Audiences can be a fickle bunch, but it’s not always their fault.
Sometimes the timing of a film’s release is wrong, or lands at a moment where people fail to see it. Sometimes the marketing of a movie misses its mark and fails to connect. Sometimes reviews reinforce moviegoer skepticism and they decide to stay away. But sometimes, a movie is just bad, and no silk hat is going to make that pig any prettier. But that doesn’t mean those movies aren’t good — or even great. In many cases, it merely means that their time to shine is yet to come – be it internationally, on home video, or on streaming services.
As we assemble a list of the year’s biggest box office flops, look at the titles below as a reminder to support the films and filmmakers you love so they get to make more of them and continue to explore the cinematic universes that become indelible parts of popular culture now and in the future.
The race for the title of best animated feature film of the year is heating up. The 46th Annie Awards announced nominations today and the list was led by “Incredibles 2” with 11 nods and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” with 10.
However, Anderson was snubbed in the Best Director category, which included Brad Bird for “Incredibles 2”; Rich Moore and Phil Johnston for “Ralph Breaks the Internet”; Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman and Peter Ramsey for “Spider-Man”; and Genndy Tartakovsky for “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.”
In a bit of a controversial move, “Mary Poppins Returns” also garnered five nominations, which could reignite the debate about what constitutes an animated film.
Here’s the full list of nominations:
Best Animated Feature
Early Man
Aardman Animations
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studios
Isle Of Dogs
Fox Searchlight Pictures / Indian Paintbrush / American Empirical Pictures
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Best Animated Independent Feature
Ce Magnifique Gâteau!
Beast Animation, Vivement Lundi !, Pedri Animation
MFKZ
Ankama / Studio 4ºC
Mirai
Studio Chizu
Ruben Brandt, Collector
Hungarian National Film Fund
Tito and the Birds
Bits Productions, Split Studio
Best Animated Special Production
Back to the Moon
Google Spotlight Stories, Google Doodles, Nexus Studios
Mary Poppins Returns
Walt Disney Studios
The Emperor’s Newest Clothes
HBO / Starburns Industries
The Highway Rat
Magic Light Pictures
Best Animated Short Subject
Grandpa Walrus
Caïmans Productions
Lost & Found
Wabi Sabi Studios
SOLAR WALK
Nørlum
Untravel
Production: Film House Baš Čelik, Serbia Co- production: BFilm, Bratislava / Your Dreams Factory, Bratislava
Weekends
past lives productions
Best Virtual Reality Production
Age of Sail
Google Spotlight Stories, Broad Reach Pictures
Battlescar
AtlasV
Crow: The Legend
Baobab Studios
Mind Palace
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
Moss
Polyarc
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Commercial
Goldfish at the Fair
Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
Greenpeace ‘There’s a Rang-Tan In My Bedroom’
Passion Animation Studios
Grinch / 40 / Olympics Spot
Illumination
JD.com, ‘Joy and Heron’
Passion Pictures
The Fearless Are Here
Nexus Studios
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children
Ask the StoryBots
Episode: How Do Computers Work?
JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix
Dinotrux: Supercharged
Episode: Crabcavator
DreamWorks Animation Television
Hey Duggee
Episode: The Singing Badge
Studio AKA
PJ Masks
Episode: Wacky Floats
Frog Box Entertainment One
Tumble Leaf
Episode: Moonlight Mermaid/Hedge’s Hatchlings
Amazon Studios and Bix Pix Entertainment
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production For Children
Hilda
Episode: Chapter 1: The Hidden People
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny
Episode: Enter the Dragon Master
DreamWorks Animation Television
Little Big Awesome
Episode: Puppy Shower
Amazon Studios
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Mystic Mayhem
Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters
Episode: The Eternal Knight Pt. 2
DreamWorks Animation Television
Big Mouth
Episode: The Planned Parenthood Show
Netflix
Bob’s Burgers
Episode: The Bleakening, Parts 1 and 2
20th Century FOX Television/Bento Box Entertainment
BoJack Horseman
Episode: The Dog Days are Over
Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
Human Kind Of
Episode: Desperately Seeking Social Skills
Cartuna, Facebook Watch
The Venture Bros.
