Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Will Break An Animation Record
In Guillermo del Toro's acceptance speech for his adaptation of "Pinnochio" winning the Best Animated Film Award at the 2023 Oscars, he brought up a talking point that animation fans have been preaching for years: animation is a medium, not a genre. This is why there is such a rich, diverse landscape of entertainment provided by animation, and why it's wrong to simply write off the medium as "kid's stuff." Sure, animation has been the medium from which countless children's entertainment classics came to life, but it's also a place where complex, adult stories featuring characters that are seldom shown in live-action can be told. It's likewise a medium that thrives in varying lengths of time.
It's no surprise when a big-budget action blockbuster crosses the two-hour mark for its runtime, and it's almost expected if a film is coming from an "auteur" director. But considering the majority of Western audiences were likely introduced to animation through bite-sized cartoon shorts, the feature films we produce tend not to creep anywhere near the two-hour mark.
There are of course some exceptions, like Ralph Bakshi's "The Lord of the Rings" or Disney's "Fantasia," but all of that changed this year when "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" becomes the longest animated film in Hollywood history. This is a pretty big deal for Hollywood animation, which does have a tendency to overwhelmingly produce family-friendly films because if the film is successful, it's proof that audiences do have the willingness (and attention spans) to watch longer animated features.
That is, as long as the story is something that audiences are wanting to see.
Tune in for the toons
It's important to note that while some publications are citing "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" as the longest Western animated release, that isn't accurate. The 2019 French-Canadian film "Distracted Blueberry" holds that title at a whopping 273 minutes (or 4 hours and 33 minutes), but the 2-hour and 20-minute runtime of "Spider-Verse" is nothing to scoff at. Japanese anime films routinely clock in beyond the 2-hour mark, but U.S.-made animated features seldom do. Some notable exceptions include the 2012 independent feature "Consuming Spirits" at 136 minutes (2 hours and 16 minutes), Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings," at 132 minutes (2 hours and 12 minutes), and Disney's "Fantasia" at 126 minutes (2 hours and 6 minutes).
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is only the first of two planned films to complete the saga of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and his adventures in the Spider-Verse, so there's always the possibility that the final chapter could run even longer, thereby breaking its own record. And as rumors swirl of additional animated "Spider-Verse" spin-off films, perhaps by the end of it all, "Distracted Blueberry" will be overthrown. I'm joking, obviously, because Sony Animation would never let that happen ... but if any film series could get audiences to tune in for four hours of dazzling animation, it's the "Spider-Verse."
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" opens in theaters on June 2, 2023.