Often when we talk about Oscar season, we skip to the best performances or the contentious Best Picture conversations. But, the award ceremony recognizes just about every aspect of filmmaking (except stunts, sadly)! One competitive category this year is for visual effects – where the action and genre films get to compete. With the 92nd Oscars shortlist already released ahead of nominations coming on January 13, the Frozen II visual effects team is discussing being overlooked.
Animated films are not recognized in the visual effects category at the Oscars. It’s instead an all “live-action” category completely, except for the 2016 nomination for Laika’s stop-motion film Kubo & the Two Strings. Yet, the Frozen II effects animation heads Marlon West and Dale Mayeda believe their work also deserves a nod with the other films on the list. Check out what West told Yahoo! Entertainment:
I would love to be considered alongside of live-action films. If we have something we feel is a great accomplishment here at Disney — if we feel it stands up alongside of what other studios are doing, live-action or otherwise — I don’t mind being considered at all. … [But] we tend to think of ourselves as artists.
The artists went into depth about what goes into making the effects for a film like Frozen II. The magical translucent horse in the musical who can turn from ice to water was an extra challenge for the effects team to make him look realistic. They also talked about how each time Disney creates a water visual effect for a movie, they create something specific to the movie itself aside from the science or recreating waves and such.
Here is the Oscars shortlist for visual effects:
Alita: Battle AngelAvengers: EndgameCaptain MarvelCatsGemini ManThe IrishmanThe Lion King1917Star Wars: Rise of SkywalkerTerminator: Dark Fate
As you can see Frozen II is not present here. This list will shorten from ten to five when the official nominations for the award show are announced in a couple weeks. What’s interesting here is The Lion King is actually part of it. While it’s been named a “live-action” remake, it’s actually completely animated. (Except for one real shot to look for!)
Another interesting name on this list is Cats, which actually had some of the visual effects revised after the movie was released in theaters. Chances are it won’t actually make the nomination list, though, especially considering Universal recently pulled the title from its “For Your Consideration” page.
Frozen II was nominated for Best Original Song for “Into The Unknown” and Best Animated Movie at the Golden Globes, which air tonight (Sunday, January 6). What do you think? Should animated movies like Frozen II be given a chance in the Oscars visual effects category? Sound off in the comments below!
