11 Films eligible for Best Animated Feature Oscar

Posted Thursday, November 4, 2004 at 3:04 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Eleven movies have been identified as eligible candidates for the Best Animated Feature Oscar for the 77th Annual Academy Awards. These are simply the only films to meet the criteria for the category.

- Clifford's Really Big Movie - Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence - Home on the Range - The Incredibles - The Legend of Buddha - The Polar Express - Shrek 2 - Shark Tale - Sky Blue - The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie - Teacher's Pet

The list is really no surprise. They are the only eleven animated, feature-length films that have (or will) open in Los Angeles before Dec. 31. In addition the producers of each film must submit an Official Screen Credits form to the Academy. Furthermore, the category itself must be approved for inclusion again by the Academy's Board of Governors but that is highly expected.

Oscar rules limit the films to be nominated in the category at just three for a year that contains between eight and 16 eligible films. The trio of early favorites are Dreamworks' Shrek 2 and Shark Tale as well as Pixar's The Incredibles.

The nominations will be announced in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Jan. 25. The gold statutes will be presented to lucky winners on Sunday, Feb. 27.