Toy Story 3 has easily been one of the best reviewed films of the year, loved by critics along with the general public. It has also been the biggest film of the year, bringing in over one billion dollars worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing animated film in history. Feeling that it has a great chance at capturing the Best Picture Academy Award, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross says that the time has come. “If not this year, and not this movie, when?” he asked Deadline as he spoke to them exclusively about the new ad campaign Disney/Pixar is rolling out to ask award voters to consider Toy Story 3.
The ambitious print ads will have characters from the film re-enacting scenes from past Best Picture winners. Here are some of the films that the ads will be emulating:
- The Godfather: Part II
- West Side Story
- On The Waterfront
- Shakespeare In Love
- Silence of the Lambs
- Titanic
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- Forrest Gump
The Shakespeare In Love ad fittingly features the avid performer, Mr. Pricklepants. As seen below, each ad will utilize the tagline, “Not since…”:
Animated films have long been kept boxed into the Best Animated Feature category at the Academy Awards, with some voters feeling that animated films are not fit to compete with live-action films. Pixar’s films have often been considered among the best films of the year, but only Up has received a nomination for the top prize at the Oscars. Now that the studio finally broke into the category last year, Disney is eagerly pushing the idea that Toy Story 3 not only has a chance at winning but also has earned the right to walk away a winner.
To read about Deadline’s conversation with Ross, click here.
Do you think Toy Story 3 deserves to be seriously considered for Best Picture alongside live-action films?
