New definition of
animated features affects Oscar eligibility.
The Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences has announced new rules
that further define animation productions as qualified Oscar contenders. In
recent years, technology such as motion capture and Rotoscoping have blurred the
line between live action and cartoon, prompting the Academy to revise the
definition of an animated feature. The Academy now defines it as “a motion
picture of at least 70 minutes in running time, in which movement and
characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique.” This
means that the rotoscoped actors in “A Scanner Darkly,” for instance, would not
qualify.
