Pixar films are emotional gut punches! Inside Out took me out, and I guess I’m a masochist cause I saw it in the theater — twice! I similarly remember sobbing in a theater seeing Toy Story 3 in 2010. Honestly, I didn’t think I could handle the fourth film when it came out in 2019, but I’m sturdier now and I guess it’s time to give the whole series a rewatch in preparation for Toy Story 5 before its release on [looks down at my watch] EEKS, this Friday! I don’t how this one snuck up on me, what with the premieres and one very loud Oscar campaign already underfoot. And speaking of Oscars, Woody himself, two time Academy Award winner for best actor Tom Hanks just told Gold Derby that voice actors are eligible and should be considered in the regular Oscar acting categories:

Tom Hanks recently told Gold Derby while promoting “Toy Story 5” that he is not interested in seeing a new Oscar category created for voice actors. Instead, voice actors should be strongly considered for the main acting categories.

“I think they have enough categories,” Hanks said about the Oscars. “The truth is, truly, a voice actor can win Best Actor. The judgment is ‘any performance that moved you.’ We’ve talked about, for example, Andy Serkis. Even though he does not appear as Andy Serkis, he gives all the raw material to it. There’s been people who have been close to being nominated that do not appear on camera. That could happen to a pure-vocal actor.”

“If they are moved, that means they are moved by a human being’s performance. That’s all the requirement,” Hanks added.

Hanks has won the Oscar for best actor twice: 1993’s “Philadelphia” and 1994’s “Forrest Gump.” He was nominated for an Annie Award in 1995 for voicing Woody in “Toy Story.” So far, the Oscars have never nominated a voice-only performance in one of the four acting categories. The biggest contender in recent years was probably Scarlett Johansson, who earned Oscar buzz for her voice role in Spike Jonze’s “Her.” The move won the Oscar for best original screenplay.

The Oscars have also not yet recognized a motion capture performance in the acting categories, much to the frustration of top talents such as James Cameron and Andy Serkis. Zoe Saldaña, who uses motion capture to star in the “Avatar” movies, spoke to The Independent in 2024 and called out the Oscars for continuing to snub these performances.

“Old habits die hard, and when you have old establishments, it’s really hard to bring forward change,” Saldaña said on the topic. “And I understand that, so I’m not bitter about it, but it is quite deflating when you give 120% of yourself into something. I mean, not winning is ok, not being nominated is ok, but when you’re overlooked and then minimized and completely disregarded…”

[From Variety]

So technically, Hanks isn’t saying voice actors should be eligible, but rather they already are (by his estimation/interpretation of the rules) and that voters should remember that during nominating periods. Here’s the thing, while I agree with Hanks in theory that a voice performance can move you, realistically speaking, would a voice performance ever actually win up against a live one? Looking to animated movies for comparison, only three have ever been nominated for best picture (Beauty and the Beast, Up, and Toy Story 3). None of those won best picture, and two of them (the Pixar films) came after the creation of the best animated feature category in 2002. I fear voice performances would face the same low odds. Not that I’m outright advocating for dedicated voice actor categories, either. I’m just relaying data! But the Academy is always tweaking their rules, so we’ll see where this conversation goes.

Also, when Hanks says the Oscars “have enough categories,” I think his subtext is that the show runs too long. Agreed, but I know the way to fix that: instead of tampering with categories, how bout saying goodbye to Cirque du Soleil performances, extended musical numbers by the host, cast reunions, and, my biggest peeve, James Bond tributes! That would shave off an hour, easily.

photos credit: James Warren/Bang Showbiz/Avalon, Lounis Tiar/Avalon