Children’s Books Get 21 Oscar Nominations – Publisher’s Weekly – Liz Hartman

Hugo, based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, leads the pack with the most – 11– nominations, including Best Picture. War Horse, based on Michael Murpurgo’s 1982 novel, is not far behind, with six nominations (also including Best Picture). Both books were published by Scholastic. Only The Artist garnered more nominations than War Horse, with 10, while Moneyball is tied with it at six.

In addition to the Best Picture category, Hugo and War Horse will compete head to hoof for awards in Art Direction, Cinematography, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing. Hugo also nabbed nominations for Costume Design, Visual Effects, and Writing (adapted screenplay).

The Adventures of Tin Tin and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 also received nods, as many of you may already know, but none in categories most people pay attention to, such as Best Actor/Actress, Best Picture, Best Director, etc.  Even still, it’s extremely exciting to see how well books-turned-movies are doing.  I like to think of it as proof that books are especially valued for their stories. PW ends on a hopeful note: that since books-turned-movies are so big now, there should be an Oscar category for this as well. It’s in the Golden Globes, why not the Academy?