“9” makes it onto the Oscar longlist

On Wednesday the American Film Academy announced its list of 20 animated movies to compete for the title of the best Animated Feature Film of the year at the 82nd Academy Awards. “9” was number 13 on the list.

Timur Bekmambetov’s producing debut in Hollywood, in cooperation with “Batman” and “Mars Attacks” director Tim Burton, is a fascinating story directed by Oscar nominee Shane Acker. It immediately proved a success on both Russian and American silver screens. Americans were such fans of the animated characters that some were even seen dressing up as them for Halloween.

Along with “9”, 12 more animated feature films from 2009 also made it to the longlist. The remaining seven films will be shown to shown to audiences by the end of the year. According to the Academy’s rules, a movie must be on America’s big screens for at least for a week in order to be nominated for the prestigious award.

Only five of the movies will be qualified for the final battle for the legendary statuette. The shortlist is to be announced on February 2 2010. The winning movie will be announced at the 82nd award ceremony on March 7, 2010, in Los Angeles.

In 2009, the Academy chose three finalists for best animated feature film. The winner was WALL-E.

Oscar 2010: Animated Feature Semi-Finalists

1. “Up”
2. “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”
3. “Monsters vs. Aliens”
4. “The Princess and the Frog”
5. “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”
6. “A Christmas Carol”
7. “Coraline”
8. “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
9. “Mary and Max”
10. “Ponyo”
11. “Astro Boy”
12. “Battle for Terra”
13. “9”
14. “Planet 51”
15. “The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer”
16. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”
17. “The Missing Lynx”
18. “The Secret of Kells”
19. “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure”
20. “A Town Called Panic”