The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, has announced the nominations for its 40th Annual Annie Awards, recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation.

The nominations for Best Animated Features totals eight this year and include: Brave (Pixar), Frankenweenie (Disney), Hotel Transylvania (Sony Animation), ParaNorman (Laika), The Pirates: Band Of Misfits (Aardman/Sony Animation), The Rabbi’s Cat (Autochenille Production/GKids), Rise Of The Guardians (Dreamworks Animation), Wreck-It Ralph (Disney). The Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement goes to Disney veteran Mark Henn, Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam and independent animator Oscar Grillo; and the June Foray Award for “significant and charitable impact on the art and industry of animation” will be presented to Disney communications VP (and every animation historian’s best-friend) Howard Green.

The 2012 Annie Award winners will be announced at the Annie Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 2nd, 2013, at UCLA’s Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, CA. A pre-reception begins at 5:00 pm with the awards ceremony following at 7:00 pm. A post-show celebration immediately follows the ceremony. For ticket and event information, please visit annieawards.org.