Oscar nomination reminds Simon of 'Mrs Robinson' error

Singer-songwriter Paul Simon said he was celebrating his new chance at an Oscar after a paperwork mistake probably kept his song, Mrs Robinson, out of the competition 35 years ago.

Simon received his first Academy Award nomination on Tuesday for Father And Daughter, from the animation, The Wild Thornberrys Movie.

He said many people erroneously believed he was nominated for Mrs Robinson, which he and former collaborator Art Garfunkel sang in The Graduate in 1967.

“We forgot to fill in the forms,” Simon acknowledged with a laugh.

“You know, it was the ’60s. We just weren’t paying attention. We went along our way and never filled it in. That’s what happened.”

Talk to the Animals, from Doctor Dolittle, claimed the film song honour at that year’s Oscars.

Simon, 61, said his three young children inspired him to write a song for The Wild Thornberrys Movie, a feature film version of a popular Nickelodeon cartoon.

“It was something that the kids watched,” he said. “I thought of it as an opportunity to write a song for a movie that the kids could see.”

Simon is competing against U2 for The Hands That Built America from Gangs of New York; Burn It Blue from Frida, by Elliot Goldenthal and Julie Taymor; I Move On from Chicago by John Kander and Fred Ebb and Lose Yourself from 8 Mile, by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto.