LUCK OF THE DRAW OSCAR NOMINEES HAPPY WITH FIRST-CLASS STATUS.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

WHEN AN ANIMATOR wins an Academy Award, do his eyes pop out, does steam come out his ears and does he make a honking ``ah-OOO-gah'' sound?

We'll find out Sunday when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents its first Oscar for best animated feature to DreamWorks' ``Shrek,'' Disney/Pixar's ``Monsters, Inc.'' or Nickelodeon's ``Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.''

The academy has been recognizing outstanding animated shorts since 1932, but animated shorts rarely are shown with mainstream features these days, so that category has become a relatively obscure one (which means a moment when most viewers head for the kitchen or bathroom).

The new category, however, is one that is likely to keep Oscar watchers in their seats. They already have voted at the box office for all three, spending a combined $600 million in the United States, and now they'll learn whether the academy agrees with them as to which one is best. (Next year may already have its first entry with Fox's ``Ice Age,'' which took in more than $46 million its first weekend.)

Those in the running this year are happy about the recognition in the form of a nomination and a possible win.

``The expectations are so freaking high, we're all having a heart attack,'' said a laughing Albie Hecht, producer of dark horse ``Jimmy Neutron'' and president of film and TV entertainment for Nickelodeon.

``Shrek'' producer Aron Warner said the success of his film and the nomination that followed is ``like being in a garden and watching it grow all around you in time-lapse photography.''

But does this Oscar mean the same as a best-picture honor to a producer of live-action films? Best-picture nominees and winners generally enjoy another bounce at the box office, or in the case of ``Moulin Rouge,'' at the video-DVD outlets. But with nominees that already were kid-oriented blockbusters, the Oscar probably won't add a lot to the bottom line - at least in theaters.

Disney's animation division is not only the heart of the brand identity but the core of the company, feeding its cable and broadcast networks, its video division, its merchandise lines, its retail outlets and its theme parks.

Thomas Schumacher, president of Walt Disney Animation, shrugged off a suggestion that it would be a major disappointment if this engine house of his corporation didn't capture at least one feature animation nomination each year.

``Don't forget the kind of movies that can capture the eye of the academy,'' Schumacher said, ``tiny little movies that can come out in a year when there are huge financial successes.

``What do I first want? I absolutely want to be appealing to an audience,'' he said. ``And if I'm appealing to an audience, it's also going to work for my shareholders. That's the place I have to work for first.

``I really shouldn't be spending shareholder money trying to win academy favor. I should be spending money to please audiences and make money for the shareholders.''

Consolation prize?

Yet there was fierce campaigning in the trade ads for both ``Shrek'' and ``Monsters, Inc.,'' both of which were positioned as best-picture candidates in addition to their specialty category.

Does being passed over for best picture make the feature animation nod feel like a pat on the head?

``It's really hard to say,'' said Warner, who currently is working on the ``Shrek'' sequel. ``I think the tendency is to try to be really cynical and overanalyze, and I think what we've tried to do is say, you know what? This is great, regardless of anything. This is a fantastic accolade and it's been a fantastic experience for us and that's all we're going to deal with, you know, and just enjoy it.''

Animated features commonly take five years or so, start to finish, so many in that branch already are looking toward future awards.

What's on deck

Hecht noted that while all three nominees this year were computer animated, many of next year's likely contenders - including Nick's ``The Wild Thornberrys,'' DreamWorks' ``Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron'' and Disney's ``Lilo and Stitch'' - are predominantly cel animation.

``Everybody said, 'CGI, wave of the future,' '' he said. ``It's like, 'OK, wave of the past already.' ''

He said animators will chose whichever medium suits the movie, as determined by the characters and the story.

Schumacher is on the academy's shorts branch, now known as the shorts and feature animation branch, and had a hand in writing the rules of the new award, a tricky proposition in a time when the art of animation is evolving so rapidly.

``When I started in this business, it was a lot easier to define an animated movie,'' Schumacher said. ``The big debate (in 1988) would have been is 'Roger Rabbit' an animated movie or not.

``Today, when you look at movies like 'Dinosaur' or 'Cats and Dogs,' I think each time that's the obligation of the branch to decide who qualifies.''

For now, Hecht, Warner and John Lasseter of Pixar must mull over how to acknowledge, in the allotted 45 seconds, the hundreds of people involved in making their films.

Chris Wedge, director of the just-released ``Ice Age,'' is not yet trying to gauge his film's chances in the 2003 ceremonies.

``Whether or not an Oscar's inevitable for your movie is not something you think about until the movie is finished,'' he said. ``I think we look for satisfaction in other ways first. First is just the satisfaction of playing it for ourselves, and then seeing if other people get it and enjoy it.

``The Oscar contest is like a separate event. I guess it's just another form of recognition that's great to have if you can get it.''

Wedge knows firsthand about Oscar recognition, having won the shorts category in 1998. He admits that honor probably feels more significant because it is one of the few ways to draw attention to the project.

``For me personally, the Oscar for 'Bunny' was one of the biggest moments that I'll ever have professionally because 'Bunny' was so completely my own film. We made that film without any ambition for financial gain.''

He refused to say who he's backing in this year's contest. (It's hard to find any insider who wants to go out on that limb because either they've worked for one of the three nominees or hope to some day). But he is applying the same standards he applies in voting for the best-picture category.

``Part of what will make an animated film deserving is, A, the story and, B, the craft,'' Wedge said. ``There is no smoke-filled room where everybody decides everything. The academy members go to the screenings and vote for what they like best. Whether it's something that entertains them more or amuses them, for whatever reason, the film they like the best gets the nod.''

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) OSCAR TOONS UP

Nominees for Best Animated Feature take theeir first-ever walk down the red carpet

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(2) JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS

(3) MONSTERS, INC.

(4) SHREK

(5) Disney's ``Lilo and Stitch,'' due out later this year, may be a contender in 2003.

(6) Chris Wedge, director of ``Ice Age'' (with Rhino and Sid the Sloth), says it's too early to think about next year's Oscars.