'The Boss Baby' Received An Oscar Nomination, & Twitter Is Perplexed

When people think of the Oscars, they generally envision dramatic storytelling, sweeping cinematography, and actors being rewarded for great renditions. But this year, one Oscar nomination has the entire internet scratching its head, and jokes about The Boss Baby's Oscar nomination are swiftly taking over Twitter.

In case you missed this Oscar nominee of an animated film, here's a rundown. The Boss Baby, a DreamWorks Animation film, came out in early 2017 and was based on a picture book of the same name. The movie was, according to DreamWorks, "a hilariously universal story about how a new baby's arrival impacts a family, told from the point of view of a delightfully unreliable narrator, a wildly imaginative 7-year-old named Tim." It scored a 53 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with some critics praising the movie's animation and charm while others wrote off its plot as senseless and pitiful.

Regardless of the public's — and critics' — mixed view of the film, it seems that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences thought that The Boss Baby would make a good contender for Best Animated Feature. According to Entertainment Weekly, the Academy tells voters to "follow their hearts" when it comes to nominations and to pick the most suitable movie despite its eccentricity — so maybe that's what happened here.

The Boss Baby was nominated alongside The Breadwinner, Coco, Ferdinand, and Loving Vincent — all films that received higher critic ratings than The Boss Baby. Meanwhile, The LEGO Batman Movie, a fan favorite that scored a high 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, was not even nominated, a fact that was not lost on fans of the animated film.

So far, the internet seems to mostly be in a state of shock. One VICE writer has stood up for the Academy's choice so far, arguing that the movie was able to hold her attention throughout its entire 97 minutes, and that — for a kids' movie — that has to count for something. It seems like the rest of the internet, however, is going to agree to disagree.

Some People Are Seeing The Nomination As Inspiration

It's a nice, healthy, positive spin. And a good way to not get too caught up in things you can't control, like, ahem, the Academy Award nominations.

Others Are In A State Of Disbelief

Forget what I said about not being rattled. The fact that The Boss Baby scored more nominations than The Big Lebowski is something I will never understand.

Some People Made Some "Unpresidented" Comparisons

In all fairness, this fits the mood on Twitter over the last year pretty well.

Quite A Few Responses Came From Angry Lego Batman Movie Fans

We are talking a lot of Batman fans here. Many of them also seemed to have some pretty deep thoughts on the Lego Batman Movie, so I guess that criticism is coming from a pretty passionate place.

And Hey, A Few People Were Into It

Hey, it can be hard to stand up for a film you believe in when the rest of the internet is mocking it mercilessly, so kudos to The Boss Baby fans out there for making their voice heard.

Like it or not, The Boss Baby and other Oscar nominees are coming to the Academy Awards. The awards show will take place in March at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, with comedian Jimmy Fallon hosting the show. As with every year before it, there's bound to be some victories and disappointments for viewers watching from around the world — but something tells me a good number of people are going to be watching extra carefully to see if The Boss Baby actually snags an Oscar this year.

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