If you were able to watch the Oscars this year, you probably saw more of this mindset. When presenting the nominations for Best Animated Feature Film, the hosts remarked the films as a joy for children but a chore for parents to watch. The comment has since caused a ripple in industry members and leads. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were nominated this year for their work on The Mitchells vs. The Machines, spoke up in an open letter (hosted by Variety) about the demeaning attitude towards the industry they love.
Framing the five Academy Award nominees for best animated feature as a corporate product for kids that parents must begrudgingly endure could be dismissed as simply careless. But to those of us who have dedicated our lives to making animated films, that carelessness has become routine.
The two talked about how the head of a major studio promised that if the team “played their cards right, they could be graduated to live-action.” They then described a second encounter, this time with an executive at a different studio, telling the pair that their work reminded the executive of “a real movie.” The two made sure to include attention towards the ongoing #NewDeal4Animation movement that is being spread among those in the industry, making a fair reminder that when studios were shut down at the start of the pandemic, animation workers switched to working from home and not skipping a beat.
We are currently negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to get studios to pay animation workers fairly, especially when animation is such a large and important part of their bottom lines. (Look up #NewDeal4Animation to learn more!) During the pandemic, when much physical production was shut down, animators began working from home immediately. These films kept our business afloat.
An Overshadowed Industry
Lord and Miller continued their letter, speaking up about how animated movies continued to be successful and in progress throughout the pandemic. They mentioned how, while broadcasters complained about none of the nominees being seen, three of the ten most-streamed movies of 2021 were animated nominees (Luca, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Mitchells vs. the Machines). The two finally got to their main pitch for the Academy, which was to have a filmmaker with respect for the art present the award, such as Guillermo del Toro, Bong Joon Ho, and Mahershala Ali. Lord and Miller wrapped up with a plea to celebrate the achievements in animation, ending on the film that birthed the award for best animated feature in the first place.
… in 2023 we can celebrate the 31st anniversary of the historic best picture nomination for “Beauty and the Beast.” That nomination caused such a stir that some worried an animated movie might win best picture every year, a sentiment that, in part, led to the creation of the best animated feature award, both to acknowledge the contributions of animation to the current cinema, and, for some, to keep animated films from winning the “real” prize.At least we used to be taken seriously.Surely no one set out to diminish animated films, but it’s high time we set out to elevate them.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller are behind numerous legends in the world of animation, both on television and in the theater. Their works include Clone High, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Lego Movie, UniKitty!, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Their upcoming credits are writing and producing the eagerly awaited Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Parts One and Two to come out in 2022 and 2023).