Submissions for the Nominations for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2018 Oscars (Part 1)

Man, I'd never thought I'd be as interested in the Academy Awards (aka the Oscars) as much as I am right now this year. Then again, since I'm more of an animation fan than a fan of movies in general (particularly live-action movies), I'm not as interested in the Oscars as I am with the Emmys since animation is so hugely misrepresented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka AMPAS or simply the Academy). After all, it wasn't until 2001 that this very category that I'm about to talk about right here in this post that the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film was finally established, with Shrek having the honor of being the first movie to ever receive the award. Over the years, we've seen quite a lot of worthy contenders of some pretty great animated films be nominated and awarded in this category. As for what me and most people would think about the selections for some of the nominations and winners of this category, some of them are great and deserve it, others are okay at best and mediocre at worst, and some... might make you either roll your eyes at the very least (or at most, that it might make you FEEL LIKE A TOTAL BARNACLEHEAD!). Alright, let's get to the point. This is MSBS here, and I'm here to give my personal thoughts on the list of animated movies submitted as potential nominees for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the 90th Academy Awards that will take place in 2018 next year. Now since the list is long and I'm unable to list all the submissions in this post all at once, I'll be splitting this into three parts. That said, let's start going down the list, shall we?

1. The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales: It seems we're off to a good start on this list. Here, we have a 2017 French animated anthology film directed by Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert, adapted from Renner's own books that the movie is based on. Now I haven't seen it myself, but based on images I've seen of it on Google, the movie seems to carry a unique art style reminiscent of the art style that I usually saw in most illustrated story books that I read back in elementary school. For me, it's that very unique art style that appeals to me the most when it comes to this movie. Given that this movie is told in three segments linked by a frame narrative, the art style really fits the what the movie is all about. The movie is only about 79 minutes, so it's likely worth watching if you need to burn off a time span of over 1 hour or more. I can see this indie film being a likely contender for nomination.

2. Birdboy: The Forgotten Children: And now we have another indie film (correct me if I'm wrong). So in Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (formally known as Psychonauts, The Forgotten Children), it revolves around a mouse named Birdboy and his mouse girlfriend Dinky (no, wait, make that three children mice including those two I just mentioned) as they flee from their dystopian society. As with the previous item, I haven't seen this movie, but the one thing that captures my appeal is the art style, which both goes well with the dystopian setting and the coming-of-age film that Birdboy: The Forgotten Children is supposed to be. Again, it could be a likely contender for nomination, but we'll just have to hope studio-produced movies don't overshadow indie films like this gem.

3. The Boss Baby: Oh, poo (no pun intended). So now we have our first bad film (in my opinion) on this list based on alphabetical order. To recap in case anyone might have forgotten or may not know about the movie, The Boss Baby is basically about a 7-year old boy named Tim whose life is pretty much perfect until the Boss Baby, who is voiced by Alec Baldwin, comes into his life, ensuing in sibling rivalry as the two must learn to get along and later have to work together when the Boss Baby reveals himself to be a secret spy on a mission related to some ongoing battle between... puppies and babies....Wow. The concept itself just sounds stupid on paper. What happened to DreamWorks, man? In the past, they gave us animated movies that had ideas bad in concept, but managed to flesh them out to give us truly wonderful movies like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. With The Boss Baby, it makes it seem more like DreamWorks Animation is going through some Dork Age right about now! Honestly, I don't think this movie has the slightest chance of getting nominated, let alone the fact that it doesn't even deserve being considered for nomination.

4. The Breadwinner: No, this is not to be confused with the god awful Nickelodeon animated series Breadwinners. Unlike that trash heap of toilet humor and butt jokes, The Breadwinner is FAR from anything like that. Now The Breadwinner is an adult-animated drama film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Deborah Ellis. It's about a girl named Parvana who disguises herself as a boy and must work for her mother Fattema and her sister Soraya after her father Nurullah is unjustly arrested in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The premise already has me hooked since it's relevant to an ongoing global issue that we still face in the Middle East, but other than the premise, one other thing I like is the art style. The movie is animated by Cartoon Saloon, the same studio that animated The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, so that's definitely a plus right there. It certainly deserves a spot at nomination.

