WALL-E Wins Best Animated Feature Film at 2009 Oscar Ceremony

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann Feb 22, 2009

For the 2nd year in a row, the best reviewed film of 2008 had to content itself with winning Best Animated Feature Film at this year's Oscars.

Despite earning a place in most critics' "Best of 2008" lists, and winning The Golden Tomato Award for best reviewed film of the year in wide release, Disney/Pixar's WALL-E ended up winning the Best Animated Feature Film Award. The Andrew Stanton flick easily won the category, topping both DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda and Disney Animation's Bolt.

This is the 4th Pixar film to win the category, joining 2003's Finding Nemo, 2004's The Incredibles and 2007's Ratatouille. Toy Story won a special Oscar in 1996 for being the first CGI animated film.

As presenter Jack Black presciently pointed out: "I act in DreamWorks movies and I bet on Pixar."

However, that was WALL-E's only trip to the podium. It lost Best Original Song to Slumdog Millionaire's "Jai Ho" and Best Original Screenplay to Milk.

Disney/Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull also won the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for his contributions to computer generated imagery, which has been used in countless movies since the 1970's.

If I can be allowed a quick moment of gloating: this makes it the 3rd year in a row that I've correctly called the Best Animated Film category. I also correctly called the winner of the Best Animated Short category: Kunio Kato's "La Maison en Petits Cubes" which moved people to tears when it played at various festivals last year.

So who's going to win at the 2010 Oscars?

I feel confident enough to make my prediction right here and now: despite the bumper crop of animated films coming this year, and worthy entrants such as Coraline, Up, Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea and Monsters vs. Aliens, the 2010 Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film will go to Disney Animation's The Princess and the Frog.

Given Disney's history with the medium, AMPAS will want to salute the studio's return to cel animation with at least a nomination. If the film's early buzz is any indication, and the fact that it also features the directing team of Ron Clement and John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin), The Princess and the Frog will take the prize at next year's Oscars. You heard it here first.