This year’s Academy Awards ceremony was held on March 11 in Los Angeles. Better known as the Oscars, the Academy Awards are the world’s most famous film prizes. They are also the oldest: they were first celebrated in 1929. All except two of the current award categories were established between 1929 and 1948. The two latest additions were Best Makeup and Hairstyling, added in 1981, and, most notably, Best Animated Feature Film, introduced in 2001. The Academy (the organization of film professionals that runs the Oscars) felt there were too few high-quality animated feature films being made before 2001 to justify a prize. Furthermore, there was little competition: the field of feature-length animated films was pretty much a one-horse race, with the Walt Disney Company dominating the scene.

From the golden age of animation to the Disney Renaissance

Walt Disney was a pioneer of animation. In 1928, he created Mickey Mouse, who became the star of a series of highly successful animated shorts. Disney’s work paved the way for other filmmakers who invented their own iconic cartoon characters such as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry and the Pink Panther. It was a time of fervid ingenuity known today as the golden age of American animation (1928–1969). Most productions at the time were shorts. The Academy recognized this early on, establishing the Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1930. Animated long-feature films were much rarer. Once again, it was Disney’s company that got the ball rolling. Between 1989 and 1999, a period later called the Disney Renaissance, it produced commercially and critically successful films like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and The Lion King. In 1991, it released Beauty and the Beast which became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Animation was entering a new era.

The rise of animated films

The Disney Renaissance stimulated the production of animated films by other studios such as DreamWorks, Warner Bros, and, above all, Pixar. Once again, the Academy took notice and the award for Best Animated Feature Film was established in 2001. The first movie to win was Shrek by DreamWorks, an ironic, irreverent revisitation of classic fairy tales from the point of view of an ogre. Shrek is symbolic of the evolution of animation, interested in modernizing or turning on their heads old stories and in revamping characters. For instance, in contemporary animation female protagonists are no longer portrayed as damsels in distress waiting for the arrival of a prince charming, but rather strong, independent women capable of navigating a difficult world by themselves. Also, new territories and themes are explored. Pixar films have addressed such diverse subjects as the secret life of toys (Toy Story), old age (Up), ecology and consumerism (Wall-E), and emotions (Inside Out). Thanks to its groundbreaking films, Pixar took the lion’s share at the Oscars, winning 11 times in 18 years.

This year’s winner: The Boy and the Heron

This year’s winner was a Japanese film, The Boy and the Heron by 82-year-old Hayao Miyazaki, who had already won in 2002 with Spirited Away. The Boy and the Heron tells the coming of age of a boy searching for purpose and direction after the death of his mother. His quest leads him into a dreamlike fantasy world where he faces many trials and tribulations. Like Miyazaki’s previous films, The Boy and the Heron celebrates peace, nature and the importance of family and human ties. Miyazaki is considered in a league of his own, a grand old master capable of using animation to explore complex themes and the sweet and sour aspects of life. Interestingly, Miyazaki’s early films served as a source of inspiration for the filmmakers behind the Disney Renaissance.

(Carlo Dellonte
(Image: baona, istockphotos.com)