We’re looking at each individual category for the Oscars and what our thoughts are going into the final stretch. We’ll adjust our thoughts based on the precursor associated with this category, Annie Awards. Below are our predictions in Best Animated Feature.

Best Animated Feature

Winner Predictions

• Flow (TL O)
• Inside Out 2
• Memoir of a Snail
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot (WL O) (PP O)

Runner-Up Predictions

• Flow (WL O) (PP O)
• The Wild Robot (TL O)

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Wesley Lovell: We all thought Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was going to win last year until it didn’t. The Boy and the Heron won both BAFTA and the Golden Globes and then came from behind to win the Oscar. The same could play out this year. Flow already has the Golden Globe and The Wild Robot has both the Critics Choice and PGA awards like Spider-Man did. If BAFTA goes for Flow, that will be a sign that it pulls ahead. Right now, I’m sticking with The Wild Robot to win since it isn’t a sequel but with the broadening Academy membership, something like Flow is much better a possibility than during the Disney/Pixar domination years.
Pete Patrick: DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot seems to have more industry support then the Latvian import, Flow, but either could win.
Thomas La Tourrette: This has always felt like a race between The Wild Robot and Flow. Inside Out 2 was the most commercially successful animated film of the year, but it never seemed to catch on the way the original had, so it was not really in the running. Memoir of a Snail should be happy enough with the nomination as it never had a chance. Wallace & Gromit movies are always fun but had not really been likely to take home the gold in years. The Wild Robot was also commercially successful and appealed to multiple ages. It was fun and I would not grudge it the Oscar, but it felt like it could have been more than merely entertaining. Flow, on the other hand, blew me away. The wordless story, filled with animals that cannot talk, was simple yet profound. It never tried to explain what had happened to the world, it just was. It was magical in its way, telling a very unique story with beautiful animation. The Academy can surprise like it did last year with The Boy and the Heron beating out the presumed front runner Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and I am hoping that happens again with Flow. It would not surprise me if The Wild Robot wins. The Golden Globes surprised with the win to Flow, and maybe the Academy will follow suit with the more original film.

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