Episode: The Saphrax Protocol
Adult Swim / Titmouse, Inc.
Best Student Film
A Blink of An Eye
Kiana Naghshineh
Best Friend
Nicholas OLIVIERI, Yi SHEN, Juliana DE LUCCA, Varun NAIR, David FELIU
FACING IT
Sam Gainsborough
Hors Piste
Léo BRUNEL, Loris CAVALIER, Camille JALABERT, Oscar MALLET
Sister
Siqi Song
Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
DreamWorks Theatre Presents Kung Fu Panda
DreamWorks Animation
FX Artist: Zach Glynn
FX Artist: Chyuan Huang FX Artist: Michael Losure FX Artist: K.C. Ong
FX Artist: Alex Timchenko
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Mystic Mayhem
Nickelodeon Animation Studio
FX Animator: Jeffrey Lai
SuperMansion
Episode: Debbie Does Devizo
Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
VFX Supervisor: Mike Spitzmiller VFX Lead Artist: Steve Gallant VFX Artist: Iain Collins
VFX Artist: Daniel Craven
VFX Artist: Lynda Rollins
Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters
Episode: The Eternal Knight Pt. 2
DreamWorks Animation Television
Visual Effects Supervisor: David M.V. Jones
Overseas FX Supervisor: Vincent Chou
Overseas Lead FX Artist: Clare Yang
Watership Down
Episode: The Journey
42 / Biscuit Entertainment with Netflix
VFX Supervisor: Philip Child
CG Supervisor: Nilesh Sardesai
Animated Effects in an Animated Feature Production
Early Man
Aardman Animations
VFX Supervisor: Howard Jones
Director of Photography: Dave Alex Riddett
Head of 3D: Grant Hewlett
Crowd Lead: Pat Andrew
3D Artist: Elena Vitanza Chiarani
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
Sony Pictures Animation
FX Supervisor: Patrick Witting
FX Lead: Kiel Gnebba
FX Animator : Spencer Lueders
FX Animator: Joe Pepper
FX Animator: Sam Rickles
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studios
Effects Sequence Lead: Greg Gladstone
Effects Artist: Tolga Göktekin Effects Artist: Jason Johnston Effects Artist: Eric Lacroix
Effects Sequence Lead: Krzysztof Rost
Next Gen
Baozou with Alibaba Pictures Inc. in association with Tangent Animation for Netflix
Visual Effects Lead: So Ishigaki
Senior Visual Effects Lead: Graham Wiebe
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Head of Effects Animation: Cesar Velazquez
Effects Lead: Marie Tollec
Effects Lead: Alexander Moaveni Effects Lead: Peter DeMund Foundation Effects Lead: Ian J. Coony
Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Age of Sail
Episode: n/a
Google Spotlight Stories, Broad Reach Pictures
Character Animator: Sikand Srinivas
Character: All
Back to the Moon
Episode: n/a
Google Spotlight Stories, Google Doodles, Nexus Studios
Lead Animator: Lucas Vigroux Character: All
Hilda
Episode: (Various Episodes)
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
Character Animator: Scott Lewis Character: The King, Hilda, Arfur
Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure
Episode: King Pascal
Walt Disney Television Animation
Character Animator: Juliane Martin
Character: Eugene, Rapunzel, Cassandra
Tumble Leaf
Episode: Maple’s Sand Stand/Fig’s New Clothes
Amazon Studios and Bix Pix Entertainment
Character Animator: Dan MacKenzie
Character: Multiple
Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
Early Man
Aardman Animations
Lead Character Animator: Laurie Sitzia Character: Goona, Dug, Chief Bobnar, the Tribe, the rabbit and Lord Nooth
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studio
Animator: Lance Fite Character: All Characters
Isle of Dogs
Fox Searchlight Pictures / Indian Paintbrush / American Empirical Pictures
Lead Animator: Jason Stalman Character: Chief and Nutmeg
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Animator: Vitor Vilela Character: Wreck-It Ralph, Fix-It Felix, Double Dan, Vanellope Von Schweetz, Ralphzilla, Yesss, Root Beer Tapper Patrons, Pancake Bunny, Milkshake Kitty, Baby Mo, Mo’s Mom
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Animator: David Han Character: Multiple
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Avengers: Infinity War
Marvel
