“Inside Out” leads this year’s Annie Award nominations. The Pixar coming-of-age film, voiced in part by Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling and Phyllis Smith (“The Office”), scored a whopping 14 nominations, including Best Animated Feature, Writing in an Animated Feature and Animated Effects in an Animated Feature.
“Inside Out” was a resounding success with critics and audiences alike, earning rave reviews and impressive box-office receipts.
Cate Blanchett famously used her time at the podium of the 2014 Oscars to call out studio execs who are still “foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women [and girls] at the center are niche experiences.”
“Inside Out” doesn’t just focus on a female protagonist — the film takes place almost entirely in 11-year-old Riley’s mind. The fact that the film grossed over $850 million worldwide proves Blanchett’s claim that (mass) audiences want to see female characters onscreen, at the center of their own stories.
The second-most nominated film is Disney/Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur,” which will be competing in eight categories, including Best Animated Feature. The film is directed by a man and focuses on a boy dino, but is written by a woman, Meg LeFauve.
LeFauve is having a hell of a year. In addition penning “The Good Dinosaur,” she co-wrote “Inside Out.” In April, word came that LeFauve will collaborate with “Guardians of the Galaxy” co-writer Nicole Perlman on the script for “Captain Marvel.”
None of the seven films nominated for Best Animated Feature are helmed by a woman, and zero of the nine directors nominated for Directing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production are women. All of the nominees in the Animated Effects in an Animated Production category are men. (Be sure to check out our summary of Buzzfeed’s gut-punching exposé on sexism in the animation industry.)
Read Women and Hollywood’s interview with “Inside Out” co-director Pete Doctor.
You can find a complete list of nominees at The Hollywood Reporter.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]