Mar 28, 2022

In the biggest Oscars fiasco in history, "Encanto" and "Windshield Wiper" won Oscars (Commentary)

On a night of calamity, when Worldstar-style attacks were incorporated into the live broadcast of the awards ceremony and the entire #MeToo movement was ruined and trivialized by abhorrent bad taste, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also made it clear that it has absolutely no respect for animation as an art form It made it clear that.

On a night that lacked decorum, the 94th Academy Awards found two different ways to undermine the art form of animation, and did a remarkable job of undermining the nominees in both the Animated Short Film and Animated Feature Film categories.

The problem began when they put up three actresses who played Disney princesses as presenters for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. The three actresses, Lily James, Halle Bailey, and Naomi Scott, used the occasion to promote Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. However, as we learned earlier this month, the Academy Awards, which airs on Disney-owned ABC, must accept certain demands from Disney, and it would not be surprising if Disney had some influence on the way this category was presented.

If the whole setup was not stale, the three actresses compounded it by claiming that animation is exclusively a children's art form. This was on the same night that the surprisingly adult film "Flee" was nominated (Flee had also been nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature Film, but came up empty).

The callous dismissal of animation as a children's art form also stunned the nominees in this category. Phil Lord, who was the producer of the nominated "The Mitchells vs. The Machines," tweeted:

It's super cool

to position animation as something kids watch and adults have to put up with. Phil Lord y Betancourt (@philiplord) March 28, 2022

Other reactions from netizens about how the Disney Princess presentation was received say it all:

Animated films are for kids - this year's Someone didn't see "all" of the Oscar nominations for animated films, I wonder how often that is the case for voters.0.o #Oscars #animated #film

- Paul Williams (@artporu) March 28, 2022

It's no surprise that the Oscars paint a picture that animation is for kids because they are literally indifferent to animation and don't take it as a serious medium

- aisha (@arbacn) March 28, 2022

This disregard for animation starts with the wage gap It starts with. What they did at the Oscars is just one more example of how they profit without acknowledging the value of the medium of animation

- Alex Hernandez (@alhernandezart) March 28, 2022

The animation category is really "animated films are Let's get a bunch of Disney princesses to say it's for kids, and that adult films like 'FLEE' didn't even have the slightest chance."

- Houston Coley (@blockbustedpod) March 28, 2022

Using three live action Disney princesses to give another Disney movie on a Disney owned channel an animated feature award is the same as SpongeBob winning the Cartoon Award every year at the Kids' Choice Awards because it airs on Nickelodeon. Same thing. I hate this place.

- Rendy Jones (@Rendy_Jones) March 28, 2022

The category ended as expected: one of three films nominated in the category by the Disney Company, "Encanto," won an Oscar. Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard and produced by Clark Spencer and Yvette Merino, it was Disney's ninth win in 10 years and its 13th in 15 years.

If the presentation of the animated feature film was not sketchy enough, there was further evidence of tampering by the Disney Corporation at the Academy Awards: Disney used part of the Academy Awards telecast to present a commercial for Chris Evans, the lead actor in Pixar's next film, "Lightyear" The film's commercials were introduced during a segment of the Academy Awards telecast. American viewers would not have noticed the discrepancy, but as noted in the following tweet, no one saw the commercial in international markets where the Academy Awards were not broadcast on Disney's ABC.

This brazen and unethical use of Oscar airtime to promote a Disney animated film is an amazing conflict of interest for the Academy, especially in a year when they claimed they had to cut eight categories because the awards ceremony was too long.

Don't get me wrong, Chris Evans' intro was part of the official telecast, despite the fact that he was introducing a Disney ad. Shady AF

- cartoonbrew.com - Animation News (@cartoonbrew) March 28, 2022

Speaking of cutting categories, the Animated Short Film category was one of eight categories that were cut from the live broadcast and instead were pre-recorded presented as a pre-recorded segment.

Academy President David Rubin explained that these categories were cut "to provide more time and opportunity for audience entertainment and engagement through comedies, musical numbers, film clip packages, film tributes He explained that this was to "provide more time and opportunities for audience entertainment and engagement through comedies, musical numbers, film clip packages, and film tributes". What he did not mention is that instead of honoring the nominated films, the program will air two musical numbers from Disney's Encanto.

The downgrading of these categories drew condemnation from countless filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg, Jane Campion, and Denis Villeneuve, and infuriated countless Hollywood craft organizations.

Sadly, this meant that the winners of the Animated Short Film category did not get the moment of glory they deserved. The winner was "The Windshield Wiper," an American/Spanish film directed by Alberto Mielgo and produced by Leo Sanchez.

Even with animation being repeatedly dismissed throughout, Mielgo's elegant acceptance speech was a reminder that the animation community will not give up in the face of mass indifference from Hollywood. We must continue to fight for animation to be recognized as an art form with the ability to express every idea and emotion," he said. Animation is an art form that includes every art form you can imagine. Animation for adults is a fact. It is happening in real life. Let's call it film. This is just the beginning of what we can do with animation and I am very honored."