Animation Supervisor: Paul Story Animation Supervisor: Sidney Kombo- Kintombo
Lead Facial Motion Editor: Eteuati Tema Facial Motion Editor: Jacob Luamanuvae- Su’a
Lead Modeller: Sam Sharplin
Christopher Robin
Walt Disney Pictures
Animation Supervisor: Arslan Elver Animation Supervisor: Laurent Laban Lead Animator: Kayn Garcia Modeller: Claire Blustin
Rigger: Marc-André Coulombe
Mary Poppins Returns
Walt Disney Pictures
Chris Sauve: Chris Sauve James Baxter: James Baxter Sandro Cleuzo: Sandro Cleuzo
Paddington 2
StudioCanal, Heyday Films, Marmalade Films Ltd
Animation Director: Pablo Grillo Animation Supervisor: Laurent Laban Animation Supervisor: Kyle Dunlevy Lead Animator: Stuart Ellis
Lead Animator: Liam Russell
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Walt Disney Studios
Animation Supervisor: Richard Oey Animation Lead: Adrien Annesley Animation Lead: Allison Orr
Key Animation Artist: Wei Liang Yap
Key Animation Artist: Shan Hao
Character Animation in a Video Game
God of War
Santa Monica Studio
Lead Animator: Erica Pinto Character: All characters in cinematics
Lead Animator: Mehdi Yssef Character: All characters in gameplay
Lead Animator: Bruno Velazquez Character: All characters
GRIS
Nomada Studio
Lead Animator: Adrian Miguel Character: Gris (Cinematics and In-Game)
Lead Animator: Adrian Garcia Character: Gris (Cinematics)
Lead Animator: Adrian Miguel Character: Sombra
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Insomniac Games
Lead Animator: Bobby Coddington
Character: Spider-Man
Moss
Polyarc
Lead Animator: Richard Lico Character: Quill
Shadow of The Tomb Raider
Square Enix
Lead Animator: David Hubert Character: All cinematic characters
Character Animator: Jacob Gardner Character: All cinematic characters Character Animator: Giovanni Spinelli Character: All cinematic characters
Character Animator: Marco Foglia Character: All cinematic characters
Character Animator: Jean-Philippe Chaurette
Character: All gameplay characters
Character Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Age of Sail
Episode: n/a
Google Spotlight Stories, Broad Reach Pictures
Character Designer: Bruno Mangyoku
Character: various characters
Niko and the Sword of Light
Episode: The Forest of Fangs
Amazon Studios
Character Designer: Jim Bryson Character: Niko, Lyra, Nar Est, Breadtroll, Cutie Pootie, Combo Plate Vendor, Windcrag
Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure
Episode: Freebird
Walt Disney Television Animation
Character Designer: Amanda Jolly Character: Rapunzel Bird, Cassandra Bird, Father Parrot, Special Birds
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
Episode: The Stink of Fear: Chapter One
DreamWorks Animation Television
Art Director: Chris Mitchell
Character: Rocky, Bullwinkle, Fearless Leader, Boris, Natasha, Director Peachfuzz
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
Episode: The Stink of Fear: Chapter One
DreamWorks Animation Television
Character Designer: Keiko Murayama
Character: Baby Natasha, Baby Boris, Grandwinkle, Mayor Grundstrom, Boris’ Gang, Gang
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studios
Character Art Director: Matt Nolte
Character: All Characters
Mary Poppins Returns
Walt Disney Studios
Lead Character Designer: James Woods
Character: Animated Cast
Next Gen
Baozou with Alibaba Pictures Inc. in association with Tangent Animation for Netflix
Character Designer: Marceline Tanguay
Character: Multiple
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Art Director – Characters: Ami Thompson Character: Wreck-It Ralph, Vanellope Von Schweetz, Yesss, Maybe, Shank, Spamley, Gord, The eboy, ebay Elaine, Netuser, Netizens, Internet Troll, Slaughter Race Crew, Disney Princesses, Ralphzilla, Jimmy, Tiffany, Baby Calhoun, Pancake Bunny, Milkshake Kitty, KnowsMo
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Shiyoon Kim : Shiyoon Kim Character: Uncle Aaron, Rio, Peter, Miles, King Pin, Gwen, Aunt May, Goblin, Jefferson
Directing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Ask the StoryBots
Episode: What Is Electricity?
