Morgan Freeman received his fifth Oscar nomination -- he won once before for "Million Dollar Baby" -- for stepping into the shoes of Nelson Mandela in "Invictus." "I'd like to thank the Academy for this honor," he said in a statement. "Congratulations to Matt Damon on his nomination. I'm especially grateful to Clint Eastwood, 'Invictus' producer Lori McCreary, and the entire cast and crew of 'Invictus.' Most importantly, thank you to Nelson Mandela for his encouragement, his blessing and his friendship -- without which, this film would not have been possible."

First-time nominee Vera Farmiga, nominated for best supporting actress for "Up in the Air," was chilling at her upstate New York home with her family when she heard the news. But her 1-year-old son Fynn's shenanigans caused some obstacles. "He's incredibly mischievous," Farmiga said. "He loves electronics. He was fussing with my cell phone and the home phone and the television remote at the same time, and he kept switching the programs so we nearly missed the announcement, which just added to the drama." Given how "nuts" the awards season has been for the entire "Up in the Air" crew, Farmiga plans to stay away from the fray for a few more weeks. "My husband's chopped enough wood to keep us going until I have to hop on that plane back to L.A.," she said. "I think we're just going to chill in front of a very warm wood-burning stove and celebrate very quietly." Just the same, Farmiga is looking forward to being at the big show with her acting and directing crew. "It's been nice to hold George's and Anna's and Jason's hands through it all," she said. "It's been a great trip so far, and it's just nice to have been able to have that acknowledgment as a team. It makes playing quarters at the ceremony much more fun."

Helen Mirren was happy that both she and her co-star Christopher Plummer were nominated for playing Mr. and Mrs. Leo Tolstoy in "The Last Station." A best actress winner for 2006's "The Queen," Mirren said in a statement: "I'm very happy and honored for Christopher, myself and our film. I think Tolstoy himself would have been perplexed by all this, but Sofya, his wife, would have been over the moon. So in that spirit, I am too."

With Pixar's "Up" collecting five noms and Disney Animation's "The Princess and the Frog" accounting for three more, John Lasseter, chief creative officer at both Disney and Pixar, had a lot to keep track of. "This is a great moment for all of us in the animation community, and we're all so incredibly proud that 'Up' has been nominated by the Academy in three key categories, especially the best picture category. This milestone achievement is a great tribute to the filmmaking talents of director Pete Docter, producer Jonas Rivera and the entire team at Pixar, who worked so hard to create such wonderfully entertaining characters and develop an original story that was filled with emotion, humor, adventure and excitement," he said in a statement. "We're equally proud that 'The Princess and the Frog,' our latest hand-drawn animated feature from Disney, has been recognized in the best animated feature film and best song categories. With its fantastic animation, original characters, memorable music and beautiful artistry, it ranks along with the studio's very best efforts."

For producer Jonas Rivera of Pixar/Disney's "Up," a best picture nomination on top of a best animated film nom, was an extra reason to celebrate. He said the added attention a best-pic nomination brings "puts a spotlight on the creative possibilities of animation." Added the movie's director, Pete Docter, "We do these things just because they are fun to do and try to make it as best we can. We've never really seen animation as a genre but as a medium. So to be included with all these other amazing films, that really raises the bar for everybody."

Henry Selick couldn't sleep and was up watching the announcement on TV when "Coraline" was nominated for best animated feature -- and he was surprised when his film was mentioned. "Maybe three weeks ago I was expecting it, but then I got nervous thinking that anything can happen," the writer-director said. Looking at his category, with its mix of traditionally animated, stop-motion and CGI films, Selick singled out "The Secret of Kells" and added that it's "amazing that of the five nominees, four are handmade and two are hand-drawn. It's nice that the playing field includes so many flavors."

Recognized for playing a gay man contemplating suicide in "A Single Man," Colin Firth's spirits lifted with Tuesday morning's news of his best actor nomination. "I thought I was managing my expectations, but on hearing the news I discovered new and unfamiliar vocal tones. Perhaps I should do another musical," he joked in a statement.

"Obviously we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the talent of J.J. Abrams," said "Star Trek" VFX supervisor Roger Guyett of Industrial Light+Magic, who was nominated for best visual effects along with Russell Earl, VFX supervisor for ILM; Paul Kavanagh, ILM's animation supervisor; and Burt Dalton, special effects supervisor. "I was disappointed that 'Star Trek' didn't make the best picture nominations. He did an amazing job with that movie. With inspiring leadership he brought freshness to it. With the VFX, we tried to be respectful to the history of the show and also reimagine some of the images. It is was a lot of fun and an interesting challenge." The VFX nominees are selected by the visual effects branch in a seven-film bake-off. Of that process, he said: "You've been voted on by your peer group. It really is a great vote of support. There was a lot of work in every one of the seven movies."

"Up" composer Michael Giacchino was already planning on having a memorable day with "Lost's" final season kicking off Tuesday night on ABC, but he was up early thanks to a call from writer-director Pete Docter celebrating the animated film's best original score and best picture noms. "It's exciting for me to see 'Up' nominated as best picture as well because I think it shows the power of storytelling of that film," said Giacchino, who collected his second nom for original score. "I think it says if you tell a great story and that no matter what genre you're in, you'll get recognized." As for his plans to celebrate, he'll support his other project: "I'll be watching 'Lost.' It's been a very busy awards season, and a quiet night is a good night."

"Inglourious Basterds" producer Lawrence Bender, who was in Paris screening the nuclear disarmament doc "Countdown to Zero" at the Global Zero conference, called the eight noms for the Quentin Tarantino-directed war movie a "dream come true. When I first read that script, I just couldn't believe what I was reading. This is all so thrilling."

Ryan Bingham's plans to sleep in were foiled when his agent phoned to let him know of his Oscar nomination for his song "The Weary Kind" from "Crazy Heart." The first-time nominee had the easygoing country music vibe and cited the laidback relationships he had with collaborators T Bone Burnett, who co-wrote the track's music and lyrics. "I'm not just happy for myself, but everybody that has helped out -- my agent Jack Whigham, T Bone, Jeff Bridges and everybody involved with the music," he said. "Everybody's pretty laid back and really cool. You get around those guys and sit back and listen to all the good stories."

Robert Kenner, nominated in the documentary feature category for "Food, Inc.," his critical assessment of America's agribusiness, said: "It's been interesting to see what films have been picked, but I can't figure out why they pick what they pick. I think there are a lot great films out there to be nominated, and I'm just happy to be one of them."

"Nine's" Maury Yeston has a better understanding of what it means to be an Oscar nominee after his song, "Take It All," scored his first career nominee. "I spent a life in the theater, so I feel even more honored that my first stab into the world of film was given this distinction. "That's the greatest compliment that a writer can have." Yeston, who was one of four composers receiving their first nominations, was humble about the competition, which includes a pair of songs from Randy Newman. "Randy Newman is a living national treasure, and I have loved his work all my life. Merely to be placed in the same paragraph has such a wonderful writer is the highest praise," he said. The composer, a two-time Tony winner, thanked Marion Cotillard for her work on the track as well as writer-director Rob Marshall and planned to celebrate with a quiet night of reflection."

-- Alex Ben Block, Laura Butler, Carl DiOrio, Jay A. Fernandez, Lesley Goldberg, Gregg Kilday and Zorianna Kit


– The Hollywood Reporter