Today marks the second time that an animated film has been nominated for the highest honor in film… ever! This is huge!
Yup, the 82nd Annual Academy Award nominations have finally been announced and Disney/Pixar’s campaign to get up there with the big dogs has finally been fulfilled! Pete Docter, Jonas Rivera, and the entire Up crew must be very proud, but a Best Picture nom isn’t the only thing Pixar will be celebrating this afternoon.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has also nominated Up for Best Animated Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Score, and Best Sound Mixing. That’s five (5) nominations in all! Unfortunately, Partly Cloudy was absent from the Animated Short list.
Check out Pixar’s competition below:
• Best Picture: Up — Jonas Rivera
Competition: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Precious, Up in the Air
• Best Animated Feature: Up — Pete Docter
Competition: Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells
• Best Writing (Original Screenplay): Up — Bob Peterson, Pete Docter/Story by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy
Competition: Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, The Messenger, A Serious Man
• Best Sound Mixing: Up — Michael Silvers, Tom Myers
Competition: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Star Trek
• Best Music (Original Score): Up — Michael Giacchino
Competition: Avatar, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Hurt Locker, Sherlock Holmes
Congratulations to Pete Docter and the whole Up crew on these momentous nominations! Check out the rest of the nominees at the link to the left.
As always, Pixar faces tough competition. Best Picture holds the most scrutiny for obvious reasons and especially after its expansion to 10 slots, but again, 2009 is the year of the animated film. In my opinion, this is the category in which Pixar’s 10th has the most realistic adversaries. Other than that, Up faces some solid screenplays and scores, making for even more meaningful wins for whoever takes home those Oscars.
But I feel Pixar has won something already; its rightful place in movie history. It’s great to finally see the acclaimed studio at the very top after years of best reviewed films like Ratatouille and WALL•E being snubbed from the top category solely because they’re animated films! Now the tough part is actually getting that Oscar statuette…
Watch ABC on March 7th, 2010 as history could possibly be made at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards ceremony!
What are your thoughts on the Oscar nominations? How exciting is it to finally see Pixar in the Best Picture category?
Last modified: February 2, 2010
I hope that the dual nominations for Best Picture and Best Animated Picture don’t split the vote. Pete Doctor definitely deserves the Oscar for Best Animated Picture, especially after he was robbed the first year the category was added.
On a semi-related note, if Avatar wins Best Picture my loss of faith in humanity will be complete (good movie, but NOT best picture material).
HURRAY FOR UP!!!!!!!! NOMINATED IS GREAT, BUT WINNING IT, IT’S A BONUS!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
It’s obvious that Up has to win the Best Animated Picture Award, because it is the only animated in the Best Picture shortlist.
@Anonymous
Yes, you’d think that, but when it comes to the Oscars it’s not quite that simple. The fact that it’s nominated for both categories means that there is the potential for a split-vote where instead of all the votes going to Best Animated Picture they’ll be divided between the two categories resulting in a lower vote for each category.
It won’t win Best Picture, and it should win Best Animated Picture, but I fear that it won’t.
I woke up at 5AM to see this amazing event on television. This is the best news I’ve ever heard. All the Pixarians are tweeting about it; I can just see the celebration going on right now.
And by the way, I think you mean Up was nominated for Sound Editing, not Sound Mixing.
@IllusionOfLife: I don’t think Up will suffer from split votes, because I don’t think a lot of voters will choose it for Best Picture. As good as the film is, Up is not a serious contender to actually win in this category. Most voters will choose Avatar, The Hurt Locker or Up In The Air (as these are the frontrunners) for Best Picture, and be comfortable by choosing Up for Best Animated Feature.
So, no problem here. Up will win Best Animated Feature. No doubt.
Up should definitely win Best Picture. Pixar made history today that is for sure. The next step is to reach a point where we do not assume it will lose to Avatar. You never know though. Up is a VERY powerful film on a lot of levels. I would not count it out, but i understand the self defense against disappointment.
BEST PICTURE.
BEST PICTURE.
MY MONTH IS MADE WHETHER IT WINS OR NOT.
This is MONUMENTAL. Just… monumental. Seriously, Pixar is going so well up against the competition this year — and in a year where it’s especially tough. While I don’t doubt that “Avatar” is a good film, I’m really, really hoping Pixar wins it. Seeing Pixar’s name under Best Picture, come on, that’s like a dream come true. I’m just so proud of them!! And well-deserved. 🙂
—Leirin
Preditctions
Best Picture: either Up or Avatar or District 9.
Best Animated Feature: Up or Fantastic Mr. Fox or The Princess and the Frog or The Secret of Kells (if the acadamy wants to give it to a non Western Animation place)
Best Writing (Original Screenplay): Up
Best Sound Mixing: Up or Avatar
Best Music (Original Score): Up — Michael Giacchino
-joshlama
Someone brought up a really good point on another forum: Up is the only film to be receiving UNIVERSALLY positive reviews. While Avatar, The Hurt Locker, and Inglorious Basterds are very serious contenders, they have all been received in a mix. Each have their haters and their lovers. Up on the other hand has absolute love. So maybe we can see the chances of Up winning incline. I would hope so.
I hate to burst any bubbles, but the Academy typically does not base their awards on general consensus; if this were the case Pixar films would have won Best Picture for the past 3 years.
While I would love Up to win I find it highly unlikely. I’m afraid that Avatar will win, just as it did at the Golden Globes, beating out many other, and much better movies. Don’t get me wrong, Avatar was entertaining, but it had no resonance, once you left the theater nothing stuck. Up and Inglorious Basterds (my first and second favorite films of the year respectively) on the other hand had a great story and gave the audience something that you can take home. I have no intention of going out of my way to watch Avatar again, but I have watched Up and Inglorious Basterds many times since they’ve been released.
However, the Academy is much more well known for their controversial decision rather than their decisions that make a lick of sense.
Nice to see TWO animated features get nominated for Best Picture! Of course, I hope Up wins. One wonders why the other one wasn’t also nominated for Best Animated Feature. Doesn’t bode well for that film.
Congratulations to the entire Pixar crew! “Up” certainly deserves those nominations!
If UP doesn’t win the animated oscar, then I feel bad for whoever wins because it will look silly since it won OVER another animated movie that was also up for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
However, never fear. UP WILL win the animated oscar and the oscar for Best original Score to boot. Keep in mind, the animated film nominee that has always received a screenplay nomination has always won the animated oscar (Shrek, Nemo, Incredibles, Wall-E, Ratatouille). Factor in UP’s Best Picture nomination as well, I think it’s safe to say UP will be taking home 2 oscars come March 7.
To be acknowledged and counted as a Best Picture nominee is well enough for me. Although I think that UP is the best amng the ten, I believe that it i unlikely to win Best Picture, unless everyone in the Academy picks it as their second choice. I remember reading somewhere that the votes will be based on ranking. For sure, not everyone has the same first choice, so if UP is almost consistently second choice + those who picks it as their first choice, then UP will have a shot. If it doesn’t win, I am glad enough that it got nominated. I am sure UP will not go home empty handed and that alone is fine by me. Anything beyond that is chocolate glazed whipped cream with cherry on the top.