2018 Oscars Challenge: [7] “The Boss Baby” – Best Animated Feature

“THE BOSS BABY”
Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito

Director: Tom McGrath
Producer: Ramsey Ann Naito
Editor: James Ryan
Composer: Hans Zimmer & Steve Mazzaro
Production Company: Dreamworks Animation
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: March 31, 2017
Run-time: 97 minutes

FILM SYNOPSIS: Seven-year-old Tim is unamused when his parents bring him a baby brother, especially when he discovers that the suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying infant can talk and walk. Determined to uncover the truth about the family’s new addition, Tim becomes entangled in Boss Baby’s corporate espionage scheme.

Many people were a little shocked when “The Boss Baby” was announced as one of the nominees for Best Animated Feature. Mainly because “The LEGO Batman Movie,” which didn’t get nominated, was such a fan favorite and anything that came in ahead of it was lesser because of that. But if you look at the stats, Dreamworks Animation is an Academy juggernaut. With the nomination for “The Boss Baby,” they now hold the most nominations of any studio in this category, just eeking out Pixar now, which only has eleven. On the flip side of that, however, Pixar has way more actual wins with eight while Dreamworks has only two (“Shrek” and “Wallace and Gromitt: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit”).

A nomination, however, will not translate into a win. This category, regardless of whether “The LEGO Batman Movie” would have gotten in or not, is for “Coco”to lose. “Coco” has won across the board and if there is one sure-fire bet for a win at the Oscars this year, it is this one. That means that films like “The Boss Baby” and “Ferdinand” are just filler. They could have been “Despicable Me 3.” They literally could have been anything because nothing stands up to “Coco.”

“The Boss Baby” is a cute film loosely based on a children’s picture book. The film plays with how babies are born, with some babies being delivered to families that want them while other babies are kept to work as management of the babies. One of those babies, voiced by Alec Baldwin, ends up in the Templeton family, where a rivalry brews between him and the older son of the family, Tim (voiced by Miles Bakshi). It turns out Baldwin’s baby is there to even the score between the love for babies and the love for puppies, as they love for puppies is starting to take away from the love for babies (a bit convoluted, I know.) “The Boss Baby” is no “Shrek” or “How To Train Your Dragon” or “Kung Fu Panda,” which are all previously nominated Dreamworks films. And for that, it will easily be beaten by “Coco,” which I believe has this category in the bag.

PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS