In a development that has probably pissed off a couple studios, it seems that Luc Besson’s currently playing ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES has been disqualified from this year’s Best Animated Film Oscar race due to it coming up short for the required percentage of actual animated footage in proportion to live-action footage. This coming after the movie had initially been announced as one of the expected 16 films eligible for nomination. Now, you’re probably thinking ARTHUR was a longshot anyway so precisely where does the shearing of sack skin come in? Well, the rules of the game state that more than 15 films must be eligible in order to open up five nominee slots and, with Besson’s movie ousted, only three animated flicks will be nominated this year. While this isn’t exactly unheard of (the only year in which there weren’t only three nominations was 2002), it puts a damper on the efforts of the studios behind movies like the interesting-looking PAPRIKA (see trailer here), which doesn’t hit theaters until May of this year but had a qualifying run in Los Angeles last November. Not to mention a line-up of nominees that almost surely included CARS, HAPPY FEET, ICE AGE 2, and MONSTER HOUSE will now have to be compromised and (probably) the last two films mentioned will have to duke it out for the third and final spot. You can check out the list of the remaining 15 eligible animated candidates below. All nominees for the Academy Awards will be announced on January 23rd and the ceremonies will take place on February 25th. ARTHUR goes wide this Friday.
– THE ANT BULLY
– BARNYARD
– CARS
– CURIOUS GEORGE
– EVERYONE’S HERO
– FLUSHED AWAY
– HAPPY FEET
– ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN
– MONSTER HOUSE
– OPEN SEASON
– OVER THE HEDGE
– PAPRIKA
– RENAISSANCE
– A SCANNER DARKLY
– THE WILD