Two Oscar Rule Changes: One great, the other tragic
Friday, April 7, 2017 at 8:20PM by Nathaniel R
The Academy announced some a few rule changes today. You no longer have to have only one composer to be eligible for Original Score, and producing partnerships will be considered a single entity now -- meaning more people could be nominated for producing Best Picture nominees. But the two big changes are about the Documentary and Animated Feature races and one of those changes we applaud and the other makes us want to riot to protect a beloved artform...
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE CHANGE. The Good One
Though no one but a few of us loudmouths at TFE seemed to mind that a TV mini-series produced by a TV station (ESPN) for airing in multiple installments was allowed to compete as a feature AND WON last Oscar season (O.J. Simpson: Made in America) apparently we weren't as alone as we thought. Enough people in the Academy must have complained for there to be a quick rule change. Now even if you four-wall a movie theater to make your project "theatrical," it will still be ineligible if its made to be shown in installments. So, for instance, Five Came Back (which just debuted on Netflix) will not be eligible after all. Obviously this will probably result in appeals in various cases and the Documentary Branch executives will have to decide on individual situations but that's as it should have been originally. We have nothing against TV (contrary to popular belief) but think there's no point in pretending that TV shows are movies or vice versa since both TV shows and movies have their own golden statues! Why should you be able to win both an Emmy and an Oscar for the same film?
will new animated rules spell doom for production companies like Cartoon Saloon who specialize in high quality animation that doesn't fit the traditional American modes?
ANIMATED FEATURE CHANGE. The Bad One
Though every branch has previously determined its own nominations (except for the foreign film award, which doesn't have a "branch" but committees and best picture which all members vote on) the Animated Feature nomination process will now be open to any AMPAS member to vote. The Academy says:
Invitations to join the nominating committee will be sent to all active Academy members, rather than a select craft-based group,” the Academy said. “Voting in the nominations round will now be preferential instead of based on a numerical scoring system.
This change could strike a severe blow to the wonderful diversity of the category we've been getting for years with nominations from Switzerland, Japan, France, and Ireland mixed in with the the only kind of animated picture made in America: CG Adventure Comedies/Musicals. Though surely not every Academy member will be jumping to join the now open committee, this will likely mean that a great many non-animators with studio connections will now be voting. So expect Cars 3 and Despicable Me 3 (and such) to have a leg up on this year's Red Turtles and My Life as a Courgettes (whatever films those turn out to be).
This is altogether tragic news for those of us who believe that animation is not a genre but a medium. American studios consider animation a genre (yes, even the ones who complain that it's treated as such like various filmmakers at Pixar --please note that Pixar has never made anything but one genre: adventure comedy family pictures). This category, for all its flaws, had proven to be a tremendous profile-raising opportunity for worthy films made without deep studio pockets. That will probably no longer be the case. Losing amazing Oscar nominees like Song of the Sea or gorgeous traditionally drawn features like Princess Kaguya in the future is just too depressing to contemplate. Off we go to cry buckets of tears.
We hope that our fears are unfounded but since we don't think they will be, one last round of applause to all of these past Oscar nominees, most of which probably wouldn't have had a chance had they been released this year or in future years (unless they change the rules back)...
SPIRITED AWAY (2002) - winner
THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (2003)
PERSEPOLIS (2007)
THE SECRET OF KELLS (2009)
THE ILLUSIONIST (2010)
A CAT IN PARIS (2011)
CHICO AND RITA (2011)
ERNEST & CELESTINE (2013)
THE WIND RISES (2013)
SONG OF THE SEA (2014)
THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA (2014)
BOY AND THE WORLD (2015)
WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE (2015)
MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI (2016)
THE RED TURTLE (2016)
Reader Comments (18)
So sad to see the animation rule change.
"My Life as a Zucchini" was one of the most delightful surprises of the year I might not have seen if not for the Oscar nomination. The animated feature branch has been the best at spotlighting hidden gems that so easily could have been lost. Here's hoping new Academy members who vote on nominations do their homework.
It's a sad day for animation as an art form. Big studio family fare from here on out. Who thought this was a good idea? Who fought for this? I don't get it.
I am glad that they changed the doco rule.
OJ Made in America deserved its win I don't care what this site or Film Twitter says.
One of my favourite podcast moments was Nick talking about the 2011 animated nominations, referring to the branch completely rejecting the major hits.
I'd like to think people wouldn't vote for animated films unless they've seen all the films, which shouldn't be terribly difficult. There are usually only 15-20 eligible each year. (Am I being stupidly optimistic?)
Another possible consequence of the new Animated Feature rule: films made in other countries may feel the need to cast (or recast) American actors as the voice talent, just to make the films more familiar to Academy members. It may seem like selling out, but for some of these films, the Oscar nomination is the only thing that gets the film on screens outside of NY and LA.
