BAFTA Nominees Are In: Frozen, Monsters U and Despicable Me 2 Vie for Animation Prize

The nominations for the 67th British Academy Film Awards (or BAFTAs, because nobody wants to say that mouthful) were announced earlier today, and the animation nominees are a lot less contentious than those chosen by the Golden Globes.

Disney's Frozen (which certainly seems to be the awards favourite) and Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me 2 are again nominated. But this time around, DreamWorks' The Croods misses out, in favour of Pixar's Monsters University, which was unfairly snubbed by the HFPA.

Note, Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises is not nominated. This isn't because of any bizarre snub, but rather just due to the qualification specifications of BAFTA; a film must have opened in the UK prior to, at the absolute latest, 14th February of this year. As the film doesn't even open wide in America until 21st February, and we've still not the faintest word about a UK release date, the acclaimed Ghibli film unfortunately didn't make the cut.

Now, it's interesting to note that, every year since the award's inception in 2007, (celebrating the films of 2006, that is) the film that has won the BAFTA for Best Animated Film has then gone onto win the respective Oscar. So, even though Disney's Wreck-It Ralph was hotly tipped to be an awards favourite last year, it was Pixar's less warmly received Brave that won the BAFTA and eventually the Oscar. Worth thinking about.

Also of interest to us, Disney's Marry Poppins making-of pic, Saving Mr. Banks, garnered an impressive 5 nominations, including Outstanding British Film, Leading Actress (for the fabulous Emma Thompson), Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer (for screenwriter Kelly Marcel), Original Music and Costume Design. While it's got tough competition in its categories (it's up against, for instance, Gravity, which has a total of 11 nominations, for Outstanding British Film), it's a great achievement for one of my favourite films of 2013 nonetheless!

Congratulations to all the nominees! The BAFTAs will be awarded on 16th February, at a ceremony emanating from the Royal Opera House, once again hosted by Stephen Fry. Check out the full list of nominees here.