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Cars 2 Faces 18 Opponents at the Oscars

Oscar AwardAn unusually large field of animated feature films has been submitted for consideration at the 84th Academy Awards next February. Cars 2 is among 18 films competing for Best Animated Feature.

The others are: Rango, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, The Smurfs, Arthur Christmas, Rio, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Hoodwinked Two! Hood vs. Evil, Gnomeo & Juliet, and Winnie the Pooh.

Plus three motion capture films: The Adventures of Tintin, Happy Feet Two, and Mars Needs Moms.

And four foreign films: Alois Nebel from the Czech Republic, A Cat in Paris from France, Chico & Rita from Spain, and Wrinkles also from Spain.

With the lackluster response to Cars 2 from the film industry, a win for Pixar may be a bit of a longshot with films like Rango and the popular, yet unreleased Tintin film in the field.

For several years there have been only three nominees for this category, as the list of eligible films did not meet the 16 film minimum. But with 18 films this year, it is likely there will be 5 final nominees for the Academy to select from.

10 Years, 190 Pixarians Still at Work

With production of Monsters University in full swing, and yesterday's 10 year Monsters, Inc. anniversary, Pixar animator Cat Hicks (@cathicks) tweeted: "190 people that worked on Monsters Inc still work at Pixar... and 50 of them are working on Monsters U!"

Monsters University Logo

That's a pretty impressive retention rate compared to other companies, especially with the persistent trend of younger workers bouncing more frequently from company to company. It speaks volumes for Pixar's appealing environment (though she did complain a couple days before about her low salary).

This should also be welcome news to Monsters, Inc. fans. With so many Monsters veterans working on the new film, continuity should come naturally. Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3, cited this as an important factor in the success of the Toy Story trilogy.

The 12 Greatest Pixar Moments

Entertainment Weekly unveiled a list of their top dozen favorite Pixar moments. With 12 Pixar movies, you might expect one from each film, but A Bug's Life and both Cars films get left out in the cold while Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles and Toy Story 3 each score double honors. Do you agree or disagree? Which great Pixar moments were left out?