This year, for the third time ever, an animated film has been nominated for Best Picture.
The first time it happened was almost 20 years ago, when Beauty and the Beast was nominated. It was definitely my best film of 1991 by a long way. A beautiful story, wonderful animation (think ballroom scene), a delightful sense of humour (think Lumiere and Cogsworth) and great, great songs by Menken and Ashman (Be Our Guest, Something There, Beauty and the Beast ...). The music did at least get the recognition that it deserved, winning both Best Original Score and Best Song for the title track.
Sadly, the voters didn't share my opinion and the Best Picture award went to The Silence of the Lambs. No question a good film, but if given the choice to watch one of the two, I know which I'd pick every time.
Nicky and I went to see The Silence of the Lambs in the crummy old cinema at the end of Chatham High Street. Both completely freaked out by it. In accordance with the rules, we stayed in the auditorium until the credits had finished, but by then everyone else had left. We went what we thought was the right way out, and found ourselves in some dark alleyway round the back of the cinema and couldn't find our way out. Not good when you've just been scared silly!
Anyway, it is shocking to report that it was an 18 year wait until the next nomination for an animated film. Particularly when you think of films like Aladdin and The Lion King, although the latter did again pick up a couple of music awards.
Part of the reason, I suppose, is that a new award was introduced in 2001, specifically for Best Animated Feature. This has probably made it harder for animated films to get on the Best Picture list.
Disney have picked up 5 of the 9 Best Animated Feature statuettes that have been handed out so far (2003 - Finding Nemo, 2004 - The Incredibles, 2007 - Ratatouille, 2008 - Wall-E, 2009 - Up) as well as achieving 7 more nominations in the first 9 years.
However, the first award did go to Shrek, which probably annoyed the Disney team somewhat given that the studio responsible (Dreamworks) included Jeffrey Katzenberg as one of its founders. Katzenberg was in charge of Disney Animation during the period in which The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King all came out. But, Michael Eisner (Disney CEO) and Katzenberg had a rather spectacular falling out resulting in Katzenberg's departure from Disney along with a settlement payment in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Some even speculate that the character of Shrek looks a little bit like Eisner!
The second of the three Best Picture nominations came last year, when Up was put forward, but it was beaten by The Hurt Locker.
So far, a particular franchise of animated films has gone without a mention, namely the truly wonderful Toy Story series, which first appeared, to our joy and amazement, back in 1995. Well, 15 years later, and they finally get at least some of the recognition that they deserve, as Toy Story 3 is on the list for Best Picture.
Personally, I think it would be a worthy winner, but I fear that The King's Speech will sweep the board. Not seen it yet, and no doubt it is a great film, but what are the chances that it will be watched over and over again, and what are the chances that we will remember the details of the characters (even if some of them are royalty) for as long as we cherish the story of Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Rex, Mr (& Mrs) Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Bullseye and all the other friends?
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed in my sleep!