Maggie Simpson: Little, yellow, Oscar nominee

Congratulations to Maggie Simpson: The youngest member of the "Simpsons" family is competing for an Oscar this winter. Really. The summer 2012 short "The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare" has been nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Short Film (Animated).

David Silverman, director of "The Simpsons Movie," who is already the winner of several Emmys as a producer on the "Simpsons" series, directed the four-minute short, which finds Maggie being tossed into the "Nothing Special" section when mama Marge drops her off at the Ayn Rand School for Tots.

[Related: See the full list of Oscar nominees]

Maggie's classmates in the room, where a bunny poster warns "You Have No Future!," are a kiddie who's gotten his face planted in a jar of paste (though, in his defense, he does offer to share it with her) and Maggie's nemesis (and future husband), Gerald Samson, a unibrowed mean boy who smashes butterflies.

That's especially troubling to Maggie, whose only friend in the school is a caterpillar that's about to blossom.

Clever imagery -- and a very clever trick by Maggie that proves she definitely didn't belong in the Nothing Special room -- provides a sweet ending to the clip, which was attached to prints of "Ice Age: Continental Drift" in movie theaters in July.

[Related: Catch up on the latest Oscars news from Yahoo! Movies]

The short, which earned the first Oscar nomination for the "Simpsons" franchise, made its TV debut during the Feb. 17 episode of "The Simpsons."

Silverman talks about the short: 

"The Simpsons" airs Sunday nights at 8 PM on Fox.