In the long history of the Academy Awards there has only been one animated feature that was one of the Best Picture nominees in its year. Don Hahn was nominated for the 1991 masterpiece Beauty and the Beast. Many people believe this was the first and last animated nomination ever, because the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was created in 2001. This is not an issue, however. It’s just that an animated film of Beauty and the Beast class hasn’t been released since.

Any film nominated for Best Animated Feature remains eligible for Best Picture, stated in the official rules¹. Then why wasn’t Ratatouille nominated as the best achievement in film? Well, maybe because even though it was an animated masterpiece, it didn’t compare to the films that were nominated. So, will Pixar’s upcoming release be enough of an overall masterpiece to be a Best Picture nominee?

Beauty and the Beast will be remembered for five things: as being dedicated to the late musical genius Howard Ashman (who died eight months before the release), for the overwhelming animation style, the powerful music, the touching story which holds many symbolisms and lessons to be learned, and for being the only animated film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Was it that good to still hold that distinction? Yes, when talking about “overall quality”, the film comes close to perfection. All elements were in place and executed in excellence. Sure, since then to 2001 there has been other good films from Walt Disney Feature Animation, like The Lion King. Yet, none had the overall magic Beauty and the Beast had.

Since 2001 there have been 23 animated films that have been nominated for Best Animated Feature, but none for Best Picture. With the exclusion of Spirited Away, I think none of those nominees even should’ve been nominated for Best Picture, so you don’t hear me whine about that. There is also one little detail concerning the difference between the two categories that might be of concern: Best Animated Feature is given to the director(s)² (something I’m opposed to), in contrast to Best Picture that is given to the producer(s). Taking that into account, can someone really say that the animated achievement category (psychologically) disqualifies an animated film for the best achievement in film category? In my opinion, no.

Okay, returning to the premise of this article. If an excellent animated film can be nominated for Best Picture (and don’t debate me on this, I just said so), than will Andrew Stanton’s WALL-E be a serious contender for the 81st Academy Award for Best Picture? I truly think so. Why? Well, that is a good question.

I think Ratatouille wasn’t such a serious contender because it was just an excellent animated film. Yes, the execution, animation, story development; they were all great. But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t have picked the film over any of the live-action films that got a Best Picture nomination. I might have had a tough time choosing between Michael Clayton and Ratatouille, I must admit that. Even though I was entertained more by Rémy and his adventures, I think Clayton was a better achievement in film. Having said that, why do I think WALL-E will be an Academy Award worthy achievement in film?

The animation looks great, superb, the best yet. No question about that, it’s Pixar animation and that shows. But it isn’t why I think the film will be nominated. It’s all in the story and the execution of that story. Here you have a robot, which doesn’t really talk and has a dirty, dirty job. Now, to me that doesn’t sound really attracting. Yet, from what I have seen in all the teasers, trailers and special features, it will be attracting. The different instruments and sounds that make up the “voices” in this film sound incredible. They, in combination with the stellar animated expressions, really pull you into the story, and, importantly, keep you focused. It isn’t like you can dose off in-between dialogue, you have to concentrate on the sounds to make out what is “said”. If you’re a lazy film viewer who wants everything to be displayed on a silver platter, don’t see it. If you are a film viewer who can’t make out emotions with someone telling you the emotions in dialogue, don’t see it.

If you’re a film freak interested in originality, creativity and perfect execution, do see it. The whole greatness of WALL-E lies in the original approach of this movie. It’s practically a silent film, which can be hard to promote in a world where the quality and difficulty of films is being challenged. Too many “stupid films” have dumbed-down the audience, so I’m not sure if this will be a new Finding Nemo (which was also directed by Stanton, what a coincidence).

For once, the marketing department of Walt Disney Pictures can also be described as being original and creative. They’ve created a whole fictional company (with a detailed website and working store) as promotion for the film, called Buy n Large. Story is that they’re responsible for the creation of the title character and several other robots in the film. It’s brilliant, not sure if it will have a huge impact, but at least it shows that the Disney marketing department still has the brains to come up with this kind of stuff, after their awful work for Meet the Robinsons. Even though that Disney feature looked better in the trailer than the whole movie turned out to be, the trailer was misleading, had not much substance and, not to mention, wasn’t featured in a lot of places.

If Disney plays this well, they could be looking for yet another animated Best Picture nominee, even a winner. Time will tell if WALL-E is as good as all the promotional material makes it look, if there is place in the world for an animated film next to Beauty and the Beast‘s overall achievement quality, and if I’m wrong about the niche audience WALL-E will attract. But I can say one thing for sure: at least it is certain Pixar can pick up their fourth Academy Award for Best Animated Feature next year. No Best Picture nomination can be, but no Best Animated Feature win is unacceptable. For the trailer alone I would have given Stanton the award.