Award season is in full-swing, and today the nominations for the 38th Annual Annie Awards were announced. Headed by the International Animated Film Society, the Annies’s recognize the best in the field of animation including best animated feature, television production, commercials, short subjects, video games and outstanding individual achievements. "This has been an unprecedented year for animation, as the high quality of work represented by our nominees will attest," says ASIFA-Hollywood President Antran Manoogian. "On behalf of ASIFA-Hollywood, we congratulate all of the nominees and their respective studios." The Annie’s are usually a fairly good predictor of Oscar gold, with the winner of the Annie for Best Animated Feature matching the winner of the Oscar for the same category 6 of the 9 years the Annie’s have been in existence.  Winners will be announced at the 38th Annual Annie Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 5, 2011. Hit the jump for the list of nominees, as well as the special honorees for this year’s ceremony.

Best Animated Feature

Despicable Me (Illumination Entertainment)

How to Train Your Dragon (DreamWorks Animation)

Tangled (Disney)

The Illusionist (Django Films)

Toy Story 3 (Disney/Pixar)

Best Short Subject

Coyote Falls (Warner Bros. Animation)

Day & Night (Pixar)

Enrique Wrecks the World (House of Chai)

The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger (Plymptoons Studio)

The Renter (Jason Carpenter)

Best Animated Television Production

Futurama (The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox)

Kung Fu Panda Holiday (DreamWorks Animation)

Scared Shrekless (DreamWorks Animation)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Lucasfilm Animation, Ltd.)

The Simpsons (Gracie Films)

Best Animated Television Production for Children

SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)

Fanboy & Chum Chum (Nickelodeon)

Adventure Time (Cartoon Network)

Regular Show (Cartoon Network)

Cloudbread (GIMC)

Special juried awards honoring career achievement and exceptional contributions to animation will also be awarded as follows:

Winsor McCay Award

Brad Bird

Eric Goldberg and Matt Groening for career contributions to the art of animation

June Foray Award

Ross Iwamoto for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation

Ub Iwerks Award

Autodesk for the development of digital entertainment creation tools that play an essential role in animated productions, films, video games and commercials worldwide

Special Achievement Annie Award

Waking Sleeping Beauty for the documentary about the turbulent and fruitful years of Disney Animation (1984-1994) when the studio went from outworn anachronism to Hollywood juggernaut, creating a string of influential films and ushering in a 'second golden age' of animation

For a complete list of nominees in all categories head to www.annieawards.org.