Fans of Uggie, the dog star of “The Artist,” are keeping their paws and fingers crossed that Uggie’s name will be read when nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards are revealed Tuesday.
Online fan pages have been touting Uggie’s acting skills for weeks, especially Movieline’s unofficial awards campaign on Facebook for the “brilliant canine co-star.” The Consider Uggie contingent was crushed when the four-legged co-star was passed over by Golden Globe judges, although when “The Artist” won for best comedy/musical motion picture, Uggie made an appearance onstage with the rest of the cast. And there is some consolation that Uggie, who also plays Queenie in “Water for Elephants,” won the 2011 Palm Dog award at Cannes Film Festival.
However, not everyone thinks Uggie deserves the extra praise or treats. Some detractors, including Slate’s Forrest Wickman, contend that Uggie is overacting, which is common among Jack Russell terriers, who tend to chew up the scenery and beg for attention.
All this tail chasing is good fun until someone winds up in the cone of shame.
To end the growling about whether Uggie is the best doggone actor of 2011, let’s call a truce among the back-biters and unleash Uggie on the Oscar stage as Billy Crystal’s co-host.
The academy has tried lots of combinations to enliven the awards ceremony, and Uggie seems like the best idea yet as a partner for Crystal, who is making his ninth appearance as host.
Let’s also hound the academy to add categories for animal actors and invite the critters to the ceremony.
Imagine Joey of “War Horse” sitting next to Meryl Streep. Or she could sit on the horse. Watch the cameras focus on Ryan Gosling trading gossip with his seat mate, Buster the bear from “We Bought a Zoo.” And who wouldn’t like to see if Crystal, the Capuchin monkey from “The Hangover Part II” and “We Bought a Zoo,” gets a bigger cheer on the red carpet than George Clooney?
While the academy chews over these humble suggestions, here are some new categories to consider. As a bonus, we’ve filled in the nominees.
Best performance by an animal
Joey the horse, “War Horse”
Uggie the Jack Russell terrier, “The Artist”
Cosmo the Jack Russell terrier, “Beginners”
Rosie the elephant, “Water for Elephants”
Animal (Eric Jacobson), “The Muppets”
Best supporting creature
Monkey, “The Hangover Part II”
Willie Nelson the Golden Retriever, “Our Idiot Brother”
Skeletor the Greyhound, “50/50”
Red Dog, “Red Dog”
Snowy, “The Adventures of Tintin”
Best cameo by a nonhuman
Parasaurolophus, “The Tree of Life”
Bat, “Contagion”
Leashed dog, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Duck, “War Horse”
Dolce the Pomeranian, “Young Adult”
Most sympathetic performance by a feline
Paw Paw, “The Future”
Tjorven, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Tigress (Angelina Jolie), “Kung Fu Panda 2”
Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), “Puss in Boots”
Tiger, “We Bought a Zoo”
Best performance by an English-speaking critter
Bernie the bear (Nick Nolte), “Zookeeper
Beaver (Mel Gibson), “The Beaver”
Caesar the chimpanzee (Andy Serkis), “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Blu the blue macaw (Jessie Eisenberg), “Rio”
Rango the chameleon (Johnny Depp), “Rango”
Not invited to this year’s Academy Awards ceremonies: any penguins, especially Bitey of “Mr. Popper’s Penguins;” the Easter Bunny’s son E.B. (Russell Brand) in “Hop,” and all Chipmunks and their buddy, Dave.
E-Mail
Print
Get The State newspaper delivered to your home. 