JibJab Bros. Studios for Netflix
Director: Evan Spiridellis
Disney Mickey Mouse
Episode: Feed the Birds Disney Television Animation
Director: Eddie Trigueros
Niko and the Sword of Light
Episode: The Thorn of Contention
Amazon Studios
Director: Sung Jin Ahn
SuperMansion
Episode: Sympathy For Black Saturn
Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
Director: Nick Simotas
Tales of Arcadia: 3Below
Episode: Terra Incognita Part One
DreamWorks Animation Television
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Director: Rodrigo Blaas
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Early Man
Aardman Animations
Director: Nick Park
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
Sony Pictures Animation
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Director: Rich Moore
Director: Phil Johnston
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Director: Bob Persichetti Director: Rodney Rothman Director: Peter Ramsey
Music in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Back to the Moon
Episode: n/a
Google Spotlight Stories, Google Doodles, Nexus Studios
Composer: Mathieu Alvado
Disney Mickey Mouse
Episode: Springtime
Disney Television Animation
Composer: Christopher Willis
Elena of Avalor
Episode: Song of the Sirenas
Disney Television Animation
Composer: Tony Morales
Composer/Lyricist: John Kavanaugh
Lyricist: Craig Gerber
Lyricist: Silvia Olivas
Lyricist: Rachel Ruderman
Tangled: The Series
Episode: Secret of the Sun Drop
Walt Disney Television Animation
Composer: Alan Menken
Lyricist: Glenn Slater
Composer: Kevin Kliesch
The Tom and Jerry Show
Episode: Kitten Grifters
Warner Bros. Animation
Composer: Vivek Maddala
Music in an Animated Feature Production
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch
Illumination
Composer: Danny Elfman
Lyricist: Tyler, The Creator
Early Man
Aardman Animations
Composer/Lyricist: Harry Gregson-Williams
Composer/Lyricist: Tom Howe
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
Composer: Tom Howe
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studios
Composer: Michael Giacchino
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Composer: Henry Jackman
Composer: Alan Menken
Lyricist: Phil Johnston
Lyricist: Tom MacDougall
Composer/Lyricist: Dan Reynolds
Smallfoot
Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Animation Group
Composer: Heitor Pereira
Composer/Lyricist: Karey Kirkpatrick
Composer/Lyricist: Wayne Kirkpatrick
Production Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Age of Sail
Episode: n/a
Google Spotlight Stories, Broad Reach Pictures
Production Design: Céline Desrumaux
Production Design: Jasmin Lai
Disney Mickey Mouse
Episode: Amore Motore
Disney Television Animation
Production Design: Justin Martin
Little Big Awesome
Episode: Let’s Get to That Thing!
