Academy Award Nominations for Best Animated Feature Film of 2008

Bolt becomes the first 3D Disney nomination (not counting Pixar films) since the Best Animated Feature Film Award appeared in 2001.

BOLT
Chris Williams and Byron Howard



ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY
These are the first Academy Award nominations for Chris Williams and Byron Howard.

FILM SYNOPSIS
When Bolt, the canine star of a popular television series, finds himself outside the confines of the studio in which he has spent his life, he is baffled to discover that the super powers he has on his show no longer seem to function. Convinced, however, that his beloved owner, Penny, is in danger, Bolt teams up with a worldly-wise cat and a frenetic hamster and sets off on an adventure that will change his life.


KUNG FU PANDA
John Stevenson and Mark Osborne



ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY
This is the first Academy Award nomination for John Stevenson.

This is the second Academy Award nomination for Mark Osborne. He was previously nominated for:

MORE (1998) -- Nominee, Short Film (Animated)

"More" was a claymation short about a factory worker.

FILM SYNOPSIS
Po the panda spends his days working in his father's noodle shop and dreaming of becoming an expert in the art of kung fu fighting. When a dangerous snow leopard threatens the region in which he lives, Po is singled out by a wise monk as the Chosen One, the Dragon Warrior--a choice that comes as a surprise to Shifu, the martial arts master who must train him.



WALL-E
Andrew Stanton



ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY
Including his nomination this year for Original Screenplay for WALL-E, this is the fifth Academy Award nomination for Andrew Stanton. He was previously nominated for:

FINDING NEMO (2003) -- Winner, Animated Feature Film
FINDING NEMO (2003) -- Nominee, Writing (Original)
TOY STORY (1995) -- Nominee, Writing (Original)

FILM SYNOPSIS
Several centuries in the future, when human beings have abandoned the earth for a series of orbiting spaceships, the lone remaining being on the planet is a solar-powered robot named WALL-E. As he continues to carry out his trash compacting duties, he gathers up unexpected treasures...including a tiny green plant that has somehow reappeared on the earth's heavily polluted landscape.


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So that's it! No independent films made it this year! Bolt is Disney's first 3D film to get a nomination. They previously made Dinosaur (before this award), Chicken Little, and Meet the Robinsons. They also distributed Valiant and The Wild.

Of course, Wall-E is the obvious winner. The other two don't match the range of emotion and don't break as much "ground." If there were independents involved, they would be wildcards. But with three corporate films from Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks like this, Wall-E is obviously the winner. That will be Andrew Stanton's second Oscar, tieing him up with Pixar giants, John Lasseter and Brad Bird.


Enjoy!

- TAE