Animation filmmakers call out years of mistreatment by the Oscars. While animated films have always been eligible for Best Picture nominations and other main awards, the Oscar for Best Animated feature was first awarded in 2002, recognizing the 2001 DreamWorks feature Shrek. Since then, only two animated feature films have been nominated for best picture: Up and Toy Story 3.

A recent Vulture feature reveals filmmakers of animated movies have an uncomfortable relationship with the much-coveted Academy Awards. The heart of the animators’ qualms stem from not feeling equally treated by Oscars presenters and peers. As Klaus director Sergio Pablos put:

“Anybody who works in filmmaking — I feel they’re my peers. I don’t think they look at me the same way.”

According to the filmmakers, the Best Animated Feature category has been a fraught one for the animated world. While cementing the need for the medium’s recognition, the Best Animated Feature category also becomes a money grab for big studios like Disney and its subsidiary Pixar who sink exorbitant funds into Oscar campaigns. The animators also went after last year’s Best Animated Feature category announcement, wherein the presenters said “So many kids watch these movies over and over and over and over and over and over. I see some parents know exactly what we’re talking about.” According to The Book of Life and Maya and the Three director, Jorge R. Gutierrez:

“That was a kick in the balls to the entire animation community. To be told, ‘Hey, you guys are making movies for kids, and parents are falling asleep: Thank you for making babysitter movies.’”

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The History of Animation at The Oscars

Filmmakers also cited the discriminatory barriers in place for new Academy voters for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. There is a specific rule set in place dictating that voters must either have enough production credits that meet certain criteria, or have already been nominated for Best Animated Feature or Best Animated Short. This makes eligibility extremely difficult for women, people of color, and members of other minority groups who are offered fewer opportunities to begin with.

The track record of the Best Animated Feature Oscar certainly supports much of the animation filmmakers’ arguments. Disney and Pixar have won the category 15 times since the category was created. Additionally, the blockbuster-standard 3D CGI animation has been beaten out by only two films: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Ware-Rabbit and Spirited Away. This history is discouraging for international and independent animated filmmakers, many of whom are experimenting with the form.

This year’s animated feature Oscars show some hope for change, however. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, a visionary work of stop-motion, is expected to win the Best Animated Feature category, beating out its CGI competition. Furthermore, the 95th Academy Awards saw the nomination of the medium-bending Marcel the Shell with Shoes On in the animated feature category, as well as the similarly groundbreaking stop-motion short An Ostrich Told Me The World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It in the Best Animated Short category. Even with these successes, these animators’ words prove the Oscars still have a long way to go to improve their treatment of filmmakers working in animation.

More: When Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio Is Set: Real History & Timeline

Source: Vulture