The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the shortlist for animated films that will compete for the five spots in the Best Animated Film category at the Oscars.

This year 16 animated features were submitted for the 2015 Oscar race but not all these films have been screened in L.A. to qualify for the Oscars. Among the films that have already screened and which will be released on time for the Oscars are "Anomalisa," "The Good Dinosaur," "Home," "Hotel Transylvania 2" and "Inside Out."

Other films that were submitted include "Minions," "The Peanuts Movie," "Shaun the Sheep Movie," and "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water."

However, seven films that were submitted are mostly unknown and have not screened in the U.S. The films include "The Boy and the Beast," "Boy and the World," "Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet," "The Laws of the Universe - Part 0," "Moomins on the Riviera," "Regular Show: The Movie" and "When Marnie Was There." These films will have to fulfill the Los Angeles qualifying run and must fulfill that requirement and comply with all other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process. The movies must open by Dec. 31 of this year.

Among the films that are front-runners in the category are "Inside Out," which obtained a huge box office gross in the summer and "Anamolisa," which was the breakout festival film. "The Good Dinosaur" is likely to be a big contender if reviews are great and if it scores a huge box office this holiday season.

The past animated winners have been from Disney and include "Big Hero 6," the box office hit "Frozen" and "Brave." The last time that Disney did not win the award was in 2012 when "Rango" took the prize.

The Best Animated Nominees will be announced alongside all other Oscar nominees on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016.

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