It’s been seventeen years since the first animated feature was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It was Beauty and the Beast, one of the enduring Disney classics, but it lost to the dark horse candidate The Silence of the Lambs.

Yes, The Silence of the Lambs was great. Yes, it’s a culturally significant film. But why can’t Disney get any love?

Since the addition of the Best Animated Feature, there’s no need for movies like The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Ratatouille to be given the nod. While a cartoon might never win the big statue, it would be a nice gesture.

This year, Ratatouille was obviously the best animated film; nobody really argued with that, and it was a shoe-in for the award. A true measure of its merit would be to pit it against movies like Juno and No Country for Old Men. Would it have won? Certainly not - but Juno didn’t have much of a chance either, and it was still given the honor.

Beauty and the Beast was the closest that a Disney classic ever got to walking away with Best Picture. While it certainly deserved the honor, many films since have deserved it just as much - will the Academy ever stop relegating animated films to the kid’s table on the big night?

Oh, well - there’s still plenty of Disney trivia on Kwanzoo. But members of the Academy, if you’re out there - I know you are, Adam Carolla’s grandfather made the cut somehow - please show a little love for these modern classics.

Popularity: 7% [?]