Best Animated Feature

Frequent readers of this blog know that I don't pick short films or documentaries because a.) I don't see them and can't make judgements and b.) they tend to ruin my average. 

I would, however, like to pick the Animated Feature category.  The nominees are How To Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist, and Toy Story 3.  With its Best Picture and Screenplay nominations, Toy Story 3 is the obvious choice.

This might be the clearest sure thing in this year's Oscars.

Best Animated Feature

I normally don't make official picks for the short films and documentaries unless there's a big standout in one of the categories.  This year, I'm determined not to fall into that trap and I expect my overall score to be the better for it.

EDITED TO ADD: The animated short A Matter of Loaf and Death is the fourth Wallace & Grommit short from Aardman and director Nick Park and is strongly favored to win.  I'm still not picking this category.

I'm also not going to make an official pick for Best Foreign Language film.  The first time I heard of any of this year's films was when they were announced on nomination day.  I don't even think most of them have been released in the US yet.

I will, however, make an official pick for Best Animated Feature.  The nominees are Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells, and Up.  I really enjoyed Coraline, but it may be too dark for a win.  The producers of The Secret of Kells have made a point of not advertising it and without publicity, you just can't expect an Oscar.  Princess and Mr. Fox got some attention outside this category for their music, but Up leads with an additional four nominations, including Best Picture and Original Screenplay.  It's the clear front-runner and is poised to extend Pixar's unprecedented Oscar record.

Animated Feature, Doc Feature, & FLF

A few years ago the Academy started a new category for Animated Feature Film, in order to better recognize those movies. While I appreciate them getting more attention and recognition, I can't help but feel that it's a move that ghettoizes animation and prevents them from ever achieving a Best Picture nomination. One such movie that ranks in quality with the Best Picture nominees is Pizar's WALL-E. It's the movie Stanley Kubrick would have made if he ever pursued animation. While its contenders, Bolt and Kung Fu Panda were above-average kid's entertainment, WALL-E works on multiple levels, giving kids a cute story about robots while providing biting social satire to the adults. WALL-E will easily walk away with this one.

At this point, I should note that I don't make predictions in the short film or documentary categories. I don't get to see many of them and don't feel comfortable predicting the outcomes based on synopses. That said, I would like to make an unofficial prediction for Documentary Feature - Man On Wire made a lot of critics' end-of year lists and will probably take the prize. Close behind, though is cinematic juggernaut Werner Herzog and his Antarctic documentary Encounters at the End of the World. He's a legend doing what he does best (epics of man vs. nature) but I'll go with Man On Wire for my unofficial pick.

Foreign Language Film is another one of those that I usually don't pick, not just because I don't see them, but because the rules for this category are much different than others and greatly effect the outcome. That said, I'm going to risk a guess that Israel's Waltz With Bashir will take the Oscar. Another film that uses animation to address adult themes, Waltz With Bashir has been almost universally praised and is a standout among the nominees.