Since the Oscar nominations were announced early this morning (see http://bit.ly/10iwMPV), we have been collecting some euphoric reactions from the lucky nominees in via email and phone interviews. Here is a recap:
Chris Butler, co-director and writer, ParaNorman:
“I was in bed in my hotel room in Los Angeles, since we’re in town for the Critics Choice Awards today, and it’s been such a huge honor. It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime kind of a thing—or perhaps, hopefully not! I was always proud of the what we did, and I think both critics and audiences got what we were trying to do. There is such a huge love for stop-motion animation out there. Three out of the five animated feature nominees are stop-motion, and that says a lot about how much people appreciate the medium. They seem to really understand how much effort goes into such a film.
“I think it’s an amazing time for animation, and I’m really proud and honored to be part of this industry. To think that 21 movies were put forward this year to be considered for animation, and just how different each one of them are from each other. We’ve seen so many different types of animation and so many different looks and types of stories in the past few years—whether it’s the CG-animated films of Pixar and Disney and DreamWorks or the stop-motion animation of Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Pirates! or Frankenweenie—or 2D European films such as The Rabbi’s Cat and The Secret of Kells—they all point to the fact that is a very exciting time in animation.
Oscar night plans: “I haven’t even begun to think about that. I didn’t want to think about it before. It makes me very nervous. Now I guess I’d better get my tux out.”
John Kahrs, director, Paperman:
“It’s an incredible honor to have Paperman nominated for an Oscar. I can’t thank everyone on the team enough for their passion and hard work in making this dream project a reality.”
Rich Moore, director, Wreck-It Ralph:
“To have the Wreck-It Ralph team’s passion and years of hard work acknowledged by the Academy is an honor like no other. We are so proud, so grateful – I can’t wait to congratulate everyone in-person…I had no idea it was going to hit me so hard last night. I woke up right at 5 a.m. and turned on E! I was in my living room when I heard my name called and my jaw hit the floor.”
Peter Lord, director, The Pirates! Band of Misfits:
“This is amazing! We tried to do something a little different with The Pirates!, in terms of tone and comedy, and it’s just brilliant that the Academy has responded to it in such a wonderful way.”
Tim Burton, director, Frankenweenie:
“Frankenweenie is a very personal film for me. The idea of telling a feature length version was in the back of my mind for many years. Stop Motion was the perfect medium for this project, and one I’ve always loved for its expressiveness and dimensionality. I’ve worked with so many incredible artists: animators, cast members, set builders, and puppet makers, all who have helped bring this film to life one frame at a time. I’m so honored that the Academy has recognized this film as one of its nominees.”
Mark Andrews, director, Brave:
“We are incredibly honored by today’s Academy Award nomination. Brave has been an adventure from the beginning — starting with our research trips to Scotland, the crew embarked upon a journey that inspired us all and forever changed our fates. Thanks to the Academy from all of us here at Pixar.”
Seth MacFarlane, Oscars host and director of Ted, nominated for best song:
“First an Oscar nomination, then I find a basically brand-new queen mattress on my drive home. This is an incredible day.”
Jeff White, VFX supervisor, The Avengers:
“Visual effects is such a team effort; it represents great work on the part of lot people. I’m really excited,” It’s great to see so many good films nominated. It was a strong year for VFX. I feel very lucky. The team at ILM poured their hearts into this.”
Minkyu Lee, director, Adam and Dog:
“My friends and I were having a slumber party. We were at a friend’s house. We set the alarm for 5 a.m. and we didn’t get much sleep last night. It was definitely fun to hear the news with the crew. It’s been wild doing interviews for the short.This never happens to me. My mind is in a haze because I only got a few hours of sleep!”
“I think our short appealed to people because it’s hand-drawn and it has a sensibility that is different from the other typical American films, which are fast-paced and comedy-driven. I wanted to do something that was more performance based and more of a character study. I think that’s what people were responding to. Overall, I think it was very cool that different kinds of projects were nominated for the Oscars this year. In the feature category, we seemed to have a wider variety in 2011, but still, it is going to be fantastic to see all the directors, actresses, actors, cinematographers, writers at the Oscars. I’m a huge fan and I love watching movies. I love every single one of the nominees and admire all their work, so I’ll have a lot of things to ask from them!
“Right now, I’m working on a Don Hall project at Disney and also devoting a lot of my time developing an animated TV series—something that has the opposite sensibility of Family Guy and The Simpsons, something that hasn’t been done on TV before. I’m also writing a few scripts, and dedicated lots of time to get better at writing.”
* Some of the responses were first reported in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
