Jerzy Kucia, Emma De Swaef, Steven Woloshen, Andreas Hykade in the Academy Members' List 2019

108 animation professionals were invited to join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and vote for the upcoming Academy Awards. Diversity here meant mostly promoting a 50% representation of female members in the Academy 2019 new members' list, while 59 countries are here represented.

In animation, the pertinent question actually transforms into an additional issue: how many members originate from the independent animation sector? The answer is  a) many but not an overwhelming majority. Now, the second question becomes b) will it matter in the upcoming Academy Awards? Our wishes (but not informed opinion) is that the issue will hopefully not be settled against independent animation already at the level of Academy Award nominations.

Without further ado, veterans Jerzy Kucia, Igor Kovalyov should have been Academy members many years ago.  Emma De Swaef finally found a place to somehow get a US acknowledgement for the magnificent Cake! (ineligible to compete in the feature animation category).

Let's hope that producers Ron Dyens and Manuel Cristobal will bring their respective films (My Sunny Maad / Marona, Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles) more to the fore and Oscar buzz in the upcoming award editions. Andreas Hykade and Steven Woloshen deserve all the awards they get -let alone an Academy membership.

Damien Nenow, David OReilly are iconoclasts of their own, and we're really happy that a space and an invitation was found for Diane Obomsawin (I Like Girls). Joanna Lurie is a sensitive voice and a strong visual storyteller here. The Portuguese master Abi Feijó enters the coveted list, while another Polish animation master, Piotr Dumala gets his own place in the Academy as well.

Read Also: Regina Pessoa, Joanna Quinn, Špela Čadež, Michaela Pavlátová Become Academy Members

The fact that William Kentridge gets an Academy membership only tells us that short films and feature animation branch are in a very good company indeed.

