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Congratulations to the Academy Award Winners!

The Academy Award for 
Best Animated Feature Film
Goes to...
Toy Story 4

 Best Animated Short Film  
Goes to...
Hair Love

The Dam Keeper (2014)

THE DAM KEEPER

The Dam Keeper, a short film by feature animation artists Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi tells the tale of a young pig encumbered with an important job, and the meeting of a new classmate who changes everything.

The short blends traditional hand-drawn animation with lush brushstrokes to bring Kondo and Tsutsumi's celebrated painting style to life like never before. Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen (Forbrydelsen, Sherlock) narrates the film.

▶  Watch the Short Film

'Spider-Verse’ Wins Best Animated Film

Oscars: ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ Wins Best Animated Feature

[Source: Variety] In a major validation for Sony and Marvel, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” has won the Academy Award for animated feature for Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
 

While accepting the award, Lord celebrated what the representation in the movie meant for many. “When we hear that somebody’s kid was watching the movie and turned to them and said, ‘He looks like me,’ or ‘They speak Spanish like us,’ we feel like we already won.”
 

Sunday’s win capped a strong awards season run for the film, which won the top animated film honor at the Annies, Golden Globes, BAFTA and Producers Guild Awards. It’s one of the biggest awards to date for a title based on Marvel characters, along with “Big Hero 6,” which also won the animated feature trophy in 2015.
 

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” centers on 13-year-old Brooklynite Miles Morales, who becomes one of many Spider-Men, is rated PG and marketed toward families. Shameik Moore voiced Morales as an admirer of Spider-Man. The movie was specifically created to have a unique look that combined computer animation with traditional hand-drawn techniques.
 

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which carries a $90 million budget, was an unexpected box office success and wound up grossing nearly $360 million worldwide. The film was directed by Persichetti, Ramsey and Rothman from a screenplay by Lord and Rothman and a story by Lord. Miller and Lord produced along with Avi Arad, Amy Pascal and Christina Steinberg.
 

Ramsey became the first African-American director to win an Oscar in the category.
 

Critics were dazzled. Peter Debruge said in his review for Variety: “The brilliance of Sony’s snappy new animated “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” shows itself in the project’s uncanny ability to simultaneously reset and expand all that has come before, creating an inclusive world where pretty much anybody can be the superhero … even you!”
 

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” topped a pair of Disney titles — “Incredibles 2” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” — along with Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs” and Japanese adventure “Mirai.” Of the 17 Oscars given out since the category was created in 2001, Disney has won a dozen, including “The Incredibles” in 2005 and the last six: “Brave,” “Frozen,” “Big Hero 6,” “Inside Out,” “Zootopia,” and “Coco.”
 

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was only the second Sony Pictures Animation film ever nominated for an Oscar after 2007’s “Surf’s Up.”
 

As for Marvel movies getting Oscars, there has only been one prior to this year: 2005’s “Spider-Man 2,” which won for Best Visual Effects for John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier by topping “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and “I, Robot.”
 

Marvel is up for eight other Academy Awards this year. Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War” is nominated in best visual effects and its “Black Panther” is up for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, costume design, production design, original score, original song, sound mixing and sound editing. It won for costume design for Ruth E. Carter, production design for Hannah Beachler and original score for Ludwig Goransson.
 

Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony’s Motion Picture Group, said in a note to employees, “‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ became one of the few non-Disney films to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar in the history of that award. It’s sweet indeed to see the Academy honor originality, diversity, and revolutionary animated craftsmanship. And it recognizes SPA and Imageworks’ rightful place among the first rank of animation studios, under the leadership of Kristine Belson and Randy Lake, respectively.”

Oscar Nominations for 2019

Nominations for Best Animated Feature Film:

Incredibles 2 (Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle)  
Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson)  
Mirai (Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito)  
Ralph Breaks the Internet (Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Clark Spencer)  
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller)

Nominations for Best Animated Short Film:

Animal Behaviour (Alison Snowden and David Fine)
Bao (Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb)
Late Afternoon (Louise Bagnall and Nuria González Blanco)
One Small Step (Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas)
Weekends (Trevor Jimenez)

The 91st Academy Awards will air Feb. 24 on ABC

360 Google Doodles: Back to the Moon

BACK to the MOON

- Shortlisted for the Academy Awards -

“Back to the Moon” is probably a short you’ve seen via Google Doodles. It can also be viewed interactively in 360 degrees via VR if you have the technology to do so. It was created to celebrate the artistry of French illusionist and film director George Méliès whose famous black-and-white movie “A Trip to the Moon” ends with the Moon getting a black eye from a rocketship. The short is a bit difficult to watch on a normal screen because it’s meant to be viewed in 360 degrees. The story follows an illusionist through scenery mixing familiar magic props with film magic as he meets the queen of hearts and an evil alien. The mix of effects is ingenious to watch.

