Yep, the Best Picture nominees are out, and with it blogs everywhere will ask if Avatar will win this, too (personal two cents: I hope not).

But there’s an interesting inclusion here: Up, last summer’s Pixar darling. It’s the first time an animated film has been nominated for Best Picture since 1991 — almost twenty years — since Beauty and the Beast was last put up for the prize. It’s about time; I’m reminded of this article from last year by John Gruber, in response to Wall-E’s nomination snub:

But why does [the best animated film] category even exist? Animated as opposed to what? Photographed? Animation is merely a technique. Cinema is cinema. The Academy’s rules state that films nominated for best animated feature are still eligible to be nominated for best picture, but don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen. The whole point of this award is to establish a ghetto where “cartoons”, no matter how good, are relegated. Putting WALL-E up against Bolt and Kung Fu Panda rather than letting it compete against Slumdog Millionaire and Benjamin Button is like requiring a 13-year-old chess prodigy to compete only against other children, regardless of whether he could stand his own against adult grandmasters. It’s a dismissive pat on the head.

Not to expect Up to take it this year, but I’ll be rooting for it.

Bonus Oscar Linkage! Some famous Oscar snubs, because I’m a sucker for lists like this.