Over the last few years, the amount of controversy surrounding the Golden Globes, and its voting body, the Hollywood Foreign Press (HFPA), has grown to great heights. Although awards season is always accompanied by a healthy dose of controversy, there is no awards show that embodies that more than the Globes. Serious allegations have been tossed at the HFPA in the past and that has certainly come to taint its reputability. On the list of questionable decisions made by the voting group for the upcoming awards is this year’s snubbing of Pixar.
Today, the Golden Globe nominations were announced, and under the Best Animated Feature Film category, only three films were nominated:
- The Croods (DreamWorks Animation)
- Despicable Me 2
- Frozen (Walt Disney Animation)
Monsters University, Pixar’s entry for the year, was left off the list in a puzzling move. The category, which was added to the show in 2006, originally saw only three nominees for its first three years of existence. Each subsequent year, though, five animated films earned nominations. The field was whittled back down to three for this year’s films, leaving Monsters University and Studio Ghibli’s The Wind Rises out in the cold. Interestingly, the Ghibli film earned a nomination in the Best Foreign Film category, but for some inane reason did not make the cut in the animation category.
In the seven years that the Animated Film award has been given out by the HFPA, Pixar has captured the trophy a remarkable six times. The only year that Pixar lost was when The Adventures of Tintin beat out Cars 2, but that was not as surprising considering the critical response to the Cars sequel. Even so, Pixar earned a nomination that year, and every year prior to and following that. 2013 is the first time since the introduction of the category in 2006 that a Pixar film has been completely shut out of the ceremony.
This is not to discredit the other nominees in the Animation category. A tip of the hat should be given to The Croods, Despicable Me 2, and Frozen, given the sheer amount of work put in by the teams at the various studios. Looking at the list, if one had to place a bet, Frozen (which also earned a nomination for its song “Let It Go”) has a great chance of giving Walt Disney Animation its first Golden Globe. Then again, for a show that can be so unpredictable, you never know who could come out on top.
The 70th Annual Golden Globes Awards air January 12 at 8 pm ET.