Late Afternoon | Irish Short Film Trailer

LATE AFTERNOON

- Shortlisted for the Academy Awards -

“Late Afternoon” is a short by the Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon (The Secret of the Kells, Song of the Sea, and The Breadwinner). It is about an elderly woman named Emily who seems constantly lost in her thoughts about her past. Her mind keeps drifting between the past and the present with nothing seeming to anchor her anywhere. Every time Emily “dives” into the past, the linear makeup of herself disconnects into short lines and shapes until she reaches her past destination. Emily also has no neck to further symbolize her floating disconnected head. It’s a beautifully animated short that’s a bit heartwrenching if you’ve ever have had an elderly loved one in a situation like Emily’s.

On the Academy Award Shortlist: Weekends

W  E E K E N D  S

- Shortlisted for the Academy Awards -

“Weekends” is the story of a boy who commutes between his recently divorced parents, summarizing life for the family over the course of several months interspersed with the boy’s dreams. While the boy looks content on the outside, his surreal dreams show how he actually feels about the new arrangement on both sides. We get to see the hardships and fears living in a broken family as well as how that family slowly learns and adapts to the new reality. The boy’s dreams are strange and scary but understandable given his situation.

The 2018 Academy Award Winners are...

The Academy Award for 
Best Animated Feature Film
Goes to...
Coco

 Best Animated Short Film  
Goes to...  
Dear Basketball

Fox And The Whale - Animated Short Film

Fox and The Whale

A curious fox goes in search of an elusive whale. A tale of longing and discovery. Fox And The Whale is an independently produced and self-financed Animated Short Film. The film was shortlisted for the 90th Oscars and is a nominee for the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards.

And the Academy Award goes to...

Best Animated Short
Bling Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
WINNER: Piper


Best Animated Feature
Kubo and The Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
WINNER: Zootopia

Every Best Animated Feature Winner Ever.

The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first handed out in 2001. Here is a look back at all the winners so far, and this year’s nominees.

Inside Out, 'Bear Story' Win Animated Oscars

[Source: Anime News Network] Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera won the Animated Feature Film category at the 88th Academy Awards for Pixar and Disney's Inside Out film on Sunday. The film competed against Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Studio Ghibli's When Marnie Was There film as well as Anomalisa, Boy and the World, and Shaun the Sheep Movie. 

 

No anime were nominated for this year's Animated Short Film category. The nominees were "Bear Story," "Prologue," "Sanjay's Superteam," "We Can't Live Without Cosmos," and "World of Tomorrow." Gabriel Osorio Vargas and Pato Escala Pierart's Chilean short "Bear Story" won the category. 

Mamoru Hosoda's The Boy and The Beast and the religious anime film The Laws of the Universe Part 0 were also eligible for the Animated Feature Film category, but neither received a nomination. When Marnie Was There's theme song "Fine on the Outside" was eligible for the Original Song category, but it did not earn a nomination. 

Last year Disney's Big Hero 6 film won the Animated Feature Film category, and competed against Isao Takahata and Studio Ghibli's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya film. Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed won the Animated Short Film category for Disney's "Feast."

The 2016 Academy Award Nominees

The list of nominees for the 2016 Academy Awards has been posted. Here are runners for Animated Films:

ANIMATED SHORT

• Bear Story
• Prologue
• Sanjay's Super Team
• We Can't Live Without Cosmos
• World of Tomorrow

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• Anomalisa
• Boy and the World
• Inside Out
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• When Marnie Was There

Click below for the complete list of the 88th Academy Awards: 

SANJAY'S SUPER TEAM (Directed by Sanjay Patel)

[Source: blastr.com] Pixar's entry into this season's Oscar race, this eye-popping CGI short chronicles the fanciful daydreams of a young Indian boy who conjures up Hindu superhero gods from his active imagination after growing bored with his father's religious meditations. Patel's sentimental animated short will premiere in front of Disney's The Good Dinosaur when it is released later this week.

