There they were, the five Academy Awards nominees for best animated feature, announced back in early February: Pixar's Up, Disney's The Princess and the Frog, Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Henry Selick's Coraline and, and . . . huh? What's this? The Secret of Kells?
It turns out the Oscars' nominating committee had every reason to honor this dark horse, a little-known endeavor heretofore unreleased in the States. A beautiful, retro-style, hand-drawn feature from Ireland combining elements of 1950s and '60s Disney 'toons (geometric graphics, flat, painterly backgrounds) and traditional Celtic art (intricate, luminously colorful patterns), this spirited children's adventure set in the Middle Ages offers both visual and narrative thrills.