THE CONTENDERS: 'The Incredibles'

Biff, bam, boom, an animated super-hero movie with super Oscar chances...

By: Brad Brevet
Published: Saturday, January 1st 2005 at 8:14 PM

Up next is the animated film that is attempting to make history, and for once I am not talking about box-office history, even though $247 million is not a number to just ignore. No, The Incredibles is aiming to be the first animated feature to be nominated for Best Animated Feature as well as Best Picture.

Now you may be saying to yourself, "What about Beauty and the Beast back in 1992? Wasn't it nominated for Best Picture?" To that, you would be correct, but it wasn't until the 74th Academy Awards in March of 2002 that Shrek pulled in the very first Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

While a nomination and most likely a win is more or less inevitable for The Incredibles in the Best Animated Feature category it is going to have its work cut out as it will be competing with Shrek 2, the film that currently sits at #3 in all-time domestic box-office sales with $441 million to its name. This fact however did not stop The Incredibles from earning already 16 Annie Award nominations, which is more than Shrek 2 and Shark Tale pulled in combined.

Beyond Best Animated Feature, and while I consider Best Picture to be a long shot, The Incredibles also holds an "incredible" chance at also pulling in the award for Best Sound and Sound Effects. While I am not a particularly huge fan of this film, primarily based on its lackluster opening two acts, the third act in this film is amazing and a lot of that has to do with the fast-paced action and the amazing sound that accompanies it.

Finally, I would expect Brad Bird to pick up a nom for his Original Screenplay considering the competition isn't too tough, but with the two-time Acad nominee, Charlie Kaufman, out there with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind I don't anticipate a screenplay win.

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