The Oscars are a celebration of the year’s best movies and all the performances and craft work that power them, including original songs, as you well know after watching Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” pink extravaganza 30 (let’s be honest, 50) times since Sunday night. As with all things, however, there are limits on how many films, performances, and songs get the honor of being nominated. A number far short of how many works deserve said honor.
To Leo co-writer and co-director Robert Smigel, who also wrote the original songs featured on the soundtrack, including the absolute bop, “When It’s Us” (as sung by Tiffany Topol), an Oscar snub presented an opportunity.
It started with a few social posts – Conan O’Brien, Judd Apatow, and award-winning composer Marc Shaiman making a plea for “When It’s Us” to get the Oscar spotlight while potentially being blackmailed by Smigel’s longtime creation, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog. That the nomination window had concluded was merely a detail, easily shrugged off.
JUSTICE. Thanks to your signatures on our https://t.co/0XDmWLX6od petition & a promise to a security guard that Conan will stay at his house,“When It’s Us” made the Oscars last night. We will post the clip as soon as our lawyers leave the room. @marc_shaiman@juddapatow @teamcoco https://t.co/hJ52nyHbVV pic.twitter.com/7DDcN4g2aF
— Triumph® ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴsᴜʟᴛ ᴄᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴅᴏɢ
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(@TriumphICDHQ) March 11, 2024
As you can see above, those videos and Triumph’s MoveOnDotOrg petition worked… sorta. Topol does take to an Oscars stage (virtually), performing for a multi-generational blend of stars, some living, some dead, some with lizards tossed onto their heads. Also, Joey Fatone pops up in a lizard suit along with a couple of other lizard headed dancers.
The whole thing is funny and very on brand for Smigel (who, of course, is a legendary SNL writer who created Saturday TV Funhouse and wrote Hotel Transylvania), but it’s also a chance to honor the song. “While I couldn’t care less about awards, I thought this would be a funny way to draw attention to the song as well as the movie, which is one of the things I’m proudest of in my career,” Smigel told Uproxx before praising Topol’s voice and her own album, Sophomore Effort.
As for Smigel and Triumph, well they’ve got a comedy special coming to YouTube in the very near future. And Leo is, of course, available to stream on Netflix right now.