The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 10 animated shorts that will be advancing to the next round of voting for the 87th Academy Awards.  Fifty-eight films had originally qualified in the category. The Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting at screenings held in New York and Los Angeles. Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. Here is the short list of the ten films in alphabetical order. Please let us know which films are your favorites by commenting below.

“The Bigger Picture”

The short's stop-motion animation technique involves life-size wall-painted characters moving around in full-size sets, interacting with real objects. For example, a 6-foot tall painted character will hold a real hoover into which he sucks the contents of a full-size, half-real, half-painted living room. Innovative use of cinematography and set design blend the real and illustrated worlds. Website.

“Coda"

Directed by Alan Holly, Coda is an Irish film  that was the culmination of two years of painstaking work by a small team of dedicated animation artists. The film tells the story of a lost soul who stumbles drunkenly through the city. In a park, death finds him and shows him many things. The film won the prize for Best Animated Short Film at SXSW film festival in Austin, Texas. Website.

“The Dam Keeper"

Made up of over 8,000 paintings, The Dam Keeper blends traditional hand-drawn animation with lush brushstrokes to bring Kondo and Tsutsumi's celebrated painting-style to life like never before. The Dam Keeper, an original animated short film by feature animation artists Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, tells the tale of a young pig encumbered with an important job, and the meeting of a new classmate who changes everything. Website

“Duet”

Directed and produced by acclaimed Disney veteran Glen Keane, Duet is the artist's latest and most personal project to date. The short was part of a special project with Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) department that works on finding innovative ways to facilitate human-technology interactions.

“Feast”

“Feast” is a short that's slated to open for Big Hero 6 coming out Nov 7th. It continues Disney's move towards a cell shaded CG look. Feast is directed by Patrick Osborne who also served as animation supervisor on Paperman and is a story that explores a relationship between an orphaned puppy named Winston and his newly found master.

“Footprints"

Animation legend and underground artist, Bill Plympton produced this offbeat story that is an "environmental" film that, according to Plympton, was done entirely in ballpoint pen.

“Me and My Moulton"

This short animation by Oscar-winner Torill Kove (The Danish Poet) follows a seven-year-old girl and her sisters, who ask their parents to get them a bicycle. Our young protagonist struggles with her sense that her family is somehow unconventional, and her loving yet hopelessly out-of-touch parents prove to be a source of quiet embarrassment and anxiety. With a bright palette, this film views the creative attitudes of the parents through the eyes of their introspective daughter.

“The Numberlys"

The Numberlys is an epic homage to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, but for kids. Friends 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 live in a world where there is no alphabet - only numbers. One day, they decide they want something different from their orderly, black-and-white world. They set out to create each letter of the alphabet and bring color, creativity and jellybeans to their world.

“A Single Life"

Life sucks and then you die? Upon playing a mysterious vinyl record, Pia begins to travel through space and time, experiencing her own reality at different ages and stages in this vibrantly animated witty ditty showcasing a life in (one) song.

“Symphony No. 42"