John C. Reilly hosts Oscars animation affair

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — John C. Reilly hosted an event honoring the animated feature Oscar nominees at the motion picture academy headquarters on Friday evening.

"Frozen" is up against "The Croods," ''Despicable Me 2" ''Ernest and Celestine" and "The Wind Rises."

The academy cast its final ballots at the top of the week and Disney's "Frozen" is said to be the favorite in the animation category.

Earning over $980 million worldwide, "Frozen" is the highest grossing original animated release ever and marks the first time a female, Jennifer Lee, has co-directed one of the studios features. Co-director Chris Buck admitted the story line was going down the "evil queen road" until Lee came on board.

"The Croods" also shifted from the original vision of the film, which was going to be stop-motion.