Full length animated feature, The Secret of Kells has been nominated for this year's Academy Award for Best Animated Film. This beautifully drawn and scored little Irish movie didn't gain too much attention upon its cinematic release, what with massive features like Pixar's Up stealing the thunder of the genre for the most part. But its lack of notoriety might change with its surprising Oscar nomination and a well-timed DVD release on March 10th through Madman Entertainment. Word is already getting around with The Secret of Kells taking out the Audience Award at the 2009 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the Audience Award at the 2009 Edinburgh Film Festival and Ireland's Directors Finder Award.

Young first-time co-writer/co-director Tomm Moore was assisted with the screenplay by veteran French screenwriter Fabrice Ziolowski. The story of The Secret of Kells is an especially odd one for an animated film. The refreshingly hand-drawn film is set in ninth century Europe and concerns the adventures of a 12 year-old Irish boy, Brendan (voiced by another first-timer, Evan McGuire), who has an ambition to be a master illuminator. He has more than his obstacles in this quest. His domineering uncle Abbot (voiced by Brendan Gleeson, 28 Days Later, Gangs of New York, Beowulf, the Harry Potter films) and the brute force of the Vikings, interpreted in the film as a powerful army of repressive brutes, attacking the Irish and their culture. Abbot wants to protect his son and the town of Kells from the Vikings, but in doing so ignores his son's artistic endeavours. So begins a beautiful blend of fact and fiction, history and fantasy, that dazzles the eye and catches the imagination - and an animated fillm that appeals to kids and adults alike.

It will be one of the biggest surprises in Academy Awards history if The Secret of Kells takes out the Award for Best Animated Feature of 2009. Indeed, it's up against such high budget and admittedly great competition as Up, Wes Anderson's typically quirky adaptation of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox and Henry Selick's fantastic adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline. But with the velocity with which it's gathering wind in the film-going community, not to mention the buffs, it could surprise even further by taking home the big one. The 82nd Annual Academy Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 7th. The Secret of Kells is released on DVD throughout Australia on March 10th. Coraline is out now on DVD and Blu-ray through Universal Pictures Home Video.