The slow roll to the red carpet at tonight's Academy Awards is likely to be a quiet one for many of the night's biggest nominees. Oscar-intenders like Joaquin Phoenix and George Clooney are slated to arrive curbside in Toyota hybrids, as part of the company's fourth annual "Red Carpet, Green Cars" marketing shtick. Given the massive amounts of traffic (vehicular and human) 'round the event, expect a near-silent processional as the company's parade of hybrids will likely arrive in full-electric mode.

For their part, the Ford Motor Company is finally starting to get into the pre-Oscar eco-promotional sweepstakes, as Cathy Schulman (producer of Crash) will exit a Mercury Mariner Hybrid, and Jake Gyllenhaal of Brokeback Mountain fame is set to roll up with his homies in a biodiesel Ford Excursion.

Wither the General? GM will forgo all the green posturing, and instead bring the bling, with a fleet of 50 Cadillacs, largely 2007 Escalades.

No word on if Michael Moore will be attending, and if so, what his 'Whip du jour' will be. (Sorry 'bout the pic, we couldn't resist)

[Source: The Associated Press via The Washington Post]