Fourteen Features May Qualify For 81st Oscars®

Fourteen feature films have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 81st Academy Awards®. However, seven are not yet fully qualified to proceed in the Oscar-nomination process because they have not had their required Los Angeles qualifying theatrical releases.

The complete conditional list is:
BOLT
DELGO
DR. SEUSS' HORTON HEARS A WHO!
DRAGON HUNTERS
FLY ME TP THE MOON
IGOR
KUNG FU PANDA
MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA
$9.99
THE SKY CRAWLERS
SWORD OF THE STRANGER
THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX
WALL-E
WALZ WITH BASHIR

BOLT, DELGO, DRAGON HUNTERS, $9.99, THE SKY CRAWLERS, THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, and WALZ WITH BASHIR have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying runs. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and meet all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process.

Under the rules for this category, a maximum of three (3) films can be nominated in a year in which the field of eligible entries numbers at least eight (8) but fewer than 16. Right now, there are eight (8) films qualified to move forward, and only seven (7) left to qualify. Thus, there will definitely be fewer than 16 eligible films, and the maximum nominations can only be three (3). Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, 22 January 2009, at 5:30 a.m., PT, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, 22 February 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.