I mention this to tie-in to my entry on The Boy and the Heron, which I also enjoyed. It’s not flawless, and it falls short of Hayao Miyazaki’s best, but it’s easily the best he’s directed since Spirited Away. But is it the best animated feature of last year? And did it deserve the Oscar for Best Animated Feature? Maybe.
The Academy Awards discourse strikes a nerve personally. For one, it’s 2+ hours of Hollywood making political statements on a soapbox, which is annoying when those receiving the awards don’t know what they’re talking about. Two, who cares? Not only is it the film-equivalent of racetrack betting, it’s also subjective. True, Oscar prestige is real, but do you need a gold statue to tell you something’s good? And are the judges not allowed opinions?
I think last year’s Best Animated Feature win has poisoned how the aforementioned movies are being discussed online. Ideally there wouldn’t even be a separate award, as it’s demeaning to the nominees. But while The Oscars are definitely the internet’s favourite punching bag, I think people care way too much despite claiming otherwise. Nowhere is this more-apparent than with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boy and the Heron. I say that having enjoyed both.
Perhaps the best example can be seen in how The Boy and the Heron ranks on IMDB. It’s currently at a 7.4/10 with over 75k reviews. That puts it lower than every other Hayao Miyazaki-directed movie, even more than his previously “worst-received” movie, Ponyo. Far be it for me to bash tastes, it’d be hypocritical given I love the Avatar franchise, but many of the reviews (I find) read as bitter. Especially juxtaposed to the rating and reviews for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which are far more glowing and have the movie at #37 in IMDB’s Top 250 List. That’s understandable, it’s more mainstream, but considering that Spirited Away, the only other anime film to win Best Animated Feature, is also on that list, I wonder if there’s resentment.
It sounds like I’m paranoid, but consider the conversation when The Boy and the Heron won the Oscar. On one hand, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the project heads for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, had no qualms. On the other hand, despite later clarifying, Miles Morales’s VA, Shameik Moore, was unimpressed. He wrote “Robed” on Twitter, which I assume was a typo for “Robbed”. Not the most flattering response.
I get it: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was fantastic. I can’t begin to talk about how its various art-styles and musical choices served the story’s commentary on how diverse Spider-Man is. Or how well it juggles several, long-running plot-lines. Or how, despite being the longest animated movie I’ve seen, it doesn’t waste a single minute. Or how it not only builds on its predecessor, but is a complete story while leaving room for another entry. This movie’s a miracle beyond miracles, which says plenty given its predecessor!
It sounds like I’m paranoid, but consider the conversation when The Boy and the Heron won the Oscar. On one hand, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the project heads for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, had no qualms. On the other hand, despite later clarifying, Miles Morales’s VA, Shameik Moore, was unimpressed. He wrote “Robed” on Twitter, which I assume was a typo for “Robbed”. Not the most flattering response.
I get it: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was fantastic. I can’t begin to talk about how its various art-styles and musical choices served the story’s commentary on how diverse Spider-Man is. Or how well it juggles several, long-running plot-lines. Or how, despite being the longest animated movie I’ve seen, it doesn’t waste a single minute. Or how it not only builds on its predecessor, but is a complete story while leaving room for another entry. This movie’s a miracle beyond miracles, which says plenty given its predecessor!
While I understand the argument for it deserving the Oscar, I also don’t think that’s an argument against The Boy and the Heron. It too juggles several plot-lines efficiently. And it too doesn’t waste time. It might take longer to get going, but that’s not new for Miyazaki. He likes taking his time fleshing out his characters and worlds. Why’s that a problem?
Personally, I liked Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse more. No disrespect to the master of animation, but it clicked more than The Boy and the Heron, which is held back by the director’s past oeuvre. I also think, with the exception of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, no Studio Ghibli movie since Spirited Away that was nominated for Best Animated Feature was the best animated movie in that year’s awards. Even then, I include that exception because The LEGO Movie didn’t make the cut.
Nevertheless, I’m happy The Boy and the Heron won the trophy. Not only had it been 21 years and several movies since a Hayao Miyazaki feature had won, but it was the first adult-skewed movie to win. (Let’s not kid ourselves, the movie wasn’t meant for children.) Additionally, the barrier for anime films has gotten stricter since Spirited Away’s win. If you look at how the members of The Academy think, you find many of them are resentful of anime films, especially when one had previously won an Oscar. Like Beauty and the Beast and Best Picture, anime films have much bigger hills to climb.
Personally, I liked Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse more. No disrespect to the master of animation, but it clicked more than The Boy and the Heron, which is held back by the director’s past oeuvre. I also think, with the exception of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, no Studio Ghibli movie since Spirited Away that was nominated for Best Animated Feature was the best animated movie in that year’s awards. Even then, I include that exception because The LEGO Movie didn’t make the cut.
Nevertheless, I’m happy The Boy and the Heron won the trophy. Not only had it been 21 years and several movies since a Hayao Miyazaki feature had won, but it was the first adult-skewed movie to win. (Let’s not kid ourselves, the movie wasn’t meant for children.) Additionally, the barrier for anime films has gotten stricter since Spirited Away’s win. If you look at how the members of The Academy think, you find many of them are resentful of anime films, especially when one had previously won an Oscar. Like Beauty and the Beast and Best Picture, anime films have much bigger hills to climb.
Truthfully, I think this detracts from a bigger problem, that being how The Academy views animation. Best Animated Feature is a 23 year-old category, created largely because of Chicken Run. It’s also one of the earliest trophies of the night, making way for “more prestigious awards”. Even how the category’s presented feels patronizing, taking a diverse format and handwaving it as a “kid’s art-form”. Putting aside that adult animation exists, why’s that bad? What do people have against kid’s movies?
If the debate between Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boy and the Heron’s indicative of anything, it’s that The Academy doesn’t fully respect animation. That’s more harmful than discussing which animated movie deserves an Oscar. Doubly-so because animated movies are often worthy of being ranked up with the film greats. The difference between them and live-action is the lack of restraints, and that line blurs as CGI is implemented more frequently. But that’s a conversation people aren’t ready to have…
The Academy should be more open to animation. They can retain Best Animated Feature, but they should also have Best Voice Acting. They also shouldn’t be afraid to nominate animated films for Best Feature. They’ve done it before, after all! By using Best Animated Feature, it not only diminishes animation’s potential, it makes debates about which movie deserved the win more pervasive. And it’s tiresome.
If the debate between Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Boy and the Heron’s indicative of anything, it’s that The Academy doesn’t fully respect animation. That’s more harmful than discussing which animated movie deserves an Oscar. Doubly-so because animated movies are often worthy of being ranked up with the film greats. The difference between them and live-action is the lack of restraints, and that line blurs as CGI is implemented more frequently. But that’s a conversation people aren’t ready to have…
The Academy should be more open to animation. They can retain Best Animated Feature, but they should also have Best Voice Acting. They also shouldn’t be afraid to nominate animated films for Best Feature. They’ve done it before, after all! By using Best Animated Feature, it not only diminishes animation’s potential, it makes debates about which movie deserved the win more pervasive. And it’s tiresome.
So yes, please stop comparing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to The Boy and the Heron. It’s petty and misses the forest for the trees. And if anyone in The Academy’s reading this, I implore you to redefine how you perceive animation. I’m sure you’re sick of the backlash, but it’s prevalent for a good reason. Animation deserves respect, and you’re not giving it that.
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