2025 Oscars Predictions:
Best Animated Feature
As a cinephile who’s spent countless hours in dark cinemas, I eagerly anticipate the annual Academy Awards. With over two decades of film-watching under my belt, I can confidently say that the Oscars are the pinnacle of our beloved industry.
Weekly Update (August 8, 2024): This extraordinary year is filled with robots, cats, snails, and an array of intricate feelings, setting the stage for potential Oscar-worthy animated films. It could be another memorable year in the world of animation!
To mark its 30th anniversary, DreamWorks Animation is gearing up to join the competition with Chris Sanders’ adaptation of “The Wild Robot,” a series of much-loved books. Starring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal, this film is set to make its grand debut at the Toronto Film Festival. The studio that received the first-ever animated feature Oscar for “Shrek” in 2001 now aims to secure the distinction of being the first non-Disney animated film to be nominated for Best Picture.
Prior to their enmity, Josh Cooley, an Academy Award-winner from “Toy Story 4”, delves into the beginnings of Optimus Prime in “Transformers One” by Paramount Pictures. Meanwhile, the life story of Grammy Award-winning musician Pharrell Williams will be animated using Lego and told through the perspective of a film, titled “Piece by Piece”. Directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville, this production is scheduled to premiere at Telluride before gracing the screens at TIFF.
Netflix will juggle five movies from its animation slate.
Shannon Tindle’s “Ultraman: Rising,” a take on the iconic Japanese superhero series, is creating quite a stir, as well as its anime equivalent “The Imaginary” by director Yoshiyuki Momose, which has received positive feedback. The platform will also debut Vicky Jenson’s “Spellbound,” produced by Skydance Animation and John Lasseter, featuring music from eight-time Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken. Furthermore, Simon Otto’s “That Christmas,” scripted by Richard Curtis and featuring an original song by Ed Sheeran, along with Merlin Crossingham and Nick Park’s stop-motion follow-up “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” complete their lineup.
In an exciting turn of events, Pixar’s highly anticipated sequel, “Inside Out 2,” has outperformed “Frozen II” to become the highest-earning animated film ever made. With its predecessor having triumphed in the same category, it is likely that “Inside Out 2” will be a formidable contender for a nomination. Meanwhile, Disney aims to secure recognition across various fields, including adapted screenplay and, indeed, best picture – an achievement that seems within reach.
As a film enthusiast who has spent countless hours watching movies from around the world, I am genuinely excited about this year’s Oscar nominations. Having seen both “Flow” by Gints Zilbalodis and “Memoir of a Snail” by Adam Elliot, I can confidently say that their unique stories and emotional depth will captivate audiences worldwide.
With a multitude of big-budget live-action films cluttering the landscape for Best Picture, shouldn’t we start giving animation more consistent recognition? Recent standouts in the animated feature category have gained both critical acclaim and industry backing, making them strong contenders for Best Picture nominations and other technical honors. Movies such as “Soul” (2020), “Flee” (2021), “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (2022), “The Boy and the Heron”, and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (2023) have come very close. Although they seem likely to secure nominations in technical categories like production design, editing, and visual effects, they have yet to be recognized. When will the Academy (and other industry guilds) fully accept and acknowledge animation as a legitimate medium?
Although Cannes garnered much attention early on as a potential awards contender for festivals, it was the Annecy Animation Festival in June that stirred anticipation among critics, experts, and industry professionals about what’s to come. The festival offered sneak peeks of “Moana 2” and generated interest in other promising projects like Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Most Precious of Cargoes.” This film received positive acclaim from Peter Debruge, the chief film critic at EbMaster.
As a movie enthusiast with a soft spot for animation, it’s often frustrating to see that animated films are usually overlooked in the grand scheme of cinematic awards. To put it into perspective, only three animated movies have been nominated for the prestigious Best Picture award: “Beauty and the Beast” (1991), “Up” (2009), and “Toy Story 3” (2010).
Isn’t it time for the fourth (or fifth, sixth, and seventh)?
