Disney Pixar Withdraw from the Annie Awards
Posted by Rodneyon 25. 08. 2010in News Chat
Disney Pixar have decided that they have no desire to participate in the ASIFA, and therefore have removed themselves from the running for the prestigious Annie Awards - the top honour in Animation Awards.
JoBlo reports:
Disney/Pixar announced yesterday that they are withdrawing from the International Animated Film Association and will no longer participate in the Annie Awards.
So how exactly can you hand out an award for the best in animation when the studio producing arguably the best animated content won’t be eligible?
Seems this all comes from a controversy in 2008 when Wall-E lost out to Kung Fu Panda in a landslide decision. And it wasn’t a bitterness that made them walk. It was something deeper than that.
Seems closer investigation into the voting process appears that CEO Jeffrey Katenberg had personally paid for ASIFA memberships (the orgnaization that gives out the Annies) for his employees with the agreement that they would vote for the company team.
While the voting system allows only members who are qualified to vote on categories in their professional area of expertise, all members are allowed to vote for “Best Film” and technically any win could be bought just by getting your employees memberships.
So instead of buying memberships and feeding the coffers of a flawed award system, Disney Pixar just isn’t playing their game.
So it appears the integrity of the award is already shattered, so it doesn’t make much difference if the top contenders are not competing anymore.
So next year’s Annie Awards will go out to the rest of the industry, who paid for their votes. I wonder if this will shift policy within the awards, or kill the association entirely.
Way to go Pixar. My respect and love for them just increased.
So disney is trying to make people think they are doing the right thing? well, absolutely RIGHT disney is. maybe if they werent as hypocrits as their movies (wall-e is a disney movie that openly sates that corporativism is bad) people would believe them
and whoever claimed that disney produces arguably the best animated content should really watch more animated features, disney and dreamworks arent all there is (well maybe it is for us citizens) try japan, england and czech for a change
Dude, name some examples so we can rent some alternet animations.
Haven’t you heard of Akira, My Neighbor Totoro, Steamboy and other great animated movies from Japan?!
@ Kryptonite:
“Akira? 22 years old.
My Neighbor Totoro? 22 years old.
Steamboy? 6 years old.
Your list fails.”
And your point is…?
@Jonny Martin, Japan-san
The point that (I believe) Kryptonite is trying to make is a valid one that I agree with.
Those movies may be good movies (I have not seen them) however it would not be fair to say that Japan is making good animation if their prime example are movies that are over 20 years old. If Pixar made Toy Story then did not make any animations after that it would not be fair to say that Pixar is a good or the best animation studio as they are not making any current movies. Even if they made movies after Toy Story that all sucked they would not be good or the best. To say that a company/country produces good animations they need to currently produce good animations. I am not saying lose respect for the classics but that is what they are, classics.
@ Orange:
Interesting point, but where is it written that only current animated films can be any good and that the classics must be overlooked as soon as they reach a certain age? As far as Japanese animation goes, there’s still movies like Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo. I know that three of those are a bit old, but I’m just saying.
Here’s a good example of my point of view: Don Bluth hasn’t made a single film in ten years (his last one was Titan AE in either ’99 or ’00, and no that one recent short his name got plastered onto doesn’t count). His more well-received work is over twenty years old (Secret of NIMH is almost thirty), but does that ultimately matter? No. What matters is whether or not they’re any good and whether or not one will still sit down and watch them.
But, still, you make an intriguing point and for that, I tip my hat to you.
@Johnny
Thank you for acknowledging/respecting my point. I don’t say that in an egotistical sense but rather it is a breath of fresh air to see someone on the internet who isn’t just out there bashing others opinions.
As for what you said I understand what you are saying. When I said classic I do not use that in a derogatory manner. I see a classic is something that has stood up against the sands of time. The original point made by nina was that “[Pixar] produces arguably the best animated content” Not to be a stickler for exact wording but that statement was made in present tense or in other words studios currently producing.
I am not arguing that those are good movies that can stand up to the best that Pixar has to offer. Personally, I am not a fan of Japanese animation, to be fair I lack exposer. But if we are to stick with the original thesis (“[Pixar] produces arguably the best animated content”) then I don’t think that those movies, however good they are, should be considered.
You’re quite welcome. I’ve better things to do than troll people to death lol.
As far as your view on Japanese animation goes, I say “fair enough”.
And once again, you make good points, but I must point out that right at the very end, you kinda contradicted yourself a bit, and I shall explain why. Let’s take a look at the thesis:
“[Pixar] produces arguably the best animated content”
Now, you say that if we based our opinions on that thesis alone, than no other films mentioned in the posts should be held in consideration…..But, this is where I respectfully say that you’re wrong to an extent: You see, it says “[Pixar] produces ARGUABLY the best animated content”. ARGUABLY. That means that Pixar, as far animated content goes, is not infallible and that there is the possibility of other animated films that could be held in consideration.
Has Pixar made good films? Yeah, of course. But I’ll probably be in the minority when I say that they’ve delivered some stinkers as well. They’ve always been something of a hit-and-miss studio to me. To me, they didn’t really become THE studio to watch out for until releasing the masterful WALL-E just a couple years ago.
Back on topic (sorry for a double post), but I agree with the mindset of Disney/Pixar here….If the awards are pretty much going to the highest bidders, why bother? It just diminishes the prestige of the Annies and clearly goes to show that the voting system of the ASIFA needs reform to some degree.
Sounds kinda like the Golden Globes! lol…
Wonder if any of the studios would have the balls to do this for the Oscars now that would create some headlines
The oscars voting process cannot be bought. This is the reason Disney dropped out. The Annies are not a fair voting field, it’s members just have to buy in. Films win not because of popular votes but rather by buying them.
Vexille and Appleseed aren’t that old and they are SICK films!!!
I was going to make the point about appledseed… even films that aren’t wide release such as afro-samurai I consider to be good film. You need to remember tough the Annie’s are an award ceremony. They don’t take into account all films, espicially globally. Even the Oscars, which divide foreign into a seperate category, don’t usually nominate foreign films in the best picture category. In terms of “arguably” best for the annies? Hands down, in my opinion, pixar is the best. Go on to Rotten Tomatoes as well, add up Pixar’s filmography and compare it to any other current animation company (japanese, czech, canadaian) and I think you’ll find they come on top.
P.S. we mention japan as a major player, must we forget that Canada also is a huge player in the animation business, they just don’t have the support or money to play in the big game… the Annie’s as already said is a money player and that is where this article is coming from. If we were comparing animation as a whole, I’d whole heart agree that there are companies that could compare with pixar or maybe even better (such classics as akira, ghost in the sheel, etc.). Sorry for the ramble, but I hope I have supported some points and made some arguments on others. Also remember Pixar produced a great number of their films without Disney! Disney bought them back to regain respect in the animation community.
also the french do some amazing stuff as well
Kung Foo Panda Sucked Balls anyways!
WAAAAAAY OverRated!
Kudos Pixar