# The animated film Oscar race **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636 "2003-12-12T18:15:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/1 "2003-12-12T18:15:58Z")
11 films are in contention; 3 will be nominated. The films are: Finding Nemo, Brother Bear, Millenium Actress, Triplets of Belleville, Tokyo Godfathers, Jester Till, Jungle Book 2, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Piglet’s Big Movie, Pokemon Heroes and Rugrats go Wild. Finding Nemo is a certainty for a nomination and a near-certainty for the win. I am guessing Disney will get the second nomination with Brother Bear. However the contest for the third nomination will be interesting; I think Millenium Actress and Triplets will be fighting it out; both of them have received good reviews and will add to the prestige of the contest. I liked both films but I think Triplets is the better one. My impression is that it has more buzz as well and since a Japanese film won last year they may prefer a French film for a nomination this year. An outside shot for the third spot is Tokyo Godfathers by Satoshi Kon (who also directed Millenium Actress). I don’t think it has been released yet and I don’t know how mainstream reviewers will react to it. It has received good reviews on anime websites though. In any event Finding Nemo will almost certainly win. Though I liked Triplets more, I have no complaints. Nemo was a terrific film and Pixar certainly deserves the prize. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/2 "2003-12-12T18:55:02Z")
Nothing much to say except I’m in complete agreement with you. One more factor that’ll help _Finding Nemo_ will be Pixar’s track record. They’ve made a string of great films without winning an Oscar and the voters will be looking to make up for that. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/3 "2003-12-12T23:56:46Z")
I thought there would be five nominations for the category? ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/4 "2003-12-13T00:03:58Z")
It should be Finding Nemo (winner), Millenium Actress, Triplets of Belleville. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/5 "2003-12-13T01:52:53Z")
There needs to be sixteen eligible films for there to be five films nominated (interestingly, Dreamworks neglected to put Sinbad up for consideration while Disney threw in all its resurrected DTV sequels). Finding Nemo is about as much of a lock as there can get. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/6 "2003-12-13T02:17:05Z")
From the Academy Award [rules](http://www.oscars.org/75academyawards/rules/rule07.html) for animated feature: > [@](#): > > All submissions sent to the Academy will be screened by the Academy’s Animated Feature Film Award Screening Committee. After the screenings, the committee will vote by secret ballot to nominate from three to five films for this award. In any year in which 8 to 15 animated features are released in Los Angeles County, a maximum of three films may be nominated. In any year in which 16 or more animated features are submitted and accepted in the category, a maximum of five films may be nominated. > > (a) Those films receiving an average score of 7.5 or more shall be eligible for nomination. > > (b) If only one production receives an average of 7.5 or more, the committee shall recommend to the Board of Governors that a Special Achievement Award for Animated Feature Film be made to that production. > > © 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. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/7 "2003-12-13T03:17:49Z")
The first year they had an animated Oscar category, they demonstrated it as a complete sham by not nominating _Waking Life_, the most innovative animated film since _Toy Story_. Anyway, on the topic of this year’s award, the OP seems to be completely correct. ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/8 "2003-12-13T05:08:03Z")
“(interestingly, Dreamworks neglected to put Sinbad up for consideration…” I was wondering about Sinbad myself. Why didn’t Dreamworks put it up? “It should be Finding Nemo (winner), Millenium Actress, Triplets of Belleville” I agree these should be the three nominees but I seriously doubt that the Academy will nominate two art-house films. Let’s hope we get at least one. Neither MA or Triplets is children’s fare either unlike Spirited Away which , excellent though it was, was fairly conventional in terms of its genre. ``` Interestingly though www.oscarwatch.com lists Nemo, MA and Triplets in the animation category. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/9 "2003-12-20T21:16:51Z")
And where is “The Wordsworth Saga”? Just because it’s an adult anime doesn’t mean it can’t be any good, does it? ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/10 "2003-12-28T04:56:03Z")
[http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article\_no=1956&page=1](http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=1956&page=1) An interesting article about the Animation Oscar. Page 2 has some interesting information about the current race. If the article is correct, Triplets and Tokyo Godfathers are being promoted more actively than Millenium Actress. Perhaps Godfathers isn’t that long of a shot for the nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-animated-film-oscar-race/218636/11 "2003-12-28T05:07:24Z")
Haven’t seen \*Triplets \*(though I plan to), but definitely agree that _Finding Nemo_ and _Millennium Actress_ deserve nods, both as spectacular achievements in animation and as fantastic films in their own right. Not sure which of the latter I actually consider the _better_ film, as they’re both excellent in very different ways. Like most of the people here, though, I’m leaning towards Nemo winning the Oscar, as Pixar is waaaaaaay overdue. I mean, really, _Shrek_ over _Monster’s Inc_?!