I believe the five official nods will be:

Up
A Christmas Carol
Ponyo
Coraline

And possibly Princess and the Frog. I haven't seen that yet so I can't judge it.

Commas or semicolons please.

PONYO!

Ponyo should win best picture IMO.

But besides that, Coraline then Up. Haven't seen A Christmas Carol yet.

But Ponyo should win.

1.Ponyo
2.Up(Most likely winner already)
3.Monsters vs. Aliens
4.A Christmas Carol
5.Astro Boy

I only saw two of these. Up and Monsters vs. Aliens. Up was pretty good, perhaps the best Pixar has done. Certainly the most adult movie (especially the opening sequence) that they have done.

Monsters vs. Aliens was pretty good too. I loved the bit at the beginning where the President plays the "song" from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

I greatly enjoyed UP! It was well written, well produced and a lot of fun. Yet it still had some serious moments. While watching, I almost forgot is was animated. And almost every person in the theater applauded at the end.

I haven't seen everything on the list, but based on their reputations the five nominees will be:

Up (3:2)
Coraline (1:2)
Christmas Carol (1:10)
Ponyo (1:15)
Monsters Vs Aliens (1:100)

After the title is my guess of the odds that it will win. None of them but "Up" has a chance, in my opinion.

The 15-minute sequence at the beginning of "Up" telling the entire story of the old man's romance, marriage and life with his wife is the most amazing 15 minutes of animation ever created; it had me bawling; that sequence alone will give "Up" the win.

guess there is no love for robot chicken star wars anymore

How could The Secret of Kells be even considered when it wasn't even released in the USA? BTW looking it up online makes me want to see it. It came out in March of this year, is already on DVD in Europe and impossible to find. Sigh

Secret of Kells is scheduled to have the required LA screening later this year, thus its eligibility.

I'd say

-For sure-
Coraline
Up
Ponyo

-Probably-
9
Fantastic Mr. Fox. (Haven't seen this but looks good)
Princess and the Frog (If this isn't as good as it should be, then Disney should just quit)

They should have nominated, "Superman Batman Public Enemies." They instead nominated whatever movies.

Coraline*
Disney's A Christmas Carol
Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
Up*

*my favorites

Truthfully, I am surprised the Wire staff has not reviewed Planet 51...

It follows in some of the best episodic TV of all, being Farscape's 'I, ET', and Andromeda's 'Deep Midnight's Voice', being that we may someday be the ET's intruding on some other being's life....

Hopefully, this oversight might be fixed...

As for the other possible nominee's. I would think thatb the inside lanes belong to Disney's "Princess & Frog', 'UP',and Pixar's 'Monsters vs. Aliens'. Of course, we will see how the others do in the near future... -kh

up is one of the best films i've seen in a long time. i think it should be nominated for best picture...and win the animated movie award.

Ditto Shaun. UP is by far the best movie I've seen for a long time. (Serenity was the previous one) and furthermore... SQUIRREL!

I agree that Up should probably win, but Coraline was definitely good enough to give Up a run for its money.

Coraline > Monsters Vs. Aliens

Heck, even 9 > Monsters Vs. Aliens

I haven't seen Cloudy, but don't discount its chances; a lof of folks on the industry side gave it mad props for finally making CG animation cartoony in the classic sense.

But more importantly: it's been a damn good year for animated theatrical features!

I think Coraline should win the oscar but I know its going to go to Up but I like Coraline more its on my top 3 films this year.
My Predictions
Coraline (Should Win)
Up (Will Win)
Ponyo
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Coraline was overrated junk. The stop motion was hyper, the story was a dismal mess and unbelievably boring. How a movie can be hyper and boring at the same time was amazing. They should give Coraline an award for boring the crap out of the audience.

John is right, Jello is not. While I do think Up was a good movie and well worth the watch, Coraline was a much better picture with wonderful images and a realistic feel. Up didn't have the amazing feeling that a pixar movie usually brings, like the Incredibles or Wall-E. Coraline was well made with an interseting plot that requires the audience to think rather than just emotionally react, which UP ultimately relies on. Unfortunately, the winds of popular culture are pointing this oscar towards UP simply because it is one of the most hyped up animated movies ever. While I don't think Coraline will win, again unfortunately, I do think that it won't just be some movie that will be under appreciated. It defenitely is one to watch in the future.