No Ham for you Ponyo!

The Oscar Nominations have been announced! Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea(or just Ponyo, thanks to Disney) did not get nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. Instead, Up, The Princess and the Frog, Caroline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Secret of Kells received nods from the Academy Awards.

We saw Ponyo together in theaters with Anime Sushi last year and while it was a fun movie and visually interesting, I think many of us agreed that it did not have the overall impact that many of Miyazaki's movies have.

Spirited Away won the Oscar for Best Animated feature back in 2003 and Howl's Moving Castle was nominated in 2006. Anime News Network reports that the CG adaption of Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy was submitted along with Ponyo to be considered for nominations but neither made the final five.

ANN also reported that Ponyo did not make the nominations for animated feature film for the Golden Globes but nobody cares.

So what does this mean? Simply, animated features have become high-profile over in theaters over the years and even Miyazaki will have to step up his game. Fear not though, because with works like The Girls Who Lept Through Time and Summer Wars under his belt, Mamoru Hosada could possibly take the anime film industry into a great new era!