With the New Year swiftly approaching, awards season is kicking into gear; Disney recently began a for-your-consideration campaign for Brave, and now the film has received its first award nominations at the 40th annual Annie Awards.

The International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood) revealed the nominations earlier this week; Pixar’s latest animated feature is nominated in eight categories, according to the Pixar Planet blog, including three separate nominations in Character Animation in a Feature Production, bringing it to a total of ten nominations:

Best Animated Feature
Brave – Pixar Animation Studios

Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Bill Watral, Chris Chapman, Dave Hale, Keith Klohn, Michael K. O’Briwn – Brave – Pixar Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Feature Production
Dan Nguyen – Brave - Pixar Animation Studios
Jaime Landes – Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Travis Hathaway – Brave – Pixar Animation Studios

Music in an Animated Feature Production
Patrick Doyle, Mark Andrews, Alex Mandel – Brave – Pixar Animation Studios

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Steve Pilcher – Brave – Pixar Animation Studios

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Kelly MacDonald as Merida – Brave - Pixar Animation Studios

Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, Irene Mecchi – Brave – Pixar Animation Studios

Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
Nicholas A. Smith, ACE, Robert Graham Jones, ACE, David Suther – Brave – Pixar Animation Studios

La Luna was nominated for Best Animated Short Subject last year, hence its absence from the list – Partysaurus Rex, however, did not receive a nomination.

Winners will be announced at the 40th Annual Annie Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 2, 2013 at UCLA’s Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, CA.