21 animated features for an Oscar
21 feature films were submitted in total. These include the usual suspects, such as Pixar's Brave, Dreamworks' Madagascar 3 and Rise of the Guardians, Disney's Wreck-It Ralph.
There are four US stop-motion films: ParaNorman (Laika Studios), Hotel Transylvania (Sony Pictures Animation), Frankenweenie (Tim Burton), and Pirates! Band of Misfits (Sony/Aardman).
Ice Age 4 (Blue Sky Studios) also competes, but there is a host of more adult-themed animated features. These include the animated version of Graham Chapman fake autobiography, A Liar's Autobiography [trailer] who opened at Toronto Festival.
GKIDS distributor has submitted 3 French feature films: The Painting (Jean-François Laguionie), Zarafa (Rémi Bezançon and Jean-Christophe Lie) and the Rabbi's Cat (Joann Sfar-A. Delesvaux). Note that 2 GKids-distributed films, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita were nominated last year.
The anime From Up on Poppy Hill [review] is also on the list, and a South African film Adventures in Zambezia.
The rules for animated feature films require that at least 75 percent of the film should be frame-by-frame animated (that's why The Smurfs movie was excluded from consideration). They also explicitly rule out mo-cap: "Motion capture by itself is not an animation technique" (the main reason why Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn was not even nominated in 2012).
The number of nominees varies according to the number of features released in Los Angeles County. For 8-12 animated features, 2-3 feature films might be nominated. A number of 13-15 leads to a maximum of 4 nominated films.
16 or more feature films released in L.A. could lead to a full, five-nominee slot. 5 feature films were nominated last year, in the 84th Academy Award nominations.
Several of the films listed have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying runs. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category's other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process.
The full list:
- Adventures in Zambezia (Triggerfish Animation Studios; South Africa)
- Brave (Disney-Pixar)
- Delhi Safari (Krayon Pictures; India)
- Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (Universal/Illumination)
- Frankenweenie (Disney)
- From Up on Poppy Hill (GKIDS/Studio Ghibli; Japan)
- Hey Krishna (Reliance; India)
- Hotel Transylvania (Sony)
- Ice Age: Continental Drift (Fox/Blue Sky)
- A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman(Bill & Ben Prod.)
- Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (DreamWorks)
- The Mystical Laws (IRH Press Co.; Japan)
- The Painting (GKIDS/Blue Spirit/Be-Films; France/Belgium)
- ParaNorman (LAIKA)
- The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Aardman/Sony)
- The Rabbi's Cat (GKIDS/Autochenille; France)
- Rise of the Guardians (DreamWorks)
- Secret of the Wings (DisneyToon)
- Walter & Tandoori's Christmas (Corporation Image Entertainment; Canada)
- Wreck-It Ralph (Disney)
- Zarafa (GKIDS/Prima Linea; France)
The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®.