The longlist of films eligible for the 2012 Best Animated Short Oscar was announced earlier this month by The Academy - and in among the 45 shorts that will eventually be whittled down to a handful of nominees (via a shortlist), I'm delighted to see that The Monster of Nix has made it. Along with, bizarrely, two different films about hamsters.

The Monster of Nix turned up at the 2011 London Film Festival in one of the International Animation Panoramas. It's got Terry Gilliam and Tom Waits both on vocals. And it really is quite staggeringly unique, both in terms of visuals and story. It stuck with me for weeks afterwards. Here's the first trailer:

And here's the main song from the Monster of Nix soundtrack, Lost in the Woods:

Can you name another film that includes the sentence "What good is a rolling nudist giant"? I'll be seriously rooting for this one next year (even over Pixar's effort) - presuming it makes it through to the next stage.

Read on for a full list of all 45 nominees (warning: contains The Smurfs) - or check out our Monster of Nix review instead. 

A Morning Stroll by Grant Orchard (Studio AKA)

A Shadow of Blue by Carlos Lascano Birdboy by Alberto Vasquez (Abrikim Studio)

Chopin’s Drawings by Dorota Kobiela (BreakThru Films)

Poland Correspondence by Zach Hyer (Pratt)

Daisy Cutter by Enrique Garcia and Rubin Salazar (Silverspace)

Dimanche / Sunday by Patrick Doyon (NFB)

El Salon Mexico by Paul Glickman and Tamarind King Enrique Wrecks the World by David Chai Ente Tod Und Tulipe (Duck Death and the Tulip) by Matthias Bruhn (Richard Lutterbeck – Trickstudio)

Fat Hamster by Adam Wyrwas (BreakThru Films)

Poland Grandpa Looked Like William Powell by David B. Levy

Hamster Heaven by Paul Bolger (BreakThru Films) Poland

I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat by Matt O’Callaghan (Warner Bros.)

I Was the Child of Holocaust Survivors by Anne Marie Fleming (NFB)

Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest by Kevin Sean Michaels USA

Kahanikar by Nandita Jain (National Film and Television School) England

La Luna by Enrico Casarosa (Pixar)

Little Postman by Dorota Kobiela (BreakThru Films) Poland

Luminaris by Juan Pablo Zaramella (JPZaramella Studios)

Luna by Donna Brockopp (Rainmaker) Canada

Maska by Timothy and Stephen Quay (Sem-ma-for) Poland

Muybridge’s Strings by Koji Yamamura My Hometown by Jerry Levitan, Written and Narrated by Yoko Ono (Eggplant)

Night Island by Salvador Maldonado (BreakThru Films) Poland

Nullarbor by Alister Lockhart Papa’s Boy by Leevi Lemmetty (BreakThru Films) Poland

Paths of Hate by Damien Nenow (Platige Image) Poland

Romance by George Schwizgebel (NFB & Studio GDS)

Specky Four-Eyes by Jean Claude Rozec (Vivement Lundi)

Spirits of the Piano by Magdalena Osinska (BreakThru Films) Poland

Thank You by Pen Ward and Thomas Herpich (Cartoon Network/Frederator)

The Ballad of Nessie by Stevie Wermers (Walt Disney Studios)

The External World by David O’ Reilly

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg (Moonbot Studios)

The Gloaming by Nobrain (Autour De Minuit) France

The Lost Town of Switez by Kamil Polak (Human Ark) Poland

The Magic Piano by Martin Clapp (BreakThru Films) Poland

The Monster of Nix by Rosto

The Renter by Jason Carpenter (CalArts)

The Smurf’s A Christmas Carol by Troy Quane (Sony Pictures Animation)

The Tannery by Iain Gardner

The Vermeers by Tal S. Shamir Vincenta by Samuel Orti

Marti Wild Life by Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby (NFB)

(Massive tip of the hat to Cartoon Brew.)