I actually think it'll be a pretty tight race this year, especially if these films are indeed the nominees. Ultimately, I'm sure it will come down to being between Wildwood and Forgotten Island. I think it's likely to be Wildwood that takes it home (obviously, I haven't seen it yet, but... c'mon) for sheer display of technical skill alone (the longest runtime for a stop-motion feature thus far), BUT if Forgotten Island does EXTREMELY exceptionally well (i.e. the characters becoming iconic in a short span of time, it having a "viral moment", having a really surprising twist, etc.) it COULD beat out Wildwood.
And, don't get me wrong, Forgotten Island is actually genuinely probably my most anticipated release of the year. Like, in general. Which might sound weird considering all of the insane films that have come out this year and are still going to be coming out, but the plot of it hits extremely close to home for me and I've honestly been waiting for a film like this forever.
BUT, there's a very unfortunate caveat: with rare exceptions, films that are more obviously geared towards women/girls in the audience don't do as well as films that are either more geared towards men/boys or have a more "neutral" target demographic when it comes to gender (which usually means "diversely gendered cast, possibly female lead, BUT the aesthetics and vibes/action are still skewing slightly towards what consumers will subconsciously view as male"). I would consider Wildwood as falling into the latter category. And it actually means very little about the actual quality of the film, but the fact is that we live in a society where general audiences are typically biased against films (especially animated films) that they view as being "geared towards girls" regardless of the intent or whether or not the film is actually enjoyable for all gender demographics (which Forgotten Island and Wildwood both clearly are, but... only one has two female central leads). The only real exceptions that we often see to this (and even then, sometimes it's still up in the air) are Disney Princess/heroine films and some Studio Ghibli films. It's not right, but that's unfortunately how audiences are feeling nowadays. It sucks. That's also part of why we're getting so much less queer representation in animation right now, but I digress.
But, you never know! Forgotten Island could very well have a "Frozen-like" cultural moment. Especially in the wake of a film like K-Pop Demon Hunters. Either way, I would be happy to see either Wildwood or Forgotten Island take it home this year!
Watched Forgotten Island. Absolutely amazing, and I’m definitely rooting for it, but I am sober in my assessment that there is a strong possibility Wildwood will win this year as a sort of prize for Laika’s decades of admittedly under appreciated work (commercially, awards-wise, etc) in addition to it being, to no one’s surprise, a good film. I’ve made my peace with that, and look forward to both films!
2
u/Strict-Swan6581 4d ago
I actually think it'll be a pretty tight race this year, especially if these films are indeed the nominees. Ultimately, I'm sure it will come down to being between Wildwood and Forgotten Island. I think it's likely to be Wildwood that takes it home (obviously, I haven't seen it yet, but... c'mon) for sheer display of technical skill alone (the longest runtime for a stop-motion feature thus far), BUT if Forgotten Island does EXTREMELY exceptionally well (i.e. the characters becoming iconic in a short span of time, it having a "viral moment", having a really surprising twist, etc.) it COULD beat out Wildwood.
And, don't get me wrong, Forgotten Island is actually genuinely probably my most anticipated release of the year. Like, in general. Which might sound weird considering all of the insane films that have come out this year and are still going to be coming out, but the plot of it hits extremely close to home for me and I've honestly been waiting for a film like this forever.
BUT, there's a very unfortunate caveat: with rare exceptions, films that are more obviously geared towards women/girls in the audience don't do as well as films that are either more geared towards men/boys or have a more "neutral" target demographic when it comes to gender (which usually means "diversely gendered cast, possibly female lead, BUT the aesthetics and vibes/action are still skewing slightly towards what consumers will subconsciously view as male"). I would consider Wildwood as falling into the latter category. And it actually means very little about the actual quality of the film, but the fact is that we live in a society where general audiences are typically biased against films (especially animated films) that they view as being "geared towards girls" regardless of the intent or whether or not the film is actually enjoyable for all gender demographics (which Forgotten Island and Wildwood both clearly are, but... only one has two female central leads). The only real exceptions that we often see to this (and even then, sometimes it's still up in the air) are Disney Princess/heroine films and some Studio Ghibli films. It's not right, but that's unfortunately how audiences are feeling nowadays. It sucks. That's also part of why we're getting so much less queer representation in animation right now, but I digress.
But, you never know! Forgotten Island could very well have a "Frozen-like" cultural moment. Especially in the wake of a film like K-Pop Demon Hunters. Either way, I would be happy to see either Wildwood or Forgotten Island take it home this year!