Oscar Buzz: ‘The Tale Of Princess Kaguya’ Gets Theatrical Release In Time For Oscars, Can Director Isao Takahata Repeat Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Spirited Away’ Best Animated Feature Win?

At the 75th Annual Academy Awards, Cameron Diaz accepted an Oscar on behalf of this year's Governors' Award recipient, Hayao Miyazaki. The director had just won Best Animated Feature, a category that has been dominated the past few years by Disney and Pixar. This year another Japanese animated film will get the chance to win the golden statue as "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" has just secured a theatrical release in time for the 2015 Oscar cutoff date. But what are the chances that Isao Takahata can repeat Hayao Miyazaki's win for "Spirited Away?"

Isao Takahata spoke to Animerica Magazine around the time that his critically acclaimed animated film, "Grave of the Fireflies," was being released. "There are many difficulties in making a story into a movie, but one of them is whether the original book's narrative can be used effectively on-screen," Takahata said.

It would appear that Takahata faced those difficulties in addition to all new ones as his latest film, "The Tale of Princess Kaguya," took over eight years to make, according to Crunchyroll. The film has thankfully finished just in time to gain a theatrical run in the U.S. to be in contention for the upcoming Oscars. But what is the likelihood that the hand drawn animated film can secure a win for Best Animated Feature?

Although "Spirited Away" has paved the way for the possibility of a win for Takahata, his film will have to face off against current frontrunner, "The LEGO Movie," which is currently bolstered by both critical support and a cult fan following. Indiewire currently believes "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" could at least be a dark horse into the short list of nominees for Best Animated Feature.

Whether or not the film will actually win the Oscar, it is already getting good reviews from those critics who have seen the Japanese language version. Perhaps it will continue to be on the minds of the Academy after it's English language theatrical release in the U.S. on October 17th.