From birds to spiders, and a whole lot of elemental shapeshifters in between, the animated race for the 96th Academy Awards.
More than 20 years after its introduction, the Best Animated Feature award remains something of a controversial category.
On the one hand, it gives animated features a much-deserved focus, one where they can be assessed against other people working in the same environment. On the other, it’s increasingly keeping these films out of contention for the top slot.
While this piece is certainly not about so-called ‘snubs,’ it’s worth noting that the five nominated films stood out against the likes of qualifiers The First Slam Dunk, box office titan The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and deceptively stylish Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. For me, it just speaks to the strength of animation at the moment, with a whopping 33 qualifying titles in the longlist.
Yet it’s still mostly old favourites coming to the field this year. Studio Ghibli, Pixar and even the Spider-Verse series are no strangers to this category. So, will the heron fly high or will the friendly neighbourhood award-winner triumph again?
The nominees are:
The Boy and the Heron
Hayao Miyazaki’s latest last film, his first feature (and Studio Ghibli’s third) since they first announced a closure back in 2014, is arguably the strongest in years. Inspired by Genzaburō Yoshino’s 1937 novel How Do You Live? — which serves as a device within the film — the magical realism mixes the coming of age narrative with a fundamental sense of loss, choosing between destruction and creation, and the notion of mortality. It’s an incredibly grounded film, still packaged, of course, in Miyazaki’s inimitable sense of the absurdly surreal. In this way, it is both the Miyazaki who made Spirted Away and The Wind Rises working simultaneously.
Will it win? Ghibli has done well since this category has been introduced. Miyazaki has the single most nominations although only a single win for Spirited Away. With this film largely being hailed as a return to form, it just might be Ghibli’s year again.
Elemental
There’s a lot of Disney/Pixar’s history here. There’s clear aesthetic influences from previous hits. Yet reminds us exactly why they are the kings of heartfelt animation. A great reminder of the power of positive messages, personal stories, and why representation is essential in cinema. Full review.
Will it win? Pixar are the kings of this category: 11 wins from 18 nominations since 2001. Yet some of the reviews have been mixed, so it’s not necessarily a favourite going in. Still, it has a lot of fans and, if you combine the Disney/Pixar wins in this category, it’s an almost 70% success rate.
Ninoma
This startlingly original animated film moves marginalised narratives to the front and centre, questions the history of representation, and delivers one of the best hero arcs of the year. Said to be influenced by Eyvind Earle (Disney’s Sleeping Beauty) and the Modernist art of Charley Harper, the world created is a stunning combination of futuristic sci-fi, fantasy settings, and something more grounded. When production was revived at Annapurna, using the London-based DNEG, the baseline was used for a seamless final product filled with stunning backgrounds and engaging leads. Full review.
Will it win? Netflix has proven to be the quiet upstarts for animation cred, winning last year for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. Stablemate The Sea Beast was also nominated. However, Netflix’s staggeringly good The Mitchells vs. the Machines couldn’t stand up to the House of Mouse.
Robot Dreams
This was simply a delight of a film. Of the nominated films, it is perhaps the most pure example of animation as a form of the art. Which is not to say the best of the pick, but due to the lack of dialogue one does tend to look at the animation as its own discrete artform. While I’m yet to read Sara Varon’s graphic novel, director Pablo Berger manages to convey a complete world and all of its seasons in visual format. Infused with music, and armed with the knowledge that the same song can bring great joy and sadness at different times, here is a story about connection. This is animation’s Past Lives for 2023.
Will it win? It’s the long shot for sure, but that only speaks to how strong the field is this year. This has all the makings of a cult classic regardless of the outcome.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Ok, so let’s do this one more time. The cinematic Multiverse is vast, never-ending, and filled with spiders. Our favourite webslinger returned with some groundbreaking animation, a killer soundtrack, and a whole lot of heart. As a ‘Part 1’, you might even argue that it’s only half a film. Still, it’s hard to feel anything less than thrilled walking out of this one. Like the best comic books, we can’t wait for the next issue to come out. Read the full review here.
Will it win? There’s a very good case for this being the favourite. While the tide has more broadly turned against comic book movies, the first film in this series took the Best Animated Feature award at the 91st Academy Awards. This sequel has regularly appeared on ‘best of’ lists for the year (including my own).
The 96th Academy Awards are presented on 10 March 2024 in a ceremony held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