Miyazaki Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

L I F E T I M E   A C H I E V E M E N T   A W A R D

H A Y A O   M I Y A Z A K I

Born in 1941 in Tokyo, Japan.  After graduating from Gakushuin University in 1963 with a degree in Political Science and Economics, Hayao Miyazaki joined Toei Animation Company as an animator.  He worked under the director Isao Takahata for scene planning and key animation for the production of THE LITTLE NORSE PRINCE VALIANT (1968).  He then moved to the animation studio A Production with Takahata in 1971 where he worked on the original concept, screenplay, layout design and key animation for PANDA! GO PANDA! (1972).  Miyazaki worked at various studios including Zuiyo Eizo with Takahata, Nippon Animation, and Telecom, and did scene planning and layout designs for the TV series HEIDI, A GIRL OF THE ALPS (1974) and FROM THE APENNINES TO THE ANDES (1976), and directed his first TV series CONAN, THE BOY IN FUTURE (1978).  He debuted as a director of theatrical features with THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO (1979).  In 1984, Miyazaki wrote and directed his feature NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND, based on his original graphic novel serialized in the monthly animation magazine “Animage”.

Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 with Takahata, and has directed nine feature films since, including CASTLE IN THE SKY (1986), MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988), KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989), PORCO ROSSO (1992) and PRINCESS MONONOKE (1997).  SPIRITED AWAY (2001) broke every box office record in Japan, and garnered many awards, including the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival and the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film at the 2003 U.S. Academy Awards.  HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2004) received the Osella Award at the 2004 Venice International Film Festival.  Miyazaki was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival.  He wrote and directed PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA (2008).  He contributed to the planning and wrote the screenplays for Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s ARRIETTY (2010) and Goro Miyazaki’s FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (2011).  In 2012, Miyazaki was named a “Person of Cultural Merit” by The Government of Japan.

Miyazaki has published a number of books of essays, drawings and poems, including “Shuppatsuten 1979-1996 (Starting Point: 1979- 1996, 1996)”.  He has designed several buildings, including the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, which opened in 2001, for which he serves as Executive Director.  His new film, THE WIND RISES, opened in July 2013 in Japan.

TV Series
CONAN, THE BOY IN FUTURE (Mirai Shonen Konan), 1978

Feature Films
THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO (Rupan Sansei Kariosutoro no Shiro), 1979
NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä), 1984
CASTLE IN THE SKY (Tenku no Shiro Laputa), 1986
MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (Tonari no Totoro), 1988
KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (Majo no Takkyubin), 1989
PORCO ROSSO (Kurenai no Buta), 1992
PRINCESS MONONOKE (Mononoke Hime), 1997
SPIRITED AWAY (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi), 2001
HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (Hauru no Ugoku Shiro), 2004
PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA (Gake no Ue no Ponyo), 2008
THE WIND RISES (Kaze Tachinu), 2013

Honorary Oscars presented to Harry Belafonte, Maureen O'Hara, 

Hayao Miyazaki

From left: Honorees Harry Belafonte, Hayao Miyazaki, Jean-Claude Carriere and Maureen O'Hara pose onstage during the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences' 2014 Governors Awards, at The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center on November 8, 2014 in Hollywood

[Source: CBSNews] LOS ANGELES - A constellation of stars gathered in Hollywood for an off-camera celebration of four stalwart film talents.

Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Kevin Costner, Mark Wahlberg, Sidney Poitier, Ed Norton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Rock, Eddie Redmayne, Ron Howard and Hilary Swank were among the celebrities toasting the first Oscar winners of the season at the film academy's Governors Awards Saturday night.

Actress Maureen O'Hara, filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere and actor and activist Harry Belafonte accepted honorary Oscars at the private dinner ceremony at Hollywood & Highland's Ray Dolby Ballroom.

Jessica Chastain, Warren Beatty, Octavia Spencer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Duvall, Robert Downey Jr. and Tilda Swinton, sporting a platinum faux-hawk, also attended the three-hour celebration.
 

24 Photos

Oscar honors animator Hayao Miyazaki

Pixar chief John Lasseter presented Miyazaki with an Oscar statuette, calling the Japanese animator "the most original filmmaker to ever work in our medium."

