The first person THR spoke with is identified as a male member of the Academy’s 648-person producers branch. This person bluntly said that of the five animated feature nominees, he “didn’t really give a shit about any of them.” Here’s his whole comment:
I watched at least part of all of them — a couple of them in their entirety — and I didn’t really give a shit about any of them. My favorite animated film of the year, Luck, didn’t even get nominated.
To this producer’s credit, however, he abstained from voting in the category, which is actually an improvement over the more common Academy members who asks their children to suggest the winner of the animated feature category.
The second Academy member that THR spoke with, a male member of the 867-person short films and feature animation branch, offered a far more troubling answer. This individual said that they voted for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio even though they hadn’t bothered to watch some of the other films in the category:
I didn’t see The Sea Beast or Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. I liked Turning Red. If Guillermo del Toro hadn’t made Pinocchio this year, Puss in Boots would’ve deserved to win — it’s so good — but he did. I love Guillermo, and I loved the animation and the way he told the story.
That this person voted without having seen the films in the category is more disconcerting than the person who didn’t give a shit about the films and didn’t vote. Because here we have a member of the only one of the Academy’s 17 branches that is actually supposed to respect and appreciate animation. The fact that they couldn’t be bothered to even watch the films for the branch they represent tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the Oscars.
If disappointed animation lovers can take solace in anything, it’s that this same voter isn’t just ignorant about animation; they also don’t understand the other categories in which they’re casting votes:
