It was Universal’s “Despicable Me 2” leading the way today with 11 nominations for the 41st annual Annie Awards. But Disney’s “Frozen” – not far behind with 10 mentions – received nominations for Best Animated Feature, Best Direction and Best Writing. It’s sure to dominate the scene this season en route to a likely Best Animated Feature Film Oscar win.

(Worth noting: two of those “Despicable Me 2” nods were for TV and shorts material, but nevertheless, the brand got the most notices.)

Pixar’s “Monsters University” also received 10 nods, while DreamWorks’ “The Croods” landed nine. Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Wind Rises” picked up three. Those five films, it would seem, are in the best position to land Oscar nominations in January, but indie distributor GKIDS had a decent showing today. Both “Ernest & Celestine” and “A Letter to Momo” were nominated for Best Animated Feature (the latter being its only nomination, the former picking up six nominations total including the same major trifecta “Frozen” scored). If there is any wiggle room, “Ernest” could still figure in, but it will be interesting to see how the new process of opening up the voting to a larger cross-section due to the distribution of screeners will impact things.

Blue Sky/Fox’s “Epic” only netted five nominations and failed to pop up in the Best Animated Feature field, but it’s definitely still a contender, too. “Turbo” had one more than that, but…

In the organization’s lone live action category – Animated Effects in a Live Action Production – “Man of Steel,” “Pacific Rim” and “Star Trek Into Darkness” (x2) picked up nominations.

It’s been a typical note this year that 2013 has been a weak year for animated films. But within even the most underwhelming of overall features can be found specific triumphs in craft work, character design, animated effects, etc. And the Annie list reminds us of that.

Check out the full list of nominees below.

The 41st annual Annie Awards will be held on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014.

PRODUCTION AWARDS

Best Animated Feature
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Frozen”
“A Letter to Momo”
“Monsters University”
“The Wind Rises”

Best Animated Special Production
“Chipotle Scarecrow”
“Listening Is an Act of Love”
“Room on the Broom”
“Toy Story OF TERROR!”

Best Animated Short Subject
“Despicable Me 2 – Puppy”
“Get A Horse!”
“Gloria Victoria”
“My Mom is an Airplane”
“The Numberlys”

Best Animated TV/Broadcast Commercial
“Despicable Me 2 – Cinemark”
“The Polar Bears Movie”
“Sound of the Woods”

Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children
“Bubble Guppies”
“Disney Sofia the First”
“Doc McStuffins”
“Justin Time”
“Peter Rabbit”

Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Children”s Audience
“Adventure Time”
“Beware the Batman”
“Disney Gravity Falls”
“Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness”
“The Legend of Korra”
“Regular Show”
“Scaredy Squirrel”
“Teen Titans Go!”

Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production
“Archer”
“Bob”s Burgers”
“Disney Tron Uprising”
“Futurama”
“Motorcity”

Best Animated Video Game
“Diggs Nightcrawler”
“The Last of Us”
“Tiny Thief”

Best Student Film
“Chicken or the Egg”
“The Final Straw”
“Kellerkind”
“Miss Todd”
“Move Mountain”
“SEMÕFORO”
“Trusts & Estates”
“Wedding Cake”

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Animated Effects in an Animated Production
“The Croods”
“Epic”
“Dragons: Defenders of Berk”
“Monsters University”
“Turbo”

Animated Effects in a Live Action Production
“Man Of Steel”
“Pacific Rim”
“Star Trek: Into Darkness”
“Star Trek: Into Darkness”

Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
“Friendship All-Stars of Friendship: Wrong Number”
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”
“Toy Story OF TERROR! “
“Toy Story OF TERROR! “
“Toy Story OF TERROR! “
“Ubermansion”

Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Epic”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University”
“The Wind Rises”

Character Animation in a Live Action Production
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” – Gollum
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” – Goblin King
“Pacific Rim”

Character Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
“The Awesomes”
“Disney Mickey Mouse”
“Disney Wander Over Yonder”
“Regular Show”
“Steven Universe”

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
“Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2”
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University”
“A Monster in Paris”
“Turbo”

Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
“Disney Gravity Falls”
“Disney Mickey Mouse”
“Dragons: Defenders of Berk”
“Justin Time”
“The Legend of Korra”
“The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow”
“Toy Story OF TERROR!”

Directing in an Animated Feature Production
“The Croods”
“Epic”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Frozen”
“Turbo”

Music in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
“Disney Mickey Mouse”
“Disney Sofia the First”
“Disney Wander Over Yonder”
“Estefan”
“Peter Rabbit”
“T.U.F.F. Puppy”

Music in an Animated Feature Production
“Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2” (Mark Mothersbaugh)
“The Croods” (Alan Silvestri)
“Despicable Me 2” (Hector Pereira, Pharrell Williams)
“Epic” (Danny Elfman)
“Free Birds” (Dominc Lewis)
“Frozen” (Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Christophe Beck)
“Monsters University” (Randy Newman)
“Turbo” (Henry Jackman)

Production Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
“Adventure Time”
“The Legend of Korra”
“The Simpsons” – “Treehouse of Horror XXIV”
“Steven Universe” – “Gem Glow”
“Transformers Prime ‘Beast Hunters””
“The Venture Bros.” – “What Color is Your Cleansuit?”

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Epic”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University”

Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
“Archer”
“Disney Mickey Mouse”
“Dragons: Riders of Berk”
“Gravity Falls”
“Justin Time”
“Monsters vs. Aliens”
“The Simpsons” – “Treehouse of Horror XXIV”
“Toy Story of TERROR!”

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University”
“Planes”

Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
“Fairly Odd Parents” (Eric Bauza)
“Disney Mickey Mouse” (Bill Farmer)
“Disney Mickey Mouse” (Chris Diamantopoulos)
“Regular Show” (Mark Hamill)
“Adventure Time” (Tom Kenny)

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
“Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2” (Terry Crews)
“Despicable Me 2” (Kristen Wiig)
“Despicable Me 2” (Steve Carell)
“Despicable Me 2” (Pierre Coffin)
“Frozen” (Josh Gad)
“Monsters University” (Billy Crystal)
“Turbo” (Paul Giamatti)

Writing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
“Futurama”
“Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness”
“Regular Show”
“The Simpsons”
“The Simpsons”

Writing in an Animated Feature Production
“Frozen”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Monsters University”
“The Wind Rises”

Editorial in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production
“Adventure Time”
“Disney Mickey Mouse”
“Dragons: Defenders of Berk”
“Futurama”
“Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness”
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
“Toy Story OF TERROR!”

Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
“The Croods”
“Turbo”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Monsters University”
“Frozen”

JURIED AWARDS

Winsor McCay Award
Katsuhiro Otomo, Steven Spielberg & Phil Tippett

June Foray Award
Alice Davis

Certificate of Merit
“I Know That Voice” (Documentary)