The Academy Awards Head To 'Toonsville

Posted Thursday, December 13, 2001 at 1:10 PM Central

by John Couture

Last night, it became official. The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the people responsible for the Academy Awards, voted in favor of including "The Best Animated Feature" category on this year's Oscar ballots.

The category was created in September of 2000, but this was the first year that it was eligible for consideration. Because of the nature of animated films and the fact that there might not be enough eligible films each year, the board of governors must look at the list of eligible films each year and decide whether or not to include the award.

Nine films have been declared eligible by the Academy: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Marco Polo: Return To Xanadu, Monsters, Inc., Osmosis Jones, The Prince Of Light, Shrek, The Trumpet Of The Swan, and Waking Life.

At first look, it would appear that Shrek, the $267 million smash hit, is the favorite in this category. But, it should be noted that these nine films will be whittled down to three official nominees by a special 100 member committee before February 12th. One noticeable movie not included on this list is Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. While the studio still has a shot with Pixar's Monsters, Inc., it was assumed that the long-time animator would excel in this new category.