Will mo-cap pics join toon pack?

A key query is how many contenders there will be for Oscar. In all the hoopla over the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' best-pic changes, many overlooked the tweaks to the toon consideration. Now, in any year with eight to 12 animated features, either two or three of them may be nominated. When 13-15 toons are released, a maximum of four may be nommed; with 16 or more, a maximum of five.

It's been a strong lineup so far, with Disney-Pixar's "Cars 2" as of today joining DreamWorks Animation-Paramount's "Kung Fu Panda 2," Paramount's "Rango," Fox's "Rio," Disney's "Gnomeo and Juliet" and Weinstein's "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil."

Toons for the rest of the year include Disney's "Winnie the Pooh" (July) and "Tinker Bell and the Mysterious Winter Woods" (fall); DWA-Par's "Puss in Boots," Sony's "Arthur Christmas" and WB's "Happy Feet 2" (all in November).

That's 11 clear toons, and there are at least five added films with questions. According to AMPAS rules, "Motion capture by itself is not an animation technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75% of the picture's running time."

Talks are ongoing how to classify Paramount's "The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn," because it involves motion-capture. The Steven Spielberg pic opens in December through Sony and Par, but bows two months earlier overseas. Many are confident it will be classified as animation, since so much of what is seen onscreen is animated.

The mo-cap question also is a factor in Disney's "Mars Needs Moms."

Universal's "Hop," "The Smurfs" (Sony, July) and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip Wrecked" (Fox-Regency, December) blend live-action and animation. They will have to meet AMPAS' quota of animation and the rulings will mean the toon category could feature anywhere from two to five contenders.

Some of these are contenders in categories beyond feature toon, such as script, music, etc. And a key question, of course, is: Will a toon also score in the best pic race for a third consecutive year -- and is it possible the best-pic group this year could include more than one animated title?

tomsrosupri: wallpaper baby pooh

After we reported this news, we learned that there were some readers who gravely misunderstood the "final" rule making process. They were confused with the "proposed" rule making process. In the final rule making process, there is no comment period before the rule takes effect. On the date when the final rule is published in the federal register, it becomes a binding rule and the rule-making process is complete. Certain provisions in the final rule may take effect on certain specific later date or dates, but the rule itself becomes a binding law on the date of publication of the rule in the federal register. Accordingly, unless the DOL changed the proposed rule, substitution of the beneficiary of the labor certification will be eliminated on the date of publication which includes the substitution of the beneficiary in the pending labor certification by amendment as well as the substitution of the beneficiary in the approved labor certification. For those who filed the substitution I-140 petition, the proposed rule provided that only "substitution approved" on the date of publication of the rule would survive. Substitution approved can be interpreted to mean approval of the substitution I-140 petition. For the 45-day validity of the certified labor certification, under the proposed rule, the certified labor certification on the date of publication was supposed to have 45 days to file the I-140 petitions. For the labor certifications which are approved after publication of the final rule must file the I-140 petitions within 45 days from the date of certification. Our bill would require every employer to attest that it is not displacing a U.S. worker by hiring an H-1B visa holder and that the employer has taken good-faith steps to recruit U.S. workers for the jobs in which an H-1B visa holder is being sought. Why would anyone oppose this measure? Our bill also gives more oversight and investigative authority to the Department of Labor. Right now the Department may only review labor certification for ``clear indication of fraud and misrepresentation.'' The Secretary of Labor is unable to review applications for anything but what the law calls incompleteness and cannot initiate an investigation unless requested. This means the Labor Department in effect is required to turn a blind eye to information that is suspicious.

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