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 Disney Animation's "Big Hero 6," DreamWorks Animation's "How
to Train Your Dragon 2," Laika Studios' "The Boxtrolls," Studio
Ghibli's "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" and Cartoon Saloon's
"Song of the Sea" will compete for the Academy Award for
animated feature.
But the exclusion of Time Warner Inc-owned Warner Bros' "The
Lego Movie," last year's top-grossing animated film with more
than $257 million at the U.S. box office, stunned even those in
the industry.
"It was a big shock to me. I saw the movie and loved it," said
Dean DeBlois, co-director of "Dragon 2," about a Viking named
Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless.
With no clear favorite, the animation race is likely between
big-budget spectaculars such as "Big Hero 6" and "Dragon 2," and
niche artistry of films such as "The Boxtrolls."
"Big Hero 6," an ambitious work from an animation studio often
overshadowed by its more flashy Disney sibling Pixar, fused
Japanese influences into a Marvel-inspired tale of boy genius
Hiro who befriends a robot and forms a superhero ensemble.
"We're reaching a broad audience without compromising," said
co-director Chris Williams. "We're making films that audiences
want to come see, but they're still products of passion."
ANIMATION ON THE FRINGES
The animated film Oscar is a relatively new category,
inaugurated in 2001 and dominated by Pixar, which has won seven
Academy Awards in the category for films including "Finding Nemo"
and "Up."
With no Pixar release this year and "Lego Movie" shunned, the
nominees reflect stories that lie on the fringes of animation,
rather than targeting a mainstream audience.
Japan's Studio Ghibli has earned Oscar nods for masterpieces
such as Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away," which won in 2002, and
is renowned for delivering mystical tales such as "Princess
Kaguya," about a moon princess who comes to Earth, by the
studio's co-founder Isao Takahata.
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Cartoon Saloon's Tomm Moore, previously nominated for 2009's "The
Secret of Kells," earned a second Oscar nod for "Song of the Sea"
about the Celtic selkie, a mythical creature that lives as a seal in
water but as a human on land.
"The selkie story is not necessarily a happy story, it's about the
risk of falling in love with magical creatures, and there's parting
and sorrow," said Eric Beckman, president of GKids, the U.S.
distributor of "Song of the Sea" and "Princess Kaguya."
While animated films are aimed at a young audience, "Boxtrolls"
co-director Anthony Stacchi said they didn't shy away from making
edgier content with grotesque little trolls and repulsive villains.
"You do kids a disservice when you hide too much from them and don't
let them see stories that have a full range of darkness and
emotion," he said.
Stacchi's sentiment is echoed across this year's nominees, where
each film melds grown-up themes such as losing a loved one, be it
Princess Kaguya's parents facing her return to the moon, Saoirse's
decision to stay on land or in the sea in "Song," or Hiro losing his
brother in "Big Hero 6."
"We didn't veer away from some of the bolder, more emotionally
resonant elements," said DeBlois, who drew on his own experience of
losing his father at a young age to write about Hiccup's loss of his
father in "Dragon 2."
"We want to feel the validation and pride of making something that
feels timeless and resonant, and not just something that appeals to
pop culture."
(Editing by Mary Milliken and Eric Walsh)
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