"Flow" and the Year of the Cat

by Cláudio Alves

FLOW | © Janus Films / Sideshow

As Nathaniel mentioned in his rundown of new Oscar trivia, records, and similar stats, Flow was the first film about a cat to win the Best Animated Feature Academy Award. This victory for cat people everywhere couldn't have happened to a better movie or to a more fitting cinematic year. After all, 2024 was positively full of felines on the big screen, and even some on the small. They ranged from heroic protagonists to supporting scene stealers, animated to live-action, Hollywood stars to world cinema revelations, from cute to cuter to cutest. There was even a robot kitty for those who love sci-fi. Let's look back on a year of cats…

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Oscar Volley: No matter who takes Best Animated Film, we’re all winners!

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Cláudio Alves and Nathaniel Rogers discuss Best Animated Film...

FLOW | © Janus Films / Sideshow

CLÁUDIO: Last year, I got to go to the Annecy Animation Film Festival and was lucky enough to watch Gints Zilbalodis' Flow shortly after its Cannes premiere. I loved it on the spot, besotted by complicated camera choreography and the cuteness of its feline lead, but couldn't imagine what was to come. Looking at my original review, I even mentioned hopes that it'd get international distribution, which, at the time, wasn't guaranteed for the small Latvian production. Goodness, how things have changed. It turns out that Flow was the tiny film that could, storming through the awards season like a meowing underdog. Beyond becoming a cause célèbre for its home country, the film overcame Pixar's blockbuster hit Inside Out 2 to become The Wild Robot's biggest competition for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. 

And the best part is that, whichever of the two wins, we'll have a fantastic champion in our hands, something both of us know shouldn't be taken for granted. Isn't it wonderful?

NATHANIEL: It is bliss, yes. Both films are in my top 20 of the year (top ten list coming very soon)…

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The First Oscar Eligibility Lists are Here!

by Cláudio Alves

PIECE BY PIECE is the only film competing in both the ANIMATED and DOCUMENTARY Oscar races.

At long last, AMPAS has started divulging its eligibility lists for the 97th Academy Awards. As is usual, the first categories to be announced are the special feature races – Animated, Documentary, and International Film (click on each category to see their prediction pages). This year, 31 cartoons vie for the Oscar, while 167 docs form the non-fiction race. In Best International Feature Film, this year has 85 official submissions. This state of affairs differs from some of the earlier reports that pointed toward 89 films contending, but we're used to many disqualifications. It's a steep decline from the past few years, and it's the first time since 2018 that the number of total submissions is below 90. We have to go back to 2015, with 82 nations competing, to find a year with even fewer films in contention.

You can read more about such trivia in Nathaniel's extensive two-part overview of the Best International Film race. Still, I added some additional trivia for all three categories in this write-up. Find out more after the jump…

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Annecy 2024: A First Look at "The Wild Robot"

by Cláudio Alves

Photo by Marc Piasecki | © Getty Images for DreamWorks Animation

Paper airplanes fly through the air, zipping across the auditorium and above the audience. Some crash land on unsuspecting heads, while others sway wild into oblivion, lost in dark corners of the cinema. It's a merry sight, which only grows merrier when these crafts arrive at their intended destination – the stage – prompting applause from the crowd in good festival fashion. Within this hubbub of enthusiasm, a sense of community prevails, made more heartfelt by the presence of children among press folk, the families of filmmakers and animators excited to see how the world reacts to their work. Such was the scene at the Annecy Film Festival, as DreamWorks Animation came to celebrate its 30th anniversary and present The Wild Robot…

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April Foolish Predictions: What will happen in 'Toon Town'?

by Nathaniel R

Will the new emotions in "Inside Out 2" impress voters?

Last season, we finally saw another hand drawn film take the Best Animated Feature Oscar with The Boy and the Heron emerging triumphant. Will we have another rarity this year or will Oscar voters return to their Pixar and/or American CG habits? Each year we root for the underdogs in this category since great studios like Laika and Cartoon Saloon have yet to take home an Oscar. Sadly, neither of those companies will have a film ready this year. Still, we'll dream that it will prove a truly competitive year no matter what emerges. That always makes it more exciting.

Herewith our April Foolish predictions...

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