Three cheers to Pixar employees for their forceful righteous letter to Disney

by Nathaniel R

Thank you to the always informative Cartoon Brew for sharing this letter from Pixar employees. The original  source was the subscription newsletter Popular Information. The letter addresses Disney's disgusting support of anti-gay legislators in Florida (which we discussed a couple of days ago) and the company's lame attempts at pretending they haven't given that support without actually removing it. The letter was written by 'LGBTQ+ employees and their allies' at Pixar. It's forceful and necessary. Of notable interest is the admission that Pixar films have tried for greater diversity in their storytelling years before the current wave of movies but has always been shut down by their parent company. We're sharing it in full because it's 100% worth reading...

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Yes No Maybe So: 'Lightyear', 'Jurassic World Dominion', 'Firestarter', and 'Men'

New trailer roundup!

Let's discussing upcoming prequels (Lightyear), sequels (Jurassic World Dominion), remakes (Firestarter) and one original (Men)... at least there's one! We'll do quick Yes No and Maybe So for each after the jump... 

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Over and Overs: “WALL•E” and My Son

Team Experience occasionally sounds off on super rewatchable films that hold a special place in their lives

By Ben Miller

As a parent, I have hoped to find common interests with my two children.  While my neurotypical daughter is outgoing and gregarious, my son is on the autism spectrum and does not relate as well.  His communication skills are limited and his specific interests are topic based, like dinosaurs and planets. In an effort to find a common love, I attempted many different activities.  While my love of baseball has yet to translate towards any athletic inclinations on is part, I was able to truly bond with my son through the magic of film, and that film was WALL•E...

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1998: What if there already was a Best Animated Feature Oscar?

by Cláudio Alves

Mariah Carey and Whitney Huston perform a song from THE PRINCE OF EGYPT at the Oscars.

Before implementing the Best Animated Feature category, the Academy gave out three special awards over six decades honoring individual achievements in the art of feature-length animation – Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Toy Story were the honorees. It was only in the new millennium that AMPAS finally buckled to rising pressures and created the official prize. In 2001, this Oscar was finally established. As we ready ourselves for the Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1998, it's easy to wonder what would have happened if the category had been around a few years earlier…

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Animated Features of 2021... and first Oscar Predictions!

by Nathaniel R

This past year wasn't a particularly great one for animation but hope springs eternal and maybe we'll have a more competitive Oscar race next February? This will be the 21st year of the Best Animated Feature Oscar race. With 20 years of statistics we know what Oscar voters go for in this category and what they don't. They generally turn their noses up at sequels (unless they absolutely adored the first one). They will always honor at least one international title (but usually two) with a nomination, but they won't give them the win unless they absolutely have to. The animation studios Cartoon Saloon, Laika, and Aardman are widely respected by animators and will always be nominated if they're eligible... but it usually stops there as the wider voting body on the "win" defaults to big American studio animation and 70% of the time (literally) the wins go to the Mouse House for either Disney or Pixar titles. When it comes to animated titles from overseas they're a bit like they are with the Best International Feature category (even though it's different voters) in that they generally ignore Asian animation (with the exception of Studio Ghibli) and prefer European titles. 

With the recent announcement of the competitive line-up for the 2021 Annecy festival (one of the four most important animation events each year) we have a better sense of which international titles might crop up this year in the circles that love animated films. Surely at least some of these will submit to the Oscar race as well. So here's as many animated features as we could find that might delight animation-loving cinephiles this year

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