Only twice in the Academy Award's history has an animated feature film been nominated for Best Picture. Beauty and the Beast broke through and achieved its nomination after its release in 1991, and Up achieved something greater after its release in 2009 - Up battled the existent Animated Feature category, which seems to relegate all animated films into its cage, to become the second animated nominee and the first CGI nominee. And the first to do it with 10 nominees, though that's probably the only reason it happened. Maybe we can thank the unforgivable Wall-E snub for this, as we can thank The Dark Knight for giving us 10 nominees in the first place.
There are a few films I think should have been included in the above video, but it's a solid montage nonetheless.
I mentioned in an earlier post that Disney, Dreamworks, and Pixar are the kings of the frame-by-frame mountain. And they don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. With the Shrek franchise, Dreamworks has all but solidified its place in the heavyweight's circle, though the critical reception has seemingly gone down film by film. Of course, Disney will always be around, and Pixar - still in its junior stages - has been a critical and financial success since film one.
It seems only fitting that Toy Story 3 will be the next animated film nominated in the Best Picture category. As sort of a collective "thank you" for the trilogy as a whole, and in recognition of its critical and blow-out financial success, its nomination is well deserved. It's stands on its own as an incredible, undeniably effective film, and it stands with the prior two films as the beautiful conclusion to an extraordinary tale. What Beauty and the Beast accomplished for Disney, and Up accomplished for Pixar, the Toy Story saga - and I do mean saga - has accomplished for both. And now, all that talk will just be finalized.
What do you think of Toy Story 3? I know it has a few detractors, so if you're one of them, speak up. Or feel free to tell me how badly you want it nominated. There's a comment form below. Sound off!
