Now that "Kung Fu Panda" took down "Zohan" and muscled $60 million from movie-goers, how will it do nabbing Oscar gold?

Well, at least a nomination for best animated feature looks good, according to Edward Douglas of Comingsoon.net, who tells Gold Derby: "This should be DreamWorks' return to the Oscars for the first time since the first 'Shrek.' From what I've seen of 'WALL-E' — three extended clips — it'll be a tight race."

"Wall-E" opens soon: June 27. Early buzz is good and it's got the right studio behind it: Pixar, which has won best animated feature three times over the seven years of the category's existence ("Ratatouille," "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo"). Pixar has lost only twice ("Cars" was surpassed by "Happy Feet" and "Monsters, Inc." got squashed by "Shrek").

"WALL-E" was written and directed by the writer/helmer of "Nemo," Andrew Stanton, who also penned "Toy Story," "Toy Story 2" and "A Bug's Life" before the Oscars created a category just for animated fare.

If this past year's Oscar derby offered any clues about what's around the track ahead, then odds look good for "Waltz With Bashir," which Sony Pictures Classics just optioned at Cannes after having great success with another simply drawn drama about the Mideast that was nominated for best animated feature — "Persepolis." It lost to "Ratatouille," of course. The third nominee was "Surf's Up" from Sony Pictures Animation, which doesn't have an entry for 2008.