We’re getting close to that time of year again when the animation industry enjoys a little mainstream credit and prestige for all its hard work: awards season. Our Animation Oscar Tracker has been updated with a list of films that we understand will be submitted for the Best Animated Feature category of the Academy Awards. The current total stands at 13 films:

  1. Escape from Planet Earth (Weinstein Co.) 2/15/13
  2. The Croods (DreamWorks Animation) 3/22/13
  3. Epic (Blue Sky) 5/24/13
  4. Monsters University (Disney-Pixar) 6/21/13
  5. Despicable Me 2 (Illumination) 7/3/13
  6. Turbo (DreamWorks Animation) 7/17/13
  7. Planes (Disney) 8/9/13
  8. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Sony Pictures Animation) 9/27/13
  9. Ernest and Celestine (GKIDS) Fall 2013
  10. A Letter to Momo (GKIDS) Fall 2013
  11. Free Birds (Reel FX/Relativity Media) 11/1/13
  12. The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibli/Touchstone Pictures) 11/8/13
  13. Frozen (Disney) 11/27/13

To be clear, we can’t guarantee that these films will qualify for the category, and can only say that they are being submitted for consideration to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. For there to be a maximum of five nominees, a total of 16 animated features must qualify for the category. If between 13 to 15 films qualify for the category, then there can be a maximum of four nominees.

The good news is that there will very likely be more films submitted for the category besides the ones listed above. For example, I expect that the South African studio Triggerfish will qualify their latest effort Khumba, especially since last year they qualified their first feature Adventures in Zambezia. If your studio is planning to qualify a feature film, please drop Cartoon Brew a line and let us know.

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Amid Amidi

Amid Amidi is Cartoon Brew's Editor in Chief.