WILL OSCARS GET ANIMATED? FORAY LOBBIES FOR IT.

Byline: - Rodney Richey

While she still loves doing voices for animation, one of June Foray's most passionate drives these days is regarding animation.

As a longtime member of the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, she is advocating a new category for the Academy Awards: Best Animated Motion Picture.

``Although animated films do qualify for the Best Picture category, it is very unlikely that one could win against, say, 'American Beauty,' '' she says.

Foray adds that such a category, if approved, would be an occasional one, brought out only when a sufficient number of strong animated features had been released.

That is a sticking point with the board, says John Pavlik, director of communications for the academy.

``If you have 10 animated feature films in a year, but none of them is any good, and yet the number 10 triggers an automatic nomination for two or three of them, that doesn't seem quite fair,'' Pavlik says.

``On the other hand, if you go much beyond that, you're sort of making a nomination impossible (given the number of animated films released).''

That the academy would be recognizing feature animation, however, might spur increased production, Pavlik adds.

``That was one of the goals in coming up with the Academy Awards in the first place: trying to get producers to really think about coming up with a quality product.''

Another sticking point is a complex one: What constitutes an ``animated'' feature? Foray's ``The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle'' contains both animation and live action.

``This is a question that the board will have to address,'' Pavlik says. ``How much (animation) has to be in a film before we call it an 'animated' film?''

The absolute earliest such an award could be instituted would be for the awards given out in 2002. The last new category added was Best Makeup in 1964 (as an occasional award). The periodic award for Best Visual Effects, established in 1936, was made an annual award in 1996.

And the academy, Pavlik says, does not like to add categories and dilute the value of the Oscar.

``Personally, I think it would be a popular award,'' Pavlik says of the proposal. ``The audience would enjoy it, and I think the industry would enjoy it.''

As a revered veteran of animation, from its Golden Age to the present, Foray feels a sense of duty in pushing this cause.

``They are an art form,'' she says. ``It used to be that Disney was the only one making these, because ... Disney was the only one with the wherewithal and the money. But there's been such an explosion of interest in animation from DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and even foreign films,'' Foray says, citing Japan's recent ``Princess Mononoke.''

``People love animated films, and they do make money. At least there would be a category for them, and they would have the opportunity of winning.''