After snubs by the Golden Globes, the Broadcast Film Critics awards, and the BAFTAs (the British version of the Oscars), "Kung Fu Panda 2" has received an Oscar nomination.
It's not a complete shock for the animal comedy to get a nod in the Best Animated feature category.
After all, the first "Kung Fu Panda" was an Oscar nominee as well. Sure, it lost out to Pixar's "Wall-E", but now that Pixar is out of the race for the first time in six years, it might be easier to best nominees like "Rango" and "Puss in Boots."
Box office results may have also helped. The film raked in $666 million -- more money than big-budget action adventures like "X-Men: First Class", "Super 8" and "Green Lantern".
It was a smash with critics as well. The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern said, "Hardly a scene goes by that isn't visually striking or kinetically thrilling."
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