According to the Anime News Network, Funimation Productions has confirmed that Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, a reboot of animator Hideaki Anno’s giant robot anime, has been disqualified from competition for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

The reason given by Funimation for the disqualification is that Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone was released in Japan on September 1, 2007, prior to the January 1, 2008 start of the foreign films nominations cycle for 2009-2010, as stated in the third section of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ rules and regulations.

With the the disqualification of Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, only fifteen animated films are eligible for Best Animated Feature in 2009-2010 as reported by the Los Angeles Times’ “Golden Derby” blog. This means that there will only be three nominations for Best Animated Film in 2010.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo is still eligible for 2009-2010, having been released in Japan on July 19, 2008-well within the 2009-2010 time frame as defined in the AMPAS rules linked to above.

UPDATE: Following the original publication of this article, ToonZone.net reported that The Missing Lynx: Paws on the Run
(which opened in Spain on December 25, 2008) is in the midst of a qualifying run in Los Angeles, per the Los Angeles Times‘ “Golden Derby” blog.

According to the LA Times, a screening committee score of 7.5 or above will qualify The Missing Lynx for Oscar consideration and expanding the Best Animated Feature category from three nominations to 5.