Oscars 2024: Spider-Verse Star Feels "Robbed" Over Loss to The Boy and the Heron

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse star Shameik Moore stated he felt "robbed" at the film's loss to The Boy and The Heron at the Oscars this year! The 96th Academy Awards has been stacked this year with a ton of monumental successes, and that was no different for animated features. The category was filled with a wide variety of nominees, and ultimately it was announced that The Boy and The Heron won out the award for Best Animated Feature. This was the second win for Studio Ghibli, and the first win for distributor GKIDS. But not everyone was excited about the win. 

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was one of the other major nominees in the category that loss to The Boy and The Heron, and the star behind Miles Morales, Shameik Moore, took to social media to reveal that he felt "robbed" at the film's loss before following it up with this statement hyping up Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse's release in the future, "Respect to the winners. It's true, I'm definitely a sore loser, but we didn't lose, Spiderverse has impacted ALOT of lives, we may not have been acknowledged tonight but life goes on, and BEYOND….. yea get ready"

The Boy and The Heron Wins Best Animated Feature

The Boy and The Heron has won for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards, and marks the second win for legendary creator Hayao Miyazaki following four nominations and a win for Spirited Away. This is also the first win for distributor GKIDS, who has finally won after 13 nominations for its films in the company's history. Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki had the following statement about the win: 

"As producer of The Boy and the Heron, I am extremely honored to receive the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Academy. I would also like to give my thanks to those who were involved in the production of this film, and to all those who worked to distribute the film worldwide. This film began with director Hayao Miyazaki retracting his retirement statement. Following that, we spent seven years in the production of this work. It has been ten years since Hayao Miyazaki's previous film, The Wind Rises, during which time there have been dramatic changes in the environment surrounding films. 

This film was truly difficult to bring to completion. I am very appreciative that the work that was created after overcoming these difficulties has been seen by so many people around the world, and that it has received this recognition. Both Hayao Miyazaki and I have aged a considerable amount. I am grateful to receive such an honor at my age, and taking this as a message to continue our work, I will devote myself to work harder in the future. Thank you very much."

How do you feel about The Boy and The Heron's win over Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on X (formerly known as Twitter)!