Alice in Wonderland for Best Picture?

Disney are gearing up to launch a full-scale Oscar campaign for Tim Burton’s billion dollar-grossing hit Alice in Wonderland. Not only will they implore the Academy to consider the film for technical Academy Awards, but also in the categories of Best Picture and Best Director.

Deadline debuted the exclusive first glimpse of the Alice in Wonderland For Your Consideration ad that will appear in L.A. newspapers this weekend, inviting Academy members to a screening of the film.

Ever since the Academy expanded its Best Picture category to feature 10 nominees, every film under the sun seems to consider itself a contender. This is good news for solid flicks that perhaps deserve a nomination, but would traditionally be left out of the BP conversation (consider last year’s sci-fi nominee District 9 and the animated Up). It also inspired some longer shots to release For Your Consideration ads for Best Picture, including the comedies Funny People and The Hangover.

The tepidly reviewed Alice in Wonderland is a longer shot than all of those, no matter how “overdue” director Tim Burton might be for an Oscar (by the way, he’s not). Even if Alice in Wonderland is the sixth highest grossing film of all time, that doesn’t mean it deserves the praise of the Academy. Frankly, I can’t fathom it scoring a nod over other blockbusters, such as Inception, How To Train Your Dragon (which has already entered the fray) and Disney’s own Toy Story 3.

This FYC ad hints at an interesting awards seasons campaign. I wonder which other average films will attempt to go for Oscar gold. Can we expect a Twilight Saga: Eclipse FYC ad soon?

Discuss: Is Alice in Wonderland really a Best Picture contender? Really?