Poll: Should 'WALL-E' Be Nominated for Best Picture?
Filed under: Animation, Awards, Fandom, Family Films, Oscar Watch, Polls
Will the Oscars slowly turn into The MTV Movie Awards by the time we hit, I dunno, 2011? While that might be a stretch, poor ratings and the public's desire to actually see their favorite films of the year nominated and recognized might just sway Academy voters to start showing more love toward more commercial flicks. Like, say, The Dark Knight, Iron Man and Tropic Thunder -- all of which will be receiving an Oscar push in the coming weeks. Also on the agenda, Disney is cooking up a campaign for WALL-E in the Best Picture category even though an animated film has never won the Academy's top award, so says The New York Times. (Note: It will still be possible for WALL-E to be nominated in the Best Animated Film category as well as Best Picture.)
But if there's ever a year for upsets, 2008 is definitely it. The writer's strike and struggling economy really hurt some potential awards contenders (The Road and The Soloist were pushed back to 2009), and awards buzz on others (Changeling, Frost/Nixon) ain't exactly all that promising. So, heck, in a year where the Tampa Bay Rays make it to the World Series, I don't see why WALL-E shouldn't slip into the Best Picture category. But how do you feel about it? Should the Oscars take a more pop-centric, mass appeal approach going forward? Or should that stuff be reserved for the Teen Choice Awards and MTV Movie Awards? And what about poor old WALL-E? Where does he fit in?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-28-2008 @ 11:11AM
ScreenRant.com said...
It has a shot due to its politically correct pro-environmental message, but that will be canceled out by the fact that it offended some fat people.
Vic
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10-28-2008 @ 11:14AM
SCAVE said...
Wall-E has to be at least nominated for best picture. If "Forest Gump" can win an oscar for best picture so could Wall-E. Why not?
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10-28-2008 @ 11:33AM
Jim said...
Why would it be a move toward commercial films that sees Wall-E nominated? It is easily a contender for best picture on its own merits. I think it features one of the best romantic pairings I have ever seen in cinema.
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10-28-2008 @ 12:18PM
jeff said...
I was really excited coming out of comic con, I saw clips at a screening. I continuously told people who asked that it was going to be the best picture nom. But you know what? The final product was good, just not that good.
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10-28-2008 @ 12:20PM
Jeff said...
Oh. And niether was the Dark Knight. It was good, just not that good,
10-28-2008 @ 12:37PM
Mafoo said...
Should the Oscars take a more pop-centric, mass appeal approach going forward?
The history of the Oscars is nominating pop-centric films for the top prizes, from The Broadway Melody to Dreamgirls. Disney's Beauty and the Beast was also nominated for Best Picture, and WALL-E is a way more of a serious film than that. I'm not sure whether it deserves to win Best Picture, but it certainly deserves to be nominated.
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10-28-2008 @ 1:05PM
Mike said...
I don't think the Academy should nominate movies like Wall*E and The Dark Knight simply because they're trying to appease and attract an audience. They should nominate more movies with mass appeal because there are some very successful movies that also happen to be very good, and deserving. Like The Dark Knight (haven't seen Wall*E).
The Bourne Ultimatum won everything it was nominated for last year. Would it have been a stretch to nominate it for Best Picture?
For the most part, audiences make hits out of movies that aren't great. But that's not to say that a hit movie cannot be great. So why not nominate one or two on their merits? A film shouldn't have to be an independent in order to warrant awards.
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10-28-2008 @ 1:40PM
Bill said...
Wall-E will win best animated feature. If it were to be nominated for best picture it would not win. I think the whole reason for creating the animated feature category is to set up a "kids table" for animation so they don't try to sit at the grown-ups table again after Beauty and the Beast was nominated in 1991.
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10-28-2008 @ 2:25PM
Rick said...
