Originally Posted By markymouse I was reading that some people want to see some sort of Oscar nod for the dog Uggie for the film The Artist. I haven't seen any of the movies in question, but it does seem like this might be a great opportunity for the Academy to offer a repeatable (but not necessarily soon) category of Best Animal Performance -- the nominees being Uggie from The Artist, Winter from Dolphin Tale, and Finder and his fellow horse-actors from War Horse. I get that no one wants to lose Best Actor or even Best Supporting Actor to a dog or a horse. But a special category to highlight this year's strong performances by these animals - and their trainers - seems like a cool idea. And a compromise idea. Each year the Humane Society gives a Pawscar award to the best animal performer. Maybe the Academy could work with the Humane Society so that award could be presented Oscar-style at the Academy Awards. Has anyone seen one of these movies? Was there really something special about the animals' performances, as the media suggests?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I've only seen War Horse, and while the movie was very well done, I didn't think the horse gave an Oscar-worthy performance. It was by all means adequate, but not 'great' (which is very different from 'not great'). It was a nice popcorn movie about a boy and his horse that was really entertaining, but I don't think there was much in it that could compete with most Oscar films. The horse played a horse, who was pretty much average. He had a really nice relationship with the boy, but there really wasn't much acting from the horse's part. There were some pretty spectacular cavalry scenes with hundreds of horses, but it's tough to say that any single one stood out. That's not to say that there shouldn't be an Oscar for animal actors though. Although it's a tradition that seems to have been lost, the Academy used to give out special awards whenever they felt like it (like the one for Snow White, with 7 mini-Oscars at the base). Maybe they could do something similar when there's a standout animal. It seems like there aren't a ton of animals in films each year, and most are in kid's movies that the Academy would rather ignore. Sicne they would have a tough time filling up an annual category, maybe they could just give out awards when there's a truly stand-out performance.
Originally Posted By DlandDug There was an award for animal actors for many years, the PATSYs. They were presented from 1951 to 1986. I also see that the American Humane Association has announced a new award, the "Pawscar." <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATSY_Award" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATSY_Award</a>
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x I though this was going to be about Animal from The Muppets getting a best supporting actor Oscar. He was pretty great. "In control...."
Originally Posted By shellsbutt I just saw The Artist. I thought it was a great movie! Very different, and the dog stole the show. He definitely deserves some recognition.Makes me want to go out and get a dog( I believe he is a Jack Russell terrier)if I didn't already have four cats!!
