Oscar Best Animated Feature contenders are here

Its that time of year again when Oscar announce the contenders for this years Best Animated Feature. With no Pixar this year it looks like it could be the time for other studios to shine and that even goes for Disney! We await the shortlist.

Worthy contenders for the shortlist this year, in my opinion, go to Lego Movie, Song of the Sea, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Cheatin' and Boxtrolls. Lego Movie, even though studio Animal Logic is a bit outside the normal shortlisters, deserves it's place due to its overwhelming success and script originality. As soon as it burst onto the screen the reviews were nothing but great. It closed the gap between adult and children films, something where a lot of animated films fall down. How to Train your Dragon 2 really impressed again this year especially when it came to character acting. Dreamworlds are far ahead of Disney in this department and produced a film that really immersed you and made you at times forget you were watching an animated film, in a good way of course.

For pure technical brilliance alone Bill Plimpton's Cheatin', Boxtrolls and Song of the Sea all deserve a place. With some films not even out yet and therefore not qualified it could all change. Big Hero 6 and Penguins of Madagascar could all make a huge splash in the coming months. Take a look below at the full list of contenders for the Oscar Best Animated Feature and let us know who you think should win.

Big Hero 6 (Disney/Marvel), The Book of Life (Reel FX/Fox), The Boxtrolls (LAIKA/Focus), Cheatin’(Bill Plympton), Giovanni’s Island (Production I.G, Japan), Henry and Me (Reveal Animation Studios), The Hero of Color City (Exodus Film Group), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (DreamWorks/Fox), Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (EuropaCorp, France), Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return(Summertime Ent.), The LEGO Movie (Animal Logic/WB), Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants(Futurikon/Entre Chien et Loup/Nozon, France), Mr. Peabody and Sherman (DreamWorks/Fox),Penguins of Madagascar (DreamWorks/Fox), The Pirate Fairy (Disney), Planes: Fire and Rescue(Disney), Rio 2 (Blue Sky/Fox), Rocks in My Pockets (Signe Baumane, Canada), Song of the Sea(Cartoon Saloon, Ireland) and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Studio Ghibli, Japan).
(Source: animationmagazine.net)