It is now entirely possible that, for the first time since the inception of the Oscars, fully FIVE FILMS could stand for Best Animated Feature.

There have never been this many eligible nominees, thus it’s entirely possible that the field could be expanded to be commensurate with the availability of entrants.

Folks, the field is positively MAMMOTH.  There are fully twenty eligible films.  I’ve seen several of them, and heard of most of the rest.  There are some really obscure pieces there, and worse, there are some that never should have been nominated to begin with.  For instance, Up, Coraline and Astro Boy are on the list, and those are indeed sweet titles. We reviewed them right here.

But Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel?  That’s just an insult.  And surely we can all do better than “Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure”.  Wasn’t that direct to video?  Or did it actually play in L.A. for a while?

Still though, a great big field goes into play soon–good luck to the nominees, whoever they may be.

As long as it’s not Alvin and the Chipmunks.