Disney Pushing WALL•E For Best Picture!

Pixar's Feature Films WALL•E
#1

It’s official. Two days ago Disney execs claimed they will be pushing Wall•E for the Best Picture Oscar. It’s all over the net and I’m surprised not to find it here already.

Wall•E finished in the top 5 grossing films for the first 10 months of this year, and two others in that group, Dark Knight and Iron Man are joining the fray. Famous actors Heath Ledger and Robert Downey, Jr. bolster the chances of their movies since the largest segment of the Academy is Actors.

Wall•E’s chances have been discussed at length in the “Possible Awards…” and stickied “Reviews” threads. Critical raves + blockbuster are in its favor; animated + science fiction are unfortunate liabilities. But remember, it’s achieved the status of an arts film that competed with the big boys.

There are many links to this story.

themovieblog.com/2008/10/dis … st-picture
defamer.com.au/2008/10/walle … ure-2.html
nymag.com/daily/entertainment/20 … gning.html
screencrave.com/2008-10-28/poll- … t-picture/
nytimes.com/2008/10/28/movie … ref=slogin
thedisneyblog.com/2008/10/28/dis … ideration/

What will be Pixar’s role in this? We have 60 days to go until the nominees are known…

#2

:open_mouth: :confused: :smiley: :frowning: :-D) :nerd: That is basically my general mood whilst I was reading that.

#3

sounds good…i think.

The ability for Disney to put forth walle as their repersentative for “best” is an honor in itself.

#4

You sound hesitant. Seems the Disney exec in his NY Times interview was that way too. If you didn’t read what he said, it was one of the statements below. Can you figure out the real statement?

  1. We would be remiss in our duties if we didn’t at least try.
  2. I sure feel sorry for the little guy. It’s the least we could do.
  3. We are under no illusions of winning. But then who knows? Lord of the Rings was fantasy genre, and Silence of the Lambs was horror.
  4. Sure, I’ve got brains, and a heart. But then, I’m not voting.
  5. If we didn’t do it, we wouldn’t be giving the movie its due.
  6. If we didn’t do it, people will think we’re chicken.
  7. They will be forced this year to nominate at least a few films that people actually saw, heh heh. But it won’t win.
    :sunglasses: We will spend a few million to keep the folks up at Pixar happy. After all, it was their film that made the millions.
  8. If it gets a nomination, it will earn millions more and pay for itself. Let Wall-E keep working, that’s what I say.
  9. Will there be a backlash? No, on the contrary lots of critics loved it and it will earn kudos from them. They’re important too.
#5

It really is the least they can do for WALL•E. It will probably for sure go up for:
Best Animated Feature along with Kung Fu Panda and Waltz With Bashir
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Song
Best Score
Best Picture would be harder, because of the other many strong films that have, and will be coming out. The ones that I think will be nominated are:
The Dark Knight
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Australia
Slumdog Millionaire
The fifth spot will probably go to one of the following:
Revolutionary Road
Changeling
Gran Torino
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Wrestler
W.
WALL•E
I think at one point Iron Man would have had a shot, but since May The Dark Knight and many other films have opened. If it had opened in November, and this wasn’t the year of TDK, then it would have been a contender.

#6

I agree that they should really go for it. Why not? If WALL-E wins, then not only would it be a major success for both Disney and Pixar, but it would be another step forward for animation as a whole. And if it doesn’t win, then at least Disney gave it their best push, and at least it was considered in the first place.

Thanks for the links, DarkHandOfSignourneyWeaver. :smiley:

#7

Oh my gosh! This is so exciting! I happily told my bro that, but he was ‘spaced out’ on his PSP, and couldn’t care less. :stuck_out_tongue: This is awesome! No, this beyond awesome!
I’m so glad that Disney is seriously considering pushing this ‘media darling’ to the snooty critics (sorry, but it’s true!) in the Academy. About time too, what with the falling for the Awards and all that. Listen to the people, man! I know Indy films are posh and cool, but some pop-culture ‘flicks’ have merits too! I’m sick of the Academy not taking superhero movies and animated films seriously, some of them are as epic and beautiful as the so-called ‘artsy’ films they worship (not that I don’t like an arthouse film every now and then).
If Wall-E nabs the award that was denied to B&B, this would be an incredible statement to the artistic merit of animated films. I’m annoyed they created a separate category to shoehorn animated films. It’s ‘Best Picture’, not ‘Best Live-Action’ for Pete’s sake! :imp: I really hope WALL-E busts out of this pigeonhole enclave the Academy has created.

#8

I’ve always wondered why certain animated films can be the most critically well-received of any film of that year, yet not make it into the Best Picture category. I never made the connection between an animated film being pushed for that award (for your consideration) and it making it into the nomination final 5. The only animated film to be nominated for it was Beauty and the Beast, and that was before (and probably one of the reasons why it was created) the Best Animated Feature category, so they could stop animated films meddling with the “real” films.

