It’s officially awards season: The entry forms and supporting materials for a film to be considered in the animated feature film category for the 84th annual Academy Awards is 5 p.m. PT tomorrow, Nov. 1.
The deadline for submitting the required accompanying film prints is Nov. 11.
This year’s race will see some changes in the category, with the Academy having changed its running time requirement from at least 70 minutes to “greater than 40 minutes,” as well as clarifying its stance on motion-capture to state that mo-cap by itself is not an animation technique.
The Academy also altered its rules on the number of nominees to state there will be two or three nominees in years with 8-12 eligible animated features; four nominees in years with 13-15 eligible films; and five nominees with more than 16 eligible films.
Figuring out how many films qualify — and therefore how many nominees — has become a popular pastime among watchers of this category since it was introduced 10 years ago.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Jan. 24 at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The winners will be announced Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.
