Animated Feature - what will be nominated?
Thursday, January 28, 2021 at 5:00PM
NATHANIEL R in Asian cinema, Best Animated Feature, Calamity, Earwig and the Witch, No 7 Cherry Lane, Onward, Oscars (20), Ride Your Wave, Soul, Wolfwalkers, animated films

by Nathaniel R

Studio Ghibli's "Earwig and the Witch"

We really do not approve of the Academy's new shyness in telling the public which films are competing for the specialty categories. They didn't announce the animated feature eligibiility until TODAY. But here are the 27 features competing for Best Animated Feature, though the Academy has not made them official. We've helpfully divided them into categories for you after the jump...

AMERICAN PRODUCTIONS
They're all CGI. It's frustrating that American productions almost never vary from one style of animation. 

OnwardThe Willoughbys

Generally speaking Oscar voters prefer American films though one or two international titles do usually end up with a nomination each year in this category. From this group Soul is very obviously the frontrunner. But any of the others aren't slam dunks for a nomination. The Croods New Age and Trolls World Tour are both hits but sequels (outside of the Toy Story franchise) are generally frowned upon in this category... especially if the original wasn't nominated. Meanwhile Onward was very much overshadowed by Soul, and Over the Moon hasn't inspired much devotion. That said we still consider the latter a thread because it's a musical which is a rare thing in the animated field this year.

EUROPEAN PRODUCTIONS

Kill It and Leave This TownCalamity

Wolfwalkers, like Soul, appears to be a lock -- and with good reason! Oscar voters are fond of Aardman animation so Farmageddon has a decent shot as well despite a surprisingly low profile.

Otherwise it's almost impossible to imagine Oscar voters going for the very unpleasant and adult Kill it and Leave This Town but perhaps they'll enjoy Calamity?

ASIAN PRODUCTIONS

Ride Your WaveNo 7 Cherry Lane

Oscar voters like Studio Ghibli so Earwig and the Witch is a possibility but on the other hand maybe the reason they've liked them so much in the past is their traditional hand-drawn artistry (which we no longer get Stateside so we need to get it somewhere!)? Perhaps Earwig's CG naure might prove a hindrance?

Bombay Rose and especially No. 7 Cherry Lane are mesmerizing to look at but its difficult to see Academy members being particularly into with the stories they're telling. That's especially true of No 7 Cherry Lane which is often quite surreal and queer and adult. More likely is surely Ride Your Wave which has GKids backing stateside and they've been good at Oscar campaigning in the past. A Whisker Away has Netflix backing. 

Demon Slayer is a titanic box office success at home but blockbuster status in other countries has never much mattered to the Academy. 

STILL MORE INTERNATIONAL FEATURES

The Nose or a Conspiracy of MavericksMy Favourite War

In the 19 years of this particular category, Oscar voters have never gone for anything truly experimental so Accidental Luxuriance and The Nose would both be shocking nominees if that were to happen. My Favourite War is an animated memoir/doc and was an awards success at the Latvian Film Awards winning 2 big prizes so it's possible it almost became their Oscar submission this year. (Instead that honor went to the war drama The Rifleman/Blizzard of Souls which won 6 awards). Mosley is a fantasy adventures with an all star Australian and Kiwi voice cast.

UPDATED OSCAR CHART

Unlike Documentary and International Film there are not two separate voting rounds (so there's no finalist list) but otherwise the process is similar in that if you want to vote in the nomination round, you have to see a certain percentage of the contenders before you can. Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15th.

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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