Can 'Wall-E' make Oscar history?

A lot of eyebrows were raised when the International Animated Film Society (a.k.a. the Annies) handed DreamWorks' "Kung Fu Panda" victory in 11 categories over presumed front-runner Disney/Pixar's "Wall-E" in its 36th annual awards show on Jan. 30.

Was it fixed? Did DreamWorks take over the membership? How could this happen?

After all, "Wall-E" has trounced "Panda" everywhere else this awards season, even winning best picture votes from Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago film critics groups and taking best animated film at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice, PGA and BAFTA, among many others. It has six Academy Award nominations, named in more categories than any animated film in Oscar history. "Panda" has only one, where it competes for best animated film against "Wall-E" and "Bolt."

True, "Panda" won wide critical acclaim, was a huge international hit and has outgrossed "Wall-E" as well, but both were major hits.

Looking at Annie history it seems unlikely DreamWorks could have stacked the deck. The only time the studio had previously won the Annie was in 2001 for "Shrek" (which also went on to win the first animated category Oscar). Last year, Disney/Pixar's "Ratatouille" was the big winner.

No, it simply appears the animators who vote in the Annies simply liked the butt-kicking panda over the lovestruck robot. But it's quite likely "Wall-E" will have its day at the Oscars despite the enviable track record of Annies predicting Oscars. In fact, since 2001, when the academy created a separate category for animation there has been only one year when winners of the two orgs did not match. "Happy Feet" took the 2006 Oscar over Annie winner "Cars."

"Wall-E's" very difference and boldness may be why traditional animators shy away. It's unique and that's always a hard sell to the establishment. Some have even called it "the 'Citizen Kane' of 'toons." Of course "Citizen Kane" was virtually ignored at the Oscars in 1941, winning only screenplay. Writers get it sometimes when no one else does.

Because of its unusual pedigree, "Wall-E" now has the opportunity to make Oscar history and be the first animated feature to win BIG outside the best animated film and music categories (plus one win for "The Incredibles" in 2004 for Sound Editing when there were only three nominees in the category and two were animated). Sure, three of its six nods come for the usual areas (music score, song, animated film)), but it has a real shot in the other three categories in which it's competing:  sound editing, sound mixing and, particularly, best original screenplay.It has a decent chance to rack up at least four wins if the Oscar gods are on its side but Original Screenplay is the nomination co-writer/director Andrew Stanton told me he is happiest about.

"I am prouder to be in writing more than anything else. At Pixar we say 'story, story, story.' It's the root of everything," he says. "It's the biggest pat on the back I can think of. We put ourselves fully into every aspect but it's all in service of the story."

It could be a tough sell to the overall academy (every branch votes on the final screenplay award) as a lot of members just don't understand how a virtually silent movie, in which the main characters speak their own language, could possibly have been "written."  But Stanton says it's no different than the process any other writer would go through.

"How you tell a story is just as important as what the story is. In my mind these characters were gonna speak. They just weren't gonna speak in a language you and I knew. When they spoke and why they spoke was just as important as if you could understand their language," he says.

Key to all this was the contribution by the sound team led by Ben Burtt whom Stanton calls his most important cast member.

"I needed someone who could make language out of sound and convey intention and emotion through  sound," he says. The sound branch must agree since it has awarded Burtt and company two nominations , and it certainly is the most unique work in a category where the winner usually is the loudest movie (again, all branches get to vote for the final winner here, and they often don't get subtlety).

This is the fifth time an animated film has been nominated in the original screenplay category, and they all belong to Pixar ("Shrek" had a nomination in the Adapted category in 2001). Stanton has been named for original screenplay three times, starting with the breakthrough first nomination in 1995's "Toy Story," in which he was part of a team of writers. They lost to "The Usual Suspects." He was also named for "Finding Nemo" in 2004  but the award went to "Lost in Translation," which also had the advantage of being a best picture nominee, an honor none of the Pixar flicks have enjoyed. Disney's 1991 musical, "Beauty and the Beast," is the only film to defeat the odds and gain a mention in Oscar's golden circle. Since its own category was established it would seem especially hard for any animated film to break out of the 'toon ghetto, although many thought "Ratatouille" would last year. Disney/Pixar mounted a campaign for "Wall-E" this year, but it didn't happen.

