The race here seems to be between "Spirited Away" by the Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki, considered the greatest of all animators, and "Lilo & Stitch," an uncommonly entertaining and original Disney film. Disney is distributing the Miyazaki, but is likely to put its clout behind the film from its own shop. So it's "Lilo & Stitch."
1. "Minority Report" 2. "City of God" 3. "Adaptation" 4. "Far From Heaven" 5. "13 Conversations About One Thing" 6. "Y Tu Mama Tambien" 7. "Invincible" 8. "Spirited Away" 9. "All or Nothing" 10. "The Quiet American"
We all know when the Oscar nominations came out that Disney assured animation fans that all three of their "children", "Lilo and Stich", "Spirited Away" and "Treasure Planet" would be treated equally as far as campaigning for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. And for the first half of Oscar campaigning and voting season, it looks like they were, with all 3 films sharing equal advertisement space in the Los Angeles Times for AMPAS screenings in the Arclight theater in Hollywood. (続く)
But a funny thing happened along the way. With all of their main features pretty much out of most of the significant races, mighty Dreamworks have focused a considerable amount of their campaign on their Animated Feature contender, "Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron". There have been impressively beautiful full page ads in the Times for its AMPAS screenings in the same Arclight theater in Hollywood.
(>>960 上から続く) Probably feeling the pressure, Disney has now implemented full page color ads in the past 2 or 3 weeks to counteract Dreamworks... but only for "Lilo and Stich". And in addition, there have been a flurry of TV commercials for the DVD, touting its Oscar nomination. Keep in mind "Spirit Away" continues its screening with its "sister" at the Hollywood theater but is practically invisible in the Los Angeles Times or elsewhere in the media. Has Disney finally abandoned its plan to treat all 3 films equally in favor for "Lilo", not only because it's their most successful home grown feature of last year but also perceive it as the frontrunner along with Dreamwork's "Spirit"?
(最後は時間がないため、訳は省略)
Though "Lilo and Stich" was good, "Spirited Away" is clearly the better animated film of the two in terms of artistry, depth and imagination. With its numerous critic awards and sweeping of the Annie awards, Hayao Miyazaki's animated masterpiece should by all means, by the clear and easy favorite to win the Oscar come March 23rd. But now I'm not so sure and blame Disney for in the end, giving lip service and playing favorites in the end. "Spirited Away" deserves better.
Q: I had a question regarding, I believe it was at the last Academy Awards, they started an animation category. I just wanted to get your opinion on that, and are you excited about the possibility of future films winning an Academy Award?
[Mr. Miyazaki] A: Doesn't interest me. [Mr. Suzuki also responds] A: I of course want to win.