How far has animation come in only a few years? It used to be that (somewhat) self-respecting adults who wanted a break from looking at real people all the time got one of three things: Bart Simpson, Peter Griffin, or Eric Cartman. But this year’s box office has been swept by animation. From the tear-jerking first five minutes of Disney-Pixar’s “Up,” we were hooked.

The Academy Awards will now have to consider a record 20 animated films and pick five to be nominated for the category of “Best Animated Feature Film.” Contenders may include “Up,” “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Ponyo,” and “Coraline.”

Still, if you thought Wes Anderson’s wierdly indie “Fantastic Mr. Fox” was a stretch, think again. Eddie Murphy will star in an R-rated flick called “The Misadventures of Fluffy.” He’ll be walking across the state of New York with his animated woodland friends. Think Harold & Kumar meets Cinderella’s friends … gone horribly wrong.

Something tells me Murphy won’t be thanking the Academy for this one.