Best Animated Feature Oscars Predictions (December)

The battle for Animated Feature remains a tight two-horse race between Pixar’s Soul and Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers. While we know Pixar has dominated this category since its inception in 2001, Cartoon Saloon is still searching for their first win. As someone who adored both films, this is one of the toughest picks of the season. Can we not just call it a tie?

Wolfwalkers has cleaned up the lion’s share of the critics awards thus far, with wins from Los Angeles, New York, Greater Western New York, Chicago, and Boston Online. While Rotten Tomatoes scores aren’t everything, it currently sits on 98% with only two “rotten” reviews. I’m nudging it into the frontrunner status this month, but let’s see what the next month brings.

With two wins from the critics groups of Florida and Indiana, Soul still remains firmly in the race. Let’s not forget Toy Story 4 also somewhat underperformed early in the race before its eventual Oscar win. But Pixar’s win in 2019 could hurt their chances this year. The Academy might just be looking to spread the wealth to another studio, which only boosts the chances of something so wildly different like Wolfwalkers.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE PREDICTIONS:
1. Wolfwalkers (GKIDS/AppleTV+)
2. Soul (Disney)
3. Over the Moon (Netflix)
4. Earwig and the Witch (Studio Ghibli)
5. Onward (Disney)

OTHER CONTENDERS:
Brightheart (TriCoast Worldwide)
Connected (Sony Pictures Animation)
The Croods: A New Age (Universal Pictures)
Lupin III: The First (GKIDS)
On-Gaku: Our Sound (GKIDS)
Ride Your Wave (GKIDS)
Scoob! (Warner Bros)
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Netflix)
Trolls: World Tour (Universal Pictures)
The Willoughbys (Netflix)
Wish Dragon (Sony Pictures)