Today's the Big Day...

With the Oscars just a couple of hours away, I thought it was a good time to have a look back at all the accolades that have been awarded to Pixar's thirteenth feature film, Brave, this awards season. The film is nominated for Best Animated Feature tonight, although it's got some pretty intense competition, including Disney's astounding Wreck-It Ralph, directed by Rich Moore.

Brave took home the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature earlier in the season, beating out Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie, Rise of the Guardians, and Hotel Transylvania. Heaven knows why Hotel T was nominated and Laika's fantastic stop-motion flick ParaNorman wasn't. Last year was the first time that a Pixar film didn't win the BAF prize at the Globes, with Cars 2 having been beat by The Adventures of Tintin.

Pixar's 13th was also nominated for a grand total of 8 Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature, although that award ended up going to Wreck-It Ralph. On the up side, the film was awarded honors for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production and Editorial in an Animated Feature Production, so Pixar did not go home empty handed that night.

At the BAFTAs, Brave once again took home a Best Animated Feature award, beating Frankenweenie and ParaNorman.

Brave has also claimed several other prizes, including honors for Outstanding Animation, Outstanding Animated Character, Outstanding Created Environment and Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation from the Visual Effects Society. Merida, Queen Elinor and the pesky Witch also granted the film an award for Best Animated Females from the Women Film Critics Circle.

Other awards the film has won include:

• Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing from the Cinema Audio Society
• Best Edited Animated Feature Film from the American Cinema Editors
• Best Animated Female (Merida, voiced by Kelly Macdonald) from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Pixar's had quite the award season this year, and I'd be very pleased to see Brave win the studio a 7th Oscar for Best Animated Feature tonight. But even if it doesn't win, that won't change the fact that Pixar produced a beautiful film, with wonderful characters, gorgeous music, breathtaking visuals, and an amazing story, so I give my sincere congratulations to the talented crew behind Brave.

'Brave' Receives Oscar Nomination

The Awards Season. One of the most exhilarating times of the year for moviegoers across the globe. Our hearts race as we cross our fingers, hoping and praying that our favorite films, actors, and filmmakers will be recognized and nominated for some sort of award - particularly at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the Oscars. Ladies and gentlemen, here are this year's nominees for Best Animated Feature Film...

• Frankenweenie - Tim Burton
• ParaNorman - Sam Fell & Chris Butler
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits - Peter Lord
• Wreck-It Ralph - Rich Moore
• Brave - Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapmam

All I can say is...wow. What a great year 2012 was for animation. There's not a film that was nominated that doesn't deserve to win, and it's so great to see the Academy recognize stop-motion animation, as it really is quite an underrated art form.

It's fantastic to see Brave up there after Pixar not being nominated for the first time ever last year with Cars 2. I would love, love, love to see Brave take the shiny golden man home this year, but let's face it - it's got some pretty tough competition, primarily with Disney's Wreck-It Ralph. Over the course of the past few years, Disney Animation have been upping their game after a few years of delivering so-so films (see Kyle's Animated World for some great in-depth articles on Disney's ups and downs throughout the ages), and Ralph was just a huge leap forward, and was pretty much as good as a Pixar film. I would be equally delighted to see Disney bring home their first ever Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

I was a bit disappointed that Brave didn't get a Best Original Song nomination for "Touch the Sky", "Learn Me Right", or "Into the Open Air". The film had some gorgeous music, so it's quite a shame that it wasn't recognized in this year's Oscars. On the bright side, the film does have a nomination for Best Music at the Annies, so hopefully it wins there. 

Who are you hoping takes home home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature this year? Who do you think will win? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Disney & Pixar Withdraw From Annie Awards/ASIFA

Just a quick update, Disney and Pixar have withdrawn from the Annie Awards and their parent organization, the ASIFA.

Ed Catmull, President of Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, tells Variety :

"After more than a year of discussions with the ASIFA board, we have regretfully decided to withdraw from the organization and no longer participate in the annual Annie Awards,"

"We believe there is an issue with the way the Annies are judged, and have been seeking a mutually agreeable solution with the board. Although some initial steps have been taken, the board informed us that no further changes would be made to address our concerns."

I'm not too disappointed with Disney and Pixar withdrawing from the Annies, considering all the other awards Pixar can be nominated for besides the Annies.