The Rapid Growth Of The Academy’s Short Film And Feature Animation Branch — And What It Means

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization responsible for the Oscars, has extended a record 774 invitations to new members, which if accepted by all the invitees, would push the total Academy membership to over 8,000 people.

The Academy is comprised of 17 branches, among those the Short Films and Feature Animation branch, which invited 96 members this year, second only to the Actors branch which invited 106 members.

Of the new inductees in the animation branch, 83 of the 96 work in animation, while the remaining 13 people represent live-action short filmmakers.

Employees of the Walt Disney Company, which has won the feature animation Oscar for nine out of the last ten years, overwhelmingly dominate the list of new members. By our count, 27 of the invited members to the animation branch, or nearly one-third, are currently employees of either the Walt Disney or Pixar animation studios.

The Academy is expected to soon release the results of elections for its Board of Governors. Industry observers will watch closely to see if Disney and Pixar animation president Ed Catmull is elected to the animation branch’s Board of Governors. (UPDATE: Ed Catmull lost the election.)

Catmull, who until recently was a member of the visual effects branch, was not eligible under Academy rules to run this year for the animation branch’s Board of Governors. Cartoon Brew has learned that he became able to do so only after Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs and Disney/Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter made a personal appeal to the animation branch’s executive board, pressuring them to give a special waiver to Catmull, so that he could switch immediately from the visual effects branch into the animation branch.

There has been a clear effort in recent years to alter the make-up of the Short Films and Feature Animation branch by stacking it with California-based craftspeople who work on mainstream features, thereby diluting the number of independent and foreign filmmakers in the branch.

Combined with recent rule changes and Catmull’s candidacy for the Board of Governors, these efforts are viewed by people both inside and outside the Academy as a way to curb the influence of independent and foreign feature animation, which has been increasingly dominating the list of nominees. Last year, when Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out won the Oscar, the other four nominees in the category were all either independent or foreign features — Anomalisa, Boy and the World, Shaun the Sheep Movie, and When Marnie Was There. One Academy member described to me the recent efforts to alter the branch as “dark.”

Below is the list of the animation-related invitees in the Short Films and Feature Animation branch:

Matt Baer – The Croods, How to Train Your Dragon

Kyle Balda – Despicable Me 3, Minions

Jacquie Barnbrook – Live Music, The ChubbChubbs!

Claude Barras – My Life as a Zucchini, Banquise (Icefloe)

Eric Beckman – When Marnie Was There, Song of the Sea

Jared Bush * – Zootopia, Moana

Carlos E. Cabral – Big Hero 6, Frozen

John K. Carr – How to Train Your Dragon 2, Over the Hedge

Jeeyun Sung Chisholm – Ice Age: Collision Course, The Peanuts Movie

Jericca Cleland – Ratchet & Clank, Arthur Christmas

Andrew Coats – Smash and Grab, Borrowed Time

John Cohen – The Angry Birds Movie, Despicable Me

Lindsey Collins – Finding Dory, WALL-E

Devin Crane – Megamind, Monsters vs Aliens

Ricardo Curtis – The Book of Life, Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who

Richard Daskas – Turbo, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

Jason Deamer – Piper, Monsters University

David DeVan – Finding Dory, Brave

Walt Dohrn – Trolls, Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Rob Dressel – Moana, Big Hero 6

David Eisenmann – Pearl, Toy Story 3

Steve Emerson * – Kubo and the Two Strings, The Boxtrolls

Lise Fearnley – Me and My Moulton, The Danish Poet

Arish Fyzee – The Pirate Fairy, Planes

Andrew Gordon – Monsters University, Presto

Jinko Gotoh – The Little Prince, 9

Eric Guillon – Sing, The Secret Life of Pets

Lou Hamou-Lhadj – Borrowed Time, Day & Night

John Hill – Turbo, Shrek Forever After

Steven “Shaggy” Hornby – How to Train Your Dragon 2, Rise of the Guardians

Steven Clay Hunter – Brave, The Incredibles

Alessandro Jacomini – Big Hero 6, Tangled

Christopher Jenkins – Home, Surf’s Up

Sean D. Jenkins – Wreck-It Ralph, Bolt

Phil Johnston * – Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph

Oliver Jones * – Kubo and the Two Strings, ParaNorman

Mohit Kallianpur – Frozen, Tangled

Max Karli – My Life as a Zucchini, Victoria

Michael Kaschalk – Big Hero 6, Paperman

Karsten Kiilerich – Albert, When Life Departs

Timothy Lamb – Trolls, Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Gina Warr Lawes – Zootopia, Kung Fu Panda 2

Sang Jun Lee – Rio 2, Epic

Meg LeFauve – The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out

Jenny Lerew – Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Flushed Away

Brad Lewis – Storks, Ratatouille

Carl Ludwig – Rio, Ice Age

MaryAnn Malcomb – Free Birds, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

Anders Mastrup – Albert, When Life Departs

Dave Mullins – Cars 2, Up

Michelle Murdocca – Hotel Transylvania, Open Season

Christopher Murrie * – Kubo and the Two Strings, Coraline

Ramsey Naito – The Boss Baby, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

Damon O’Beirne – Kung Fu Panda 3, Rise of the Guardians

Hyrum Virl Osmond – Moana, Frozen

James Palumbo – Ice Age: Collision Course, Ice Age: Continental Drift

Christine Panushka – The Content of Clouds, The Sum of Them

Pierre Perifel – Rise of the Guardians, Kung Fu Panda 2

Jeffrey Jon Pidgeon – Monsters University, Up

David Pimentel – Moana, Big Hero 6

Elvira Pinkhas – Ice Age: Collision Course, Rio 2

Kori Rae – Monsters University, Tokyo Mater

Mahesh Ramasubramanian – Home, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

