Well, we’re nearing the awards season which means multiple awards ceremony nominations will be announced soon. One set of nominations that have already been announced is the Annies, the “Oscar for animated films”. I’ve listed the four categories that I’m most interested in below, but if you want a list of all the nominations, then click here.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
-Finding Dory
-Kubo and the Two Strings
-Kung Fu Panda 3
-Moana
-Zootopia
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE-INDEPENDENT:
-Long Way North
-Miss Hokusai
-My Life As A Zucchini
-The Red Turtle
-Your Name
BEST ANIMATED SHORT SUBJECT:
-Blind Vaysha
-Deer Flower
-Path Title Sequence
-Pearl
-Piper
VOICE ACTING IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE PRODUCTION:
-Art Parkinson as Kubo (Kubo and the Two Strings)
-Auli’i Cravalho as Moana (Moana)
-Katie Crown as Tulip (Storks)
-Zooey Deschanel as Bridget (Trolls)
-Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde (Zootopia)
Well, here are some of my thoughts on these nominations:
- I completely forgot about Kung Fu Panda 3, lol! At least the Annies remembered them! Now, do I think it should have been nominated? Well, since the Annies differentiates between mainstream animated films and independent ones, then I guess Kung Fu Panda 3 was a good fit for the 5th slot. I mean, what else could it have been? The Secret Life of Pets? Sing? Norm of the North?
- Like my friend, Rachel Wagner from 54disneyreviews.com, I was hoping that April and the Extraordinary World would be nominated in the independent animated film category. It was a really interesting steampunk-ish film with a premise that’s really creative and nigh original. I haven’t watched a film like that in a long time!
- I’m also disappointed that Borrowed Time didn’t get nominated for Best Animated Short Subject. If you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend it! It’s a really heavy-hitting, emotional short film! I think I almost cried…or maybe I did…I can’t remember.
- Like usual, the voice acting nominations are great choices (at least from the ones I’ve seen/heard)! Maybe I’d have liked to see Ginnifer Goodwin on there too, but at least one person from Zootopia is good enough for me!
- While I didn’t list this above, Moana was NOT nominated in the music category at all! I don’t know if this has to do with these nominations being settled before most people saw Moana or what, but it’s really shocking to have a Disney musical NOT nominated in the music category!
What are your thoughts on these nominations? Which were surprises to you? What do you feel was snubbed? Which do you think will win? Let me know in the comments below!
The Animation Commendation 
I’m so glad Katie Crown got nominated for Best Voice acting. Watching her work on Total Drama for a decade, this film was only half of what she could do. Strong contenders that deserve it, though it’s sad Ellen wasn’t nominated.
The 5 that is nominated should be the 5 for all of these awards. They were the only outstanding films (haven’t watched Moana yet) of the year, so they all deserve it. Kung Fuck PANDA was released so early that many forgot about it. It will be between Zootopia or Kubo, though I wouldn’t mind if Dory won.
I can’t wait for you to watch Moana and see what you think of it. I feel Moana is the best of the year!
While I don’t want to spend money on it, I might watch it on Thursday or this weekend.
I spent money for this one as it was Disney. I loved it!
Yeah the nominations were definitely interesting. I’m surprised Kung fu Panda 3 got nominated over Trolls but very happily surprised. Thanks for the shout out about April and the Extraordinary World. I didnt realize you’d seen it but you’re absolutely right. It’s a better movie than Long Way North. Oh well. It makes me really want to see My Life as a Zucchini and The Red Turtle! I also agree about Moana and the music. That is bizarre.
What do you think is likely to be Oscar noms? I think Moana, Zootopia, Your Name, Red Turtle, Kubo. Not much love for the Little Prince which is fine with me because I find it super overrated. Anyway interesting stuff
Yeah, I saw April a few weeks ago. Was gonna do a review of it, but didn’t.
For the Oscars, I’m thinking it’ll be Moana, Zootopia, and Your Name definitely. Not sure about the other two.
You should still do a review. We need to get word out about these smaller films
I’m very surprised to see Moana didn’t get a music nod – most of the reviews I’ve heard had people raving about the music. And I think it’s interesting to see Zootopia and Moana go up against each other since they’re both Disney and both very solid films in my opinion.
Yeah, I can’t fathom why Moana wasn’t nominated!
Yeah, if any Disney film wins this year, none of us would be upset.
My Thoughts On The 2016 Annie Award Nominations (feature-length categories only):
…..
— Solid Best Animated Feature slate. Thankful that KFP3 wasn’t forgotten.
— Obviously, Zootopia deserves all of those noms. (Still my 3rd favorite film of 2016 so far, below Hell Or High Water and above Your Name.)
— Your Name got into the Independent category!
— Solid Live-Action Production animated fx slate. Deepwater Horizon, yes. I’m actually okay with Ghostbusters getting recognition here. Glad BFG wasn’t forgotten.
— LOVE that Makoto Shinkai got into the Directing category for Your Name. On the other hand, Clements/Musker (Moana) are absent. Could be telling. Is that because of the film’s late release?
— Alexandre Desplat composed quite a quirky score for The Secret Life Of Pets—arguably the biggest thing I remember from that film.
— Kubo getting a Writing nom over Your Name is a joke. Laika’s screenwriting department has been their biggest weak point and Kubo demonstrated that. Yeah, Your Name can be argued as typical Japanese fateful romance, but not in the hands of Makoto Shinkai, whose animation is as heartfelt as his writing.
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My Current Personal Nominations for the Best Animated Feature Oscar
(as of 12/1/2016; haven’t seen Moana yet):
…..
— Finding Dory
— Kubo & The Two Strings
— Kung Fu Panda 3
— Your Name
— Zootopia
Thanks for the comments! With all this praise for Your Name, I probably should check it out soon.
And interesting Oscar Nominations list! I honestly don’t think Dory or KFP3 will be nominated; I think independent films will take their places, but we’ll see.
Alright, let’s see Finding Dory was really good. I still haven’t seen Kung Fu Panda 3 or Kubo, but I really want too. I’m excited that I’m finally going to see Moana tomorrow. Yay! And, Zootopia was really good. I liked Zootopia better than Finding Dory, but I can’t make my decision until I’ve seen all 5 lol.
Haven’t seen any of the second category or third besides Piper. (Is that the one from Finding Dory?) Anyways, if it was, it was really good. When I saw the preview, I actually thought it was real lol.
I also think Ginnifer Goodwin should’ve been nominated. She was so good. I haven’t seen Storks or Trolls. (I don’t want to watch Trolls though, it looks dumb). I’m glad Auli’i Cravalho was nominated. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but from what I’ve seen. It looks amazing and her voice sounds great, especially since she’s only like 14.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Moana! And yes, Piper was the short that was played before Finding Dory.
Oh Thank you Only 12 more hours to go lol oh yes I loved that one. I hope it wins lol
Have you seen the animated short, Borrowed Time, yet? That’s my fave animated short of the year so far. So heavy-hitting and emotional.
Nope, I must watch it lol