In a way I’m glad that Disney are pushing WALL•E for Best Picture - it deserves it. IMO, every Pixar film from Finding Nemo onwards should have been pushed for Best Picture (except Cars), but perhaps Pixar were biding their time, waiting for a worthy film, as well as other conditions we don’t know about. But I’m also a teency bit worried at the possibility of WALL•E missing out on Best Animated Feature, because voters may be confused because it is also nominated for Best Picture.

Even if it only ends up being nominated for Best Picture, that would mean so much to me, but also to Pixar and it would be a big breakthrough for the animation medium, too. It would say so much: that WALL•E is a good film on its own, and that it shouldn’t just be confined to the BAF award. It would be kind of embarrassing for WALL•E to not end up being nominated for Best Picture, but I’d also be pretty angry, too. But at least Disney and Pixar can say that they tried! And the decision to ignore the proposal of WALL•E for Best Picture would be more of reflection on the Academy’s outdated way of thinking, than of Pixar or WALL•E.

I would be happy for WALL•E to win the following:

Best Animated Feature
Best Picture
Best Score
Best Sound Design
Best Original Song: Down to Earth (or maybe even “BNL” - joking.)

And of course, every other award that WALL•E is eligible to win, I’d want it to win.

All we can do is wait until the nominations are announced. Good luck Pixar - my fingers are crossed for you! =)

#9

I’m no kid at 35, and I have been a steady movie goer my whole life and feel I have a good grip on what is considered a “Best Picture”.

Wall-E seems to have it. The story is compelling, even though a bit quirky. The editing and cinematography is spot on. The movie flowed with no dead pacing, even when there was limited dialog.

There are two voices that are synthetic: Wall-E and AUTO. Academy winning sound director Ben Buritt (Star Wars) did Wall-E and AUTO is from MacInTalk.

Fred Willard is the only live actor in the whole movie.

Sadly, summer blockbusters rarely win any awards. “The Dark Knight” was wonderful and may just run the gambit come award time. Wall-E best bet is “Best Animated Feature”, and award that can be attributed to Pixar’s excellent work that has spawned a whole new golden age of animation not seen since the 1930s.

Still↓

#10

Whether or not a film is nominated for Best Picture, is not necessarily a statement about that film directly. If WALL•E was nominated, then yes, that would be great for not only all of the people at PIXAR who worked on it, but for the animated medium as a whole.

But this is a very tough year for all competing films.

This year, there are many, many deserving films that are vying for one of the 5 nomination spots. There are always more deserving films then can win, and even be nominated. Like I said, this year in particular, there are more deserving films than there are spots for.

Also, to be mentioned, is that the Academy does not just choose films to be nominated, (or win), that are unknown to most of the general population. Titanic, in 1998, won Best Picture, and was very popular. Also, more recently, was The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King, which won Best Picture in 2003. Both of these had great box office successes - and won. There are some big name contenders, (besides WALL•E), that want to get the nomination this year, such as The Dark Knight, Australia, and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, to name but a few.

#11

If WALL•E did get a nomination, the odds of it actually winning are very small. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will for sure get a nomination, and so will Slumdog Millionaire. Australia will almost for sure also get nominated and The Dark Knight just has to get a nomination. If I had to pick a fifth one, it would probably be Milk. WALL•E would have a better chance in another year. The five films that I listed are all Oscar-worthy films have the classic feel of previous Best Picture winners. But, I still think that last year Ratatouille should have gotten nominated over Atonement.

#12

Wow, that’s quite an ambition. That would be really neat if it got nominated but i’m sorry to say I wouldnt expect it to win that. I dont think the academy panel would ‘favor’ WALL-E before something like Dark Knight or some of the other strong contenders. Animated movies just dont get a lot of high brow respect. And the Oscars are as high brow as they come.

#13

They should create a new category: Best Artsy-Fartsy film of the year. It’s interesting that if you had the public nominate its favorites, Wall-E would probably get into the top 5; it sure got into the top 5 box office. If you had the top 200 movie critics nominate them, such as looking at what RottenTomatoes does, then Wall-E and the Dark Knight would be shoe-ins, and Australia and its ilk would have to stumble over each other to get the remaining 3 slots. The Academy is fatally flawed in that real contenders have to be released in the fall to have a chance. That means summer quality blockbusters are screwed, such as Pleasantville 10 years ago. They are myopic! Period. More than half the time, the films they select are NOT the best films of the year.

What some have said on this forum is so true. They see most of the blockbusters and try to see many of the art house films. Then they watch the awards ceremony and are “Huh, what the hey?, what’s that one about?”. That’s because they were just released to contend with the absurd myopia.

The Academy could just be considered irrelevant if every other year it does this. Entertaining, but about as accurate as USNews&WR is with its annual Best college listing.

#14

It would be wonderful if Wall•E won any award. I’m not sure it’s so important just which, but it’s definitely a great movie, and I feel that it should be recognized.