Accepting the trophy, Miyazaki said through a translator that he considered himself lucky, adding, "My greatest luck is that I got to meet Maureen O'Hara today."

The 94-year-old O'Hara was introduced by Liam Neeson and Clint Eastwood, each of whom confessed to having a crush on the Irish-born beauty. Neeson described her as "one of the true legends of cinema" and "one of the most adventurous women who ever lived," explaining the actress was a pioneer in doing her own stunts on screen.

Actress Maureen O’'Hara accepts an Honorary Oscar from actors Clint Eastwood (2nd from right) and Liam Neeson (right) onstage during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' 2014 Governors Awards.

O'Hara came to the stage in a wheelchair and read a brief statement of thanks in which she acknowledged filmmakers Charles Laughton and John Ford, along with her co-star in several films, John Wayne.

When Neeson handed her the Oscar, she asked in disbelief, "What's this?!"

"I only hope it's silver or gold and not like a spoon out of the kitchen," she said.

Carriere accepted his Oscar from "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" director, Philip Kaufman. The French screenwriter lauded the many directors he's collaborated with over his five decades in film, saying, "They're always present, even today. When I'm working, I hear their voices."

Chris Rock and Susan Sarandon introduced Belafonte, who received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his decades of activism for social justice.

"I'm not here to honor you," Rock said. "I'm here to thank you."

Sarandon called the 87-year-old entertainer "a real-life, flesh and blood hero."

Belafonte said he was moved by the recognition.

"To be rewarded by my peers for my work for human rights, civil rights and for peace... It powerfully mutes the enemy's thunder," he said.

He shared the honor with Poitier, whom he referred to as "my elderly friend."

"He redirected the ship of racial hatred in American culture," Belafonte said.

He spoke of Hollywood's progress toward telling stories that offer "deeper insights into human existence," such as "Schindler's List," ''Brokeback Mountain," and "12 Years a Slave," and film's far-reaching ability to influence popular opinion.

"Maybe, just maybe, it could be civilization's game-changer," he said.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established the Governors Awards in 2009 to celebrate the annual winners of its honorary awards. Highlights from the ceremony will be included in the 2015 Oscar telecast.

Congratulations to the Academy Award Winners!

Winner of Best Animated Short Film

F E A S T

Winner of Best Animated Feature Film

B I G   H E R O   6

A look at the Nominations for Best Animation

Here are this year's Academy Award picks for
Best Animated Feature and Short

[Source: blastr.com] Last week, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its final nominees for this year's Academy Awards, with the usual controversial additions and omissions to get movie fans' blood boiling.  In the category of Best Animated Feature, the most notable exclusion from the hallowed list was The LEGO Movie, a universally loved box-office hit.  

With the art of animation in all its amazing incarnations hitting its creative stride in recent years, and while our LEGO furor is still fresh, let's dive into this year's 10 nominees for Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short to see which ones might see the glint of gold come Oscar Night on Feb. 22, 2015.  

Sample each nominated selection below and shout out which ones were your favorites ...

NOMINEES FOR BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

THE BOXTROLLS

Oregon-based Laika Animation's stop-motion steampunk fable about a society of underground trolls who raise an orphan boy named Eggs, and their attempt to thwart the town villain and save the town of Cheesebridge. Laika created the worlds of Coraline and Paranorman, and this latest animated confection could have some serious momentum with its Halloween-time release and Burtonesque charm.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

Toothless and Hiccup expand the wild dragon society of Berk in this sequel to 2010's mega-hit How To Train Your Dragon, which some say surpasses the original. Here Hiccup discovers his long-lost mother and faces a formidable new foe named Drago. With The LEGO Movie kicked to the curb, this crowd-pleasing followup from the folks at DreamWorks could have a clear flight path to Oscar gold.

THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA

Here's a lush, mystical folktale that celebrates the art of hand-drawn animation, lovingly rendered from Studio Ghibli (The Wind Rises, Spirited Away) and director Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies). Hailed as a masterful achievement in visionary storytelling, this old-school animated masterpiece might be this year's sleeper to steal the storied statue.

BIG HERO 6

This is Disney's heavyweght CGI entry into the race, with a lovable healthcare bot named Baymax joining forces with a spunky kid inventor and his gang of young inventors to become the unlikely champions of San Fransokyo. Big Hero 6 was a critical and box-office slam dunk, and without competition from those little Danish bricks, this candy-colored entry is by far the favorite.

