Friday, October 7, 2016

The Oscar Narrative: Post Festival Predictions - Best Animated Feature

Post Festival Predictions
Finding Dory
Kubo and the Two Strings
Miss Hokusai
Moana
Zootopia

Other Contenders - The Red Turtle, Sausage Party, April and the Extraordinary World, Sing, Trolls, The Little Prince, The Secret Life of Pets, Kung Fu Panda 3, The Angry Birds Movie, My Life as a Zucchini, Storks, Phantom Boy, The Girl Without Hands, Ice Age: Collision Course

Commentary - This race looks tough this year, so tough that once again Pixar is not a lock. Finding Dory did great business, but we have seen so many Pixar films with more mixed reviews miss the cut lately, and with the Animation Branch seemingly getting bolder year after year with their choices, Pixar has to knock it out of the park (like Inside Out) to really lock in a nomination or end up like The Good Dinosaur, Cars 2, and Monsters University. That being said, I still have it in. I also have Moana in sight unseen. Two earlier contenders, Zootopia and Kubo and the Two Strings were huge hits with the critics, and I think both will be big players in this race. Finally, GKids always gets in, so Miss Hokusai is filling in their guaranteed slot. But GKids has actually taken more than one slot, or at least a more independent or foreign entry seems to always big out a bigger film. So watch out for The Red Turtle, April and the Extraordinary World, My Life as a Zucchini, Phantom Boy, The Little Prince, or The Girl Without Hands to crash the party. After Anomalisa made it in, that paves the way for more adult fare like Sausage Party, and some of the lesser "big" animated films like The Angry Birds Movie, Ice Age, Storks, Kung Fu Panda 3, and The Secret Life of Pets cannot be written off so easily. Finally, Sing has good initial reviews and Trolls looks adorable. Both are big dark horses in what looks to be a competitive race.

No comments:

Post a Comment