In early 2010 The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences will again award one animated film the best picture of the year. The category has only existed since 2001 and is awarded only if there are at least eight animated feature films released in that year. In past years this competition has been dominated by one film company, Pixar. Will 2010 be the same? Lets look at this years main contenders for Best Animated Film.

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Why not start with Pixar. In the last years their films have dominated this category and there have been rumblings that some of their films should in fact compete with life action films for Best Picture of the year. Their films are that good. Winners in the past few years have included The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and Wall-e.

This year, their film Up has garnered the highest praise from critics being called the best animated film since, well ...since Wall-e. An old widower sets out to achieve his wife's lifelong dreams by floating his house with thousands of balloons and travelling to South America.

Ponyo

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the greatest and most successful film makers in Japan's history. Like Pixar, Miyazaki's movies are constantly on lists for the best films of the year, each and every year and if you come across a list of the top 10 animated films of all time chances are there will be more than one of his films represented. Miyazaki has won only once before in this category for the masterpiece, Spirited Away. This year his retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid garnered praise from all circles, even if not quite living up to his previous best.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Adapted from a children's book with the same bizarre name this film is about honouring the strange and unique facets of humanity and how human ingenuity has the opportunity to solve seemingly impossible problems. At least that's my take on it. Also a lot of big food falls from the sky. Highly regarded by most critics the film was produced by Sony Pictures Animation who have had previous nominees including Surf's Up.

Coraline

Adapted from a book by Neil Gaiman this is a stop motion animated film produced by Laika films and directed by Henry Selick. Coraline is the story of a young girl who discovers an alternate reality where she finds another set of parents who at first seem to be everything she has ever wished for. As this is a rather gothic dark piece you can imagine things don't stay that way. The film was highly regarded by critics not only for its story but the beauty of the animation technique.

Princess And The Frog

Surely this will be the academy's sentimental favourite. Disney Animation Studio's first 2D animated film in six years and their first since amalgamating with Pixar, garnered praise from critics worldwide. A twist on the traditional tale where a young princess kisses a frog who turns out to be a prince under a curse, this film is notable as its protagonist, Tiana, is Disney's first African-American princess character. Given the studio's salient place in animation they have never won the Oscar for best animated film.

It has been a rich year for animated feature films in 2009 and other possible films in contention include The Fantastic Mr Fox with outside chances from Astro Boy and Monsters vs. Aliens.