Beverly Hills, CA — With 16 animated features submitted for consideration in 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences anticipates that its Animated Feature Film category, for the first time since 2002, may include a full slate of five nominees.

The 16 features expected to compete for 79th Academy Awards® nominations are:

• The Ant Bully
• Arthur and the Invisibles
• Barnyard
• Cars
• Curious George
• Everyone’s Hero
• Flushed Away
• Happy Feet
• Ice Age: The Meltdown
• Monster House
• Open Season
• Over the Hedge
• Paprika
• Renaissance
• A Scanner Darkly
• The Wild

"Arthur and the Invisibles," "Happy Feet" and "Paprika" have not yet had their required Los Angeles releases. If any one of the group were not to meet that requirement, the field in the category would fall below 16, the number required to trigger the five-nominee slate. With 15 or fewer contenders, Academy rules allow a maximum of three nominated features.

Films submitted in the Animated Feature category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories.

Nominations for the 79th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2007, at 5:30 a.m. PST in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST, beginning with a half-hour arrival segment.

Source: ©A.M.P.A.S.® Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences