A Record 33 Animated Features Are In This Year’s Oscar Race
A record 33 animated features are eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category of the 96th edition of the Academy Awards.
This tops the previous record – 32 films – which was set four years ago. (The Wrap points out that one of the films that year was later deemed ineligible, so there were only 31 contending films.)
The list of eligible films was released today by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:
- The Amazing Maurice
- Blue Giant
- The Boy and the Heron
- Chang’an
- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
- Deep Sea
- Elemental
- Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia
- The First Slam Dunk
- The Inventor
- Leo
- Lonely Castle in the Mirror
- The Magician’s Elephant
- Migration
- Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie
- The Monkey King
- My Love Affair with Marriage
- Nimona
- Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie
- The Peasants
- Perlimps
- Robot Dreams
- Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Suzume
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
- They Shot the Piano Player
- Titina
- Trolls Band Together
- Unicorn Wars
- Warrior King
- Wish
The feature animation category is a one-and-done voting process and won’t have a shortlist like the animated short Oscar category. The five nominees in the category will be selected directly from this list by members of the Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation Branch.
Academy members in other branches are also eligible to vote for who will become a nominee, but they are required to opt-in and view a minimum percentage of submitted eligible films. Once the nominees are revealed in late January, the final voting for the winner is open to the entire Academy membership, regardless of whether they have viewed the films or not.
Nearly half of the films on the list this year have at least one American production partner, while nearly one-quarter of the submissions are from East Asia (five films from Japan and three from China).
There is only one film in contention from all of Latin America (Brazil’s Perlimps), while Africa, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia didn’t qualify any films.
Spain stands out as a notable country this year, offering up three quality 2d contenders: Robot Dreams, They Shot the Piano Player, and Unicorn Wars.
Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23, 2024, with the 96th Oscars ceremony to air on Sunday, March 10.
Share in the comments which films you think will be nominated.