Amazon Studios
Production Design: Antonio Canobbio, Art Director
Production Design: Howard Chen, Background Layout
Production Design: Ivan Louey, Background Layout Supervisor
Production Design: Crystal Yoori Son, Background Paint
Niko and the Sword of Light
Episode: The Thorn of Contention Amazon Studios
Production Design: Antonio Canobbio, Art Director
Production Design: Bobby Walker, Background Paint
Production Design: Michelle Rhee, Background Layout
Production Design: Richard Chang, Background Paint
Production Design: Joseph Martinez, Background Layout
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
Episode: The Stink of Fear: Chapter One
DreamWorks Animation Television
Production Design: Chris Mitchell
Production Design: Chris Turnham
Production Design: Tor Anut
Production Design: DanBob Thompson
Production Design: Aaron Spurgeon
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Early Man
Aardman Animations
Production Design: Matt Perry
Production Design: Richard Edmunds
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
Sony Pictures Animation
Production Design: Scott Wills
Isle of Dogs
Fox Searchlight Pictures / Indian Paintbrush / American Empirical Pictures
Production Design: Adam Stockhausen
Production Design: Paul Harrod
Mary Poppins Returns
Walt Disney Studios
Production Design: jeff turley
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Production Design: Justin K. Thompson
Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Ben 10
Episode: King Koil
Cartoon Network Studios
Storyboard Artist: Will Patrick
Big Hero 6: The Series
Episode: Countdown to Catastrophe
Walt Disney Television Animation
Storyboard Artist: Trey Buongiorno
Disney Mickey Mouse
Episode: Carnaval
Disney Television Animation
Storyboard Artist: Ramirez Ramos Alonso
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode: Mystic Mayhem
Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Storyboard Artist: Kevin Molina-Ortiz
Star vs. The Forces of Evil
Episode: Conquer
Walt Disney Television Animation
Storyboard Artist: Sabrina Cotugno
Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch
Illumination
Storyboard Artist: Habib Louati
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studios
Storyboard Artist: Dean Kelly
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studios
Storyboard Artist: Bobby Alcid Rubio
Mary Poppins Returns
Walt Disney Studios
Storyboard Artist: Ovi Nedelcu
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Storyboard Artist: Michael Herrera
Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
BoJack Horseman
Episode: Free Churro
Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix
Voice Actor: Will Arnett
Character: BoJack
F is for Family
Episode: various
Wild West Television in association with Gaumont Television for Netflix
Voice Actor: Debi Derryberry
Character: Maureen, Bridget, Phillip, Nurse Beatrice, Scott, Ken
Pete the Cat
Episode: Magic Sunglasses & Sandcastles
Amazon Studios, Alcon Television Group, LLC
Actor: Juliette Donenfeld
Character: Sally Squirrel
Skylanders Academy
Episode: Raiders of the Lost Arkus, Part 1
Activision Blizzard Studios
Patrick Warburton: Patrick Warburton
Character: Captain Flynn
Unikitty
Episode: Scary Tales, Tasty Heist, Unikitty News, Hide N Seek, Kitty Court
Warner Bros. Animation
Starring the voice of: Tara Strong
Character: Princess Unikitty
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Early Man
Aardman Animations
Dug: Eddie Redmayne
Character: Dug
Isle of Dogs
Fox Searchlight Pictures / Indian Paintbrush / American Empirical Pictures
Chief: Bryan Cranston Character: Chief
Next Gen
Baozou with Alibaba Pictures Inc. in association with Tangent Animation for Netflix
Voice Actress: Charlyne Yi
Character: Mai
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Cast: Sarah Silverman
Character: Vanellope Von Schweetz
Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Big Mouth
Episode: The Planned Parenthood Show
Netflix
Writer: Emily Altman
Craig of the Creek
Episode: Escape from Family Dinner
Cartoon Network Studios
Story By: Matt Burnett
Story By: Ben Levin
Story By: Shauna McGarry
Story By: Jeff Trammell
Story By: Tiffany Ford
Hilda
Episode: Chapter 8: The Tide Mice
Hilda Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media Company, Netflix Inc. and Mercury Filmworks
Writer: Stephanie Simpson
Star vs. The Forces of Evil
Episode: Booth Buddies
Walt Disney Television Animation
