Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/944397
32 KEYFRAME 2013 Brave 2014 Frozen 2015 Big Hero 6 2016 Inside Out 2017 Zootopia "Animation people would like to be taken as seriously as artists as much as the live-action guys. Not to denigrate them any, but hey what about us?" CHANGING TIMES "I do think as the younger generation gets older, a lot of the prejudices against certain kinds of films is going away," says Gray. "As the audience changes, I think Academy voters are getting a little more open minded about what constitutes art." Case and point: This year, the Academy changed its rules and, for the first time, the selection of Best Animated Feature is open to all Oscar voters—not just those from the animation branch. Trousdale says this is a good thing because it "feels like animation may be a bit more accepted and recognized as grown-up (or mainstream) film when all the filmmakers are involved, and not just the secret arcane club of animation people." The ideal situation, sources say, is that Americans — and specifically Academy voters — will follow the lead of countries like Japan, which sees animation as an elevated art form and not just something for kids. "Animation isn't a genre; it's a medium," says Trousdale. "A lot of people have been saying that for years. But those people are mostly in the animation business." This might simply be about educating the curious. "One of the most frequent questions I'd get was how do you direct an animated movie?" says Trousdale, whose post-Beast credits include 1996's The Hunchback of Notre Dame and, since his move to DreamWorks Animation in 2003, several shorts centered around the character Shrek. "It all comes down to the choices because those mean what appears on the screen. Choices have to be made whether it's live-action or animation: what time of day is it? What are the costumes? What's the weather? What is the emotion? Those are identical questions. Animation people would like to be taken as seriously as artists as much as the live-action guys. Not to denigrate them any, but hey what about us?" And for those AMPAS audience members who still have trouble believing that a film that they watched as a kid — or more recently with their kids — is a Best Picture contender, we have one request: Rewatch them. "One of the big things that animation has that live action doesn't is it's got shelf life," says Trousdale, explaining that aside from rarities like Gone with the Wind or The Wizard of Oz, it's hard for live-action films to compete with as much staying power. "You can go back and you can look at animated films and find animated films from 50 or 60 years ago in kind of good profusion." Pinocchio viewing party anyone? F E AT U R E