The nominations for the 81st Academy Awards have been announced, and today we’ll take a look at the 2 animation categories…

Animated Short Film

Five films were nominated, most notably Oktapodi – as it’s a student film. Few (if any) student-produced films have been nominated in this category. Pretty impressive. Here’s our five contenders.

Lavatory — Lovestory

A Russian film by director Konstantin Bronzit about a bathroom attendant searching frantically for her secret admirer in a love story that can’t be stalled. Here’s the 10-minute film in its entirety.

Oktapodi

A 2:30 minute graduation film by six students at Gobelins in France. Oktapodi follows two octopuses who help each other escape from the grasps of a stubborn restaurant cook. The directing team was comprised of Julien Bocabeille, François-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier and Emud Mokhberi. Here’s the film in it’s entirety:

Presto

This 5-minute comedy short played before Wall-E in theaters, and it centers on a magician performing a show while putting up with his uncooperative rabbit. Presto, which was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, was dicreted by Doug Sweetland, who had help from supervising animator Andrew Gordon. Here’s a clip:

This Way Up

British duo Smith and Foulkes directed this 7-minute short about two undertakers and their trouble getting a coffin into the ground. This Way Up was commissioned by The Animation Show. Here’s a clip:

La Maison en Petits Cubes

Kunio Kato’s film is about a grandfather who lives in a perpetually growing house. It was produced by Robot Communications in Japan.

Animated Feature Film

Bolt

Directed by Chris Williams, Bolt focuses on dog named Bolt who, after spending his life on the set of a television series, believes he has super powers. Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Here’s a trailer:

Kung Fu Panda

Mark Osborne and John Stevenson directed this feature about a panda who aspires to be a kung fu master. Kung Fu Panda was produced by DreamWorks Animation. Here’s a trailer:

WALL-E

Andrew Stanton directed this film about a trash-collecting robot named WALL-E who falls in love with a robot named EVE, and follows her into space on an adventure. Wall-E was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Here’s a trailer:

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