With the Academy’s nominations announcement drawing closer by the day, it’s time to lay it all on the line with my final Oscar nomination predictions. We’ve got four solid contenders for the five Best Animated Feature nomination spots. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Turning Red have all nabbed nominations from BAFTA, the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild of America, and the Annie Awards, so they all seem like sure bets by this point.
As always, that leaves that fifth spot wide open. BAFTA didn’t help by only nominating four films this year. The Golden Globes went with Inu-Oh as their fifth choice. The Annie Awards and Critics’ Choice went with Wendell & Wild. And PGA picked Minions: The Rise of Gru. As you can see, there really is no consensus selection for that final place.
Perhaps they’ll go with the most commercially popular title in Minions: The Rise of Gru. Maybe the combination of Henry Selick and Jordan Peele could push Wendell & Wild across the line. But something tells me it will come down to one of Netflix’s two other contenders, My Father’s Dragon and The Sea Beast.
Given the pedigree and Oscars history of Cartoon Saloon, who collaborated with Netflix on this film, one would have thought the former have been a slam dunk this season. But it hasn’t materialised and My Father’s Dragon only managed two Annie Award nominations. However, they were two major categories in Best Feature and Best Direction. On the flip side, The Sea Beast scored six Annie nods, but couldn’t make it in for Best Direction. Flip a coin on this one. I’ll go with the former, but I’m not even remotely confident.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE PREDICTIONS:
1. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix) – Annie, BAFTA, CCA, GG, PGA
2. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (A24) – Annie, BAFTA, CCA, GG, PGA
3. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Dreamworks Animation) – Annie, BAFTA, CCA, GG, PGA
4. Turning Red (Disney/Pixar) – Annie, BAFTA, CCA, GG, PGA
5. My Father’s Dragon (Netflix) – Annie
Alternate: Minions: The Rise of Gru (Universal Pictures) – BAFTA longlist, PGA