In the past few months, Tilby and Forbis have also picked up the Genie award--the Canadian equivalent of the Oscar--and a prize at the Annecy Festival in France.

Watching the film was "one of those things that you actually thought about for the rest of the day," said Claudia Santillan '00. Tilby showed the film to her animation students in class showings that also included several of this year's other nominees.

"It's a charming film in that it combines some very sophisticated themes packaged in a musical form," said Anouck Iyer, Tilby's teaching fellow in both of her animation courses. "It's light, even slightly silly, yet based on themes that any urban dweller, especially, can really relate to."

Tilby and Forbis drew the animation over video prints to give the characters a foundation in live motion and included two songs performed by Canadian pop-folk vocalists.

The pair met in 1985 as students at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver. Tilby conceived of the film and invited Forbis to join her in Montreal to create it.

This will be Tilby's second invitation to the Oscars. She received a nomination for her film Strings in 1992.

"It was quite an adventure, very nerve-wracking. You can't completely relax," she said. "This year should be fun because a number of my friends from Montreal are going down as well--two in the animation category."