SONG OF THE SEA

A lush and lyrical Irish fable about a lighthouse keeper's children and the last of the mythical sea creatures called Selkies. This hand-drawn animated feature was directed by Tomm Moore, who was also nominated for Best Animated Feature for 2009's The Secret of Kells. A long shot in the race, but a worthy addition to this year's fantastic group of nominees.

NOMINEES FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

THE DAM KEEPER

A poignant, 18-minute tale of a pollution-choked future and a young pig's job to keep the town's windmill dam's sails spinning. Directed by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, this children's storybook tale has a simple beauty and charm that could entice Academy members to punch its ticket to glory.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Using a blend of traditional animation, stop motion, motion graphics and time-lapse techniques, this modern meditation on aging and the elderly has a trippy, phantasmagoric quality that resonates long after the end. Director Daisy Jacobs used life-size sets for her animated sonnet about caring for an elderly relative. Totally absobing and innovative, and a worthy underdog.

FEAST

Disney's touching short about a stray puppy and its relationship to its owner's love life through the enticing continuity of food. Screened before last summer's Big Hero 6, Feast was directed by Patrick Osbourne, a lead animator on Wreck-It-Ralph, Tangled and Bolt, and carries that Disney-fied CGI gloss we've all become accustomed to. Definitely the one to beat.

A SINGLE LIFE

Pia, a carefree woman, experiences a wild ride through space and time as a strange vinyl record allows her to leap between stages of her life. Directed by Joris Oprins, this whimsical offering comes from the Netherlands and is considered an admirable opponent despite its long-shot status.

ME AND MY MOULTON

From Torill Kove, the Academy Award-winning director of the 2006 animated short The Danish Poet comes the funny story of three sisters living in an eccentric, unconventional Norwegian family who yearn for a bicycle. Told in an amusing, primary-colored style that might find its way into Academy voters' hearts.

And that's your field. Now that you've absorbed a taste of them all, chime in and tell us who'll win Oscar evening.

20 Animated Films to Contend for the 2014 Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that twenty animated feature films have been submitted to be considered as award nominees for the 2014 Oscars. Provided that at least sixteen of the submissions ultimately have a mandatory qualifying run in Los Angeles and follow the Academy’s other rules for eligibility, there will again be five nominations for the Oscar award for Best Animated Feature. 

Nominations for the 87th Academy Awards will be announced on January 15, 2015 at 8:30 AM Eastern Time. The award ceremony will be held and broadcast live by ABC on February 22, 2015, with Neil Patrick Harris hosting. 

 

The films submitted for Oscar consideration follow in the alphabetical order given by the Academy:

• Big Hero 6 (Walt Disney Animation Studios). Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams
• The Book of Life (Reel FX Creative Studios). Directed by Jorge Gutierrez
• The Boxtrolls (Laika Animation). Directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi
• Cheatin’ (Bill Plympton Studios). Created and directed by Bill Plympton
• Giovanni’s Island (Production I.G.). Directed by Mizuho Nishikubo
• Henry and Me (Reveal Animation Studios). Directed by Barrett Esposito
• The Hero of Color City (Exodus Film Group). Directed by Frank Gladstone
• How to Train Your Dragon 2 (DreamWorks Animation). Directed by Dean DeBlois
• Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (Duran Duboi). Directed by Stéphane Berla and Mathias Malzieu
• Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return (Prana Studios). Directed by Will Finn and Dan St. Pierre
• The LEGO Movie (Warner Animation Group). Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
• Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants (Futurikon). Directed by Hélène Giraud and Thomas Szabo
• Mr. Peabody and Sherman (DreamWorks Animation). Directed by Rob Minkoff. 
• Penguins of Madagascar (DreamWorks Animation). Directed by Simon J. Smith and Eric Darnell
• The Pirate Fairy (DisneyToon Studios, Prana Studios). Directed by Peggy Holmes
• Planes: Fire and Rescue (DisneyToon Studios, Prana Studios). Directed by Roberts Gannaway
• Rio 2 (Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation). Directed by Carlos Saldanha
• Rocks in My Pockets, created and directed by Signe Baumane
• Song of the Sea (Cartoon Saloon). Directed by Tomm Moore
• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Studio Ghibli). Directed by Isao Takahata