The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards have been announced this morning and, once again, it’s up to the Disney/Pixar champion UP to bring home the gold (statuettes) for The Walt Disney Company.

For top prizes, UP is competing for both Best Animated Film as well as Best Motion Picture of the Year, in the newly expanded category. Other nominated categories include: Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) for which Michael Giacchino has already received numerous awards and accolades for;  Achievement in Sound Editing; and another top category for Original Screenplay.

Another strong contender from Walt Disney Animation Studios is The Princess and the Frog which takes UP head on in the Best Animated Film category as well as being nominated twice in the Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) category with Randy Newman’s Almost There and Down in New Orleans.

Now available for pre-order is this beautiful limited edition deluxe Princess Tiana doll and Blu-ray/DVD combo pack exclusively available from the Disney Store. With its intricate details, this beautifully designed doll magically captures the Bayou wedding scene from Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. The delicately bejeweled floor length veil is capped by her sparkling tiara. The elegance of her rich green, multi-layered dress is highlighted by cascading leaves encrusted with faceted rhinestones, crinkled organza and iridescent satin. Painterly detailed evening gloves, glittery dewdrop earrings and necklace as well as leaf-inspired shoes complete her ensemble. To add a touch of fun, our Princess Tiana doll comes with her ”ready for the kiss” Prince Naveen as a frog!

The 18″ doll is limited to just 5,000 pieces world-wide and is fully poseable and comes complete with a display stand and certificate of authenticity. She is just the second in this exclusive line of Princess doll collectibles, the first being Snow White which quickly sold out and the next being Belle this fall.

As a special offer, pre-order her online through the link below on or before March 15 and you’ll receive a $10 off promo code valid on any future DisneyStore.com purchase through March 29.

Disney’s Princess and the Frog is Available for Pre Order on DVD and Blu Ray at DisneyStore.com! Shop Now for up to $10 Off!

About 55,000 of metal toy necklaces featuring The Princess and the Frog and sold exclusively by Walmart between November 2009 and January 2010 have been voluntarily recalled due to high levels of cadmium which can be toxic if ingested by children.

The necklaces, manufactured in China, are produced by FAF, Inc. of Greenville, R.I. and sold for about $5 each.

Parents who purchased these items are advised to take them away immediately from children and return them to Walmart for either a full refund or a replacement product.

No incidents related to this product have been reported at this time.

For additional information, contact F.A.F. Inc. at (800) 949-3311 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday  or visit the firm’s web site at www.faf.com

From the creators of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Aladdin comes the modern-day classic fairy tale The Princess and the Frog. Discover what really happened after the princess kissed the frog in an inspired twist on the world’s most famous kiss. This hilarious adventure leaps off the screen with stunning animation, irresistible music and an unforgettable cast of characters.

Enter Princess Tiana’s world of talking frogs, singing alligators and lovesick fireflies as she embarks on an incredible journey through the mystical bayous of Louisiana. Spurred on by a little bit of courage and a great big dream, these new friends come to realize what’s truly important in life . . . love, family and friendship.

Overflowing with humor and heart, The Princess And The Frog is an incredible motion picture experience your whole family will want to enjoy again and again! Made in U.S.A. Rated G. Available to own March 16, 2010 and is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com.

Click here to see a list of bonus features found on the Blu-ray and DVD editions

Originally considered as a nominee for an Oscar in the category of Best Original Score, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has determined that The Princess and the Frog fails to meet eligibility requirements.

Citing Rule 16, Section II, Paragraph E, the Academy’s Music Branch Executive Committee decided that the film’s soundtrack satisfies the following element, making it ineligible:

‘…scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.’

The Academy advises it has instructed the tabulators at PricewaterhouseCoopers to disregard any votes cast The Princess and the Frog in this specific category. The movie remains eligible in all other categories for which it qualified.

Even before the show set sail back in November, Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee was causing waves of excitement at the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts. With the show advertised to end on January 3, many were disappointed but then turned optimistic when the official site began listing the show as continuing beyond the expected final date.