5. Captain Underpants The First Epic Movie: Okay, so now we have an actually good DreamWorks animated movie from this year. Haven't seen it, but while clips had me initially think it was going to be stupid with lowbrow humor, Captain Underpants seems to truly bring a lot of elements from the books it was based on to life. The movie really seems to love to embrace the silliness and hilarity that the books had, and in this case, that's a good thing. After all, I remember reading a few Captain Underpants books back in elementary school and they were really funny. So more or less, this could be a potential nominee. DEFINITELY A BETTER CHOICE THAN THE BOSS BABY!

6. Cars 3: I'd say Coco has a better chance of nomination and having the award in the bag, but hey, no one ever said Pixar can only have one nomination. I have yet to see Cars 3, but let me tell you something. When I saw one of my childhood heroes Lightning McQueen literally crash in a nearly fatal and realistic accident, that showed me right there that Cars 3 wasn't messing around. Plus, it's gotten warmer reviews than its predecessors. Especially Cars 2. I just wish my family didn't perceive all animated movies to be just for kids, because I really wanted to see this movie in theaters when it premiered (hey, I have nostalgia of seeing the first Cars in theaters back when I was a kid). Anyways, a nomination could be likely, though Coco might overshadow it.

7. Cinderella the Cat: I had no idea what this movie was prior to making this post. That said, after researching the premise for the film, I learned that it's an Italian animated movie set in a decaying future Naples about a teen girl named Mia who struggles to escape the oppression of Camorra boss Salvatore Lo Giusto and her evil stepmother Angelica (huh, reminds me of Angelica Pickles from Rugrats). I haven't heard much about the reception of this movie, but so far, I've only seen one positive review from a critic praising its creative and sleek animation and enjoyable music. No negative reviews so far, so I guess that critic was right about this being one of the best Italian animated films in years. A nomination is probably not likely given that there's not much critical recognition, but you never know.

8. Coco: Me gusta! Now this... THIS will be the animated film to take home the award for Best Animated Feature Film. It's nice to see Pixar trying their hands out at a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) movie in musical form. I really admire the main protagonist Migeul Rivera for his pursuit in dreams of becoming a musician, and to kick things off, I love how the movie focuses on the themes of family and heritage very deeply. I don't see how Coco is a blatant rip-off of The Book of Life. Sure, both movies revolve around the Day of the Dead and have protagonists that aspire to become musicians that somehow get trapped in the Land of the Dead. However, Coco is a vastly unique movie that sets itself apart from The Book of Life, so expect Miguel's journey to be a more familial and aspiring tale than Manolo's love story. And like I said earlier, this will definitely get nominated AND win the award.

9. Despicable Me 3: I'm not saying it's an outright terrible movie, but compared to movies like Coco, I don't really think it's that worthy of an Oscar nomination. I liked the first Despicable Me and I did like Despicable Me 2 when I first saw it (though, my opinion may change over time). As for Despicable Me 3, I could care less about it. I only really laughed when they showed that trailer where Gru is naked and flying by a group of office workers as they laugh at his predicament. Other than that, while I can see they tried to do something different by bringing in Gru's twin brother Dru, Dru comes off more as what would happen if Squilliam became Squidward's long-lost brother instead of an unrelated rival. It doesn't help that critics were quite mixed on the movie. So I don't think Despicable Me 3 is going to have it easy this time around like Despicable Me 2 did with the Oscars.

10. The Emoji Movie: Long ago in a distant land, The Emoji Movie, the face-changing master of darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But, a foolish Genndy Tartakovsky working on a Popeye movie, stepped forth to oppose it. Before the final blow was struck, The Emoji Movie tore open a portal in time, and flung him into the future, where its evil is law. Now the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is The Emoji Movie! Well, I just assumed that eventually over time, this movie would just... DIE! Which is why it's so sad that Sony even had the nerve to submit this as a pending nominee for this year's Oscars. Considering that there isn't anything that can be said that hasn't been said about this movie, the best thing I can say is to just check out Animat's review of this pile of 💩. Also, Aku seems to have suffered a fate worse than death, because instead of dying out for good in the series finale of Samurai Jack, it seems he's been transported to said fate worse than death... by being reincarnated in shameless emoji form at the dance party at the end of The Emoji Movie! But in all seriousness, I can only fume in despair and rage at the fact that the Academy would even THINK of nominating the worst animated film of 2017! But I think we all know there's absolutely NO way this is getting nominated.

