‘Toy Story 3,’ ‘Illusionist’ Lead Critics’ Lists

It’s that time of year when critics shower laurels upon their favorite movies, with Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story 3 and Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist leading the race among animated films.

The Los Angeles Film Critics named Toy Story 3 the best animated feature of the year, giving a runner-up nod to The Illusionist. Across the nation, the New York Film Critics Circle gave its top animated feature honor to The Illusionist. Both groups  named The Social Network top film of the year.

The American Film Institute had Toy Story 3 among its top ten films of the year — the only animated film to make the school’s list.

And lastly, the Broadcast Film Critics Association announced the nominees for the Critics Choice Awards, naming Toy Story 3 one of ten nominees for best picture and one of five nominees for best animated feature. The other animated feature nominees are Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist and Tangled.

The film did well in other categories, too. Michael Arndt was nominated for best adapted screenplay for Toy Story 3, working from a story by John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich and Andrew Stanton. Toy Story 3 also was nominated for best sound.

The Toy Story 3 song “We Belong Together,” written and performed by Randy Newman, and Tangled’s “I See the Light,” written by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater and performed by Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, were nominated for best song.

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