2016 was one of the best years in animation ever, with 17 major releases. For the first time ever, we had 3 animated movies cross 300 million. Finding Dory is the sequel to Finding Nemo, which for 8 years was the highest grossing original animated film until the Lion King passed it upon re release. That provided enough good will to propel Dory to a record breaking 135 million opening weekend and nearly 500 million total, ending the 12 year reign of Shrek 2 at the top of the animated film box office list. The film also received very positive critical notices, largely claiming it was a worthy sequel filled with emotion and great voice performances, even if it could not measure up to the instant classic Finding Nemo.
Besides that mega sequel, there were also several huge original hits as well. The Secret Life of Pets had a heap of buzz from the day Illumination dropped the trailer. What do pets do all day while you’re out? A great question, as the film became the first original movie not based on a brand to ever open to 100 million, and had solid legs for almost 370 million total, managing to become Illumination’s biggest ever movie, ahead of the heavily loved and hyped Despicable Me and Minion movies. While the film had just mixed to positive reviews, it was still a huge success for those involved. Illumination released a second animated film this year, titled Sing, chronicling the exploits of several animals as they participate in a singing competition to save an old theater. Sharing much DNA with The Muppets, and executing a manipulative marketing campaign full of some of today’s biggest pop hits, viewers showed up in droves over the holiday season, creaming every other holiday release beyond Star Wars
Walt Disney Animation was at it again, like Illumination with two films, Zootopia and Moana. Zootopia, the current Oscar front runner, surprised everyone when it outgrossed the heavily hyped Batman v. Superman this past March. The film’s race relations allegory struck quite a chord with progressive and conservative audiences alike, and ended the year as by far the most popular animated movie of the year. Moana was more of Disney’s traditional bread and butter, going more old fashioned and away from the meta, satirical tone of Disney’s recent princess films Tangled and Frozen. The musical journey with songs by Hamilton star Lin Manuel Miranda couldn’t capture the zeitgeist of Frozen and was outgrossed by Sing. Lin Manuel is expected to lose the Oscar to La La Land as well, making Moana a success, but not a slam dunk for Disney.
Dreamworks was the last studio to release two films. Trolls was a fairly middle of the road performer, both in terms of reviews and box office success, and was largely overshadowed by the success of Sing and Moana over the holidays. After 5 years, the concluding chapter in the Kung Fu Panda trilogy was released to positive reception, though it was the lowest grosser of the trilogy despite a high level marketing campaign with trailers attached to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Sony released two different animated movies from two different studios, The Angry Birds Movie and Sausage Party. The Angry Birds Movie was a critical failure and only a moderate box office success, while Sausage Party was quite successful in comparison to its small budget, even if it wasn’t as laugh out loud funny as many would have liked. Warner Bros. Animation followed up The Lego Movie with Storks, and it was a poor choice as the film wasn’t particularly well received at the box office or with critics. I wouldn’t be surprised if Warner became too scared to release any other non Lego animated movies.
The real flops of the year include the (fifth?) Ice Age film, Collision Course, Norm of the North, The Wild Life, Ratchet and Clank, Batman: The Killing Joke and The Little Prince (which debuted on Netflix, so that explains that at least partially. The only box office disappointment to find new life after the fact was Kubo and the Two Strings from Laika Animation. The film was hugely well received among those who saw it, and it is the spoiler for Best Animated film on Oscar night.

The nominees for the Best Animated Feature KJ Movie Award are…



Finding Dory, directed by Andrew Stanton



Zootopia, directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore



Sausage Party, directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan



Kubo and the Two Strings, directed by Travis Knight




Moana, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker

Winner

Zootopia



Runner Up

Kubo and the Two Strings

Best Foreign Language Film

The nominees are:

Elle
Train to Busan
The Handmaiden

And the winner is...

