18 Films Submitted to Oscar's Best Animated Feature Race; What Can Win?

There's good news and... well, more good news about this year's race for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. First, the number of submissions -- 18 -- exceeds the minimum of 16 required for a year of five nominees. (Last year only netted 15 submissions, and thus three nominees, as if anybody was going to knock off Toy Story 3 anyway.) And with a soft year for the likes of both Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, that means the field is pretty wide open for the first time in a while. What can win?

Here are your options:

· The Adventures of Tintin

· Alois Nebel

· Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

· Arthur Christmas

· Cars 2

· A Cat in Paris

· Chico & Rita

· Gnomeo & Juliet

· Happy Feet Too

· Hoodwinked Two! Hood Vs. Evil

· Kung Fu Panda 2

· Mars Needs Moms

· Puss in Boots

· Rango

· Rio

· The Smurfs

· Winnie the Pooh

· Wrinkles

One word: Rango. It's the best-reviewed film on the list, it's an international hit (with less than half of Cars 2 or Kung Fu Panda 2's global gross, but exponentially more cultural goodwill), and it's a rare chance for George Lucas -- whose Industrial Light and Magic produced the revelatory animation -- to throw his weight around in the awards ring. Tintin's motion-capture stylings remain fraught with technical ambiguities about which the Academy is notoriously prickly, The Smurfs is half-live-action, and Disney's otherwise weak crop of competition includes a 63-minute bonbon and one of the biggest flops ever.

Rio, Puss in Boots and Happy Feet Too are probably locks for nominations as well. Chico and Rita has a solid shot to sneak in as well -- not as a huge influencer by any means, but rather as the token foreign-language offering with a '50s-era romance spanning Havana, New York, Las Vegas and beyond. Thoughts?

· 18 Animated Features Submitted for 2011 Oscar Race [AMPAS]

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Comments

  • troofire says:

    Now Spielberg can win two Best Picture Oscars for Best Film and Best Animated Film on the same night.

  • Could you imagine?
    I cannot imagine.

  • SD says:

    Rango was such a pleasant surprise I really hope it wins.
    I can see Chico & Rita getting a nomination and that will be its prize.
    Have you seen Tintin yet S.T.? I have only heard very dismissive reviews which seem at odds with its current rottentomatoes score.

  • I haven't seen _Tintin_ and have only heard the overall positive stuff.... very interested to see how this unfolds in the weeks ahead, especially in the critics awards.

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  • Anonymous says:

    So...does that mean you want Rio to win?

  • orlando says:

    Winnie the Pooh should at least be nominated, that was delightful.

  • Noah says:

    I'm not seeing a lot of love for Winnie the Pooh lately. It is best reviewed animated movie for this year on Rotten Tomatoes (yes, even higher than Rango!) Honestly, who among doesn't enjoy traditional animation? Beside, the Best Animated Oscar didn't exist when Disney was making their string of hits back in the 1990s. This would be a perfect way to correct history.