I think it should be nominated, at least. Has for it winning, i don't know. Just remember, the Academy gives out Best Picture awards to movies that aren't best picture material (The Departed being the most recent example). And, I think among people who actually watch movies and care about them, the Academy lost all it's credibility a long time ago.
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10-28-2008 @ 3:34PM
totoro said...
Are you asking if Wall-E was good enough to be nominated for Best Picture, or if animated films should be nominated for Best Picture, when they have their own category?
I think animated films should be considered along with live action films for Best Picture. I also think "foreign language" films should be as well. Best Picture is, well, Best Picture. Not Best Picture with real actors, or Best Picture with english speaking real actors.
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10-28-2008 @ 4:13PM
Gary said...
I think that yes, Wall-E at the moment probably deserves a nomination for best picture. But we still have two months to go so whether it still is among the five best movies this year at the end of year is a different matter.
We are yet to have Australia and Benjamin Button yet which are both likely to be nominations and who would bet against Slumdog Millionaire getting a surprise nod, this years Juno perhaps.
But this is less about the quality of Wall-E (which don't get me wrong was pretty good) and more about what an average year this has been so far for movies.
Example: In Bruges has been my favourite movie of the year all year and nothing yet has taken its place, all the movies that I had been looking forward to failed to take its place and time is running out. To finish the year with In Bruges top of my list is going to be a real shock. (I seem to be pinning everything on Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire now)
Maybe In Bruges should be getting a nomination too? Of course I am joking.
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10-28-2008 @ 5:17PM
Adam said...
WALL-E is hands-down the best movie I've seen this year *so far*
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10-29-2008 @ 8:23AM
Cookie said...
If a film like "Chicago" can win Best Picture, WALL-E should get a nomination as well. The Oscars should be and always have been about popular interest if it coincides with quality.
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10-29-2008 @ 9:33AM
Taylor Barratt said...
Wall-E was quite good. Though I think Ratatouille last year would have had the best chance against that group of films. IMO, It's a better movie too.
But last year I feel there were only a couple that deserved the nomination in the first place. I think this year the field is going to be much stronger.
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11-01-2008 @ 9:04PM
Matt said...
WALL-E should, The Dark Knight shouldn't. TDK was good but extremely overrated. WALL-E was the masterpiece it's been claimed to be, and luckily hasn't so oversaturated the movie-going public that you get sick of it, unlike TDK. I have a feeling we'll be seeing one and not the other in the Best Picture nominated category, and I don't mean we'll be seeing TDK.
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11-01-2008 @ 10:04PM
Wayne said...
Remembering that the Academy votes on the awards and nominees, I predict the opposite outcome. TDK will be nominated for Best Picture and Wall*E will not. As others have stated, Wall*E will win for Best Animated Feature Film and many will view that as winning the prize at the kid's table.
11-16-2008 @ 8:18PM
caroline said...
I hope WALL-E ends up on the Best Picture Nod. If it doesn’t I will not watch the oscars.
I also like to see the Dark Knight end up on the category, but I’m not giving it too much support because it is the most overrated movie in history. Still, I love that movie.
What is it about animated movies to discriminate? Finding Nemo should have receive a Best Picture nod long ago. It had great storytelling.
WALL-E is waay better than Shrek. It may not be funnier, but Shrek is what it is, a majorily comedy, while WALL-E focused more on a unique storyline. Plus WALL-E costed 180,000,000 to make. So many people worked so hard on it.
I also find WALL-E to be better than Beauty and the Beast. That was a great movie, but WALL-E had and told the better story. WALL-E is one of the most daring works ever.
If WALL-E doesn’t show up on the Best Picture category, I will never watch the Oscars again. Mark my words.
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12-22-2008 @ 4:18PM
Sam said...
It's certainly come closest to getting the nomination than any other animated movie has in the past 17 years.
I really hope it does. It's not just my favorite of the year, but the decade as well, and giving it the nom would make me forgive the academy for giving that stupid turd Crash best picture.
as if they care if a 15 year old fanboy forgives them or not.
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