NEWS: 20 Films Chosen For Animated Film Oscar Consideration...

So, I was a little bit late on this one, but I'm still trying to wrap my skull around some of these nominations.

First, the news.

It appears as though the list of animated features that will be up for consideration at this years Academy Awards, for Best Animated Feature, has grown from the rumored 15, to a giant total of 20. Here's the list:

9
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Astro Boy
Battle for Terra
A Christmas Carol
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
The Dolphin -- Story of a Dreamer
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Mary and Max
The Missing Lynx
Monsters vs. Aliens
Planet 51
Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure
A Town Called Panic
Up

Just a few things, that are still bugging me, and some that make me happy.

First, what in the HELL is Alvin and The Chipmunks 2 doing in the animated film list? Sure, I get that some of the film, well, only the Chipmunks, are animated, but really now? A live action hybrid being nominated for best animated feature leaves a horrible taste in my mouth, and one that the Academy needs to explain away.

If Alvin and The Chipmunks can get nominated, why not Avatar? I haven't heard much about this amongst the websphere, so maybe I'm just dumb, but I think that this is an interesting statement by the studio, Fox.

Could this lack of a nomination be Fox's f*** you to the Academy, in that they think that if it comes up on an animated list, that it will have less of a chance to be nominated for Best Picture? This critic thinks yes. Not only is the film going to be vastly superior to AatC2, but I think it's far more animated. I mean, just look at the trailer!

That said, it IS something nice to see, as with their help, the list is now up to 20 films, and therefor leaves the list of nominees from the expected 3, to a full category, of 5. However, that's a gift and a curse, at least for us film journalist/bloggers, as it was tough to come up with three nominees, and now we need five.

Here are my expected nominees:

Coraline
Up
Ponyo
Princess and The Frog
Fantastic Mr. Fox

Now, the only real stretch that I think I am making here, and the only real spot where I think the Academy may go another way, is in the case of Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox. I haven't seen the film, but just the idea of a director who really isn't part of the animators club (as opposed to Miyazaki, Sellick, Disney and Pixar), and the massive rumor that Wes Anderson was directing the film from Paris, while it was being shot and animated in London. While I do think that this has been a stacked year (you could easily replace Fox with say, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs or any of the indies, like Mary and Max, a film I'm seeing this week), I do believe that this may be as close to "the five" as anyone will get.

What do YOU think?

Go see something good!