The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that twelve features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 80th Academy Awards. Since the number of qualified films will be below 16, only three movies can be nominated this year. The submitted features are:
Alvin and the Chipmunks (20th Century Fox)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (First Look/Cartoon Network}
Bee Movie (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount)
Beowulf (Paramount)
Meet the Robinsons (Disney)
Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ratatouille (Disney/Pixar)
Shrek the Third (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount)
The Simpsons Movie (20th Century Fox)
Surf’s Up (Sony Animation)
Tekkonkinkreet (Destination Films/Sony)
TMNT (Warner Bros./Imagi)
The submitted features must fulfill the general release requirements and meet all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process. Since Luc Besson’s Arthur and the Invisibles was disqualified last year for containing too much live-action, then so may Chipmunks, which combines animated characters and live actors a la Stuart Little. Beowulf may be passed over as well if the Academy rules that motion-capture is not technically animation, though everything that appears on screen is computer-generated.
Alvin and the Chipmunks, Beowulf and Persepolis have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run. Beowulf opens in theaters nationwide on Nov. 16, Alvin and the Chipmunks bows on Dec. 14, and Persepolis rolls out in limited relsease on Christmas Day.
Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories. Nominations will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 5:30 a.m. (PT) in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Awards will then be presented on Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. (PT).