** denotes the film is not yet dated or can open in 2025.
- “Boonie Bears: Time Twist” (Fantawild)
- “Chicken for Linda” (Gebeka Films)
- “The Colors Within” (GKids)
- “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To the Hashira Training” (Toho)
- “Despicable Me 4” (Illumination/Universal Pictures)
- “Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram” (Toho)
- “Flow” (Janus Films/Sideshow)
- “The Garfield Movie” (Sony Pictures)
- “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle” (Toho)
- “The Imaginary” (Netflix)
- “Inside Out 2” (Pixar)
- “Johnny Puff: Secret Mission” (Méliès Producciones)
- “Kung Fu Panda 4” (DreamWorks Animation)
- “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” (Warner Bros.)
- “Lucy” (GKids)
- “Memoir of a Snail” (IFC Films)
- “Moana 2” (Walt Disney Pictures)
- “Piece by Piece” (Focus Features)
- “That Christmas” (Netflix)
- “Transformers One” (Paramount Pictures)
- “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (Netflix)
- “Ultraman: Rising” (Netflix)
- “The Wild Robot” (DreamWorks Animation)
- Eligibility period: Jan. 1, 2024 – Dec. 31, 2024
- General entry, best picture, RAISE submission deadline: Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024
- Governors Awards: Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024
- Preliminary voting begins Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, at 9 a.m. PT.
- Preliminary voting ends Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, at 5 p.m. PT.
- Oscar Shortlists Announcement: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024
- Eligibility period ends: Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024
- Nominations voting begins Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, at 9 a.m. PT.
- Nominations voting ends Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT.
- Oscar Nominations Announcement: Friday, Jan. 17, 2025
- Oscar Nominees Luncheon: Monday, Feb. 10, 2025
- Final voting begins Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at 9 a.m. PT
- Final voting ends: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT
- Scientific and Technical Awards: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025
- 97th Oscars: Sunday, March 2, 2025
And the Predicted Nominees Are
| Rank | Performer & Film |
|---|---|
| 1 | “The Wild Robot” (DreamWorks Animation) |
| 2 | “Inside Out 2” (Pixar) |
| 3 | “Flow” (Janus Films/Sideshow) |
| 4 | “Memoir of a Snail” (IFC Films) |
| 5 | “Ultraman: Rising” (Netflix) |
Next in Line
| Rank | Performer & Film |
|---|---|
| 6 | “Piece by Piece” (Focus Features) |
| 7 | “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (Netflix) |
| 8 | “Transformers One” (Paramount Pictures) |
| 9 | “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” (Warner Bros.) |
| 10 | “The Colors Within” (GKids) |
Eligible Titles (Best Animated Feature)
As a cinephile with decades of film-watching under my belt, I can confidently say that this list is still in progress and not yet set in stone. Many of the films mentioned do not have confirmed distribution or release dates, and even those that do are subject to change at any moment. The world of cinema is always evolving, and I’ve learned to take such things with a grain of salt and remain flexible in my expectations.
More Information (Oscars: Best Animated Feature)
2024 category winner: “The Boy and the Heron” (GKids) — Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
2024-2025 Oscars Calendar and Timeline – Full awards season calendar here
Oscars Prediction Categories
| — | — |
|---|---|
| Best Picture | Director |
| Actor in a Leading Role | Actress in a Leading Role |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Actress in a Supporting Role |
| Original Screenplay | Adapted Screenplay |
| Animated Feature | Production Design |
| Cinematography | Costume Design |
| Film Editing | Makeup and Hairstyling |
| Sound | Visual Effects |
| Original Score | Original Song |
| Documentary Feature | International Feature |
| Animated Short | Documentary Short |
| Live Action Short | Casting (coming in 2026) |
About the Academy Awards
The Oscars, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards, is the most prestigious artistic honor in the movie industry from Hollywood. Since its establishment in 1927, nominees and winners have been chosen by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), with approximately 10,000 members spread across seventeen different branches. These branches encompass various roles within the film industry, such as actors, directors, cinematographers, costume designers, editors, makeup artists, marketing professionals, music composers, producers, production designers, and writers, among others.
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2024-08-08 00:18