The Full List

Short Films and Feature Animation

Mikhail Aldashin (Gora Samotsvetov, Bukashki)
Gil Alkabetz (Morir de Amor,Rubicon)
María del Puy Alvarado (Mother, Pulse) Oscar Nomine
Julius Amedume (Mr. Graham, Mary & John)
Cyril Aris (The President's Visit, Siham)
Louise Bagnall (Late Afternoon, Donkey) Oscar Nominee
Josh Beveridge (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Storks)
Rodrigo Blaas (La Luna, Alma)
Steve Bloom (Coco, One Man Band)
Neil Boyle (Sherlock Gnomes, The Last Belle)
Suzanne Buirgy (Home, Kung Fu Panda 2) Oscar Nominee
Jim Capobianco (Mary Poppins Returns, Ratatouille) Oscar Nominee
Andrew Carlberg (Skin, The Blazing World)
Andrew Chesworth (One Small Step, Juiced and Jazzed) Oscar Nominee
Jeremy Comte (Fauve, What Remains) Oscar Nominee
Manuel Cristóbal (Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, Arrugas (Wrinkles)
Erika Dean Dapkewicz (Puss in Boots, Monsters vs Aliens)
Patrick Delage (The Secret Life of Pets 2, Sing)
Jonathan Del Val (Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, The Secret Life of Pets)
Jean de Meuron (Blood Brothers, La Femme et le TGV)
Celine Desrumaux (Age of Sail, The Little Prince)
Emma De Swaef (This Magnificent Cake!, Oh Willy…)
Danny Dimian (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Angry Birds Movie)
Piotr Dumala (Forest, Crime and Punishment)
Nash Dunnigan (The Peanuts Movie, Ice Age Continental Drift)
Ron Dyens (Tram, Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage)
Jérémie Fajner (White Fang, Song of the Sea) Oscar Nominee
Marianne Farle (Marguerite, Saccage (Ransack)
Abi Feijó (Uncle Thomas, Accounting for the Days, Kali the Little Vampire)
Jeff Gabor (Ice Age: Collision Course, Epic)
Sari Gennis (James and the Giant Peach,Ferngully: The Last Rainforest)
Nuria González Blanco (Late Afternoon, Violet) Oscar Nominee
Maria Gracia Turgeon (Fauve, What Remains) Oscar Nominee
Trisha Gum (The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, The Lego Batman Movie)
Jennifer Hager (Zootopia, Moana)
Karl Edward Herbst (Smallfoot, Hotel Transylvania 2)
Jeffrey Hermann (Bilby, Bird Karma)
Julian Higgins (Winter Light, Here and Now)
Andreas Hykade (Love & Theft, Ring of Fire)
Trevor Jimenez (Weekends, Key Lime Pie) Oscar Nominee
Kevin J. Johnson (Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Astro Boy)
Joung Yumi (Love Games, Dust Kid)
Sandy Yun-Shan Kao (Trolls, Shrek Forever After)
Anurag Kashyap (Madly, Bombay Talkies)
Mara Kassin (Ladies Lounge, Curfew)
William Kentridge (The Refusal of Time, Felix in Exile)
Aleksandra Korejwo (The Swan, Carmen Torero)
Igor Kovalyov (Milch (Milk), Flying Nansen)
Raimund Krumme (Passage, Crossroads)
Jerzy Kucia (Fugue for Cello, Trumpet and Landscape, Reflections)
Antoneta Kusijanovic (Into the Blue, Eye for an Eye)
Vincent Lambe (Detainment, Broken Things)
Brian Larsen (Piper, Brave) Oscar Nominee
Brian Leach (Ralph Breaks the Internet, Zootopia)
Matthias Lechner (Zootopia, Escape from Planet Earth)
Kira Lehtomaki (Ralph Breaks the Internet, Zootopia)
Patrick Lin (Toy Story 4, Inside Out)
Julie Lockhart (Shaun the Sheep Movie, The Pirates! Band of Misfits)
Rocio Lopez Ortiz (Dear Chickens, Fingerplay)
Phil Lord * (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, 21 Jump Street) Oscar Winner
Joanna Lurie (Flowing through Wonder, The Silence beneath the Bark)
Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, 21 Jump Street) Oscar Winner
Nijla Mu'min (Dream, Two Bodies)
Rani Naamani (How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, The Boss Baby)
Takashi Nakamura (Harmony, A Tree of Palme)
Terence Nance (Univitellin, Swimming in Your Skin Again)
Guy Nattiv (Skin, Dear God) Oscar Winner
Victor Navon (Inside Out, Cars 2)
Damian Nenow (Another Day of Life, Paths of Hate)
Diane Obomsawin (I Like Girls, Kaspar)
David O'Reilly (The External World, Please Say Something)
Mamoru Oshii (The Sky Crawlers, Ghost in the Shell)
Katsuhiro Otomo (Steamboy, Akira)
Marie-Hélène Panisset (Marguerite, The Last Round) Oscar Nominee
Bob Persichetti (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Little Prince) Oscar Winner
Malcon Pierce (Moana, Frozen)
Bobby Pontillas (One Small Step, Moana) Oscar Nominee
Qiu Yang (A Gentle Night Under the Sun)
Bonne Radford (Smallfoot, The Road to El Dorado)
Andrew Rosen (The Breadwinner, Todd & the Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End)
Rodney Rothman * (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) Oscar Winner
Rick Rothschild (Flyover America, Captain Eo)
James Ryan (The Boss Baby, Turbo)
Yuichiro Saito (Mirai, The Boy and the Beast) Oscar Nominee
Jason Schleifer (The Boss Baby, Megamind)
Alex Schwartz (Mr. Peabody & Sherman, How to Train Your Dragon)
Chad Sellers (Olaf's Frozen Adventure, Zootopia)
Domee Shi (Bao, Inside Out), Oscar Winner
Gerry Shirren (Song of the Sea, Carnivale)
Lynn Smith (Soup of the Day, Pearl's Diner)
Marc Smith (Big Hero 6, Treasure Planet)
Erik Smitt (Incredibles 2, Piper)
Julien Soret (Despicable Me 3, The Secret Life of Pets)
Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Mother, El Iluso) Oscar Nominee
Olivier Staphylas (Penguins of Madagascar, Puss in Boots)
Christina Steinberg (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Rise of the Guardians)
Jackie J. Stone (Burning Angel Dust, If I Leap)
Bin-Han To (Revolting Rhymes, The Princess, the Prince and the Green-Eyed Dragon)
David Torres (How to Train Your Dragon 2, Megamind)
Josie Trinidad (Ralph Breaks the Internet, Zootopia)
Jeffrey Turley (Mary Poppins Returns, Feast)
Dominique Welinski (See Factory, Tunisia Factory)
Dean Wellins (Tick Tock Tale, The Iron Giant)
Kevin H. Wilson, Jr. My Nephew Emmett, Crimson on the Tobacco Road) Oscar Nominee
Catherine Winder (The Angry Birds Movie, Escape from Planet Earth)
Lauren Wolkstein (The Strange Ones, Cigarette Candy)
Steven Woloshen (Casino, Snip)
Shaofu Zhang (One Small Step, Dragonboy)

Check the whole Academy 2019 members' list

New members will be welcomed into the Academy at invitation-only receptions in the fall. The 92nd Academy Awards take place 9 February 2020.