OJ Made in America deserved its win I don't care what this site or Film Twitter says.
it's not about it not being a great documentary. This is not a judgment as to its quality. It's about it not being a movie. Only movies should be able to win Oscars. TV shows have their own awards.
By this metric, animated films have several guild awards that honor their work which should eliminate them from Oscar consideration. A great film is a great film. If it's showcased for TV instead of a theater, why should that matter? If it's so great on TV that it was worthy of an Emmy and it also happens to be great enough for the academy, more power to them! Additionally this could have opened more avenues for documentaries to get in front of more viewers, which is desperately needed.
Brandon -- the guild comparison makes no sense. The guilds have awards for both TV and film... they are peer group things only.
Oscars are for movies and have been for 90 years. Emmys are for TV and have been for 69 years. Why should we change this just because people liked a documentary miniseries on OJ Simpson? By this metric you could fourwall a theater for a Game of Thrones episode and call it a movie? it's not a movie. it's a tv series. I love tv series and i love movies. But they're not remotely the same thing!
While the animated Oscars change is unfortunate, I think the obituaries may be too early. The only (?) category that currently opens voting to all members (best picture) routinely has great nominees. I think this will drive GKIDS to try to release their films in the fall more often so they get seen, which is what the site has always argue for especially regarding the foreign film nominees. If the voters don't give nominations to the Deadpool/Avengers of the world, I don't think they will be jumping to vote for Despicable Me/Cars sequel...unless they are actually good.
It is pretty obvious that the change in Animated is destined to protect the american production...
Anybody who has read my documentary column over the last year will know my thoughts of this. I am happy they nipped this potential gamechanging development before distributors took it too far and started submitting programs like THE JINX and MAKING A MURDERER. And, truly, with people saying "miniseries are just seven-hour movies!" what was to stop Netflix or Amazon biting a bullet and doing it? People say "but documentaries are different" but, really, the situation could have been replicated quite easily and many people were way too casual about simply following the lead because they (justifiably) thought OJ was great. It wasn't like 13TH or the documentaries of HBO/PBS that have been nominated over the years. Those at least adhere to a cinematic language. When you go to purchase OJ on iTunes it actually sells it to you in five individual episodes. They're labelled episodes! Each episode has its arcs and there are even noticeable moments for commercial breaks.
Sucks for FIVE CAME BACK though for two reasons: a) It's doubtful they'll be eligible now despite playing in theatres to qualify and it easily could have been nominated and won; and b) they very easily could have just edited it into a three-hour movie and released it that way, had no fuss, and walked away with the trophy. It's NETFLIX, why did a three-hour project even need to be divided in three? Are audiences really that slack that they'll go "why yes, I'll watch three one-hour episodes but not one three-hour movie."
Wait. Don't answer that.
As for animation... well, we'll see how it goes. If my reading of it is correct, the animation branch still gets voting privileges should they choose to, it's just that the category is now also often to others like how foreign language film is open to anybody who wants to have a say. And if so, they will still have to watch the contenders. Hopefully it doesn't mean movies like SING start getting nominated over THE RED TURTLE - one would think if they're putting their hand up to nominate animated films that they have a respect for the artform and aren't just doing it to get a film nominated that their friend worked on? It's not like all 6000 academy members have the ability to vote in that category and only put the five down that they went to the red carpet premieres for.
Right?
Nathaniel: You have forgot to mention "Howl's Moving Castle" by Miyazaki. It was nominated in 2006. What tragic!! :)
Nat: Best case scenario for the reason behind the animation change was that it was really just delayed reaction syndrome to The Lego Movie not being an animated feature nominee and they wanted to wait until another Lego Movie came out before enacting the change. If that's what they're reacting to? I kind of have to say, good on them. Animators are probably NEVER going to toss #1 votes at a movie where the animation is supposed to look intentionally stiff, toy tie-in or not, GOOD MOVIE or not. Now, I also hope non-branch members are held to tighter standards (especially when voting on a winner), but if this means we don't get another "total animators masturbation" nomination choice like Big Hero 6 over The Lego Movie? I'm all for trying it.
Note: Also, how did Big Hero 6 WIN? Dreamworks and Ghibli hadn't won for more than a decade, Song of the Sea was the best actual nominee and even The Boxtrolls you could at least claim as a symbolic win for the two prior Laika films (and both of THOSE should have won 2009 and 2012) as well. But Big Hero 6, though not a bad movie, was definitely the worst of the nominees (how NOT to make a superhero mystery, a play in three acts, Presented by Disney) and had no solid symbolic narrative to speak of beyond having earned the most money and butt-hurt over The Lego Movie's exclusion. It can't even claim "but Mainline Disney hasn't won at all before" (which would be an "okay, then" narrative at best), because of Frozen.
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