An animated feature film is defined as a motion picture with a running time of more than 40 minutes, in which movement and characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique. Motion capture by itself is not an animation technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture’s running time.
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Eligibility:
Except as indicated above, motion pictures in this category must meet all the requirements in Academy Awards Rules Two, Three, and Four.
At least eight eligible animated features must have been theatrically released in Los Angeles County within the calendar year for this category to be activated.
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Voting Procedures:
A Chairperson, appointed by the Academy President, shall head one or more Animated Feature Film Award Screening Committee(s). An invitational letter will be sent from the Chairperson to a list of active and life Academy members requesting their participation. Those serving on the committee(s) will be required to see 80 percent of the submitted eligible films at meetings of the committee(s) or in a theatrical setting. Viewing Animated Feature Film entries on videocassette or DVD will NOT qualify a member for voting purposes in this category.
All submissions sent to the Academy will be screened by the Animated Feature Film Award Screening Committee(s). After the screenings, the committee(s) will vote by secret ballot to nominate from 2 to 5 motion pictures for this award. In any year in which 8 to 12 animated features are released in Los Angeles County, either 2 or 3 motion pictures may be nominated. In any year in which 13 to 15 films are released, a maximum of 4 motion pictures may be nominated. In any year in which 16 or more animated features are released, a maximum of 5 motion pictures may be nominated.
The committee(s) will view all motion pictures entered and mark all entries 10, 9, 8, 7 or 6 with the guidelines of 10 (excellent), 8 (good), 7 (fair) or 6 (poor). Those productions receiving an average score of 7.5 or more shall be eligible for nomination.
If only one production receives an average score of 7.5 or more, the Executive Committee may recommend to the Board of Governors that a Special Achievement Award for Animated Feature Film be made to that production.
If no production receives an average score of 7.5 or more, the Executive Committee shall recommend to the Board of Governors that no award be made for Animated Feature Film for the current Awards year.
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Nominations:
A Cat in Paris – Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
- 1st nomination for both Alain and Jean-Loup.
- Nominated for the Annie Award, Cesar Award, and European Film Award.
Okay, I got my hands on a copy of this film and watched it with my two boys (ages 6 and 2). It turned out to be in French, which none of us speaks. A few minutes in I asked my boys, “Do you want to watch something else?” And my eldest, Grayson, responded, “No dad, I like it! It’s not like all of the other animated movies I normally watch, I can tell it’s drawn by hand. It looks different.” So, I left it on and they were riveted from beginning to end. About halfway through Grayson even stopped asking me what was going on… and he started filling me in on the plot.
Listen… the fact that a French speaking hand drawn animated movie held the attention of two young English speaking boys defies logic… and for that alone, I would give it an Oscar.
Chico and Rita – Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
- 2nd nomination for Fernando. In 1994 he won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film with the live action Belle Époque.
- Won the European Film Award, the Goya Award, and Sant Jori awards.
- Nominated for the Annie Award, five Gaudi Awards, and nominated for Best Feature at the Oslo Films from the South Festival.
Don’t be confused. Animated feature doesn’t me children’s movie. There is a bit of naughty-naughty in this picture. Then again, it’s about 1940’s jazz era Havana, Las Vegas and Paris. This is a fun and romantic movie and it is the first full length Spanish language animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award!
Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jennifer Yuh Nelson
- 1st nomination for Jennifer, she previously directed the Spawn television series for MTV.
- 8th nomination for DreamWorks Animation, they have won Shrek and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
- Nominated for twelve Annie Awards, won for Best Directing and Production Design.
- Nominated for nine other major awards.
I’m confused with this nomination. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the movie… but I didn’t really feel like it added much to the overall story of Kung Fu Panda. If a sequel is going to be nominated for the Academy Award it better be GREAT and further the drama and mythology of the story. Francis Ford Copula achieved this with The Godfather series… Peter Jackson achieved this with The Lord of the Rings Series… and Pixar proved that even an animated children’s series could achieve this as they evolved the complex emotions driving the Toy Story series. What did Kung Fu Panda 2 really offer the audience… besides a second movie?
Puss in Boots – Chris Miller
- 1st nomination for Chris, who also directed Shrek the Third.
- 9th nomination for DreamWorks Animation.
- Nominated for nine Annie Awards.
- Nominated for nine other major awards.
Again, I don’t get it. To me, this movie was nothing more than the fifth installment of the Shrek series. It added nothing spectacular to the mythology of the world DreamWorks created… and honestly, it seemed a bit forced. It wasn’t a bad movie, but I wouldn’t say it was more than just okay. In addition, DreamWorks obviously feels the same as I do, because they farmed it out to their B-Team. A good portion of this project was given to their India Division whose major focus is television specials and direct to DVD production. So, if you’re going to make the argument that innovative techniques were used in this film… save it. You don’t call in the B-Team when you want innovation… you call them in when you wants something done quickly.
And listen, I’m not picking on DreamWorks just for the sake of picking on DreamWorks. They do great work.
Rango – Gore Verbinski
- 1st nomination. This is Gore’s first animated film. He previously directed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films.
- 2nd nomination for Nickelodeon, who was previously nominated for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius in 2001.
- Nominated for nine Annie Awards, won Best Animated Feature, Best Character Design, Editing, and Writing.
- Won 21 major awards, including the BAFTA for Best Animated Feature.
- Nominated for 8 other major awards.
Rang is hands down the favorite going into Oscar night. If it doesn’t win, I will be shocked… however, if it loses, it will probably be to one of the two foreign films: Chico and Rita or A Cat in Paris.
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Snubs:
I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the omission of The Adventures of Tintin. I loved the story, I loved the innovation and technology used to bring it to life, I just loved everything about it. I thought it was way better than War Horse and I think it is one of Spielberg’s finest films… totally making up for the crap-fest that was the fourth installment of Indiana Jones.
I also found it very strange that the Animation Branch decided to honor Puss n Boots and Kung Fu Panda 2 over films like Rio and Arthur Christmas.
Arthur Christmas was my third favorite animated movie of the year, just behind Tintin and Rango.
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Oscar Trends:
The Annie Award, given out by the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, is one of the best indicator for this award. In the, previous, 10 years that the Academy has given this award the winner of the Annie Award gone on to win the Oscar seven times. And since all five Oscar nominated Animated films were also nominated for the Annie Award… and since Rango won… Rango has a real advantage.
Also, for the five years the BAFTA has given out an award specifically for feature length Animated Film, all five BAFTA winner has gone on to win the Oscar. Rango won this as well.
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Prediction:
- Winner: Rango – Gore Verbinski
- Runner-Up: Chico and Rita – Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
- Wild Card: A Cat in Paris – Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
- Unlikely: Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jennifer Yuh Nelson
- No Chance in Hell: Puss in Boots – Chris Miller
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