Writer: Dominic Bisignano
Writer: Aaron Hammersley
Writer: Amy Higgins
Writer: John Infantino
Writer: Daron Nefcy
We Bare Bears
Episode: 101-Hurricane Hal
Cartoon Network Animation Studios
Writer: Mikey Heller
Story By: Sang Yup Lee
Story By: Louie Zong
Mirai
Studio Chizu
Writer: Mamoru Hosoda
Story By: Mamoru Hosoda
Writer: Stephanie Sheh
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Writer: Phil Johnston
Writer: Pamela Ribon
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Writer: Phil Lord
Writer: Rodney Rothman
Teen Titans Go! to the Movies
Warner Bros. Animation
Writer: Michael Jelenic
Writer: Aaron Horvath
Editorial in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production
Big Hero 6: The Series
Walt Disney Television Animation
Nominee: Charles Jones
Nominee: Joe Molinari
Nominee: Dao Le
Nominee: Vartan Nazarian
Nominee: David Vazquez
Puppy Dog Pals
Wild Canary Animation / Disney Junior
Nominee: Adam Rickabus
SpongeBob SquarePants
Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Nominee: Estrella Miyakawa Capin
Nominee: Christopher Hink
Nominee: Bob Tomlin
Nominee: Rick Dominicus
Tales of Arcadia: 3Below
DreamWorks Animation Television
Nominee: John Laus
Nominee: Graham Fisher
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants
DreamWorks Animation Television
Nominee: Steve Downs
Nominee: John Wall
Nominee: Adam Smith
Nominee: Collin Erker
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch
Illumination
Nominee: Chris Cartagena
Incredibles 2
Pixar Animation Studios
Nominee: Stephen Schaffer, ACE
Nominee: Anthony J. Greenberg
Nominee: Katie Schaefer Bishop
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Nominee: Jeremy Milton
Nominee: Fabienne Rawley
Nominee: Jesse Averna
Nominee: John Wheeler
Nominee: Pace Paulsen
Ruben Brandt, Collector
Hungarian National Film Fund
Nominee: Milorad Krstic
Nominee: Marcell Laszlo
Nominee: Laszlo Wimmer
Nominee: Danijel Daka Milosevic
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sony Pictures Animation
Nominee: Bob Fisher
Nominee: Andrew Leviton
Nominee: Vivek Sharma
“Game of Thrones” is currently filming its final Season 8, and will continue taping into the summer. You have to imagine they’re trying to capture the real winter of winter, and then the “dream of spring” in the warmer months.
Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) is now promoting her new movie “Early Man,” but while reporters have her, they always ask for any “Game of Thrones” details she’ll share from the final season.
On Monday, Feb. 12, Williams talked to Metro from Belfast, Northern Ireland — where GoT is based. She teased some “huge” sequences ahead, and revealed her initial reaction to the final scripts:
“For the final season as a whole it was just so impressive. My first real thought was, ‘Oh God, we have to shoot this now.’ And it is kind of an impossible challenge. It will be really difficult.’
I am currently on my way to a night shoot, which is week 4 of 12 weeks of night shoots. It’s just huge. The task is huge. But, there’s no better way to leave the show, to be honest.”
Williams said she knows there’s a “huge amount of pressure” on the HBO show to finish strong. “I’m glad I don’t write the show.” No matter what, some fans will be disappointed. That’s just the way of it.
But we’re intrigued by the 12 weeks of night shoots that are now underway. Watchers on the Wall has spoilery details, if you’re interested in what is being shot. Or you could try to keep your eyeballs pure until Season 8 finally arrives in 2019.
Actually, we should be getting the official trailer before then. It’s hard to say when that might show up, since the filming schedule is so extended — from fall 2017 to summer 2018 just for six episodes. Hopefully we get some kind of tease in the next couple of months.
Maisie Williams voices Goona in “Early Man,” which opens February 16th.
Nick Park is one of the living legends of modern animation and it’s very exciting to have a new project from him.
The British filmmaker, a four-time Oscar winner (!), utilized the somewhat outdated notion of stop-motion animation, revamping it for a new generation and taking it into an entirely new direction, with his “Wallace and Gromit” films and “Chicken Run.” Stop-motion, the slightly creepy process that had previously been used to bring creatures like living skeletons and skyscraper-climbing apes to life, was now warm, funny, and relatable.