This year Stanton's main competition in original screenplay is "Milk," which has the advantage of being the only best picture nominee in the category. That can be a MAJOR plus as it often indicates overall academy support,  but surprisingly not as much as you'd think. Since 1991, seven films NOT nominated for best picture ("Thelma And Louise," "The Usual Suspects," "Sling Blade," "Gods and Monsters," "Almost Famous," "Talk To Her," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") have prevailed over a screenplay from a best picture nominee.

If writing Oscars were awarded for popularity, "Wall-E" would have it in the bag. "Wall-E's" domestic gross alone is more than six times the COMBINED take of its fellow nominees in the category --  "Happy-Go-Lucky," "Frozen River," "In Bruges" and "Milk" have made a collective $40 million. Interestingly, "Milk," which won the Writers Guild of America original screenplay award last weekend, is facing all-new competition at the Oscars as none of the above films, including "Wall-E," were even nominated for a WGA award, a highly unusual and perhaps unprecendented occurrence. The consensus is it's really a two-horse race with the edge given to "Milk."

Whether "Wall-E" can defy the odds and pull this off is a big "if" but clearly the academy at large has fallen in love with this robot. For the first nine months of the year it was virtually the only film you heard mentioned when Oscar buzz came up among members  (at least those I talked to). The danger is Oscar voters may think  giving it best animated film is reward enough. The movie's ardent supporters would argue otherwise. They say "Wall-E" has a message that is just as important as any of the loftier nominees.

Like "Milk" and its uncanny timeliness in regard to Proposition 8, "Wall-E" is being celebrated for its social consciousness and environmental concerns, but Stanton is blatantly honest in his original intention.

"I am very honored it is being associated with issues of the planet, but I would be lying if I said that was my agenda. It wasn't. It's not about global warming.  I wanted to show the last robot on earth, and I  wanted to show the loneliness so I could have the most potent love story imaginable," he says. "Anything I chose environment-wise was a selfish choice in order to make the love story work."

So can this lovestruck "Hello Dolly"-loving tin 'toon actually turn the tide and make Oscar history by prevailing in some categories, primarily in Writing, where animated films are strangers to the winners circle? Certainly it would be a popular win with the audience, but the academy may be just too set in its ways to go for the unexpected.

For Andrew Stanton, what counts is the experience of getting to make this very different concept come to life; everything else is gravy.

"I made 'Wall-E' out of an exclusive love of cinema and thought that might make it an odd man out. But I guess that was the right thing to do," he says now. "It gives me a lot of confidence to follow that voice again."

-- Pete Hammond

Photo courtesy Disney/Pixar

Comments

[matt belmont]

sorry, but "the incredibles" won for sound in editing in 2005, so "wall-e" isn't exactly going to be "the first animated feature to win outside the best animated film and music categories"

[Zach O'Connell]

Just a correction:

Six animated films have been nominated for screenplay, and the sixth spot belongs to a non-Pixar film: Shrek (nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay)

[Aubrey]

Like all categories, it's all about the campaign by the studios.

How's the campaign for Wall E?

Versus the others?

[chatan]

Shrek also was nominated in 2001. The other Andrew, Adamson. So its six animated films, one for DW, the rest to Pixar

[David]

Pixar is art, DW is pop trash! hehehe

[Jesse]

I see wall-e winning at least 3 Oscars

[Jesse]

Wall-E FTW! I see it winning 3 oscars

[742]

There is precedence for silence trumping talk. Ronald Harwood's screenplay for "The Pianist," in which Adrien Brody wandered alone and largely in silence after escaping a ghetto, trumped the presumed favorite "The Hours," which is the very definition of a wordy screenplay.

Of course, it's a lot easier for a Holocaust movie to win an Oscar than a cartoon robot movie.

