Memo To The Academy: Honor the Voice Actors

Alright Academy: It's time to get over your old fashioned beliefs about animation and create a category for honoring voice over work.  I think it became painfully obvious after "Rango" was released that voice acting is crucial to these animated movies.  More than ever before, big established actors are giving out Oscar worthy performances in voice over work.  Yet none of it is being recognized, and the Academy is too busy deciding whether five movies are enough or not in the Best Picture category, and are thus overlooking awards that would obviously be good for the show.  Think about it: If you start awarding Oscars to voice actors it gives you a chance to have a whole new branch in the Academy to sell memberships to.

You can attract lots of big name talent who might make poor live action films, but in animation shine.  You could attract kids to watching the Oscars because animation will now have a very prominent role at the awards.  And - because many voice actors are also face actors in real life - you honor more actors, which are the main reason anyone not as interested in movies watch the Oscars anymore (Editor's Note: The hosts haven't been a major draw for this show in YEARS).  I'm going to make a list of what a potential award category would look like, complete with nominees.


Best Actor In An Animated Feature

Antonio Banderas - "Puss In Boots" (I'm making an educated guess on this one based on his previous work)
Jack Black - "Kung Fu Panda 2"
Jim Cummings - "Winnie The Pooh"
Johnny Depp - "Rango"
Jesse Eisenberg - "Rio"


Best Actress In An Animated Feature

Emily Blunt - "Gnomeo & Juliet"
Isla Fisher - "Rango"
Anne Hathawy - "Rio"
Salma Hayek - "Puss In Boots" (Again, this one's a guess)
Angelina Jolie - "Kung Fu Panda 2"


Best Actor Featured In An Animated Feature

Ned Beatty - "Rango"
Michael Caine - "Cars 2"
Dustin Hoffman - "Kung Fu Panda 2"
Tom Kenny - "Winnie The Pooh"
Gary Oldman - "Kung Fu Panda 2"


Best Actress Featured In An Animated Feature

Abigal Breslin - "Rango"
Joan Cusak - "Mars Needs Moms"
Leslie Mann - "Rio"
Emily Mortimer - "Cars 2"
Michelle Yeoh - "Kung Fu Panda 2"




Now some of those names I'm just tossing out there because we haven't seen ALL the animated films that are supposed to come out, but take a moment and look at that list!  That's not only good acting, it's a considerable amount of talent you're drawing.  You can't tell me this category wouldn't catch on when you have nominees like that?  Who knows, maybe you could give some of the "de faco" awards to actors who get nominated in the voiceover category, instead of wasting it on the main acting awards (*cough* Paul Newman's Best Actor win for "The Color of Money"*cough*).  Just a thought.