Animated Feature Film Ceremony

Attending the Academy Awards Animated Feature Film ceremony was a pleasant and illuminating experience. As I walked through the doors of The Samuel Goldwyn Theater, I was kindly greeted by staff and given a brochure that entailed the animated feature films that were nominated. Once I walked into the theater, I was directed to my seat by the Usher. After being seated I enjoyed a Q&A by the creators of How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Listening to them describe their journey and hearing them talk about everything it took for the production to be successful in the end, was motivating! The second animated feature we watched was called I Lost My Body, and it was just pure creativity! From the moment it started, I was immediately captured! The fact that this film has no dialog, is brilliant!! It allowed me to focus in and zone out on the journey of that hand. It was exquisite to see how much emotion was exuding out of a body part. During the Q & A for I Lost My Body, it was very intriguing to listen to them talk about how they made that hand the lead character of the film.

The third animated feature we watched was Klaus. Klaus was creative, exciting, and definitely fun! It had an interesting and original spin on the “Santa Claus” stories we all grew up hearing. I think it’s a highly recommended film to watch during the holidays, especially with family. In the course of the Q & A, the creators of Klaus talked about how creating the film took quite a while. Hearing their story said a lot about the kind of person you’ve gotta be if you want your projects to come out looking as perfect as you imagined. You’ve gotta be dedicated, motivated, and ambitious. You just can’t forget that glorious end goal! The fourth film we watched was Missing Link. Missing Link was utterly incredible! The amount of creativity and detail that was poured into this film is beyond amazing! I personally adored that this film had great touches of comedy and realism. When it was time for the Q & A it was nice to acknowledge that the creators had a strong sense of togetherness and innovative thinking. It definitely takes a great team to put together that work of art! The fifth animated film that was shown was Toy Story 4. This film defiantly grabbed me by the heart from the moment it started. Toy Story is a franchise that people from all walks of life can agree is a classic!! No matter where or when each story begins, your heart is melting over the storyline and characters. If you aren’t hooked by the thrilling adventures each movie sends you on then it’s definitely the perfect comedic timing! Listening to the Creators of this film speak during the Q & A was like listening to the hero’s of your childhood talk about how they went about creating each adventure they sent you on, and all of the work that went on to it. They said that after creating and releasing the first film, there was a lot of pressure on them because they knew that they had to keep the consistency of the movies perfect because if they didn’t, they would be screwing up someone’s childhood memories. They did an emasculate job creating those films and it is no shocker that they won the award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Academy Awards 2020 Highlights

There were many highlights during the 2020 Academy Awards! Our personal favorite was the win for 'Hair Love'. The animated short about an African American father's journey of doing his daughter's hair for the first time captured the hearts of many black and brown people across the world. Directed by Matthew A. Cherry and produced by Karen Rupert Toliver, 'Hair Love' was a favorite. When it comes to the second favorite, Renée Zellweger (in Judy) and Joaquin Phoenix (in Joker) delivered praiseworthy performances for their leading roles. We jumped for joy as favorites Laura Dern (in A Marriage Story) and Brad Pitt (in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood) won the Best Supporting Actor and Actress categories for their infectious roles. The big winner of the night was the cast and crew of 'Parasite'. The South Korean comedy-thriller broke barriers and made a huge jolt on the presence and acceptance of diversity in Hollywood and film.