Park’s latest stop-motion marvel is “Early Man,” a broadly comic tale of cavemen who combat the upcoming arrival of the Bronze Age via a game of soccer, is once again brought to life by the brilliant minds at Aardman Animation. (And yes, it’s incredibly British.) It’s full of all of the things that make a Nick Park film a Nick Park film – colorful characters, an expressive animal sidekick, visual puns, and elaborately staged set pieces. It’s a blast and so much fun to be back in his world.
Last week, Moviefone got the chance to walk around some of the intricately detailed sets for the film, talking with Park about the genesis of the film, why prehistoric characters are so perfectly suited for stop-motion animation, and what’s next.
Moviefone: Back when you were working with DreamWorks Animation …
Park: Ah yes…
… Another animated caveman comedy “The Croods” was originally set up as an Aardman Animation movie, right?
Yes, I believe, in its very early stages. I wasn’t really involved in that version of “The Croods.” I was on “Were-Rabbit” back then, and it was really after coming out of “Were-Rabbit” I had this quite separate idea of cavemen and the Stone Age and what really sparked it was the invention of soccer.
Did your experience at DreamWorks inform your approach? There has been speculation about their attempts to tone down what you were trying to do.
Well, from my experience, I enjoyed a lot of freedom with “Chicken Run” and “Curse of the Were-Rabbit.” But I couldn’t say. I don’t think things were going too well at that point, generally, between the studios. We all remained friendly. But I learned a lot. With “Chicken Run” — we’d never made feature films before. So that was very much a learning process, and lots of studio notes all the time. Jeffrey Katzenberg would fly over in his private jet all the time to Bristol, England, to keep an eye on us.
Was there any concern about this story being too British?
There was always a case of “we love what you guys do, but maybe less British?” But now, with this [movie], there was no sense of having to appeal to an American market in particular. There always was with DreamWorks. At first, there wasn’t, but then it became more worried about the markets.What I love about this movie is how much you lean into the stop motion of it all, between the way the fur and hair gets disrupted between shots — and the general elasticity of the characters.
Yeah, it’s like the fingerprints on the clay. Even stop-frame animators find that stop-frame animators shy away from fur and hair and I actually really wanted that slight twitching effect. They call it “boiling.” It reminds me of the old King Kong. It’s like the fingerprints. It reminds you that it’s hand-crafted.
Obviously there’s the legacy, going back to Ray Harryhausen, of prehistoric creatures being brought to life through stop-motion. Why do you think this medium is perfect for that?
That whole subject appealed to me and seemed to suit the medium because the ancient man and the lowbrow — and just thinking about a bunch of lunk-head cavemen — somehow the humor comes out of the technique. The crudeness, I guess, and the earthiness.
What was it like casting the film?
Well, that was one of the most exciting bits. Voices have always been important to us at Aardman, since “Creature Comforts.” Being able to create clay characters around a good voice has always been really important. We’re always looking for something that is extraordinary and different and not too normal. So, yeah, casting was great fun. The Graham Norton Show.” And he was on with Robert De Niro, and he was doing impressions and imitated De Niro really well. So, I wondered if he’d do a voice. I know he’s not the first person you think of when you’re casting a large, pompous Frenchman. But it worked. He really loved doing it. He can do anything. We were slightly worried at one point that when the whole Brexit happened, it may feel like we were being anti-European. Tom was concerned. So we tried him being English, but it sounded too typical because there are so many English villains. Even the StudioCanal guys in Paris preferred the French. So we went back to that.
And you were able to use some CGI alongside the stop-motion, right?
Yeah, it’s a whole mixture. We did have some CGI animation, but a lot of digital effects. Like, we only built one of these mammoths — so when you see three mammoths in a shot, it’s just one mammoth that’s been composited three times. We’ve adapted digital technology throughout the movies, mostly for stuff that you can’t do in clay, like fire and water. It allowed us, in “Early Man,” to create truly epic stuff like lava. We had thirty or forty different sets going at one time, so oftentimes we would shoot against green screen and put in skies afterwards.
How do you make the decision for what to make digital and what to do practically?
