giving a second nomination to Disney with SA. It would be a shame but it seems quite possible. OTOH the Oscarwatch site marks SA with a red asterix for having the most buzz in the category. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-feature-oscar-race/136557.md?page=1)