LOS ANGELES -- This year, the five Oscar nominees in contention for the best animated feature award celebrate the gamut of animated styles.
From the painstakingly intricate work of stop motion, to the hand drawn beauty of traditional sketches, the people who make the colorfully creative animated movies thrive on the fact that variety is the spice of their lives.
"It's been an amazing year for animation. And I'm so proud that there's really a contender in every type of category. There's stop motion, there's traditional animation, there's CG animation, all represented, and it's just great for our industry," said Bonnie Arnold, producer of "How to Train Your Dragon 2."
Don Hall, who co-directed "Big Hero 6," agrees.
"In hand drawn animation, like Tom Moore's film from Ireland, as well as stop motion like 'Boxtrolls,' and then CG animation like us, it's just a really great time to be working in animation," Hall said.
Hall's directing partner, Chris Williams, reflected on how far the industry has come since he graduated from animation school and the only big film made was "The Little Mermaid."
"I think you're seeing all of the studios taking on really difficult, challenging subject matter and there's a growing maturity in the industry," Williams said. "We're so proud to be part of it and proud to be amongst the nominees because they're all such great films and so wildly different."
"Everybody took risks this year," said Dean Deblois, "How to Train Your Dragon 2" director. "I thought that a lot of the storytelling that's represented is quite daring, and I think in that sense every one of our fellow nominees has sort of explored territory that normally exists in some unconventional wisdom, so I think that I love being a part of that group."
Find out which nominee takes home Oscar gold when the awards show airs Feb. 22 on ABC.