A little goes a long way. (viewpoint Film).

It was inevitable, hut it's a surprise to see it happen so soon.

This year, the first year after deciding to award an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences will be asked to determine whether a hybrid film with digital characters working alongside live-action actors qualifies as an animated feature. That film, which will be among those meeting the November 1 deadline for consideration, is Stuart Little 2.

"There are two thresholds for us to cross," says director Rob Minkoff. "It will be interesting to see what happens." (To be considered for a nomination, the film must be approved first by the Executive Committee of the Academy's Short Film and Feature Animation Branch and then by the Academy's Board of Governors.)

If Stuart makes the qualifying list, it will be a breakthrough: It will mark the first time animated characters in an otherwise largely live-action film will be honored as animations rather than as visual effects--and the animators who performed the characters will be honored, by extension, as well.

When I've told people in the industry that Sony is entering Stuart, I've heard a few negative reactions such as: "It doesn't fit on the list with the rest of the animated films." "No way. Stuart Little 2 is a visual effects film, not an animated film." And indeed, Stuart Little the first was nominated for a visual effects Oscar in 2000 along with The Matrix and Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace. But that year there was no Animation Oscar. Now that there is, there's no reason for the second Stuart not to be considered. And there are several reasons why it should.

Let's start with the criteria: "Rule Seven" in the "Special Rules for the Best Animated Film Award" for the 75th Academy Awards states: "An animated feature film is defined as a motion picture of at least 70 minutes in running time with a significant number of the major characters animated, and in which animation figures in no less than 75 percent of the picture's running time."

Stuart Little 2's title character, a mouse, is a fully digital, animated character, as are the characters Margolo (a canary) and the Falcon. The faces of the cats (Snowball and Monty) are animated as well. Thus, Stuart meets the "major characters" criterion. And with digital characters appearing in most shots in the film, it meets the "75 percent" criterion. So it qualifies, as will Ice Age, Lilo & Stitch, Spirit, Spirited Away, Treasure Planet, Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, and probably most of the other films that will be entered. But does it belong? Meeting the letter of the law may not be enough. Films entered in the category do not get an automatic berth on the potential nominees list. As they consider whether to include Stuart Little 2, members of the branch's Executive Committee and the Academy Board of Governors will be aware they're setting a precedent. ...