by Nathaniel R
Early Man was one of the earliest titles released. Will Oscar remember it? They do love Aardman filmsAs Oscar watchers know it requires only 16 eligible animated features to trigger a 5-wide shortlist of nominees for Best Animated Feature. That number is fairly easy to hit, making this category rather more like the Tony Awards than the Oscars or Emmys, in that it's drawing from a very limited pool. You have, statistically, quite a good chance of getting nominated if you exist. The Academy generally reveals the eligibility list between November 6th and the 15th.
Obviously we know that high profile films from studios and animation houses like Pixar (Incredibles 2), Disney (Ralph Breaks the Internet), Warner Animation (Smallfoot, Teen Titans Go!), Fox Searchlight (Isle of Dogs), Universal (The Grinch), Sony Animation (Into the Spider-Verse, Hotel Transylvania 3), Aardman (Early Man -- which was just nominated for the European Film Awards), and Paramount (Sherlock Gnomes) will be hoping to snag one of the five coveted nominations but what of the lower profile titles? History suggests that one or two of them could muscle their way into the shortlist ahead of an arguably less inspiring American option...
We've just recently reviewed Ruben Brandt, Collector here, a Hungarian picture that we think will be competitive for a nomination because it's quite accessible and fun if you have even a rudimentary love for fine art and classic paintings. It's also super weird and, thus, memorable. But there are other international titles to keep watch for.
Mirai from Japan
GKids has made it something of a mission to aim for this category which has proven receptive to low profile foreign films that offer something beyond America's primary and sometimes only mode: the CG action/comedy. The problem is that GKids picks up a lot of titles so it's difficult to know what they might push or whether it will meet the eligibility requirements. This year they have already released titles an anime called The Night is Short Walk on Girl and a genre mashup called MFKZ but we suspect their big push will be for Mamoru Hosoda's new picture Mirai which is about a four year old boy who is visited by his baby sister as a teenager from the future. Hosoda is a very respected name and the animation is adorable. The film hits theaters as a special theatrical event on November 29th, December 5th and December 8th in various locations. More on that one later including an interview with the director.
White Fang from Luxembourg
Another Day of Life
It's wise to look at festival winners and regional film awards for possible titles, too. So we have to keep an eye on the European Film Award nominees. They have nominated four films this year including Aardman's Early Man and last year's Oscar-nominated Breadwinner (because of different release timetables in Europe). The other two more obscure titles could show up on Oscar's eligibility list. They are Another Day of Life, which is an international rotoscoped title about a Polish reporter journeying through the war torn Angola, and White Fang from Luxembourg which is a reimagining of the Jack London classic.
The recently completed Animation Is festival in Los Angeles might also contain clues to the titles we'll see on the list. The winner for 2018 was the France/Luxembourg production Funan about a Cambodian woman trying to reunite with her family during the Khmer Rouge era. Definitely keep an eye on that one because of its sobering subject matter and the buzz is that it's a powerful film that could only have been told in this way. Animation Is also gave a prize to an intriguing title called Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles which is about Spain's legendary auteur Luis Buñuel during the shooting of his final film but I don't think that's a serious threat to show up on the eligiblity list because it was shown at the festival in an unfinished form... so we'll look out for that in 2019.
Hoffmaniada from Russia
Finally we should keep our eye on the titles nominated at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The one we're most curious about is Russia's long-in-the-making fairy tale picture Hoffmaniada because it looks Laika-esque. The other nominees at APSA were Georgia's Rezo an autobiographical animated documentary, Japan's fantasy Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms about the relationship between an immortal girl and a human man, and Taiwan's On Happiness Road which is a memoir from a first time director about Taiwanese history and her childhood.
What are you most curious about this year in the Animated Feature category?