84th Academy Awards – ANIMATED FEATURE FILM Symposium & Jennifer Yuh Nelson Talks KUNG FU PANDA 3

In a continuation of the Oscar Week, I sat in Thursday evening on the Animated Feature Symposium which celebrates the work of the 2011 Oscar nominees in the Animated Feature Film category. The nominees discussed their films’ development and their creative processes as well as presented clips illustrating their techniques. The symposium was hosted by actor-comedian Patton Oswalt.

In attendance at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills were Academy Governor Bill Kroyer, animated filmmakers Javier Mariscal, CHICO AND RITA, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, KUNG FU PANDA 2, Alain Gagnol, A CAT IN PARIS, Fernando Trueba, CHICO AND RITA  and Jean-Loup Felicioli, A CAT IN PARIS.

The director I was most interested in speaking with was director Jennifer Yuh Nelson. With KUNG FU PANDA 2’s huge box office numbers, Nelson became the highest-grossing female director ever when it reached $645M globally in September. Prior to directing KUNG FU PANDA 2, Jennifer Yuh Nelson served as head of story and “dream sequence director” on 2008’s KUNG FU PANDA, which remains one of the top ten animated movies of all time. Before that, Nelson served as story artists on DreamWorks Animation’s MADAGASCAR, head of story on SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS and story artist on Spirit: Stallion of the CIMARRON. Prior to joining DreamWorks Animation, she served as director, story artist and character designer at HBO Animation. Nelson’s animation career has spanned several countries, including Korea, Japan and Australia, and she has also published several independent comic books.

In what would be a major upset in the category, Nelson could become the first woman to win the Academy Award for Animated Feature Film on Sunday. The filmmakers of KUNG FU PANDA 2 took a few minutes to talk about another adventure with Po, the villainous Master Shen and Women in Animation.

THE 2011 NOMINEES ARE:

Animated Feature Film

• “A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• “Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
• “Kung Fu Panda 2” Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• “Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
• “Rango” Gore Verbinski

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements in 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

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