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RATATOUILLE: ALREADY AN OSCAR CHAMP?

With Shrek out of the way, only Homer seems likely to pose any challenge for Remy and friends

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By Tom Houseman

At the Academy Awards, Pixar Studios is the undeniable animation behemoth. Since the Animated Feature award was created, three of five Pixar films have won, with only Cars and Monsters Inc. getting nominated but not winning. In addition, Pixar films have been nominated for several other categories—a rarity for animated films—including Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Score, and Best Song. Pixar has reached the pinnacle of consistent dominance that any studio would dream of at the Oscars, but now the only milestone left for Pixar to reach is the biggest and toughest one of all: a Best Picture nomination.

As most people who follow these things closely know, there has only been one animated film nominated for Best Picture. That was Beauty and the Beast in 1992, and since then a few films have built buzz but none have made it onto the short list. Although voting records are not released by the Academy, based on the amount of buzz they had, it is likely that the two animated films that have come closest to getting nominated were Toy Story and Finding Nemo, both Pixar films. Now, Ratatouille has opened to absolute critical raves, excellent public reception, and very good box office. The question is, will that be enough for Ratatouille to be the second animated film nominated for Best Picture?

Of course, anything is possible, but the fact is that there is too much working against Ratatouille for it to be considered a serious contender. In addition to it being animated, it is a light comedic kids film, a genre that always has trouble at the Oscars. The last children’s film to be nominated for best picture was Babe in 1994. While a Golden Globe nomination for Best Musical/Comedy is likely, Academy voters aren’t going to be able to take Ratatouille seriously enough to nominate it for Best Picture.

Of course, Ratatouille will surely receive other nominations. Before Cars, which can be seen as a weak link for Pixar, both Finding Nemo and The Incredibles were nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and Ratatouille will most likely follow their path. While there are fewer big action sequences that would impress the Sound Editing voters in Ratatouille than there were in nominees Monsters Inc. and The Incredibles, a nomination in that category is a slight possibility. Michael Giacchino’s score has received a lot of praise, and will likely earn him his first Oscar nomination, as well as his second; the song “Le Festin” from the film could also be nominated.

Then of course there is the Best Animated Feature category. With Dreamworks’ big animated film Shrek 3 getting trashed by critics, Ratatouille looks to have an easy road to taking home the Oscar. If The Simpsons Movie gets raves and beats out Ratatouille at the Box-Office, it might have a glimmer of hope, but the fact that it is based on a TV show will not look good to the Academy. A dark horse candidate in this category is Persepolis, based on a graphic novel memoir of Marjane Satrapi, it is the story of a young girl living in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Persepolis could have an impact on the Animated Feature race if it garners enough attention during its U.S. release. But while either of these films has a far outside shot at winning, it is extremely unlikely that either could take down Pixar and Ratatouille. While Best Picture might be a heavy long shot, at least Brad Bird and co. can take solace in the fact that they have one category wrapped up, even if it’s not the category they want the most.

Do you agree? Is Ratatouille poised to win Best Animated Film next February? Discuss it here

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