Oscars 2012: 18 Movies to Vie for Animated Feature Film Award

There could be as many as five nominees for best animated feature film at the 84th Academy Awards, since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reported Friday that 18 features have been submitted.

If all 18 ultimately qualify for consideration, that would mean that under current rules as many as five could be nominated for Oscar consideration.

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The titles range from movies that have already played theaters like Paramount’s Rango, DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots, Fox’s Rio, Pixar’s Cars 2, the Weinstein Co’s Hoodwinked Two! Hood Vs. Evil and Disney releases Gnomeo & Juliet, Mars Needs Moms and Winnie the Pooh. It also includes such upcoming features as Paramount’s The Adventures of Tintin, Sony’s Arthur Christmas and Warners’ Happy Feet Too as well as live action/animated hybrids like Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and Sony’s The Smurfs.”

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Less well known titles that hope to make a play for the brass ring include the Czech film Alois Nebel, the French film A Cat in Paris, the Spanish and English film Chico & Rita and the Spanish film Wrinkles.

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The films still must be reviewed by members of the Academy’s short films and feature animation branch to make sure they fulfill various criteria: For example, animation must figure in 75 percent of a film’s running time, and the animation must employ a frame-by-frame technique, since the rules specify that “motion capture by itself is not an animation techinqiue.”

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At least eight of the movies also must be released theatrically in Los Angeles County before the end of the year before they will be fully qualified. Once they complete that run, the films will also be eligible in other categories beyond feature animation.

Nominations will be announce Jan. 24, and the 84th Academy Awards will be held Feb. 26.