Will 'Yogi Bear' Be Justin Timberlake's 'Norbit'?

By Jett Wells Posted Oct 4th 2010 01:00PM

Pop-Ed: Justin Timberlake is quickly finding out that the Academy Awards is much more than a game of talent, but also about branding.

With the much-hyped 'The Social Network' topping the box-office on its opening weekend with $23 million, it seems anything touching David Fincher's movie is Oscar gold in almost every category, but now its breakout star is already taking heat. Although many swooned for Timberlake's performance, some observers like Vulture think he sealed his fate by signing onto the 'Yogi Bear' movie. It's a tough hit to his chances, but the pop star has one thing going for him that no other candidate can touch: ratings.

Back when Eddie Murphy starred in 'Dreamgirls' in 2006, everyone thought he had a legitimate shot to nab an Oscar for his performance of James 'Thunder' Early. But alas, his campaign derailed because his other offering that year, 'Norbit,' was so wretched it put a bad taste in the mouths of Academy voters. Now with Timberlake getting early Oscar buzz, critics are quickly pointing out the similarity between Eddie Murphy's 'Norbit' no-no to JT's animated turn as Yogi's pal, Boo-Boo. JT's competition will ruthlessly paint him as a fuzzy cute-voiced bear instead of the suave and rich Sean Parker, but the battle is far from over if he chooses to make a fight out of it.

Although JT's performance in 'SN' is attractive to the Academy, his brand should be what's having them drool. For the past five or so years, the Academy has been desperate to fight back the bad press that the show has become a pompous, old-person event that lost touch with the bulk of moviegoers. By trying to change the tune, the show hired hipper hosts that garnered a younger audiences like Jon Stewart in '06 and '08, and also last year expanded the Best Picture nominee quota from five to 10, leaving more room for Joe-Popcorn movies to get some recognition. Now the Academy has a chance to include arguably one of the biggest pop stars of the last 10 years into the show, and open it up to a much larger demographic.

However, Timberlake's biggest challenge is himself right now. He needs to realize his Oscar chances are a lot better than he thinks, and he needs to start taking his acting career more seriously when talking about it to the media. He reacted modestly to PopEater's nomination campaign for him, which was the right move, but his attitude needs to be tweaked like he wants the honor and that he deserves it. It's a new environment for JT, but he's got to get used to the cutthroat Oscar campaign season quickly before voters forget about him. Monique got hit left and right for her apathy at the Academy Awards, but she still won -- JT won't be this lucky with 'Yogi Bear' sitting on his shoulder. He can either just be happy he was a part of the 2010 Best Picture and wait three to five years for his next critic-pleaser, or he can seize the moment and go for the jugular. He told Entertainment Weekly he's ready to take acting seriously, but now he's got to prove it.

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Tags: Academy Awards, Justin Timberlake, the social network, yogi bear

Comments

(14)

Monday 04 October

By karm

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lol JT will not be nominated for an Oscar.

Golden Globes are his best bet. They love Celebrities.

By themeeker

Will 'Yogi Bear' Be Justin Timberlake's 'Norbit'?

Yup.

By tpgbart

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I guess what i dont understand is how peoples other carreer choices have to do with the single event that they are nominated for...I thought it was "so and so are nominated for best actor performance in this specific movie" not "So and so are nominated for best actor performance in this specific movie AND other stupid carreer choices AND their personal lives and how much we decide we like them at this current time" apparantly its a popularity and favoritism contest not a true judgement of an indiduals work in a singular piece..

By RJ

I totally agree. It also works the other way too sometimes, when someone wins. They say, we'll so and so deserves it because of their long career, or they were so good in that other film, but was robbed of an award. There are a lot of politics as well as somewhat of a popularity contest that goes with these awards half the time. No one will always agree with the winners 100% of the time, but the right person doesn't always win, for the right reason.

RJ, you can't be implying that Justin deserved an oscar for Alpha Dog can you? That movie suuu-uucked and he was awful in it.

By Marcus

First off, Andrew Garfield has a bigger shot getting nominated than Justin. Although it could happen, I think he's going to get edged out.
Secondly, Yogi Bear won't be offensive like Norbit was and his involvement won't be as clearly linked to it since it is a voice performance.
Even then, don't think just because he doesn't win you've figured out why. Eddie Murphy went in with a clear advantage. Justin is an outsider to begin with.

By Nico Toscani

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When will PopEater STOP pimping this JT for an Oscar garbage? He has ZERO chance and quite frankly doesn't deserve it for The Social Network. It is an average performance in an average film. Don't they have some breaking Glee story they can shove down our throats instead?

Or maybe Linzey dyed her hair in rehab. Now THAT'S news.

By Harry T Reynolds

That first pic with Justin is with Boo Boo, Yogi's sidekick. I am old enough to remember.

By Abby55

I think this is a different situation because the Yogi Bear movie is obviously for children and I don't think the academy looks down upon an actor who does a kid friendly movie no matter how terrible adults think the movie is (kids have very different tastes). I do not however think Justin will be nominated. For a Golden Globe maybe but not Oscar.

By george

Garfield is the new Shia, and Justin is the new Yogi Bear.

By mick

I don't think Timberlake really cares if he gets an Oscar nod at this point. If him voicing an animated character derails his chances that actually says more about the Oscar voters then him. If they're not actually voting on his performance for the Social Network, which was terrific, then it just says the Oscars are another award show with little meaning. I saw the movie this past weekend and will go see it again, it was that good. All the actors deserve nods along with the movie, director, screenwriter, and music score.

By gobluespartyon

I think Oscars shouldn't think of Yogi Bear with JT in the movie shouldn't matter it should be social network for his acting not his other roles in 2010 just my opinion.

Tuesday 05 October

By Jim

It might not be not bad for Timberlake. His voice of Boo Boo sounds second iconic to the late Don Messick's version.

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