Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies.
How long will Pixar be able to get us excited by merely referencing their past triumphs? There may not actually be any limit on that timeframe, considering they have movies like Toy Story, Ratouille, WALL-E, Up, The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, all of which are permanently etched in the public’s consciousness. For their newest film, Inside Out, they use the familiar tactic (also used in their first trailer for WALL-E) of reminding us why they’re so awesome, and of course it works. But I’m more interested in the small taste we actually get of Inside Out at the end of the trailer. Take a look at it below, and read on for my thoughts:
(Note: This is a fictional creative thinking exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years. This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards. Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)
Following the nomination for Andy Serkis at the 76th Academy Awards, audiences looked ahead to 2004 for any other motion capture performances that might also earn a slot among the Best Voice Performance nominees. However, the only potential candidate turned out to be The Polar Express, which most insiders felt did not produce performances worthy of nomination. Instead, discussion focused on a potential Disney/Dreamworks rematch, with a sequel to the film that put Dreamworks on the map and another new film from them on one side and a new traditionally animated film from Disney and the latest Pixar film on the other.
(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years. This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards. Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)
After the controversy at the 75th Academy Awards, it seemed all anyone could talk about was Andy Serkis and the eligibility of his portrayal of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films. His motion capture performance wasn’t nominated either for Best Supporting Actor or Best Voice Performance, and there was considerable debate over whether the acting or the animation branch (or both) would bend and give him the nomination. What the speculators didn’t count on was the arrival of Pixar’s latest film, one which would go on to be regarded as a game-changer in the industry on account of its depth and storytelling.
(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years. This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards. Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)
At the 73rd Academy Awards, for the third time in the Best Voice Performance category’s short lifespan, four of the nominees were from the same film. This recurring issue caused considerable frustration among Oscar fans, and there was even some talk about doing away with the category in the months after the ceremony. However, 2001 was shaping up to be a more promising year for animation, so much so that a new category was announced for the Oscars, that of Best Animated Feature. This was thought to be an acknowledgement of the progress made by animation, which consistently ranked among the top grossing films of the year and was now attracting some of the top talent in the industry. The question was how this would affect the Best Voice Performance category and whether a winner in one category meant that the film would also win the other.
(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years. This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards. Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)
After the return of Pixar turned out to be a bit of a disappointment at the 71st Academy Awards, eyes turned to 1999, and the hotly anticipated Toy Story 2. When it was announced that the original cast would be returning for the sequel, people immediately began speculating that the Oscars might see a rematch of the most exciting duel that the category saw. No one could forget the competition between Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, and the possibility that both might score nominations drove all other predictions to the sidelines. Continue reading
The Love Pirate 