The Academy Awards nominations were announced this morning. While many of the nominations were expected and there were only a few surprises (Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel share the lead with nine), the shock of one surprise omission has left the Internet mourning. The LEGO Movie was not nominated for Best Animated Feature, and there was an outcry on social media almost immediately, and much analysis of the significance of the snub. “There is speculation that the film’s relatively distant release date (it came out on February 7 2014 in the US and February 14 2014 in the UK) may have been a factor in its absence from the list of nominees,” writes the Telegraph, “with ageing Oscars voters – whose median age is 62 – unable to recall the merits of a film that came out at the beginning of last year.”
The director of the film, Phil Lord, had his own response. He made an Oscar statue out of LEGO and posted a photo to Twitter. “It’s okay. Made my own!” he tweeted.
It’s okay. Made my own! pic.twitter.com/kgyu1GRHGR
— philip lord (@philiplord) January 15, 2015
