Parents with young kids should be consulted for Oscar picks for animated movies
The only Oscar category for which I’m qualified to offer an opinion is the animated feature.
Out of all the non-animated
Oscar nominees out today, my husband and I have seen one.
"Argo." And it’s amazing.
Parents of young children understand the phenomena of dropping out of pop culture for a few years, only to catch the occasional movie or concert after serious planning.
We all say it won’t happen to us.
We’ll still do the things we enjoy, like watching movies.
It doesn’t happen that way.
We’re tired at night, want to spend time with the kids and just don’t want to expend the time, effort and money to arrange a babysitter.
So, we lose track of what music is hot, what restaurants are trendy and what movies are a must-see.
Those all change to eating in places with crayons on the table, listening to music produced by Nickelodeon and Disney and watching animated films.
Thankfully, children’s movies are significantly better than what was offered decades ago.
Led by Pixar, the bar is much higher now.
There is no more dumbing down to kids.
The films have sharper stories and dialogue and have beautiful artwork.
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added the animated feature category in 2001, it was time to do so.
As for this year's animated category, my personal choice is "Brave" because it’s about a girl’s relationship with her mother.
And the main character has great red hair.
My son is pulling for "Wreck-It Ralph," citing its unique setting of inside video games and its humor.
This time in our lives of hanging just outside the hip and cool elements of pop culture won’t last forever.
Children will grow, and I will miss the cartoons, silly songs and macaroni and cheese.
So, I’ll enjoy this time and not fret about whether “Zero Dark Thirty” or “Lincoln” has a better shot at the Oscar.
