Despicable Me 2
Release date: July 3 Oscar prospects: Slight Parents must be awfully desperate to distract their kids for a few hours because it seems like any animated movie that is released makes a minimum of $50 million. Throw a cartoon up on the screen and you're guaranteed to fill some seats. Universal's Despicable Me though did much better than even your average animated feature, grossing over half a billion dollars worldwide, which of course in this day and age in Hollywood made a sequel obligatory. While Despicable Me 2's monetary success is inevitable, the key question for its awards prospects is can the film break into the Best Animated Feature lineup? The original may have proved popular with the masses, but when it came time for a roll call of Best Animated Features, Despicable Me was nowhere to be seen (the three films that did make the cut: Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Illusionist). Thus far though, 2013 hasn't exactly been a banner year for animated movies, which is a good sign for the sequel's awards prospects. Pixar's annual entry, Monster's University, has been fairly well received, but no one is claiming that it ranks among the company's best work. Dreamworks' The Croods had some vocal supporters, but it's hardly "critically acclaimed". Even looking further into the year, there aren't really many highly anticipated animated features. Disney's Cars-spinoff, Planes? Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2? The one exception maybe Disney's Frozen, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson, but even if that movie goes over like butter, Despicable Me 2 could very well make it into the lineup, even if the quantity of qualified animated releases only merits three slots for Best Animated Feature. Possible nominations: Best Animated Feature