The nominations for the Golden Naked Baldheaded Man Awards came on February 12, and not surprisingly, there were a lot of omissions, snubs, and surprises. Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the day was the 13 nominations given to the first installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, including the "major" awards, which are Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and, of course, Best Picture. I'm rooting for this film because it's the genre film of the moment. However, I don't see it winning the "major" awards because, well, it's a genre film. Science-fiction and fantasy films are always overlooked when it comes to winning a major award. The Golden Naked Baldheaded Man Award is no exception. While films like Star Wars: A New Hope, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Bladerunner, The Fifth Element, Princess Mononoke, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Toy Story 2, The Abyss, and 2001: A Space Odyssey were critical darlings and blockbuster successes, they have never won the big awards nor even considered for them. Roger Rabbit won a lot of Golden Naked Baldheaded Men, including a special award for innovation, but it wasn't even considered a nominee for Best Picture. It was certainly more rememberable than the film that ended up winning, um, what's that film, you know, the one with the man. If the category of Best Animated Film was around then, it would be a shoo-in, as would the first and only picture to be nominated for Best Picture, Beauty and the Beast. This is the first year that the category was in place, but I'll talk about that later. If Fellowship of the Ring wins, then a LOT of pressure will be given to the final two parts, The Two Towers and Return of the King in the next two years.

Most of the films that end up winning a Golden Naked Baldheaded Man Award are artsy, pretentious, overbearing bores. Sure, there have been rare exceptions, like The Silence of the Lambs and Gladiator, but the majority of the films are just plain dull, uninteresting, and not very popular with the viewing public (yeah, I know, Titanic was popular and earned a lot of money, but if the TRL-crowd wasn't drawn to that girly-man named Leonardo, the film wouldn't have done so well). You have films like Shakespeare in Love, Out of Africa, Dances With Wolves, and others that just don't click with the public, and when it comes to the Golden Naked Baldheaded Man Award, you're more often to hear "I haven't even heard of that film" than "Oooh! My favorite movie got nominated." Much like the Oldtimer Record Player Awards, many regular viewers would say that the Golden Naked Baldheaded Man Awards are out of touch with the average moviegoers.

Now, about that Best Animated Picture category. Ever since the category was announced in the fall of 2000, everybody in the animation community were wondering what kind of films would be included in the selection process. A whole lot of people prejudged Shrek before they have even seen it, claiming it was ugly character designs. A lot of animation critics feared that a hybrid live-action/animated film like Monkey Bone would be a legitimate contender (of course the film tanked immediately). There were a lot of films that came out having origins in television, including Pokemon, Recess, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. There were a lot of serious contenders that were considered, like Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, but most of the attention were given to computer-generated films like Shrek, Monsters, Inc., and the live-action/animation fusion that was Waking Life. Up to February 12, the latter three were the leading contenders to the first Best Animated Picture award. The nominations are:

Shrek
Monsters, Inc.
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

Now, the first two were expected, but the biggest surprise of the day was the inclusion of Nickelodeon's first computer-animated film. The film was essentially a pilot for a series that's premiering in the fall. Not to mention that the character was in a series of shorts throughout 2000 and 2001 prior to the movie's premiere. In short, Jimmy Neutron was part of Nickelodeon's bigtime advertising machine. However, does having a major advertising campaign behind a film make it a legitimate Golden Naked Baldheaded Man Award nominee? Not really, but it doesn't hurt. All three films were commercial successes, with Shrek being one of the highest grossing animated movies of all time. Jimmy Neutron's inclusion shouldn't have been an issue with the animation critics.

The exclusion of anything remotely looking like traditional cel animation should have sent shockwaves into the fanbase. Sure, the use of flesh and blood, I mean, ink and paint cels is on the decline, but traditional animation still has a place in the industry. More and more artists are learning how to create "real" animation on a daily basis. It's still big worldwide, and American animation institutions still rely on cel animation for entertainment value. However, studios like Pixar and PDI/Dreamworks are becoming as well-known as Disney and Warner Bros. (though Disney's name often obscures Pixar's in their co-productions). Computer-animated films are becoming the norm in Hollywood, and it's only obvious that the Golden Naked Baldheaded Man Awards are honoring those type of films instead of cel-animation. When a star has outlived their usefulness, they are often shunned by the Hollywood community, and unfortunately, that's how Hollywood sees traditional cel-animation. It's not dying by any means, mind you, it's just that a lot of the upper ecelon needs to respect it a little more.

Oh well. Awards are pointless, but I'm going to watch the Golden Naked Baldheaded Man Awards in March, just to root for Lord of the Rings. Sure, A Beautiful Mind will probably win it all, but you got to have a little hope, you know?