HARRY POTTER - POTTER LEADS BAFTA KIDS' NODS

POTTER LEADS BAFTA KIDS' NODS

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has worked its magic to lead the nominations at this year's children's Baftas.

The fifth film in the wizarding series will compete against penguin animation Happy Feet and rodent cartoon Flushed Away in the best feature film category, which also includes a nod for the fantasy adventure Bridge To Terabithia.

Potter and his magic mates will also be competing to win the Bafta Kids' vote, the only award decided by the public.

To win the prize it will have to cast a spell over the fans of rival competitors including The Simpsons Movie, Transformers, Night at the Museum and Mr Bean's Holiday. Several sequels also feature on the list of nominees who will face the public vote, including Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Shrek the Third and Spider Man 3. Happy Feet is also nominated in the category.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has secured an additional nod for the video games prize, the first time the category has been included in the children's Baftas.

The awards ceremony, which will be hosted by TV presenter Keith Chegwin on November 25th, will also see Charlie and Lola, Little Princess, Peppa Pig and Pocoyo battle it out in the pre-school animation category.

Meanwhile Art Attack host Neil Buchanan will be up against Justin Fletcher from the CBeebies show Something Special, Smile's Barney Harwood and Tricky TV's Stephen Mulhern for the best presenter prize.

And CBeebies, Nickelodeon UK, Nick Jr UK and Scamp are to compete in the channel of the year category.

Commenting on the awards, the chair of Bafta's children's committee Jocelyn Stevenson said: "These nominations highlight the enormous amount of talent and expertise we have in the UK in children's media, and what it is we must fight to protect."