‘The Lego Movie’ director, Philip Lord, tweeted an original photo of a Lego made Oscar after receiving news that his movie didn’t get nominated for Best Animated Feature.
By Darick T. Earney
Associate Editor
On Feb. 22, the NBC cable network aired Hollywood cinema’s biggest event of the year–the Oscars. However, some would argue that the Oscars are Hollywood’s biggest night for major disappointments.
“Big Hero 6” took home the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but fans of the animated film genre were upset that “The Lego Movie” didn’t receive a nomination for the same category.
“The Lego Movie” was a commercial success at the box office, and generated a hit song titled “Everything Is Awesome”, which the Academy nominated for Best Original Song.
“I think voters had a hard time deciding what category to fit [The Lego Movie] in, it isn’t exactly animation, it isn’t exactly stop motion,” Professor of Film, Jim Price said.
The writer and director of “The Lego Movie”, Philip Lord, took to Twitter in response to the nomination loss by posting a picture of an Oscar made of Legos on his account page.
The Academy managed to stir up some more controversy this year by not nominating the popular sports biopic, “Foxcatcher”, for Best Picture.
The Wall Street Journal’s website explains how, since 2009, the Academy has expanded their Best Picture nominees from a total of eight, to 10. But this year, the Academy went back to the traditional eight, only rewarding “Foxcatcher”, with Best Actor and Director nominees.
“I never agree with all the choices the Academy makes, but neither does anyone. The Academy and the Oscars are an institution, and like all institutions, they reflect their membership. More often than not, the Academy awards those who have achieved excellence in film, but do not necessarily choose the best film they make,“ Price said.
These two instances of successful films not receiving Oscars nominees have kept audiences asking “Who are the Academy, and why does their opinion matter over mine?”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A A.S.) consists of an Administration and a Board of Governors that expand over 17 different branches of workers.
Each of the 17 branches reviews the work of artists in cinema, including: actors, writers, directors, producers, musicians, short films, animation, and more.
Once someone has become a member of the branch, they, and up to 6000 plus members cast their votes on what becomes a nominee for the Oscars.
“Personally, I would love to see the Academy leave it to moviegoers themselves to help decide which films get nominated or not, but I don’t see that ever happening in my lifetime,” English Major, Debbie Eddy said.
According to oscars.org, being a member of the board is a job earned by sponsorship, not application. They are selected by the Board of Governors after reviewing the persons’ work in the entertainment business.
The prerequisites differ depending on what branch one is trying to get into. Some need to have earned on screen credits to award nominations from the Academy themselves.
For more on Oscar snubs, visit http://www.thedailybeast.com/ to see their list of this year’s snubs and surprises.
Contact Darick at dearney@lc.edu
