Belle, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, Pompo the Cinephile, Poupelle of Chimney Town Confirmed Eligible for Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday that the following anime films are eligible for consideration at the 94th annual Academy Awards:

• Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu's BELLE
• Studio 4°C's Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko based on Kanako Nishi's Gyokō no Nikuko-chan (Nikuko of the Fishing Harbor) novel
• BONES' Josee, The Tiger and the Fish based on Seiko Tanabe 's short story
• Happy Science's The Laws of the Universe – The Age of Elohim
• Pompo: The Cinéphile based on manga by Shogo Sugitani
• Studio 4°C's Poupelle of Chimney Town based on picture book by Akihiro Nishino

The Summit of the Gods, the France-Luxembourg animated film of Jiro Taniguchi's The Summit of the Gods (Kamigami no Itadaki) manga is also eligible.

There are 26 films eligible for this year's awards. A maximum of five films from the full list of eligible films can receive nominations in the Animated Feature Film category.

The 94th Academy Awards will be held on March 27, 2021, with nomination reveals on February 8, 2021. In recent years, the ceremony has taken place in late February/early March. The exception was the 93rd annual Academy Awards, which were held on April 25 this year, delayed by two months due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The eligibility period for Academy Awards consideration will return to the standard December 31 deadline after having been extended to February 28 this year due to the delayed ceremony. This year, feature films must have a qualifying release date between March 1 and December 31, a 10-month period instead of the usual 12-month period. This year's Academy Awards had a 14-month period, again due to the delay.

No anime films received nominations in the Animated Feature Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards.

Source: Variety (Clayton Davis)