Academy Awards "Wall-E" an Oscar for Animation, But Not Song, Sound or Screenplay

Wall-E, the animated film dear to the hearts of Americans and green bloggers alike, took home only one trophy out of its record-tying six nominations last night. Director Andrew Stanton accepted the Oscar for the film in the "Best Animated Film" category, a win that came as a surprise to no one. The film was also nominated for Original Score, Original Song, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Original Screenplay. Its six nominations put it in company with Beauty and the Beast, which is widely considered to be the best animated film of all time.

Though the film was up against steep competition in the other categories, there was talk that Wall-E had a shot at Original Screenplay, since the film paid homage to classic Charlie Chaplin films. Because much of the film was silent, score played an important role, and composer Thomas Newman, like Kate Winslet, has been a constant nominee, but never an Oscar winner. Though Newman previously took home two Grammys for Wall-E (Best Song for a Motion Picture, and Best Arrangement), the Academy decided this was not his year.

Wall-E's song, "Down to Earth," was written by Peter Gabriel but performed during the ceremony by John Legend. It was part of a medley of the two other nominated songs from Slumdog Millionaire, and was given a Bollywood tinge by being sandwiched in between. The song, naturally, continued the sustainable message of the film - that we should conserve, appreciate our natural resources, and clean up our messes. You can listen here, and read a selection from the lyrics - which speak of being "tricked" by our future - below:

Did you think that your feet had been bound
By what gravity brings to the ground?
Did you feel you were tricked
By the future you picked?
Well, come on down

All those rules don’t apply
When you’re high in the sky
So, come on down
Come on down

We’re coming down to the ground
There’s no better place to go
We’ve got snow up on the mountains
We’ve got rivers down below

What do you think - was Wall-E robbed? Or did Slumdog deserve all of its trophies?
 

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