Best Animation is a given, and Best Picture would be just a great, as well!

#15

Yes, I agree with much of what you are saying. We made this post 6 weeks ago, and my how times have changed.

First of all, out of the 12 films you listed, you can scratch Australia and W. off the list of possible Oscar noms for best picture. There is just too much hostility by critics for them. The Changeling is about L.A. and you can’t count it out, but it’s not showing up on too many short lists. Hardly anyone is saying that Gran Torino is the best film, and it’s chances are indeed slim. This film may show up in a lot of top 10 or 20 lists, but not top 5 or as #1. And the mighty Bat isn’t holding up very well either in the regional critics circle awards or in the more popular press lists.

My own guess at this point:

  1. Slumdog
  2. Wall•E
  3. Button
  4. Wrestler
  5. Milk
    ***Frost/Nixon
    ***Rev Road
    Edit: ++Doubt

In that order, and I admit to having not seen half of these yet! Wall•E has a huge handicap with being released 5 months earlier, but it’s highly original and plays well in art houses.

Animated films: you are right on the mark, even tho Bolt got 5 annie noms, the 3 films you mentioned are the ones to watch to get the most awards elsewhere.

#16

The Wrestler, Frost/Nixon, and Slumdog Millionaire seem like sure bets for Best Picture nominations. The other spots will most likely go to Revolutionary Road, Wall-E, (<–I’ll put my hypothetical money on those two) The Dark Knight, Milk, Doubt, or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I REALLY hope Wall-E is nominated. Even if it loses to a movie like The Wrestler, it would still be a wonderful accomplishment for Pixar and animation in general.

#17

A little while ago, I was still somewhat passive about WALL•E. I have watched the latest work of Pixar thrice (the second with my parents, the third with my friend) and yet, something was missing from my heart, an answer to my doubt of WALL•E’s true value.

Then, I came across this movie review on YouTube about Bolt. Ironically, it became the material to enlighten me on what causes people to act how they did over WALL•E. It was ironic because after watching Bolt, I always thought it was a notch above WALL•E.

But the reviewer arrived at a special section of his review (it is special as it was probably not done very often before in his series of reviews) where he compared Bolt with WALL•E. I, who had done so myself both publicly and privately, was, naturally, complaisant to listen.

The reviewer, Fury of The Film Fan, talked about how Bolt was unable to develop their characters in the short amount of 18 months given (for a CGI movie, anyone could relate to this), while WALL•E, on the other hand, had all the minor characters really shining out instead. He claimed that the movie lacks the obscurity across the characters like Bolt possesses, and I felt he was quite accurate regarding this factor indeed because I never really was able to relate with Mittens the alleged evil kitty of death, but I digress.

So, back on topic, now I am much more capable of seeing its quality; both movie’s quality, actually. I guess WALL•E truly deserves it, considering its four years of hard work and the great play-out of its characters - save that last bit which I still could not ignore, the manner EVE reacted to WALL•E’s (short) memory loss. :stuck_out_tongue:

Other than that, good luck, Pixar, and I shall be looking forward to your partnership with Disney for many generations to come. :slight_smile:

#18

Maybe I should see Bolt a second time. The first time I saw KFP, it was very good thruout, and had wonderful character development, excellent animation quality, a very solid storyline, and a nice resolution of the plot. But, there were things in the first 30 minutes of the Disney film that caused me to start falling asleep, but don’t worry, when I saw Madagascar 2 the next night, a man in back was snoring loudly. Based on the infallible Snore-O-Meter, Bolt was the better movie. I know that John Lassiter was boasting about how good the storyline in Bolt is, but the critics just weren’t all that wow’ed. For me, it picked up when the cast of characters went on a road trip, and because of that, I rate it a pretty decent movie.

Interestingly, for many unsophisticated movie goers, it’s only when Wall-E goes on his ‘road trip’ that the movie livens up. They just didn’t get the first third of the movie…

#19

lol You fell asleep during the Jerry Bruckheimer-styled action sequence? :stuck_out_tongue: The beginning was the only part that got me excited throughout the entire film. :slight_smile:

#20

At this point the only clear-cut nominee is Slumdog Millionaire. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is a very strong contender and I don’t see why it won’t get nominated. For Frost/Nixon, and Milk, they will both more than likely get nominated, and the fifth one is getting harder and harder to predict.

At first it was The Dark Knight, and now people are ignoring TDK and going for WALL•E, likely because they want to be different, but if the academy try’s to be different from everyone else, they will nominate TDK. Sadly Revolutionary Road might get forgotten.

Going into the Fall, everyone thought Australia would be the one, but it sank like a ship, and didn’t get that good reviews. There were tons of good movies this year, but most haven’t been getting any big Best Picture buzz, because most have been praised for the acting, and not necessarily for the movie as a whole, (sometimes fairly and sometimes not).

At the end of the day Slumdog Millionaire will likely be the winner.