Well, in this one, we wanted to keep it hands-on and do everything in camera if we can. Even on some of the water effects, it’d be great to keep it in the old way, like using cling film. It has a nice, fluid effect. With the foam it was hair gel mixed with glass beads, on little mechanisms that can rise up and down with each frame.
Amazingly, this is one of two big stop-motion movies coming out in the next couple of months. Why do you think the format still persists?
It’s incredible, isn’t it? There’s almost a renaissance of stop-frame. I didn’t expect it. Even 20, 30 years ago, with the first “Toy Story,” we were thinking, “How much time do we have left with stop-frame?” But it hasn’t happened yet. It actually helps us stand out and make our mark.
Do you ever get tired of it?
No, I never do. I feel like I belong to the stop-frame. There’s something that happens, with the look and the feel, when I’m writing I’m thinking of stop-frame and things that would look good — like the giant duck! I know you could easily create a giant duck in CG, but I wanted it to have a bad taxidermy effect.
What’s next?
We have another “Shaun the Sheep” movie coming out. A lot of the animators have moved onto that. That’s the next big one coming out for us.
A Girl deserves better than to be denied roles, and her fans deserve better than to be denied seeing her range after “Game of Thrones.”
Maisie Williams, now 20, has been playing Arya Stark on HBO’s biggest hit drama since she was 12-years-old. It hasn’t always been easing growing up in the public eye. But she’s now in her final year as Arya Stark, looking to her future as an actress. She told the Irish Times it’s been a rude awakening to learn what aspects of that future are blocked to her, and why.
“It’s only now I’m starting to realize the characters that are available to me because of the way I look and the characters that aren’t available to me. It’s a very shallow industry. And I don’t look like someone who is cast in roles that are, well, sexualized. Don’t get me wrong. I’m completely in awe of Hollywood’s leading ladies. I love looking at those totally jaw-droppingly beautiful women. But I think it’s sad that you only get to see one type of beautiful on screen.”
Hear, hear. And can we add that it’s refreshing that she’s not taking the angle that she herself should have to change to fit into the existing industry? She recognizes the problem is on the shallow end: Judging performers primarily for a certain look instead of what else — everything else! — they can bring to a role. So many stars (male and female) end up just following the lead of casting directors and agents and try and change their looks to match the current expectations. Otherwise, they won’t get work. Well, it’s time the expectations changed.
Not that Maisie seems to be aiming for roles that are “sexualized,” she just realizes that kind of sexy/hot archetype is what the casting folks want. This is not the first time she has brought up how the industry is still primarily focused on casting for “hotness,” as if being “hot” is a personality trait of its own. Here’s what she told the London Evening Standard back in 2015:
“There are a lot of roles that come in that are ‘the girlfriend’ or ‘the hot piece’ in a movie or TV series. That’s something I’ve seen first-hand and read all the time. It will say ‘Derek: intelligent, good with kids, funny, really good at this’ and then it will say ‘Sandra: hot in a sort of cute way’ — and that’s all you get. That’s the way your character is described, so going into an audition you are channelling ‘hot,’ which isn’t like a person, that’s not who a person is. That’s what I see and that’s what needs to change. I’ve been lucky enough to play a very great female character from a young age, who is a fantastic role model for girls.”
She saw that and spoke out about it three years ago when she was still a teen. That’s such a good sign for the future — if anyone listens to her. Jessica Chastain recently mocked the “hot” obsession in a funny “Tonight Show” video, showing it’s not just Maisie who deals with that vague industry mandate.
Thankfully Maisie Williams is still getting roles, including in “The New Mutants,” now coming out next year, and a voice role in “Early Man,” which will be released in theaters on February 16. The final season of “Game of Thrones” will premiere in 2019.
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Three months of night shoots? Seven hells.
What I love about this movie is how much you lean into the stop motion of it all, between the way the fur and hair gets disrupted between shots — and the general elasticity of the characters.
A Girl deserves better than to be denied roles, and her fans deserve better than to be denied seeing her range after “Game of Thrones.”