There are always Oscar decisions that are going to upset people. When you’re talking about five movies or performances that are the best of the best, there is going to be an argument as to why one deserves the award over another. The Best Animated Feature category was even more stacked than usual this year, with a beautifully animated Pixar film, a new movie from the great Hayao Miyazaki and the sequel to a previous Oscar-winner. So of course, many expected an Oscar repeat, but that didn’t happen.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse lost the Oscar to Miyazaki’s critically aclaimed The Boy and the Heron, and while it’s difficult to argue with an Oscar win for one of the greatest animation directors of all time, t star Shameik Moore is arguing, posting simply one word on Twitter…
*robbed
On the one hand, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse previously won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and it’s hard to not agree that Across the Spider-verse was an even better movie by every conceivable metric. So then of course the sequel should have also won an Oscar.
But at the same time, Into the Spider-Verse didn’t face the depth of competition that the sequel did. I think most would agree that Elemental was a far better movie than Incredibles 2, the movie from Pixar the first Spider-Verse film beat out. And there was no Miyazaki movie in the running last time.
In a follow-up tweet, Moore made it clear that he meant no disrespect to those who won Oscars, and even admitted to being a “sore loser” over the Spider-Verse loss, saying…
Respect to the winners. It’s true, I’m definitely a sore loser, but we didn’t lose, Spiderverse has impacted ALOT of lives, we may not have been acknowledged tonight but life goes on, and BEYOND….. yea get ready
I’m not sure anybody would have had a problem with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse winning the Oscar. The movie really was incredible, but it’s also difficult to take anything away from Miyazaki. The Boy and the Heron was also an amazing movie. They’re so different that beyond the medium in which they were created, they have little in common, making judging them difficult for anybody.
It’s also understandable that more than anybody, Shameik Moore is going to feel robbed. There isn’t an Oscar for voice acting, possibly something that should be considered, and as such, the Best Animated Film Oscar is the closest he’s going to get to seeing his work recognized. Considering how popular Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has been, he’s probably incredibly proud of the movie and was hoping to see it recognized.
Still, the franchise isn’t over yet. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will be coming at some point, and an Academy Award nomination for that movie seems quite likely under the circumstances. If it wins, two out of three certainly isn’t too bad.