The Oscar 2016 nominations revealed

The 2016 Oscar nominees are in and it’s good news for Sean The Sheep Movie.

Yep, we bet that's not a line you expected to see when looking for the shortlist for the 88th Academy Awards, broadcast around the world on 27 Feb. But yes, Sean the Sheep is up for Best Animated Film, where it'll likely lose to Pixar's Inside Out, but a valiant effort. Though it's also far from the only good news concerning British and Irish hopes.

First up: Saoirse Ronan.

The Irish star has been nominated for Best Actress for her turn in sweeping drama Brooklyn, which puts her in competition against Charlotte Rampling (45 Years), an English actress you may know best from Broadchurch. Having been subbed in the BAFTA nominations, Rampling is something of a surprise package to a group which also contains seasoned heavyweights such as Cate Blanchett, Brie Larson and of course J-Law.

Over in the Best Actor pile, and hoping to make it two wins on the bounce, is last year’s victor Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), who features alongside Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martian) and odds on favourite Leonardo DiCaprio, last seen being mauled by a bear in The Revenant.

Speaking of which…

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu sprawling, frontier-time bloodbath leads overall with 12 nominations, narrowly trumping George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road; both films, of course, linked by Tom Hardy, who picks up a Best Supporting role for his work in The Revenant.

One of those Hardy will be tussling it out with is fellow Brit Christian Bale (The Big Short) and perhaps most interestingly of all, Sylvester Stallone (Creed), nominated for the first time since 1977, when he played the exact same character. Now that would be some underdog story.

Other notable mentions include Kate Winslet, nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs, Dublin filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson, who picks up Best Director and Best Picture nominations for Room, Asif Kapadia’s Amy gets a nod for Best Documentary, and finally there's good news for Sam Smith, who picks up his first ever Oscar nomination for the much-maligned track for Spectre, The Writing's On The Wall (it really wasn't).

Check out the rest of the 88th Academy Award nominations below.

BEST PICTURE

The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

DIRECTING

Adam McKay, The Big Short 
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Tom Mccarthy, Spotlight

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Embrace of the Serpent
Mustang
Son of Saul
Theeb
A War

ORIGINAL SCORE

Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

ORIGINAL SONG

“Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Grey
“Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction 
“Simple Song #3,” Youth
“Til It Happens To You,” The Hunting Ground
“Writing’s On The Wall,” Spectre

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay’s Super Team
We Can’t Live without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room

VISUAL EFFECTS

Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

SOUND MIXING

Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

SOUND EDITING

Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There