Ratatouille Wins Oscar

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann Feb 24, 2008

My winning streak has extended for another year.

Way back in August of 2007, I proclaimed that Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille would capture the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film and, lo and behold, I was right. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided that Brad Bird and the rest of the Pixar gang had cranked out the best animated film of 2007.

Even though many animation professionals wanted to see Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis win the Oscar for its more interesting storyline, surreal animation and real-world origins, not enough Academy voters had actually seen the fraggin' thing to make it count.

Sony's other animated offering, Surf's Up, was a cute little film but (a) it lacked Ratatouille's stellar reviews and (b) it bombed at the box office.

Those were the only films that actually got nominated. Despite Coming Soon's Edward Douglas praising The Simpsons Movie as Ratatouille's biggest competition, the Twentieth Century Fox flick never made it to the finals.

However, AMPAS didn't tacitly acknowledge the fact that Ratatouille had received the best reviews of any film released last year (including the Best Picture, No Country for Old Men) by giving it the Best Original Screenplay Award. That honour went to Diablo Cody and her script for Juno.

As Oscar ceremony host Jon Stewart put it, "Diablo Cody used to be an exotic dancer, but now she's a screenwriter. Congratulations for taking the pay cut."

So who's up for the 2009 Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film? Stay tuned and meet your contestants in upcoming articles.