Published Thursday, 03 December 2009
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty will be up against features from some of the world's best known studios for a coveted Academy Award.
Director Nicky Phelan, of Dublin's Brown Bag Films, said it was thrill to see their production alongside films by Wallace and Gromit makers Aardman Animations and the Disney-owned Pixar, world-renowned for Toy Story and Finding Nemo.
"It's great, it's very flattering to see Granny on the list with the amazing work that's on it," he said.
"It's great that people get Granny and get a kick out of her."
The 29-year-old from Stradbally, in Co Waterford, said the film started out as comedy sketch by his friend Kathleen O'Rourke, who performed as as part of the Fallen Angels troupe in the travelling venue Spiegeltent.
The six-minute computer animation features Ireland's bitterest grandmother - Granny O'Grimm, 74, of Ballymulch - as she tells the tale of Sleeping Beauty to her small grand-daughter.
Oscar judges selected it as part of a shortlist of ten for the Best Animated Short Film category, five of which will be nominated for an Academy Award in February.
Pixar's Partly Cloudy and A matter of Loaf and Death by Aardman Animations have also been shortlisted.
Granny O'Grimm has already scooped a clutch of awards, including at the Palm Springs Short Film Festival, the Galway Film Fleadh, the Newport Beach Film Festival and Australia's Heart of Gold Film Festival.
The film is already being lined up for cinema release in the new year and will be broadcast on RTE television, while Brown Bag are also working on a series.