Up Leads Animated Pics for BAFTA Noms

Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Up all made the cut as nominees the BAFTA Award for best animated feature, securing their status as awards season front-runners.

Up earned a total of four nominations, adding best music, best original screenplay and best sound to its tally.

Overall, the British film group’s picks created a three-way tie between Avatar, The Hurt Locker and An Education, all of which earned eight nominations each.

The Peter Jackson-produced sci-fi story District 9 surprised many observers by earning seven nominations, including best adapted screenplay, best cinematography and best editing.

Three films were nominated for best animated short: Gill Dolev’s The Happy Duckling, Sally Arthur and Emma Lazenby’s Mother of Many and Michael Rose, Martin Pope, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang’s The Gruffalo.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony set for Feb. 21 at London’s Royal Opera House. For more info, visit www.bafta.org.