Ever since “Into the Spider-Verse,” the American studio animated landscape has changed drastically, with studios allowing for more experimentation with visuals and storytelling at big budgets. But for the most part, Disney has deviated only the bare minimum from their formula in the past couple of years, while other studios have moved beyond.
That being said, Disney’s loss is the industry’s win. Last year saw one of the best sets of nominees in the 23-year history of the category, with studio movies like “Turning Red” and “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” delivering unique experiences within the big studio constraints, while “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” and del Toro’s “Pinocchio” showed the power of animation in challenging what could be done in terms of stories, but also craft and visuals.
This year, the lack of a Disney nomination has allowed what was once almost a Disney release, “Nimona,” to get a nom — making it the first animated movie with an openly gay main character. There’s also “Robot Dreams,” a delightful indie movie about friendship, and a rare nominee without a huge budget, genre-heavy world, or lots of VFX.
The movie business is a business, first and foremost. If Disney stops seeing their animated movies become commercial hits and award winners, it might finally get the studio to change its tired formula and embrace the animation revolution. In the meantime, other movies — both studio and independent — have time in the spotlight, allowing different visions and approaches to be highlighted in the biggest of stages. That is nothing but a positive for the medium.
/Film editor Ben Pearson spoke a little about this on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below: