Oscars 2017: 8 Things The Academy Screwed Up

4. No Love For Stop Motion Effects?

What Happened

The Jungle Book won the gong for Best Visual Effects, thanks to its blend of CGI animals, stop-motion and live action. It was undoubtedly an impressive feat - particularly as the animals looked so real - and it made Disney a boat load of money, but it wasn't the biggest achievement in Visuals of the year.

What Should Have Happened

Perhaps because it was created using stop motion animation, Kubo And The Two Strings wasn't deemed up to the same billing as the computer-rendered work on The Jungle Book. To some extent, you could see why awards-givers would favour a production taking advantage of bleeding edge technology, but to ignore the monumental achievement of Laika's latest in the context of its medium is to do it a major, major disservice.

The stop motion work in Kubo is unprecedented, with achievements in animation that would surely have looked impossible at the planning stage, and done with such flair and personality that the experience is completely magical. The whole technique is part and parcel of the viewing experience too, and unlike The Jungle Book - whose principle aim is to HIDE its effects techniques - it's a celebration of the work. And that deserves more praise.