We had one film release this past weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations.

Strange World

Disney Animation is cyclical in nature. They’ll go through a thriving period and then drift into a lackluster one. They appear to be in the midst of another downward trend in creative energy with their latest in a string of box office flops. Strange World had a lot of promise, giving the studio plenty of visual space to work with in creating new and unheard of worlds, yet when the reviews started coming in they weren’t spectacular even if largely popular. The film stumbled in its box office opening, taking in a paltry $12 million for the opening weekend when it used to quadruple or even quintuple that amount on the regular. With only a B rating at Cinemascore, it is clear the film did not resonate.

That doesn’t mean a lot when it comes to Oscar consideration. Several mediocre projects have earned nominations over the years, some of them being Disney offerings, some of them from rival studios who routinely do that kind of work. The only things that really seem to bother members of the Academy’s animated voters are sequels, TV (or video game)-to-screen adaptations, and rotoscopic animation. Strange World falls into none of these categories, which means it still has a strong chance at a nomination. Winning seems nigh impossible since Netflix has the one-two punch of Wendell & Wild and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, both of which have received widespread acclaim. Pinocchio is barreling towards the finish line and should likely become one of the few non-Disney/Pixar efforts to win the prize.