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WSJ: Wall-E Deserves Shot at Best Picture

Wall-E screenshotJoe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal has joined the growing chorus of people calling for Disney to promote Wall-E as a Best Picture candidate at next year’s Academy Awards:

“WALL-E” isn’t just an animated feature; it’s a great motion picture by any measure, and has already been hailed as such — by critics who’ve called it a masterpiece (I’m one of them), by audiences who watch it in a state of enthrallment (which is one notch up from enchantment). In keeping with its singular distinction, Pixar’s latest gift to movie lovers should be a candidate for the most prestigious award, Best Picture, when Oscar time rolls around.

I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed, but you already knew that….

WALL-E and the Academy Awards

Wall-E posterTIME magazine asks a good question: Can WALL-E Win Best Picture? Needless to say, I’m rooting for it. But the article lays out the hurdles our little robotic hero will have to overcome:

  • No animated movie has ever won Best Picture.
  • Academy voters, especially actors, are biased against animated movies.
  • Disney/Pixar may not want to spend the money promoting it for Best Picture, due to that bias.

WALL-E is far and away the most well-reviewed movie of the year so far, and it’s incredibly unlikely five other films will come along and get better overall critical reviews. WALL-E is also sure to be one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.

In other words, it has both critical and popular support.

But the Academy would much rather honor artsy-fartsy crap like No Country for Old Men, Crash, and Chicago — movies that appeal to Hollywood snobs much more than something like WALL-E ever will. And they wonder why the Oscars TV ratings are at an all-time low. The critics and people are voting now, and WALL-E deserves a chance at Best Picture.

My Review of WALL-E

Wall-E poster

Best. Movie. Ever.

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