Film still from Geefwee Boedoe's 'Let's Pollute'| Image: www.geefwee.com
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The 83rd Annual Academy Awards nominations were announced early this morning (Jan. 25) in Beverly Hills, Calif., and several CalArts alumni have earned Oscar nominations:
- Chris Sanders (Film/Video BFA 84)—along with directing partner Dean DeBlois—was nominated for How to Train Your Dragon (DreamWorks Animation) in the Best Animated Feature Film category;
- John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton (along with Lee Unkrich) were nominated for Adapted Screenplay story for Toy Story 3, with screenplay by Michael Arndt; and
- Geefwee Boedoe (Film/Video BFA 88) earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film for Let’s Pollute.
- ***Update: Alum and Pixar artist Teddy Newton’s (Film/Video 91) film Day & Night was also nominated for Best Animated Short.
Noteworthy:
- Among its five nominations, Toy Story 3 was nominated for both Best Animated Feature and Best Picture. This marks the third time that a fully animated feature earned a top picture nomination, following in the footsteps of Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Up (2009), also directed by CalArts alumni Gary Trousdale and Pete Docter, respectively. The film was also nominated for Sound Editing and Original Song (“We Belong Together” by Randy Newman).
- Lasseter and Stanton’s Adapted Screenplay nod was the sixth nomination for both.
- Sanders was previously nominated for Best Animated Feature Film in 2002 for Lilo & Stitch.
- Boedoe’s modern satire pays homage to 1950s and 60s educational and institutional films, instructing people how to be “better polluters for a better blighted tomorrow.”
- Newton’s Night & Day was released by Disney/Pixar with Toy Story 3 in June 2010.
The Oscars will be awarded during a live telecast on ABC on Feb. 27.