Years after Guillermo del Toro declared “animation is cinemaAt the Oscars, the industry remains a redheaded stepchild of Hollywood.
A recent Variety The report with several industry professionals analyzes how animation is perceived in the West. While it is considered a “babysitting” medium primarily intended to entertain children, it has been a reliable source of income for decades. The Super Mario Galaxy movie is currently the only 2026 film to be made more than a billion dollarswhile Inside out 2 and Zootopia 2 They have been great successes for Disney. But as one animator told the outlet, success has also been “frustrating” to watch: a studio boasts about the financial and awards success of an animated film, then “turns to the people who have worked here forever and says, ‘We don’t need you anymore.’”
While Pixar president Jim Morris rightly noted that animation “is propping up a lot of studios right now,” creative director Pete Docter had a different opinion. He said animation can’t not be considered “kids’ movies” when most such movies are “fun, silly (and) a little bit like babysitting material. We could up our game (as an industry).” However, Docter doesn’t explain what “taking a step forward” would entail, and it’s worth acknowledging Pixar’s step back in more specific topics and perspectives in recent years—and your views on such return walks.
Alternatively, Laika’s solution is to make people see their movies simply as movies. Marketing director David Burke told Variety that wild wood The studio does not actively sell its films as animated, instead trusting that “(our) audience will find our films, regardless of the medium. They defy categorization.” Of course, this may also be because the study has several live action projects in development, but Burke’s general point still stands: to avoid stigma, animated films can (and should) be promoted as if they were regular films.
For those interested in animation, a true sign of the medium’s respect would be for an animated film to win “Best Picture” at the Oscars. It’s a difficult task and an idea on which professionals are divided. Morris wants animation employees to be eligible come Oscar voting time, while Jorge Gutierrez believes that live-action films have a natural advantage and that “too many Academy members” automatically treat the animated film as something that must endure.
You can read the full story. here to find out more about what Hollywood’s animation arm is thinking.
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