And with that, I close off Part 1 of this blog post series of analyzing the movies being considered for nomination at the 90th Academy Awards. Such a shame that two of this year's worst movies like The Emoji Movie and The Boss Baby got submitted this year for nominee consideration. But I think we can rest assured that nominees like Coco will make it (with Coco having this award in the bag too as well). That said, thank you for reading this post and feel free to discuss in the comments about the potential nominees for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Until then, peace!

Stay tuned for Submissions for the Nominations for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2018 Oscars (Part 2)

Comments

Emoji Movie and Boss Baby...why were they nominated? - DCfnaf (11/13/2017)

To be accurate, these are only SUBMISSIONS that will be considered for the nomination process. But like I said, no way will The Emoji Movie or The Boss Baby ever come close to being nominated. - visitor (11/13/2017)

Watch how they get nominated lmao - DCfnaf (11/13/2017)

If they snub other worthy contenders from getting the nominations, I'll probably have an aneurysm. - visitor (11/13/2017)

They were just submitted, there's no way they are getting nominated (well maybe Boss Baby because Dreamworks)... - Phillip873 (11/18/2017)

At least "The Emoji Movie" is nowhere near getting nominated, so that's a plus.

Although there are pretty good choices all around, the problem is that Animated Films hardly get the same amount of respect or praise they deserve in film awards, especially Oscars. I've yet to see "Coco", but its no surprise its going to win Best Animated Feature, which highlights the Oscars' predictability. by the way, this is coming from a Pixar fan, but in all honesty, not all Pixar films are classics (At least most are), but I do think other animation studios need more critical recognition as well.

I do hope for the best in the competition regardless. - CrimsonShark (11/13/2017)

Yeah. Not to mention that Japanese animated films and other foreign language films are more underrepresented than Western animated films. I mean, there's a lot of good French and Japanese animated films, and as for the latter, I'm happy to see A Silent Voice, In This Corner of the World, Mary and the Witch's Flower, Napping Princess, and Sword Art Online: The Movie - Ordinal Scale get submitted as considerations for the nominations. Considering we got 5 great anime films under our belt, the Oscars should really make room for both Japanese and other foreign language animated features for more equal and fair representation in the Oscars. - visitor (11/13/2017)

It'd be a surprise to see an anime win an Oscar. Can happen definitely :). - CrimsonShark (11/13/2017)

Actually, the only Japanese animated film to ever win an Oscar was Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. And that was back in 2002. Ever since then, no other Japanese animated film has won an Oscar. Your Name did have potential to be nominated and maybe even win an Oscar, but it never got nominated and was ultimately snubbed from nomination. Such a shame. - visitor (11/13/2017)

The Emoji Movie would be even worse if it got nominated. - visitor (11/14/2017)

Coco seems to have this year locked up. Early reviews are great. That would mean that a Disney or Pixar film would win the award for seven straight years. I'm probably going to see it the Friday after it comes out. I can't wait! - phillysports (11/14/2017)

Me too! I hope my family will let me see it in theaters when it comes out where I live. - visitor (11/14/2017)

I can't wait to see Coco.

by the way, I think the only awards The Emoji Movie should win are Razzies. - visitor (11/14/2017)

Yeah. Say, they do still broadcast the Razzies on T.V.? I never hear much buzz about it these days. - visitor (11/15/2017)

I think The Emoji Movie should win.

in seriousness though I guess Captain Underpants is my favorite. - ProPanda (11/14/2017)

The Emoji Movie IS the best film of all-time - visitor (12/31/2017)

I had my doubt about this film, but after giving it a chance... Captain Underpants should win. I was shocked it was actually good for something that was from a book series. - visitor (11/17/2017)

This is only part 1. Part 2 shows stuff like Lego Batman, a movie that's way more deserving. - DCfnaf (11/18/2017)

Wow, did my list really inspire you to make this really well made post? Very nicely made post! - Phillip873 (11/18/2017)

Why, yes it did. That was actually the reason I asked you to make this list in the first place. And I thank you both for making the list and complimenting my post. - visitor (11/18/2017)

Why did they cancel the Popeye movie? - TwilightKitsune (11/18/2017)

Creative differences. - DCfnaf (11/18/2017)

Well, now that I've seen Coco, I think it goes without saying it unanimously deserves the Oscar hands down. - visitor (11/28/2017)

#emojimovie2 - visitor (12/31/2017)

COCO SHOULD WIN - visitor (5/9/2018)