By Celeste Eback, Opinion Editor
Back on March 10, something historical happened in the animation/film industry. Imagine this—you’re sitting down, watching the Oscars, and the category “Animated Feature Film” comes up along with its nominees: “Elemental,” “Nimona,” “Robot Dreams,” “A Boy and the Heron,” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Two of these films stick out, don’t they? Those two are “Robot Dreams” and “A Boy and the Heron.” Sitting there at the edge of your seat to know who one the best “Animated Feature Film,” you’d expect one of the 3D animated films to be the winner. To your shock, “A Boy and the Heron” is the winner. This was a monumental victory for animation, but why?
For the past 20 years, 3D animation has been dominating the industry. The first time that a 3D animated film won an Oscar was back in 2004 with “Finding Nemo.” From then on, every feature film crowned with the award for that category had been in 3D. At least, until this year when Hayao Miyazaki took the throne with “A Boy and the Heron,” which is a 2D animation created by the familiar studio, Studio Ghibli.
Studio Ghibli is also known for the popular films, “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and most notably, “Spirited Away.” Most Ghibli films are known for their softer stories and cozy environments. A common theme that Miyazaki includes in their films is love and family. Most of these films feature a character that experiences a fish-out-of-water event and the main character must find a way to cope with such events.
Now the real question at hand: why is it that “A Boy and the Heron” won over all the other nominees? Well, as mentioned earlier, 3D animation has been taking over the animation industry. For years, it’s been at the top of the trends because of its innovation and more introspective appeal. With Miyazaki winning the 2024 Oscar for Animated Feature Film, this flips the script for what’s been ideal for two decades. This victory showcases that 2D animation is still in style, even if it feels outdated. It tells other animation studios that returning to the basics can still prove effective in our fast-paced society that requires us to be constantly following what’s on the big screen to simply satisfy the status quo.
Especially when it comes to Disney, they’ve been trying to keep up with the box office by pushing out more and more 3D animations. However, this recently backfired when they released their feature film, “Wish,” which was meant to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Disney. Many of the viewers of this film found it to be lacking in quality. This movie received a 5.6 out of 10 on IMDbs’ website, along with 48% rotten tomatoes. Evidentially, this was one of Disney’s worst-performing films yet. Many have criticized this film’s animation style, plot, and seemingly shoddy production overall. Which would pave the way for films like “A Boy and the Heron” to start taking the lead.
All in all, it’s looking like the animation industry might be taking a turn on its heels–and quite honestly, it could be for the better. In this day in age, it’s honestly becoming difficult to keep up with the 3D crowd as it seems we’re stretching the box office a little too thin. Pivoting back to the classics and using 2D animation can be a way to rediscover what it is that film-making truly was.