It may be a rare year that will see five nominations in the Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars, but Indie Wire is already predicting that it will essentially be a battle between two movies: The critically acclaimed Rango from earlier this year, and Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin. The only thing that could possibly stand in its way of being a frontrunner, though, is its use of motion capture animation, which has drawn controversy from the Academy in the past. Andy Serkis, who plays Tintin’s buddy Captain Haddock in the film, is quick to defend the form of animation, saying that “You’re still playing the truth of the character, whether it’s rendered finally as a more animated visual style or photoreal. If you’re saying Tintin isn’t animation, then what does that say about voice actors that come along and stand in a booth for a few hours and deliver lines?” So far, Tintin has been getting some truly enthusiastic reviews–with some even claiming that it’s Spielberg’s best film in a long time–, and is already a huge hit overseas. It hits US theaters this Christmas.