Oscar Week – ANIMATED FEATURES

Cavemen, Minions, Sisters – All were part of Friday night’s Animated Feature symposium at AMPAS where the nominees discussed how their films were developed, talked about their creative processes and presented clips illustrating their techniques.

The evening was hosted by Oscar nominated actor John C. Reilly, star of last year’s lovable WRECK-IT RALPH, who affably led the packed house at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater through the many interesting and often hilarious moments of the night.

Turns out, it was a great year for animated films. More people saw the five animated movies than saw all nine Best Picture nominees combined. This was also the first year that both directors and producers could be nominated in the category. In year’s past, the only nominees were the people who helmed the movie.

The Animation Branch of the Academy instituted a special rule for the Animated Feature Film Award.

Rule Seven:

The award recipient(s) shall be designated by those responsible for the production of the film.  The designated recipient(s) must be the KEY CREATIVE INDIVIDUALS most clearly responsible for the overall achievement. A maximum of two person may be designated as nominees, one of whom must be the credited director and the other of whom must have a producer credit (“producer” or “produced by”.)  The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Executive Committee has the right to name a third nominee only in the case of a TWO-PERSON TEAM with shared and equal director credit.  In that rare circumstance, a third statuette may be awarded.

Animated filmmakers Pierre Coffin of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “Despicable Me 2”, Kirk DeMicco of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “The Croods”, Chris Renaud of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “Despicable Me 2”, Chris Sanders of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “The Croods”, Benjamin Renner of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “Ernest & Celestine”, Kristine Belson of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “The Croods”, Toshio Suzuki, of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “The Wind Rises”, Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “Frozen”, Didier Brunner of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “Ernest & Celestine and Chris Meledandri of the Oscar-nominated Animated Feature “Despicable Me 2”.

The nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are:

The Crood family lives in a prehistoric world filled with dangerous animals and unsettling changes. When they encounter a young man named Guy, a member of a more evolved group of humans, only teenage daughter Eep is willing to listen to his warnings that the world as they know it is ending and the Croods will need to alter their way of living if they are to survive.

Originally to be voiced by John Cleese of Monty Python and a stop motion, animated movie, the Croods went from Fox to DreamWorks Animation.

With the formerly villainous Gru now a doting father to his three adopted daughters, the talents he once employed for evil are largely wasted in his new role as a jam and jelly maker. When he is approached by Lucy Wilde, a secret agent from the Anti-Villain League, Gru finds not only a new focus for his abilities but a possible romantic interest as well.

Reilly and the filmmakers joked on how the Minions were really an homage to animators who are similarly working for slave wages. Also mentioned was that the little guys were getting their own film in 2015 called The Minions starring the voices of Jon Hamm and Sandra Bullock.

Beneath a village inhabited by bears lies a subterranean community of mice who steal from their ursine neighbors and particularly value their teeth. When Celestine, an orphaned mouse studying dentistry but dreaming of art, meets a sensitive, talented bear named Ernest, the interests they share lead to a bond between them that challenges the traditional enmity between their species.

Producer Didier Brunner spoke about the years it took to acquire the rights to the book. Author, Stéphane Aubier, was concerned that making it into an animated movie would cheapen the integrity of the story.

Director Benjamin Renner broke down while talking about not being allowed to see Japanese animation as a child, but when he finally did at the age of 18, it became a passion. He became choked up when talking about being in the same category as his hero, “the great Hayao Miyazaki.”

Sisters Elsa and Anna enjoy an idyllic life in the enchanted kingdom ruled by their parents until Elsa’s magical ability to create ice and snow around her proves a threat to those she loves. Emerging for her own coronation after several years of self-imposed isolation, Elsa flees her home in distress when her uncontrollable powers transform the kingdom into a frozen realm.

The filmmakers discussed how the nominated song, “Let It Go,” from the husband and wife team of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez made them totally revise this movie from the original premise to one about sisters, love and sacrifice.

As a boy, Jiro Horikoshi dreams of someday building the planes that his poor eyesight will never allow him to fly. After training as an engineer, Jiro puts his talents to work for Mitsubishi and becomes a leading innovator in aviation design, while Japan moves through the turbulent events of the 1920s and ’30s that will carry it closer to the Second World War.

Producer Toshio Suzuki was there from Studio Ghibli. Through a translator, he spoke on how director Hayao Miyazaki’s film was born out of his fascination with war movies and war machines.

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs and animated filmmaker Toshio Suzuki, of the Oscar®-nominated Animated Feature “The Wind Rises”

Leading up to Oscar Sunday, the Academy has been presenting a slate of public events celebrating this year’s nominees.  This year’s activities in Los Angeles included Thursday evening’s live concert at UCLA’s Royce Hall highlighting the nominated musical scores and songs.  Check that out HERE.

Events at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills have focused on the films nominated for Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, and the Short Film categories. The week concluded on Saturday with the Makeup and Hairstyling program.