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THERE WAS a time not that long ago when our familiarity with the art of animation was either through the classic cinema of Walt Disney, the television cartoons of Hanna Barbera or more esoteric work from Eastern Europe that appeared with regularity on our screens. The notion that we could develop our own animation industry and succeed in having four Oscar nominations in one year probably seemed unimaginable.

Although there may have been some disappointment among the contingent of Irish film-makers who travelled in hope to this year’s Oscars ceremony, their achievement in garnering so many nominations is bound to have a knock-on effect that will be invaluable to the international reputation of a creative industry that has flourished in this State in recent years. The attention that comes with these nominations will open doors for both the Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon who made The Secret of Kells, and Brown Bag Films, the Dublin studio which produced Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beautyand was previously a nominee for its much-acclaimed Give Up Your Auld Sins.