While we are sad to report that the show is in fact ending today (and is explicitly listed as being performed only today on the Magic Kingdom’s Times Guide for this week), we thought we’d offer some hope of our own for those who missed the opportunity to see the moving spectacle.

Although au revoir is French for goodbye, its [roughly] literal translation is ‘until we see each other again’ and we have been privy to some information indicating that the show may in fact be returning, at least temporarily, most likely for the summer season. We can confirm that the Resort is actively auditioning for the roles for the show including Dr. Facilier who traditionally has only appeared for the show itself as opposed to meet and greets.

Some have asked us about how the existing meet & greets with Tiana and Naveen will be affected by the show ending and we are pleased to say that for the most part, they will not be affected at all. Tiana and Naveen will continue to meet with guests in Liberty Square (behind Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe) for the time being.

D23 members now have the ability to purchase a limited edition giclee from The Princess and the Frog from DisneyStore.com for $164.95. Printed on elegant velvet fine art paper, the 11″ x 17″ print is limited to an edition of 200 but only the first 100 sold will be signed by film directors John Musker and Ron Clements.

Also now available to D23 members is a giclee of pre-production art from TRON Legacy titled ‘Attack on the MCP.’ The 13″ x 19″ print on watercolor paper, which has a limited edition of 82, was a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive.

Not too long ago, Walt Disney Animation Studios released (domestically) the Japanese trailer of The Princess and the Frog on the internet. Cranking the coolness factor up to just a tad past 11, a new mash-up (and slightly extended) version of the trailer is now available which features meshes the trailer together in Russian, Spanish, German, French, Hebrew, Italian, Greek, Icelandic and Ukranian in addition to Japanese and English. How does one say bravo in Italian?

Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Tiana in The Princess and the Frog, will be available to meet and greet guests tomorrow afternoon from 1:30 – 2:30 PM at Heritage Manor at the American Adventure in Epcot’s World Showcase in Walt Disney World. She is currently acting as official celebrity narrator for the Candlelight Processional with tomorrow being her last evening.

She will be signing merchandise purchased at the event only, limit two per guest.

BURBANK, Calif., Dec. 1  — The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced nominations today for its 37th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best animated features, television productions, commercials, short subjects and outstanding individual achievements in the field of animation. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “The Princess and the Frog” received eight nominations, including Best Animated Feature and individual nominations for animated effects, character animation, production design and voice acting, while its “Prep and Landing” received nine nominations including Best Animated Television Production and individual nominations for character animation, character design, music, production design, storyboarding and writing.

DreamWorks Animation received 11 nominations, including Best Animated Television Production for “Merry Madagascar.” Laika received a total of 10 nominations including Best Animated Feature “Coraline” and Pixar Animation Studios received a total of nine nominations including Best Animated Feature “Up.” Completing the list of Best Animated Features nominated are: “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” Sony Pictures Animation, “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” 20th Century Fox and “The Secret of Kells,” Cartoon Saloon.

Nickelodeon leads the field in television with 12 nominations, including three for Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children: “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “The Mighty B!,” and “The Penguins of Madagascar.” Completing the nominations in this category are Disney Television’s “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and Cartoon Network Studio’s “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.” Nominees for the Best Animated Television Production are “Glenn Martin, DDS,” Torante, Cuppa Coffee Studios & Rogers Communications, “Merry Madagascar,” DreamWorks Animation, “Prep and Landing,” ABC Family/Walt Disney Animation Studios, and “The Simpsons,” Gracie Films.

Winners will be announced at the 37th Annual Annie Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at UCLA’s Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, CA. For a complete listing of Annie Award nominations and event information, please go to www.annieawards.org.

Special juried awards honoring career achievement and exceptional contributions to animation will also be awarded: Winsor McCay award – Tim Burton, Bruce Timm and Jeffrey Katzenberg for career contributions to the art of animation; June Foray award – Tom Sito for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation; Ub Iwerks award – William T. Reeves for the development of particle systems for computer animation; Special Achievement Annie award – Martin Meunier and Brian McLean for the development and use of the Rapid Prototyping (RP) process for stop motion animation; and Certificate of Merit award – Myles Mikulic, Danny Young and Michael Woodside for their service to the art, craft and industry of animation