The most fascinating — and startling — category was
animated feature film when nominations were announced this week for the
84th Academy Awards. “
The Adventures of Tintin” – which won the
Golden Globe in that category – wasn’t nominated at all.
As did two international entries — “
Chico &Rita” and “
A Cat in Paris” – that present vibrant adventures with a classic hand-drawn approach, instead, Gore Verbinski’s
old West adventure “
Rango” made the list. Rounding out the category were two
DreamWorks Animation releases, “
Puss in Boots” and “
Kung Fu Panda 2,” and don’t think for a minute that went over well at the Emeryville headquarters of Pixar.
There was still hope that it would bring home the automatic
Oscar nomination that has become a Pixar tradition though “
Cars 2″ didn’t win over critics. No one was happier about the nominations than Guillermo del Toro, who is now working closely with
DreamWorks Animation on its projects.
