For the second year in a row, the best reviewed film of the year did not get a Best Picture nomination.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially announced their nominations for this year's Oscars. However, Disney/Pixar's WALL-E, despite making countless critics' "Best of 2008" lists and winning the Golden Tomato for best film of the year, was shut out of the Best Picture category.
This omission was especially glaring in light of Disney's aggressive campaign to get the Andrew Stanton film into the running for what is considered the most prestigious prize at the Oscars.
Will WALL-E Get Best Original Screenplay?
Instead, the Best Picture nominees were exclusively live-action dramas:
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
- Frost/Nixon (Universal)
- Milk (Focus Features)
- The Reader (The Weinstein Company)
- Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight)
As a consolation prize, WALL-E did get a Best Animated Feature Film nomination. It's going up against Disney Animation's Bolt and DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda, which should present little competition for Disney/Pixar.
The only film that might have stolen the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar was Sony Pictures Classics' Waltz With Bashir. Instead, it was shunted to the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year category.
WALL-E did receive nominations in 5 other categories: Sound Mixing, Editing, Original Score (for composer Thomas Newman), Best Original Song ("Down to Earth" by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman) and, most interestingly, Best Original Screenplay.
Should the Andrew Stanton film win that last category, it will be a tacit admission by AMPAS that WALL-E should have been in the Best Picture race, and possibly even have won.
Disney/Pixar Shut Out of Best Picture Race For 2nd Year
Last year, Brad Bird's Ratatouille accomplished the same feat: it was considered the best-reviewed film of 2007, yet the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided not to reward that feat with a Best Picture nomination either. It went on to win the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar instead.
Best Animated Shorts Nominees
- "La Maison en Petits Cubes" A Robot Communications Production, Kunio Kato
- "Lavatory - Lovestory" A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production, Konstantin Bronzit
- "Oktapodi" (Talantis Films), A Gobelins, L’école de l’image Production, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
- "Presto" (Walt Disney), A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Doug Sweetland
- "This Way Up" A Nexus Production, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
The two heavyweights in this category are "Presto" and "La Maison en Petits Cubes." "Presto" would be the populist choice, as the hilarious short was a favourite among filmgoers and animators. However, "La Maison en Petits Cubes" was an incredibly moving tale of one man's journey through memory, and is likely to take home the Oscar.
The 2008 Oscars will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. ABC is televising the event.
Fun Fact: Who should win Best Picture at this year's Oscars? Which film is linked?
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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