Ferenc Rofusz – Gravitáció (Gravitation), The Fly

Vicki Saulls – The Peanuts Movie, Ice Age: Continental Drift

Brad Schiff * – Kubo and the Two Strings, The Boxtrolls

William Schwab – Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph

Gina Shay – Trolls, Shrek Forever After

Jeff Snow – Over the Hedge, The Road to El Dorado

Peter Sohn – The Good Dinosaur, Partly Cloudy

Debra Solomon – My Kingdom, Getting Over Him in 8 Songs or Less

David Soren – Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Turbo

Cara Speller – Pear Cider and Cigarettes, Pearl

Peggy Stern – Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood; The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation

Michael Stocker – Finding Dory, Toy Story 3

Arianne Sutner – Kubo and the Two Strings, ParaNorman

Ennio Torresan – Turbo, Till Sbornia Takes Us Apart

Géza M. Toth – Mama, Maestro

Wayne Unten – Frozen, Tick Tock Tale

Theodore Ushev – Blind Vaysha, Gloria Victoria

Robert Valley – Pear Cider and Cigarettes, Shinjuku

Gil Zimmerman – How to Train Your Dragon 2, Puss in Boots

Marilyn Zornado – Old-Time Film, Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase

Additionally, 65 people were invited to join the Visual Effects branch of the Academy. That list is below.

Arundi Asregadoo – The Legend of Tarzan, The Revenant
Steve Begg – Spectre, Casino Royale

Félix Bergés – A Monster Calls, The Impossible

Angus Bickerton – Victor Frankenstein, Dark Shadows

Jason Billington – Deepwater Horizon, Avatar

Nafees Bin Zafar – Kung Fu Panda 3, How to Train Your Dragon 2

Rod Bogart – John Carter, Brave

Cosmas Paul Bolger, Jr. – Frozen, The Day the Earth Stood Still

Pierre Buffin – The Divergent Series: Allegiant, Life of Pi

Sonja Burchard – Rise of the Guardians, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

ark Byers – Hidden Figures, The Sea of Trees

Mike Chambers – Alice Through the Looking Glass, Inception

Vincent Cirelli – Doctor Strange, Captain America: Civil War

Brian Cox – The Wolverine, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Joyce Cox * – The Jungle Book, Avatar

Jan Philip Cramer – Independence Day: Resurgence, Deadpool

Janelle Croshaw – Tron: Legacy, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Denise Davis – Pixels, X-Men: First Class

Brennan Doyle – Marvel’s The Avengers, Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Pauline Duvall – Deadpool, Star Trek Beyond

Christopher D. Edwards * – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Doctor Strange

Steve Emerson * – Kubo and the Two Strings, The Boxtrolls

Doug Epps – Mars Needs Moms, Disney’s A Christmas Carol

Conny Fauser – Tomorrowland, Iron Man

Paul Giacoppo – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Pacific Rim

Joachim Grüninger – The Impossible, John Rabe

Rhonda C. Gunner – The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Wrath of the Titans

Craig Hammack – Deepwater Horizon, Tomorrowland

Jonathan Harb – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Elysium

Darren Hendler – Furious Seven, Maleficent

Erik Henry – Dead Man Down, The Expendables 2

David Hodgins – Transformers: Dark of the Moon, 2012

Matt Johnson – Into the Woods, X-Men: First Class

Oliver Jones * – Kubo and the Two Strings, ParaNorman

Nikos Kalaitzidis – The Fate of the Furious, X-Men: Days of Future Past

Daniel Kramer – Ghostbusters, Edge of Tomorrow

Francois Lambert – Ant-Man, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Mohen Leo – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Deepwater Horizon

John M. Levin – Jurassic World, Lucy

Jacqui Lopez – Elysium, The Great Gatsby

Fumi Mashimo – Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Glen McIntosh – The Mummy, Jurassic World

Keith Francis Miller – Wonder Woman, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

Mohsen Mousavi – Independence Day: Resurgence, The Amazing Spider-Man

Colette Mullenhoff – Doctor Strange, Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Peter Muyzers – Elysium, District 9

Kenneth Nakada – Fantastic Four, Life of Pi

Steve Nichols – Suicide Squad, Guardians of the Galaxy

David Niednagel – X-Men: Days of Future Past, Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Brett Northcutt – Lucy, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Danielle Plantec – Immortals, Hereafter

Darren Michael Poe – The Hateful Eight, Godzilla

Nordin Rahhali – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Iron Man 3

Philippe Rebours – Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avatar

Jay Redd – Alice Through the Looking Glass, Men in Black 3

Jonathan Rothbart – Deadpool, Avatar

Brad Schiff * – Kubo and the Two Strings, ParaNorman

J.D. Schwalm – The Fate of the Furious, The Jungle Book

Thomas J. Smith – Argo, Contagion

Jason Snell – Deepwater Horizon, Now You See Me

Robert Stadd – War Dogs, Public Enemies

Paul Story – The Jungle Book, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Ryan Tudhope – Deadpool, Looper

Robert Weaver – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Star Trek Into Darkness

Louis Zutavern – The Dictator, Elf

(* invited to join the Academy by multiple branches)