The Handmaiden

Runner-up: Elle (fell 4 votes short)

Coming up: Best Supporting Actress

Best Supporting Actress

The nominees are:

Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)
Molly Shannon (Other People)
Lucy Boynton (Sing Street)
Greta Gerwig (20th Century Women)

First, the runner-up...

Next up: Best Original Score

Best Original Score

The nominees are:

La La Land
Arrival
The Neon Demon
Nocturnal Animals
Kubo and the Two Strings
Sing Street

And the winner is...

La La Land


Runner-ups: Arrival and The Neon Demon (each fell 7 votes short)

Zwack comes up the stage again to present Best Original Song

In 2016, music in movies had a huge year. Not only were there four high profile movie musicals released (Sing Street, Moana, La La Land and Sing), several chart toppers this year were from high profile films like Suicide Squad, Trolls and Alice Through the Looking Glass. This was likely the most competitive year for the category possibly ever, and the front runner, City of Stars, is certainly in danger from other songs in La La Land, and the song that could complete Lin Manuel Miranda’s EGOT, How Far I’ll Go from Moana.

These are the nominees for Best Original Song

"City of Stars" (La La Land)



City of Stars is performed three times throughout the course of La La Land. The first is a solo by Ryan Gosling’s character Sebastian, the second is a duet between Gosling and Stone’s character Mia, and the third is a whistling version which is performed over the credits. The song describes the city of Los Angeles, and struggle, not just to make it in show business, but to find love that lasts forever. The simple hook leads into a beautiful duet between the two leads, and the song has essentially become the film’s theme.

"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" (La La Land)



At the climax of the film La La Land, Mia has an audition for the part of her dreams, and is able to do essentially anything she wants to impress them. She describes her free willed aunt, who went to Paris and adventured, jumping in the Seine barefoot and drinking. The song describes the need to be rebellious and dream, and is sung beautifully by Stone, who shows off pipes not heard in the film up to that point.

"Another Day of Sun" (La La Land)



Antoher Day of Sun is the most memorable sequence in La La Land. The song is done during rush hour on an LA highway, and the musical number involves the singers dancing out of their cars with one another. The song chronicles the difficulties f giving up their lives back homme to pursue a career in the big city of Los Angeles.

"How Far I'll Go" (Moana)



Disney has a history of winning music awards at the Oscars. From The Little Mermaid to Frozen, they’ve had hit after hit, and we’re at the point where Disney movies are almost always associated with their music. This year their nominated song is “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. The song is Moana’s “I want” song, as she longs for a life away from the island, sailing the seas on a catamaran like her ancestors. The song is far and away the most popular from the film, and would likely have won Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda his EGOT had it not been for a small film called La La Land.

"Can't Stop The Feeling" (Trolls)



Can’t Stop the Feeling is far more popular than the film which it is from. The song peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this summer months before the film was released. The song is really just a feel good dance tune, that got a whole lot of play at summer barbecues and at parties. The lyrics are nothing too special or meaningful, but it’s probably the most infectious song released this year period, let alone just songs from film.

I didn't even have to suck any dicks.

Winner: "How Far I'll Go", Moana
Runner-up: "City of Stars", La La Land (fell 1 vote short)

La La Land probably killed itself with so many song nominations. That Moana song is obviously and clearly not the best song of the year.

And WOW at Lucy Boynton!!!! FUCK YEAH.

Biggest Breakthrough of the Year (before or behind the camera)

The nominees are:

Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch/Morgan/Barry, actress)
Robert Eggers (The Witch, director/writer)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, director/writer)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea, actor)
Tom Holland (Captain America: Civil War, actor)

And the winners are...

It's a threeway tie!

Anya Taylor-Joy and Barry Jenkins and Tom Holland

zwackerm could not have used bigger images.

BEST ACTRESS is next

Boo hoo.

Best Actress

The nominees are:

Amy Adams (Arrival)
Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch)
Emily Blunt (The Girl on the Train)
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen)

Seriously. Can't wait to get to the next page.