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Posted by Dominic von Riedemann Jan 13, 2008 |
By now you've heard all the hoopla about how the current writer's strike reduced the 65th annual Golden Globes Awards ceremony into little more than a press conference. By now you've perused the list of winners and wondered how the **** a middle-grade weepie like Atonement could have won over No Country for Old Men, Eastern Promises and There Will Be Blood.
The big news for animation fans was not only that Ratatouille took the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film but that its competition was DreamWorks Animation's Bee Movie and Twentieth Century Fox's The Simpsons Movie. Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis was nowhere to be seen in the Animated Film category, even though many animation professionals rated the film higher than Ratatouille. Persepolis landed in the Best Foreign Language Film category, where it lost to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Ratatouille Will Win Oscar
It's highly likely that this scenario will repeat itself on Oscar night, and that it will be between Bee Movie, Ratatouille, and The Simpsons Movie. In that case, an Oscar for Ratatouille is a foregone conclusion.
That Disney/Pixar film was the only flick in contention to (barely) cross the $200 million mark at the domestic box office. The Simpsons Movie made $183.1 million, while Bee Movie only pulled $124.5 million in North American theatres, which didn't even cover its $150 million price tag. Ratatouille got the best reviews of any animated film released in 2007, with the exception of Persepolis. If that flick isn't even in contention for Best Animated Feature Film at the Academy Awards, then Ratatouille should have no trouble trouncing the competition on February 14th.
My decision stays the same: Ratatouille, its director Brad Bird, and Pixar will take home this year's Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.