The Disney-Pixar chief and his filmmakers also revealed new footage of their upcoming superhero — or "supernerd" — Oscar hopeful

The 2014 best animated feature Oscar race might well come down to DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Disney's Big Hero 6. Dragon was one of this summer's biggest critical and commercial hits. Hero won't be released until Nov. 7, the first weekend after Halloween. But Disney-Pixar chief John Lasseter, the film's producer Roy Conli and co-directors Don Hall and Chris Williams teased the movie Wednesday by revealing 25 minutes of footage at a gathering of Oscar bloggers at the Disney Animation building in Burbank, a clear indication that Disney intends to give the film a major awards push.

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While asking the journalists present not to divulge any specifics about the film's plot, Lasseter summed up the movie as "a simple story" with real "emotional heart." Hall said of adapting the comic-book series, "We kept the title and we kept the character names, but we basically remade the story." (I'll just say that one should prepare for a lot of "How to Train Your Robot" references, since Big Hero 6 and How to Train Your Dragon both deal with humans bonding with nonhumans in moving ways.) While Frozen may have held a slightly greater appeal for girls than guys, Big Hero 6 probably leans the other way, as did the studio's 2012 Oscar nominee Wreck-It Ralph — but crossover interest is still likely.

Is Big Hero 6 an awards film? It's obviously necessary to see the final film to know for sure, but it's hard to imagine that it won't be, based on the quality of what was shown Wednesday and the fact that virtually every major Disney and Pixar release since the creation of the feature animation Oscar category in 2001 has been. Could it potentially follow in the footsteps of Disney's 1991 film Beauty and the Beast, which, before an animation category existed, became the first animated film to be nominated for the best picture Oscar, followed in subsequent years by Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010)? Could it even win? "My dream is that an animated film will be a best picture, as well," Lasseter said with a smile.

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