[Robert Hamer]

WALL-E should have been nominated for Best Picture. Best Original Screenplay is the least the Academy could do for this superior film, so naturally, it probably won't win.

[Jim]

The Annies was rigged. How can you explain Kung Fu Panda's 10 wins (and 10 only) only came from the Annies? If it's that good it at least had to be awarded somewhere else. Heh.

WALL-E will win the Oscars.

[andy]

so true!
DW animations are never gd in storylines
sure they are funny and entertaining but that's abt it
utterly forgetable
pixar is absolutely amazing
nemo, incredibles, ratatouille, toy story, monsters

[Jesse]

Wall-E will win at least 3 awards

[Heath]

Wall-E has the best shot of any animation to win a major category award (orig. screenplay). It will definitely win multiple awards Oscar nite

[John]

Kung Fu panda was better than Wall-E in my opinion but if either of them win best animated feature I'd be happy. I just don't want bolt to win.

[AnimPro]

I'm getting tired of all this "Annies were rigged" talk... It's a case of the Emperor's New Clothes. The same ASIFA membership with the same number of DW folks gave the best pic Annie to Pixar for the last 7 years. And they deserved it (particularly for Ratatouille, my favorite CG animated film of all time - love you Brad Bird!!)! This year, those same people gave the award to DW. Because they deserved it! Run the movies back to back: Panda is just a better movie: a raft of appealing characters - and better animation, a fine-tuned mix of contemporary sensibilities and Taoist philosophy (which is why the Chinese were amazed by the film - read their press!), stunning production and character design, much better layout/cinematography/staging. C'mon! I know that Pixar's effluvium smells like roses, but When all the Kool-Aid wears off, and you're looking at the movies on a rainy weekend over the summer, you'll wonder what all the oohing and aahing was all about... Don't get me wrong, Wall E is an adorable movie. But it ain't Casablanca. I may have been charmed for 90 minutes, but I was never in awe. You just can't rig 11 wins in 11 categories. Gee, do you think maybe the animation professionals know something that the knee-jerk critics don't? Maybe it's the critics who are being paid off. Anyone ever consider that? There's little doubt that Wall E will win the Oscar. And the pied piper led all those kids into a mountain, too. Oh, and the U.S. Congress voted to attack Iraq. Have I exaggerated enough to make my point?

[Robert Hamer]

Yes, AnimPro, you've made your point VERY clear.

...but you're still wrong.

[June]

KFP was NOT Superior animation wise to Wall-E, that is sheer blasphemy. Either the annies were bought, or there's a bad case of PIXAR ENVY among the voters.

Watch Wall-E win a couple of Oscars next Sunday .

[Tony]

KFP was fun but IN NO WAY WAS IT SUPERIOR TO WALL-E. The animation of KFP was superior to WALL-E? GIVE ME A BREAK! Only those with a severe case of Pixar envy will subscribe to that. It's a fact of life, whenever someone gets so good at what they do, those who can't keep up will hate them. DEAL WITH IT, or here's a thought, GET BETTER!

[Dennis]

Wall-E is the superior FILM period! Anyone who says KFP is the better film are probably the same people who says Armaggedon is better than 2001 A Space Odyssey. The fact that Wall-E is being seen more as a FILM than a mere ANIMATED film says it all

[Matt]

"I'm getting tired of all this "Annies were rigged" talk"

From The Carpetbagger, a very well respected awards season insider:

"“Wall-E” was much mentioned as a best picture contender, in part because of its mostly silent opening homage to film history, so Oscar watchers were stunned when “Kung Fu Panda” took all the awards from the International Animated Film Society. That was an inside job, full of backstage politics you don’t want to know about. It’s “Wall-E” this year at the Oscars, and in DVD collections everywhere."

Get tired of it all you want, it is true that The Annies were all about politics and inside jobs. NO ONE believes KFP was better than WALL-E unless they are simply trying to "be different", especially not people in the animation industry. The Annies were rigged, period. WALL-E will walk away with 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 Oscars on Sunday, depending on how generous The Academy is feeling (and they love WALL-E, so they might be generous). Kung Fu Panda will have ZILCH.